Rumbleverse — A Fistful of Fortnite

I swear, games today…

Every time I browse the Epic Games Store, I always expect to see the next phenomenon that will revolutionise the video game industry. 6 years ago, it was Overwatch; 3 or something years ago, it was Fortnite; and today, it’s… um… still Fortnite? I’m not entirely sure about today’s mainstream fad, whether it’s Fall Guys or Among Us. From what I’ve seen recently, it doesn’t seem like developers are actually interested in creating something new, as they would rather just copy a formula that’s popular and risk-free, like a battle royale game, for instance. Recent games I have discovered don’t seem too different from one another because every one of them is basically “Fortnite with a twist”. In fact, I recently played a battle royale that can be described as such, and that game is called Rumbleverse.

Judging by the name, you’d think that this game is gonna be big right, I mean, the characters are big, but I don’t know how popular a “Fortnite with a twist” it has become. There are many battle royales right now, and much like the MOBA craze of 8 years ago, give or take, many of them will just wither into cancellation once the developers realise there isn’t really room for more MOBAs… I mean battle royales. But while this game lasted, it was a quirky experience.

Although I can’t say that there’s anything spectacular in Rumbleverse, as the game is basically Fortnite with fists instead of guns. The game’s humour also does nothing to alleviate the “been there done that” feeling you get from playing it, as the commentator who won’t shut up clearly took all his notes from a 4th grader, because I would only laugh at these jokes if I was 9… which I’m not. The game’s irresponsiveness makes it somewhat frustrating to get into a brawl with other players, mainly because you never know if your punches will hit this time, and the guy only winning simply because he has faster internet or just because the game doesn’t know how to recognize hitboxes. Either way, I couldn’t say that the character design does anything to help, as most of the characters you’ll encounter in the game are luchadores in a Speedo and for some reason, they all run weirdly. If there’s one thing I did enjoy in the game, it’s the animations, especially when performing super moves. Needless to say, it’s not really enough to sustain me when the overall experience is basically what I had with Fortnite, except with people suplexing each other all the time.

But what was it like?

I’d rather just collect stars than punch people

So, the queue waiting room is a huge cruise ship. While everyone waits for a session to be created, people punch and toss each other like in all those wrestling shows. My character wasn’t too spectacular in appearance, mainly because that off-putting red tank top combined with those broad shoulders is what scared people away. Just as a guy sucker-punched me from behind, a match was found, and everyone were shot out of a cannon because this game is not Fortnite. I find my place atop a rooftop of some random building, probably a gym. I run around looking for someone to punch but all I find is stars to collect. So, I was collecting stars for a while before someone came along started hitting me without warning, and I’m all the while “goddamnit lemme collect stars in peace”, even though in the heat of the moment I forgot that other people can’t hear past the monitor. So, this guy won’t let go, and we get into a fight, and most of my punches are missed because the game isn’t responsive enough. After who-knows-how-many missed uppercuts, the guy just runs away. Realising how dull combat is, I opted to collect stars, as for whatever reason it just felt more satisfying. I collect stars by climbing up walls, not by sticking to them but by clinging to the hard surface with cold hard fingers. So, this game mimics not only Fortnite but by Spider-Man as well. That needless tidbit aside, some random luchador elbow-dropped on me while I was collecting stars. I just kept collecting stars because it was more interesting than fighting people, but every time anew someone knocked me out of the game.

That’s pretty much the whole experience I had with 20-something games. One interesting feature is that in the waiting room (which is, again, a cruise ship) is that you can destroy the balustrade simply by moving into it. This redundant feature I found more fascinating than the entire game itself. I was bummed that I was actually in the queue for a game because all I wanted to do was wreck the balustrade.

My advice: just play Fortnite. I don’t play it but if you like it then knock yourself out… or get knocked out by someone in Rumbleverse.

Were you a luchador in Rumbleverse?

Since this is a battle royale, it is only natural that there would be a lot of people who have already played it at least once. If one of those people is you, feel free to write down your opinion on the subject. I, clearly, wasn’t too impressed with Rumbleverse… but were you?

In Conclusion…

So… Rumbleverse, was it? Anyways, the game is basically Fortnite with punches instead of… actually you know what I said it already so you get it. I don’t know what will become of this game and frankly, I don’t care either. If you enjoyed it, that’s you, but I didn’t.

If nothing else, the soundtrack is entertaining… but that’s it.