Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 1 has officially arrived and promises to add The Hulk, The Witcher’s Geralt of Rivia, Doom’s Doom Slayer, and next-gen graphics and features powered by Unreal Engine 5.1.
Fortnite’s latest chapter is taking players to a whole new realm and, alongside the previously mentioned additions, will also bring with it dirt bikes, the ability to roll in a snowball, a way to launch yourself into the sky and attack enemies with a Shockwave Hammer, a new hurdle mechanic, Reality Augments, and so much more.
Chapter 4 is here. Drop in now. #FortniteChapter4 pic.twitter.com/Ohdz7pnl3i
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) December 4, 2022
As for the new Outfits that will be available in the Item Shop and Battle Pass, players will have a lot to look forward to. While The Hulk will join the Item Shop at a later date, the other characters will be part of the Battle Pass to unlock as the season progresses.
While Doom Slayer and Geralt of Rivia may be the highlights of the Battle Pass, players will also be able to unlock “Star of the Show” Selene, Massai, Dusty, Nezumi, Helsie, and The Ageless. The launch trailer for Chapter 4 Season 1 also teases that My Hero Academia’s Deku will be joining the fight soon as well.
The new next-gen Unreal Engine 5.1 features will usher in a “generational leap in visual fidelity, bringing an unprecedented level of detail to game worlds like the Battle Royale Island.” This will be done be using Nanite, Lumen, Virtual Shadow Maps, and Temporal Super Resolution on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and cloud gaming.
Nanite provides “highly-detailed architectural geometry,” Lumen provides “high-quality ray traced reflections on glossy materials and water,” Virtual Shadow Maps allow for “highly detailed shadowing,” and Temporal Super Resolution (TSR) allows for “high-quality visuals at a high framerate.”
Reality Augments are another way gameplay is changing and, at certain intervals in every game, players will be given a randomized choice of two of these boons. The longer you stay alive, the more Reality Augments you’ll earn and they will stick with you until the end.
Chapter 4 Season 1 will launch with 22 Reality Augments, and more will be added in the future. The already revealed augments are as follows;
- Light Fingers: Makes your weapons using Light Ammo reload faster.
- Mechanical Archer: Gives you a Mechanical Explosive Blow & Mechanical Shockwave Bow.
- Aerialist: Grants you Glider redeploy for the rest of the match.
- Supercharged: Your vehicles won’t consume fuel and they’ll have increased Health.
- Soaring Sprints: While sprinting, you’ll be able to jump much higher — and jump with lower gravity.
There is so much more to learn about Chapter 4 Season 1, and players can check out the full Fortnite blog for all the changes, including some of the new weapons like the Ex-Caliber Rifle – a powerful, semi-automatic rifle that “fires a ballistic blade at your enemies… that detonates mere moments later.”
For more on Fortnite, check out the full Chapter 3 finale event and our look at how Fortnite is the antidote to Metaverse skepticism.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.