On Nov. 3, Fortnite made its way back into the lives of VHHS students. Fortnite is a video game that was released on July 21, 2017. It’s a game that allows you to battle other players until one person is left standing.
As you advance in the game, the storm shrinks, causing the area of play to become much smaller. As the game goes on, it gets more intense and you face better competitors.
“Whenever I play in front of my friends it gets super intense because we always end up screaming at the TV as more and more people get eliminated because there’s more pressure to win,” Sophie Ackerman (11) said.
Joshua Cahill (12) started playing again because they brought back the original map from 2017.
“I was really happy when they brought back the original map. This was my favorite version of the game. When I heard the news, I knew me and all of my friends were going to play together,” said Cahill.
Cahill likes to play with his friends, and it has slowly become one of his favorite games again.
“I play with my friends almost every weekend; I haven’t played this game since 2020, so it’s really fun to get back to the original map because it reminds me of middle school when we used to play all the time,” said Cahill.
Ackerman reflected on her middle school years when she used to play the game as well.
“I used to play all of the time in middle school and over quarantine because I had so much time. Me and my friends would go on creative mode and play against each other for hours,” said Ackerman.
Ackerman noticed she plays a lot less now than she did when she was in middle school.
“I was really excited when they brought back the old map; me and my friends played for hours the first weekend. But I am much more busy with school and soccer now, so I don’t have as much time to play as I used to,” said Ackerman.
Sashank Kurra (12) would enjoy getting back with old friends from middle school to play the game again.
“The first day the old map came out, I played with two of my friends from middle school. I haven’t talked to one of them in a while, so it was nice to reconnect and play together again,” said Kurra.
Kurra used to play for hours; he would spend all day with his friends playing with or against them.
“One time I played for 10 hours straight,” he said. “When me and my friends used to play, we had so much fun, and in 2020, it was a good way to be able to talk to them since we couldn’t hangout. A big reason I was excited to play again was because of how much fun I used to have playing with my friends.”
The original game appealed to many students who used to play, while also bringing in a new group of people who are playing the game for the first time.
“Some of my friends never played the game before, but when the old map came back, we made them try it, and they really liked it,” said Ackerman.
The availability of the original map ended on Dec. 2. Students are sad to see the original map go, and they hope they will bring it back permanently in the future, according to Ackerman.
“I really enjoyed playing on the original map because it reminded me of the fun times when I used to play with my friends in middle school. I hope they can find a way to bring it back,” Ackerman said.
There is a new season of Fortnite that came out on Dec. 3. This season includes features like new weapons, a train wrapping around the whole map, and a collaboration with Lego, Rocket League, and Guitar Hero.
“The new season is a lot different from the OG Fortnite, but it has some really cool features,” Ackerman said.