3 Big problems with the new Fortnite map

Sure, the new Fortnite map looks beautiful - but will it stand the test of time?

Chapter 4 fever is in full swing! Following the Fracture event, we’ve started fresh with a loot pool overhaul, Reality Augments, never-before-seen mechanics, and of course, a brand-new Battle Royale Island.

From a visual standpoint, there’s no denying that the map is stunning. Epic has upgraded to Unreal Engine 5.1, offering huge improvements in lighting tech and a far greater level of detail.

So, max out your graphics settings and enjoy. However, we can’t forget that Fortnite is a video game, and the gameplay itself is suffering.

POIs have no personality

While the vivid colors and varied biomes give off a nostalgic Chapter 1 vibe, the actual named locations are missing something.

Perhaps to showcase the power of the upcoming Unreal Editor (Creative 2.0), it almost feels like they’ve taken a bunch of cookie-cutter building prefabs and plonked them together.

Obviously it’s still early days, but right now when I jump off the Battle Bus I’m not excited to land anywhere.

We’re lacking loot

There’s a lot of empty space on this map right now. That’s not necessarily a huge issue alone (although it’s not ideal for competitive), the problem is that there is next to no loot in these open areas.

We currently have almost 50% fewer Chest spawns than we did at the end of Chapter 3. This means it’s way harder to get a loadout that you’re happy with.

Therefore you’ll often need to risk 50/50’ing off-the-rip, or taking a midgame fight with bad loot to get what you need. Passive players are in trouble!

Where’s all the metal?

Again, this one is a much bigger deal in competitive. There’s very little metal on the map, which forces you to either land somewhere hot, or play your game out scuffed.

On the topic of materials, the large “God” rocks around the Island give a lot less brick than you’d expect. There are rumors that this is a bug, so with any luck, it will be fixed soon.

With all this said, we’re not at panic stations just yet. Epic tends to start out with a fairly barebones map and gradually add to it.

Fortnite Chapter 4 leaks suggest a handful of old POIs are set to return, which will surely bring more personality, loot, and (hopefully) metal to the Island.

The question is, how long will we have to wait? Season 1 is scheduled to run into March 2023, and fans may well get bored before then.