Fortnite Festival Review

ign.com:

It may have been developed by Harmonix – now a subsidiary of Epic Games – but Fortnite Festival is not Rock Band 5. Let’s get that out of the way immediately, because I’ve certainly already seen claims to the contrary. In fact, Fortnite Festival has more in common with the boy band Five than Rock Band 5; that is, it’s a transparently commercial exercise that simply switches the question “What if the Spice Girls were blokes?” with “What else can we sell for V-Bucks?”

It is also not Rock Band 4.1. Hell, it isn’t even really Rock Band Lite. To be fair, Fortnite Festival doesn’t actually make use of the Rock Band moniker, so it certainly does have the scope to be its own thing. It just doesn’t make use of it. Sticking so closely to the existing Rock Band formula does invite certain comparisons, especially with the DNA of its spiritual ancestor on full display (even down to identical instrument icons for the guitars, drums, and vocals). Unfortunately, those comparisons aren’t all that kind to Fortnite Festival, which isn’t a very fun or even particularly social music game in its current state.

Simply put, Fortnite Festival is a rhythm game now embedded in the Fortnite ecosystem. It’s one of three free new games rammed into Fortnite, along with LEGO Fortnite and Rocket Racing. Credit where credit is due, Festival is the only one of the three that really retains Fortnite’s aesthetic (LEGO Fortnite obviously makes use of the iconic minifigs instead, and Rocket Racing feels like an add-on for Rocket League that got accidentally pasted into the wrong product). With Fortnite’s history of celebrity musician appearances and in-game concerts, it isn’t even a weird fit for a Fortnite mode. Plus, as a lover of all things rock and/or roll