In a world of plague and natural disaster, few people remain untouched by the grasp of death. In light of the current situation, they do the only thing they can think of: fight to the death.

Fortnite: Battle Royale is a free to play video game in which a player may chose to enter the game solo or with a “squad” in hopes of being the last person standing of the original one-hundred people who joined that match. Those who do make it to the end are awarded the title “#1 Victory royale” and are given exclusive gear to make it worth the time. Such gear can be displayed to opponents to strike them with fear. One item winners can receive is a very special umbrella.

The game starts with all one hundred players loading onto a flying bus referred to as the “battle bus”. Once loaded, a player has to “drop” and glide themselves to their own designated area. Once they’ve landed, they face a deadly challenge on multiple fronts. The primary concern throughout the game are the other players, with the secondary issue being the storm that is constantly closing in and limiting the playable area. Usually, the first step toward surviving both threats is to gather materials with a pickaxe, which is given to every player by default. Once the materials have been gathered, the player is given the ability to build walls, floors, ceilings, and stairs.

After they’ve gathered up enough resources, the average player will start to search for weapons to combat with other players. In accordance with physics, different weapons will do better in different scenarios. Weapons can be found scattered throughout the map, waiting in chests, or bought from machines in exchange for the resources the player collected earlier. After a little bit of effort and a whole lot of luck, the player can begin to search and destroy other people, all of whom hope to obtain the glorious trophy that can only be presented to one.

While the gameplay and the playerbase may be fantastic, the physical aspects of the game are a shade less spectacular. The graphics are not all that bad, but can sometimes be overwhelming to less apt computers. The audio, on the other hand, is really exceptional compared to what one would expect  to hear from such a game. Every object and every action have a unique sound. A wooden door, for example, sounds different than an iron door, which sounds different than a brick door. You can hear the movement of the players around you as their boots ruffle the freshly mowed cartoon grass.

Though the graphics and audio are comparable to day and night, the game is being praised as one of the best games of the century. Some, such as Logan Hofsted, a Junior at Cannon Falls High School, go so far as to say that, “Fortnite is the best thing to ever happen to mankind.” Certainly he is not the only one to think so. Many others have expressed their enthusiasm for the game both in person by telling their friends and family, and on social media by posting pictures of their wins. In the end, people really want to know if Fortnite: Battle Royale is a good game. Personally, I would say it has some great potential and it’s a good way to waste a few hours.