Fortnite, the battle royale game by Epic Games, has once again captured the gaming community’s attention with a major update introducing three new modes, each offering a unique gaming experience.
Among the trio is Lego Fortnite, a blend of Lego’s building charm, Fortnite’s vibrant aesthetic, and the sandbox survival elements reminiscent of Minecraft. Launched as part of Fortnite’s Big Bang update, Lego Fortnite stands out as an open-world crafting survival simulation reminiscent of Minecraft’s popular game.
Players find themselves in a procedurally generated world in this mode, a fusion of Lego’s whimsical design and Fortnite’s colourful allure. The game offers a survival mode where players explore, build houses, cultivate crops, tend to animals, and combat various creatures.
Similar to Minecraft, Lego Fortnite operates on a day/night cycle. Players can freely explore and build in daylight, but as night falls, they must be cautious as hostile creatures emerge. The game emphasizes resource gathering, starting with basic building materials and progressively unlocking more options as players gather wood, granite, wool, and other resources.
I solo built a mansion in survival mode in @LEGOFortnite
Took forever pic.twitter.com/7RVfvwvtlC
— Gladd (@Gladd) December 11, 2023
While less malleable than Minecraft, Lego Fortnite compensates with an impressive array of Lego buildings. Epic Games and Lego have plans to expand the game by incorporating “thousands” of additional physical Lego blocks and elements. Crafting tables, lumber mills, and spinning wheels open diverse crafting possibilities, from weapons and shields to intricate interior decorations.
For those more inclined towards creativity than survival, Lego Fortnite offers a creative mode that removes the survival aspects, day/night cycle, and monsters, allowing players to build and explore without interruption. The game also supports multiplayer, enabling up to eight players to join forces and explore each other’s worlds.
Fortnite Festival: Rhythmic jamming and more
In addition to Lego Fortnite, the update introduces two other exciting modesāRocket Racing, inspired by Rocket League, and Fortnite Festival, a rhythm game developed by Harmonix, the creators of Guitar Hero and Rockband.
Fortnite Festival has quickly gained attention, allowing players to jam alone or with a squad on stage to songs from popular artists such as the Cranberries, Lady Gaga, and the White Stripes. With a reported concurrent player count of 600,000, the Fortnite Festival provides a musical outlet within the Fortnite universe.
The #FortniteFestival gates are open!
Go forth and take your stage š¤https://t.co/2uWxYup2uK pic.twitter.com/qCKgCvk4dg
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) December 9, 2023
The game features diverse songs, and players can climb leaderboards as they groove to the beats. For a more immersive experience, Fortnite Festival offers a Festival Pass (akin to the Battle Pass), allowing players to unlock emotes, guitars, and other rewards through the Free Track or the Premium Reward Track, the latter costing 1,800 V Bucks (approximately $15).
Fortnite Festival’s Season 1, featuring The Weeknd as its poster star, is set to run until February 22 next year. The game’s commitment to evolving is evident, with the promise of more song packs and the potential integration of rhythm controllers like Guitar Hero.
Scammers exploit Epic Games’ platform
However, a darker note emerges amidst the excitement surrounding these new modes. Scammers have recently exploited the Epic Games website, using it as a platform to deceive users into signing up for questionable pirate streaming subscriptions or downloading dubious files. This SEO ‘hack’ scam has proliferated as search engines have downranked traditional pirate sites.
These scammers have inundated the developer community at the Epic Games website with piracy-related scams, utilizing forum profiles to promote seemingly pirated movies and music. Users who click on these links are often led to pages requiring sign-up for a “free account” with credit card details, posing both a copyright risk and a potential threat to users’ financial security.
Epic Games is aware of the issue and is actively investigating it. The company emphasizes its commitment to acting against accounts violating community rules and terms of service, demonstrating its dedication to maintaining a secure and legitimate gaming environment.
While these scams may not significantly threaten copyright holders, they underscore the challenges platforms face in preventing illicit activities within their communities. The incident serves as a reminder that, even within the virtual gaming realm, vigilance is essential to thwart malicious actors seeking to exploit unsuspecting users.
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