Fortnite Battle Royale for Android
Why play Fortnite Battle Royale?
As its name suggests, Fortnite is a "Bat Royale" game, a cinematic reference to Kinji Fukasaku's 2000 film. In the latter, a class of high school students are dropped onto an island and forced to fight each other to the death there is only one left.
In Fortnite Battle Royale 100 players are parachuted onto an island to compete against each other. Everyone starts the game with a pickaxe allowing them to, perhaps, find a more convincing weapon in order to survive. After a while the combat zone begins to shrink so that all the players get closer to each other and generate even more fights. Each season sees the game evolve. Each chapter is radically different. The map changes, the different constructions also and new weapons appear.
Result: fun and ever-increasing pressure during the game. Everything to make Fortnite Battle Royale very addictive. Note that the game does not rely on violence to work. The publisher has chosen to give it a very cartoonish side unlike other more realistic games, such as PUBG Mobile for example .
In addition, the other particularity of Fortnite is to offer a system of construction of defensive structures, which evolve with each season. Each fight requires perfect mastery of the different weapons available, to hope to remain the last on the map.
After several months of waiting following the release of the game on iOS, Epic Games has decided to bring Fortnite to Android. So: what is the port of one of the greatest hits of the moment worth?
As its name suggests, Fortnite is a "Bat Royale" game, a cinematic reference to Kinji Fukasaku's 2000 film. In the latter, a class of high school students are dropped onto an island and forced to fight each other to the death there is only one left.
In Fortnite Battle Royale 100 players are parachuted onto an island to compete against each other. Everyone starts the game with a pickaxe allowing them to, perhaps, find a more convincing weapon in order to survive. After a while the combat zone begins to shrink so that all the players get closer to each other and generate even more fights. Each season sees the game evolve. Each chapter is radically different. The map changes, the different constructions also and new weapons appear.
Result: fun and ever-increasing pressure during the game. Everything to make Fortnite Battle Royale very addictive. Note that the game does not rely on violence to work. The publisher has chosen to give it a very cartoonish side unlike other more realistic games, such as PUBG Mobile for example .
In addition, the other particularity of Fortnite is to offer a system of construction of defensive structures, which evolve with each season. Each fight requires perfect mastery of the different weapons available, to hope to remain the last on the map.
After several months of waiting following the release of the game on iOS, Epic Games has decided to bring Fortnite to Android. So: what is the port of one of the greatest hits of the moment worth?
How to play Fortnite Battle Royale?
Epic Games announced it a month ago: Fortnite will not be able to run on all Android smartphones. If we imagined that it would be possible to play in comfortable conditions on a smartphone such as the Samsung Galaxy S7 - with which we tested the game - we were quite amazed. Because it turns out that it is struggling to run the game properly.
With a frame rate of 30 to 20, or even less if you have the misfortune to receive a notification in the middle of a game, it becomes quite difficult to imagine that a smartphone with a chipset inferior to the Snapdragon 820 can running Fortnite.
The main performance issues appear from the start of the game: the game drags heavily during the fall of our character from the freighter. If it seems to take a second wind once on the ground, it is during duels, using weapons or when gaining height that the game again suffers from heavy slowdowns.
Graphically speaking, the port isn't doing too badly. Although the graphics for the current season have been revised downwards, Fortnite has more than decent graphics quality for a 3D game running on mobile.
For powerful smartphones, Epic Games had the good taste to allow players to manage graphics settings to improve performance or appearance, as PC players could. The least powerful smartphones will be condemned to never being able to exceed the maximum performance achievable by their smartphone. In our case, with the Samsung Galaxy S7, it was impossible to adjust the graphics settings of the game to medium or higher.
It is therefore difficult to imagine that players with an older and less powerful smartphone than the S7 can properly enjoy part of the new season of Fortnite Battle Royale on their Android. Downloading the app and discovering the game in bad conditions does not seem to us to be recommended.
Epic Games announced it a month ago: Fortnite will not be able to run on all Android smartphones. If we imagined that it would be possible to play in comfortable conditions on a smartphone such as the Samsung Galaxy S7 - with which we tested the game - we were quite amazed. Because it turns out that it is struggling to run the game properly.
With a frame rate of 30 to 20, or even less if you have the misfortune to receive a notification in the middle of a game, it becomes quite difficult to imagine that a smartphone with a chipset inferior to the Snapdragon 820 can running Fortnite.
The main performance issues appear from the start of the game: the game drags heavily during the fall of our character from the freighter. If it seems to take a second wind once on the ground, it is during duels, using weapons or when gaining height that the game again suffers from heavy slowdowns.
Graphically speaking, the port isn't doing too badly. Although the graphics for the current season have been revised downwards, Fortnite has more than decent graphics quality for a 3D game running on mobile.
For powerful smartphones, Epic Games had the good taste to allow players to manage graphics settings to improve performance or appearance, as PC players could. The least powerful smartphones will be condemned to never being able to exceed the maximum performance achievable by their smartphone. In our case, with the Samsung Galaxy S7, it was impossible to adjust the graphics settings of the game to medium or higher.
It is therefore difficult to imagine that players with an older and less powerful smartphone than the S7 can properly enjoy part of the new season of Fortnite Battle Royale on their Android. Downloading the app and discovering the game in bad conditions does not seem to us to be recommended.
A pretty razor-sharp grip
As for its version on iPhone, the handling on smartphone remains always as difficult to apprehend. The third-person shooter lending itself rather difficult to smartphones because of the few keys that can be reached simultaneously on a touch screen, and Fortnite requiring a certain reactivity and having a very wide range of actions, the game suffers unsurprisingly quite uncomfortable to hold. Combined with the highly variable performance from one smartphone model to another, a game of Fortnite can go from correct to downright painful.
Fortunately, aware of this problem, the developers of Epic Games have integrated, as on iOS, an aiming assistance feature, continuous shooting and automatic running.
The sound environment being crucial in the game, a graphic aid has been designed to help the player locate the source of the shots as well as the sound of his enemies' footsteps.
The construction mode is quite difficult to use, not to mention the latencies generated by the constructions on a low-powered smartphone when you build too many walls or if you take a little too much height.
Android being able to manage mice and keyboards, the majority of the handling problems listed above could have been compensated for by these peripherals. But since the games of Fortnite on smartphones are essentially played on a dedicated server for mobiles, we can understand why Epic Games preferred to avoid players with and without a device meeting in the same game. However, on the official Fortnite website , the developers of the new season have indicated that their game may become compatible with Bluetooth or dedicated controllers for smartphones
.So, should you download Fortnite
As for its version on iPhone, the handling on smartphone remains always as difficult to apprehend. The third-person shooter lending itself rather difficult to smartphones because of the few keys that can be reached simultaneously on a touch screen, and Fortnite requiring a certain reactivity and having a very wide range of actions, the game suffers unsurprisingly quite uncomfortable to hold. Combined with the highly variable performance from one smartphone model to another, a game of Fortnite can go from correct to downright painful.
Fortunately, aware of this problem, the developers of Epic Games have integrated, as on iOS, an aiming assistance feature, continuous shooting and automatic running.
The sound environment being crucial in the game, a graphic aid has been designed to help the player locate the source of the shots as well as the sound of his enemies' footsteps.
The construction mode is quite difficult to use, not to mention the latencies generated by the constructions on a low-powered smartphone when you build too many walls or if you take a little too much height.
Android being able to manage mice and keyboards, the majority of the handling problems listed above could have been compensated for by these peripherals. But since the games of Fortnite on smartphones are essentially played on a dedicated server for mobiles, we can understand why Epic Games preferred to avoid players with and without a device meeting in the same game. However, on the official Fortnite website , the developers of the new season have indicated that their game may become compatible with Bluetooth or dedicated controllers for smartphones
.So, should you download Fortnite
Despite the problems of handling and latency, the title is still fun to play... at least, if you don't take the games too seriously. This Android version is not intended to be a competitive title like its big brother on Windows, Mac, Switch, Playstation or Xbox. The games of Fortnite on smartphones are rather intended to be played for fun or to pass the time. It will thus be more easily forgiven for its frail performance on the least powerful smartphones.
If the fun and certain sensations that the PC version can offer are found on this mobile version, the slowdowns and the somewhat painful handling of the game - even on a powerful smartphone - will most certainly put off more than one player.
Beware of the storage space required by the game (+ 3GB) as well as its ability to melt at a glance the battery level of the smartphone!
Finally, let's not forget that the current version of the game on Android is still in beta stage. There is no doubt that Fortnite should be much more optimized and smooth in its final version - but probably no miracles to be expected for less powerful smartphones...
Despite the problems of handling and latency, the title is still fun to play... at least, if you don't take the games too seriously. This Android version is not intended to be a competitive title like its big brother on Windows, Mac, Switch, Playstation or Xbox. The games of Fortnite on smartphones are rather intended to be played for fun or to pass the time. It will thus be more easily forgiven for its frail performance on the least powerful smartphones.
If the fun and certain sensations that the PC version can offer are found on this mobile version, the slowdowns and the somewhat painful handling of the game - even on a powerful smartphone - will most certainly put off more than one player.
Beware of the storage space required by the game (+ 3GB) as well as its ability to melt at a glance the battery level of the smartphone!
Finally, let's not forget that the current version of the game on Android is still in beta stage. There is no doubt that Fortnite should be much more optimized and smooth in its final version - but probably no miracles to be expected for less powerful smartphones...
How to play Fortnite?
The new season of Fortnite Battle Royale is available for Windows , MacOS, Playstation 4, Switch, XBOX One, iOS and Android .
To download the Fortnite apk file on your smartphone, let our tutorial guide you:
How to install an .apk file on your Android smartphone
The new season of Fortnite Battle Royale is available for Windows , MacOS, Playstation 4, Switch, XBOX One, iOS and Android .
To download the Fortnite apk file on your smartphone, let our tutorial guide you:
How to install an .apk file on your Android smartphone
What are the alternatives to Fortnite?
Among the competing games of Battle Royale, we can mention the essential PUBG , but also Apex Legend , Call of Duty Warzone or Creative Destruction . These different games are available on Switch, Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox and/or Android and iOs
Among the competing games of Battle Royale, we can mention the essential PUBG , but also Apex Legend , Call of Duty Warzone or Creative Destruction . These different games are available on Switch, Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox and/or Android and iOs
