Fortnite Ballistic is planting the seeds to bring in a new kind of player 

Fortnite is no longer just the culture-defining battle royale game. It has since become a platform to host a wide variety of games. Lego Fortnite takes a swipe at Minecraft lovers with survival and clicky crafting mechanics. Fortnite Obby Fun and the recent Lego Fortnite Brick Life bring young players familiar with Roblox into the fold. Fortnite Festival gives fans of rhythm games a regular cadence of contemporary hits to jam out to.

One by one, the devs at Epic Games are crafting modes that slot each type of player into Fortnite’s golden gauntlet, as if the’re collecting fans of specific genres like Thanos does with Infinity Stones. And now, with this latest addition, a team-based shooter called Fortnite Ballistic, Epic has its sights set on fans of gritty first-person shooters. Although the game isn’t as polished as it could be yet — Epic released it in early access on Dec. 11 — it shows the devs’ ambition to bring a new kind of player to the game.

Fortnite Ballistic plays like other team-based shooters, such as Valorant or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. There are two teams: defenders and attackers. The defenders can win by either defusing an explosive set by the opposing team, or by eliminating the entirety of the other team. The attackers win by setting up the explosive and stalling the other team for long enough to detonate it. The number of players on each team can vary, but it tops out at five.

Fortnite the battle royale game has a whimsical, cartoony vibe. Sure, it’s a shooter, but it’s also a game where you can drive around and jam out to Chappell Roan or go fishing. It’s unserious. Ballistic, on the other hand, is a lot more sanitized. Its maps lean into gray industrial looks, and it has an arsenal where you purchase standard items like a Striker AR or Flashbangs between rounds. It doesn’t have goofy little weapons like cute Sprite pets or Chug Jug.

There are definitely issues with Ballistic. The game kicked me back to the lobby three times while I was trying to queue my first time playing. I also experienced connection issues with other teammates who had glitched movements, despite my running the game on a desktop with a wired connection and fiber optic internet. People were dropping in and out mid-match, and the game currently doesn’t punish people for dipping the second they decide they’re done with a team. Also, at various moments, the UI overlapped so I couldn’t see the match score after I had been eliminated.

But the game has good bones. Before long I was learning the pacing, the general paths I could take for each map, and even the corners to duck around to get a good angle. The shooting, too, felt precise and consistent. And even though my personal preference still skews towards third-person shooters with chiller vibes, I could not deny the satisfaction of getting a quick and clean headshot in Ballistic.

Do I think Ballistic will replace Valorant or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive any time soon? Nah. Those games have taken years to build dedicated audiences and competitive scenes around them. But I’m curious about the future of this game, because my impressions left me feeling like the Epic Games team has the makings of a solid first-person shooter here.