Some non-bricky bits have been added to Battle Royale, Rocket Racing and Fortnite Festival, too
In its continuing quest to become Everything to Everyone, Fortnite has shapeshifted, The Thing-like, into a new Lego Star Wars game. The Lego Fortnite survival mode has been expanded with a new, permanent Star Wars world, with this weekend – which includes May the Fourth, don’tcha know – also kicking off a new battle pass and bringing additions to every other part of Fortnite: whether you’re playing it as a battle royale shooter (remember that?), racing game or music-rhythm successor to Guitar Hero.
The new Lego Star Wars world in Lego Fortnite is a separate island to your existing map, offering up a Rebel village that you can build, evolve up to level 10 and populate with familiar minifig-ified characters with the galaxy far, far away. You’ll need to defend it from Imperial troops like Stormtroopers, who’ll have their own Imperial-styled camps around the map.
In keeping with the Star Wars setting, you’ll have a new pair of Macrobinoculars at your disposal, along with the chance to chop the plastic people into bits with lightsabers in different colours, the Wookie bowcaster, the DL-44 blaster and Stormtrooper-issue E-11, and the explosive thermal detonator. You’ll be able to make the new Star Wars gear by cooking them up at a new Rebel Workbench using the material of Plastoid.
The addition of the Star Wars Lego Fortnite world comes accompanied by a whole new battle pass around the mode. Rebel Adventure will run for 80 days until July 23rd, with unlocks – both free and premium, like a normal Fortnite battle pass – including various decor and building kits, ending with the Mos Eisley Marketplace on the free side and a Dusty Durrr Burger restaurant in the style of Star Wars for those who cough up for premium. You’ll get Lego Chewbacca as an outfit for jumping up to premium, too.
Outside of Lego Fortnite, the rest of the game is also getting some Star Wars-themed goodies in time for Star Wars Day this weekend. Chewbacca (in non-Lego form) will also appear as a hireable NPC at a random Imperial Roadblock during Battle Royale matches, armed with a Wookie bowcaster you’ll be able to find inside chests, too.
Elsewhere, Darth Vader’s back, and able to be put down to nick his lightsaber – along with the E-11 blasters equipped by the Stormtroopers around him. I remember having a lot of fun with Vader’s lightsaber the last time it was in, mainly by lobbing it at people. All games should have a throwable lightsaber, in truth.
There’ll be some new quests to complete, with the reward of a back bling for doing so – though it’s fairly ugly in my opinion – with the first batch of quests live now and the rest arriving on May 7th. You’ll have until May the Four(teenth) to finish them.
Outside of surviving and shooting, Fortnite’s Rock Band-like Festival mode has added the Cantina Band song to the shop, along with a Jam Stage set in the cantina itself. Completing quests in the music mode will get you the Hallikset Guitar, too.
Finally, Rocket Racing disappointingly resists adding podracers in full, instead going with a decal based on Anakin’s racer and another inspired by Darth Maul – although, in honesty, all I can see is Diotoir from Robot Wars.
There’s some other gubbins in the shop, as you’d expect – including a drum kit decorated with Imperial helmets and a keytar, plus more car decals that also work over in Rocket League. Outfits-wise, Dagobah Luke, Lando Calrissian and the AWR Trooper (I think that’s a TIE pilot?) all show up, with Lego versions to boot. Expect to see the old Star Wars costumes make a return, too.
