Arr, Matey! Fortnite Season 8 Arrives With Swashbuckling Pirates And Cannons
Fortnite is going in search of some secret that lurks on Monkey Island, led by a pirate named Guybrush Threepwood! Wait, that's not right. Okay, so LeChuck and his gang probably aren't making an appearance in the popular battle royale shooter, but the new Season 8 update does bring with it pirates and treasure and...ninjas? Yes, ninjas!
"Season 8 has arrived and a monstrous volcano has appeared! Freed from the Ice King’s castle, the now-powerful Prisoner has brought fire and flame to Fortnite and its islands. Pirates, ninjas and a ship load of new fighters will tussle over treasure, battle with pirate cannons and uncover legendary loot," Epic Games explains.
The developer is promising a swashbuckling good time, though presumably it's a BYOG (bring your own grog) affair. Players will find a bunch of new areas to explore and secrets to uncover. The new season also means a new Battle Pass with over 100 exclusive awards, for the same 950 V-bucks. For this season, players get the Blackheart and Hybrid progressive outfits when purchasing the Battle Pass, both of which can be leveled up.
As always, there are some fun and unique twists that come with the new content. Using the pirate cannon, for example, gamers can push it into position and fire it at enemies and structures, or climb into the barrel and be the cannonball. The Ringling Bros. would be proud. Whether using actual cannonballs or player projectiles, either one will "plow through a number of objects before stopping with a bang."
Lava is new to this season, and will deal 1 damage per touch. It will also cause players to bounce off the surface. Related to that, volcano vents will boost players and vehicles into the sky.
The latest update also introduces a couple of limited time modes. One is 50v50, in which teams of fifty players fight to the finish, and the other is Close Encounters, which as it sounds consists of close quarters combat (with shotguns and jetpacks).
And of course there is a host of bug fixes in various aspects of gameplay, a full list of which you can read in the release notes.
