Evgenii "Gufis" Kondratev Recently, Fortnite was one of the big topics in the Counter-Strike community. The release of Ballistic — a new first-person mode where two teams of five compete to plant a special device on one of two bomb sites — has caused a stir. Fans were worried that Ballistic might suddenly take over the Counter-Strike 2, Valorant, and Rainbow Six Siege market, but those fears have now been put to rest.
Is Fortnite Ballistic a competitor to Counter-Strike 2?
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Let’s start with the most important question. The answer is clear: no, this mode will not compete with CS2. Rainbow Six Siege is a competitor, Valorant is a competitor, and even, sorry to say, mobile clones like Standoff 2 are competitors to CS2. However, Fortnite Ballistic doesn’t even come close to that, even though most of its rules are borrowed from the genre.
What is Fortnite Ballistic?
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The new Fortnite mode takes much more inspiration from Valorant than from CS2. If you look at the only available map, it feels like you're playing a shooter from Riot Games. This includes the wall that limits movement before the round starts.Matches in Ballistic are very fast: to win, you need to secure seven rounds, meaning each session lasts about 15 minutes. A round lasts 1:45, with a 25-second freeze time (which is quite long). During this time, you can move around a designated area and purchase items.
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Speaking of purchasing. There are only two pistols, two shotguns, two submachine guns, three assault rifles, one sniper rifle, armor, flashes, smokes, and five types of special grenades (one for each team member) available in the game.While the developers try to make it seem like the economy matters, it currently feels a bit irrelevant. You can't drop weapons for teammates, and the round reward system doesn’t really enforce economic rounds. Even if you lose a round, you’ll have enough money to buy an assault rifle.
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The movement and aiming mechanics are taken directly from the original Fortnite, with the only difference being that it's played in the first-person view. This means lots of parkour, unlimited slides, and insane speed, which is even faster than Call of Duty. Trying to develop tactics and grenade setups in this environment seems pointless.
By the way, there’s a funny bug in the game. If you can’t see the enemy due to smoke but your aim is on them, you can still kill them easily because your crosshair turns from white to red. It’s a small thing, but very telling.
Are there bugs in Fortnite Ballistic? What’s the state of the game?
Ballistic was released in early access, and it shows. At launch, there were frequent connection issues, sometimes leaving you with a 3v3 match instead of 5v5. While the situation has improved, connection issues still pop up from time to time. There are also noticeable bugs in the game (like the previously mentioned crosshair issue with smoke).
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The scope zoom and strange movements sometimes result in wonky viewmodels. During gameplay, I saw a teammate turn into Mr. Fantastic, with rubber arms stretching and bending at unnatural angles.Developers claim that they will add new maps and weapons in the future, but even with that, the game still doesn’t feel like it’s being taken seriously. The economy doesn’t work, tactics don’t work, but you can slide around and dance with various emotes. There’s still a lot to improve for the mode to resemble a true team-based shooter.
Does Fortnite Ballistic have a ranked mode and will there be esports?
The developers of Ballistic have added a ranked mode, and it may interest some players, but the game itself doesn’t have much of a competitive edge. Right now, it feels too casual, and it’s unlikely to be targeting CS2 or Valorant.
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Don’t expect an esports scene for Ballistic. Just remember the controversies surrounding Epic Games’ organization of Fortnite Battle Royale World Cups (for instance, at one tournament, all players were required to use provided devices — you couldn’t even connect your own mouse). This leads me to believe that there won’t be any esports for Ballistic, and without that, the hardcore audience won’t be interested.
Why did Epic Games create this mode?
Most likely, Fortnite aims to compete directly with Roblox. Both platforms are aimed at younger players, and Fortnite has worked hard to unify its battle passes and skins to keep players in the game, regardless of the mode. In this concept, having a CS2 and Valorant-like mode makes a lot of sense, as more variety keeps kids entertained and reduces the chances of them turning to competitors. However, for the hardcore audience, Ballistic won’t be the next big thing, and it’s clear that it’s not a “CS killer.”
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