I’ve been a bigFortnitefan ever since its Battle Royale mode debuted in 2017 and forever changed the gaming landscape. I may not drop onto the Island as much now as I did when I was a uni student living off Pot Noodles and ignoring deadlines, but I still find time to jump on whenever a new season releases or a character I love gets turned into a griddy-hitting skin.Yes, I do mean Peter Griffin.
And yet, even with close to 300 hours of playtime across nearly seven years, I’ve never given the mode that birthed Fortnite,Save The World, the time of day. I’ve considered booting it up a few times, even if just to get a few trophies and stop Fortnite from always showing up as zero percent on my trophy page, but as someone who’s not the biggest fan of horde survival modes, I’ve never taken the plunge. If I’m playing Fortnite, I’m playing Battle Royale.
With Save The World barely ever getting any recognition from Epic in favour of newer “experiences” like Fortnite Festival, Lego Fortnite, and Rocket Racing, I’m certain there arelotsof people who also haven’t tried it, even those who put far more time into the game than I do.Seeing as it’s Survival Week at TheGamerand I’m one of the biggest Fortnite defenders on the team, I decided now was the perfect time to finally right my wrongs and give the mode a chance.
The first thing that surprised me about Save The World (beyond having to pay for something in Fortnite other than battle passes and anime skins) was how much it focuses on storytelling. While there’s always an overarching narrative in each chapter of Fortnite’s Battle Royale, it’s usually just for the most hardcore of fans and easily ignored if you’re not fussed about the identity of The Seven or wherever the heck Peely is that week.
That’s not the case in Save The World, though. As soon as you start, you’re greeted with a cutscene that sets things up and explains that the same storm that ruins Victory Royales has also created a bunch of zombies called Husks that are attacking survivors. As the newly appointed Commander, it’s your job to take the undead down while protecting forts, survivors, and yourself.
Don’t worry - even though you’re apparently an important part of Save The World’s story as a Commander, you can still play as whatever Battle Royale skins you’ve purchased. For me, that meant playing through as Peter freakin’ Griffin.
Throughout the mode, you’ll be hearing a lot of radio chatter from characters like Ray the Robot and Ramirez, a Fortnite character I’d been staring in the face for a long time but never realising was part of Save The World. It’s not the most gripping narrative, but there are tons of well-produced cutscenes with charming dialogue that make the whole thing feel like a season-ending cinematic event like we rarely have for the Battle Royale mode.
After getting over seeing characters actually moving their lips and speaking words (something I’ve only seen Eminemand a few others do until now), I quickly found myself sinking into Save The World’s gameplay. It’s very similar to regular Fortnite, as you’d expect, but with a much bigger focus on crafting and building as you lay down traps, build weapons for yourself, put together temporary structures, and work to keep the zombies at bay. You can even craft your own ammo, which felt a little like activating god mode after years of having to scavenge for it.
I thought I’d hate this crafting focus seeing as how I purposefully stick to Zero-Build mode, but it’s a lot more fun and easy to manage when you’re facing crunchy easy-to-kill zombies instead of nine-year-olds who can no-scope me from across the map. At first, things start out simplistic with easy enemies and short waves to defend forts and storm shields against, but it quickly becomes more challenging when you’re surrounded by hordes of them and have to contend with unique variants.
I’ve been playing Fortnite for a long time now and have gotten pretty good at securing victories, but I was surprised at how tough it was to simply survive each mission, especially on my own.It didn’t kick my ass as much as Helldivers 2 has recently, but it was a decent challenge that pushed my shooting and building skills in a new way. Combine that with all of the other mechanics that are unique to Save The World that I’ve barely scratched the surface of so far like all the unlockable heroes, survivors, and resources that you have to manage to improve your stats and defend your forts as effectively as possible.
Things would have been a lot easier if I’d plucked up the courage to invite some friends, but I figured paying money for a mode that no one plays anymore was a hard sell to anyone who wasn’t doing it for science like myself.
Compared to the simple fun of going up against 99 other players, it can feel like a lot to learn, but even after only a couple of hours with Save The World, I can see why there are so many dedicated fans who want Epic to pay it some more attention. I can’t see that happening considering how long it’s been since anything big happened for the mode, which is a shame since I had a lot of fun trying it out and getting to see Fortnite’s gameplay in a different way.
Fortnite has always been held up by its fantastic gunplay and movement and that’s exactly what Save The World shines a spotlight on, even if it took me a while to re-learn how to build things. The hordes of enemies, focus on crafting, and more objective-focused gameplay made for a nice change of pace from the other modes I’ve spent years of my life playing.
I’m not sure if I’ll sink as much time into Save The World as I have Battle Royale and Fortnite Festival, but I still had a great time trying out the mode that started it all. If nothing else, I’m glad I took the time to experience a crucial part of Fortnite’s history that even Epic seems keen to leave behind for greener pastures. Maybe the real Survival mode is how long Save The World has left until it’s ditched entirely.
Survival Week at TheGamer is brought to you by Nightingale -available on PC in early access February 20.
