Fortnite Video Game Craze

By Bryan Brown

Staff Reporter

Over the years, there has been more than a fair share of video games to dominate the gaming world.

From the original “Call of Duty,” to “Grand Theft Auto 5,” teens and adults alike have spent countless hours on their consoles playing these games.

One game in particular has seemed to set the gaming world ablaze.

The game was first released on July 25, 2017.  The game quickly spread across the Internet, adding to its fandom.

“Because it’s a fun game, it keeps everyone on the edge of their seats,” said freshman Brendan Burke.

The game offers three options of play to choose from; “solo,” “duos,” and “squad play.”

“It brought back the middle school style-of-gaming throughout friend groups,” said senior Nick D’Angelo.This gave gamers the opportunity to choose to take on the challenge alone, or to team up with their friends.

“‘Duos,’ is the best option to play compared to that of ‘squad,’ because two is the perfect amount for the game. Comunication within the game is a huge component,  as two people is the perfect amount of communication to catch wins,” said  junior John Scala.

However, not everyone has the same opinions for what game play is better.

“‘Squad,’ is great because of the fact that you can play with a large group of your friends, and you can build a strategy together, and fight your way to victory,” said sophomore Michael Cangialosi.

The premise of the game is simple. To a certain extent, the game resembles the popular book and movie franchise, “The Hunger Games”.

Each player will start off on a bus called “The Party Bus,” along with 99 other players.

These players are then flown over a map, which consists of different locations, such as “Wailing Woods” and “Pleasant Park.” Both of these locations have their own unique style and design.

As the player continues to explore the map, they collect guns, ammunition, traps, and other items to use at their disposal.

As they explore the map, a “Storm” develops on the screen. This storm’s purpose is to get the map smaller and smaller by drawing the players closer and closer.     

If you get caught in the storm, then you die. If you get shot by another player, then you die. Similarly, if you fall into a trap, your fate is death. The last man standing out of the original 100 is declared the victor.

A game which is harder than it sounds is accompanied by a whirlwind of emotions.

“Thrilling, anxiety-filled, heart-attack-inducing, are all ways to describe the emotions one feels when playing,” said senior Harrison Picard.

Many people describe the game as a roller-coaster of vast and contrasting emotions. Burke similarly describes the game as exhilarating and adventerous.

Since the game seems to cause so many mixed emotions, it is a mystery as to why people become so addicted to it in the first place.

“It is a game-style that has mainly been on computer gaming for a long time, but they have simplified the style with Fortnite and brought it to consoles and it kind of just blew up,” said Scala.

Social media allows for people to openly boast about their records.

“The use of social media has blown it out the water.” said Cangialosi.

With people using Twitter  and other social media platforms to talk, it allows everyone in the world to be in competition over who is the best at the game.

“People love the rush that such a childhood idea such as a video-game could bring such stress and that anytime you die you just start all over again and try your hand,” said Picard.

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