Fortnite’s newest reside occasion was its strangest but

Fortnite simply wrapped up its most up-to-date large-scale reside occasion, and it was an odd one — even by Fortnite requirements. The occasion, dubbed “Fracture,” was meant as a sendoff for Fortnite Chapter 3, and now that it’s over, the sport is down forward of the launch of the subsequent chapter on December 4th, which is able to introduce not solely a brand new island, however characters just like the witcher himself, Geralt of Rivia.

Before issues kicked off, gamers have been break up into teams, hanging out on tiny floating islands with little to do however watch a countdown displayed on a TV display screen. (My trio of gamers all sat round roasting marshmallows collectively.) That was adopted by a cutscene wherein The Herald, a comparatively new Fortnite character, led an assault of tornadoes, and after a bit little bit of preventing, a big chrome model of her appeared, someway leading to the whole island exploding into many, many items.

Following that, gamers discovered themselves floating amongst particles in house, whereas being instructed that “home is gone” proper earlier than the Zero Point — a sort of superpowered vitality supply in Fortnite lore — lassoed collectively a bunch of fragments of the destroyed island in addition to gamers. From there, everybody needed to work collectively to gather vitality orbs to energy the Zero Point for causes that weren’t fairly clear.

Whereas previous Fortnite occasions have been heavy on motion, whether or not it was a battle in opposition to Galactus or an explosive alien invasion, this one was a bit extra subdued. At instances it felt like busywork. In order to energy up the Zero Point, gamers needed to carry out easy duties like constructing a snowman or discovering matching objects to gather vitality. They might additionally relive temporary flashbacks from previous occasions — just like the mech vs. kaiju battle or the rolling dice — and speak to some NPCs for fundamental quests. As the portal powered itself up, extra fragments of the destroyed island would seem.

Once the Zero Point was powered up, the occasion shifted to a different cutscene, wherein Paradigm — a Fortnite character performed by Brie Larson — appeared to supervise a brand new island being fashioned.

The entire factor lasted round 45 minutes, and it lacked the joys of previous occasions. (However, identical to its predecessors, it made completely no sense except you’re plugged into Fortnite’s ongoing narrative.) Currently, gamers logging in can’t do a lot however stare at a loading display screen with a glimpse of the brand new island within the background. But that received’t final for lengthy: Chapter 4 is because of launch on December 4th, and the splash display screen reveals off a lot of new characters which might be coming, most notably the Doom Slayer and Geralt. The artwork additionally teases the introduction of grime bikes.