Fortnite season 9 is a cyberpunk extravaganza

Goodbye pirates, hello cyberpunk

Ditch that peg leg for a bionic one and swap out the eyepatch for a laser, because the swashbuckler look is sooo last season, sucker. We're all cyberpunks now. After volcanic eruptions heralded the end of a somewhat old-timely era, Fortnite looks to the future, shiny and chrome. Tilted Towers and Retail Row are now Neo Tilted and called Mega Mall. Cyborgs and hacker chic abound. It's all, um... "explained", in the new season's cinematic trailer. If you're emotionally attached to Peely the Banana, you might want to skip it though.

What does it mean, apart from a fresh look for once-familiar locations? The main new mechanic is the addition of Slipstreams, in which players are shot through the air in between giant rings. While in the slipstream, you can use your direction inputs to gain extra velocity. The old balloon method of air travel has been vaulted, and just as well, as the two transportation methods clearly don't mix well.

Still those nostalgic for gas-powered flight can use new environmental features called Air Vents for short distance lifts. Interestingly, they also make one immune to fall damage so can come in handy in a crisis. 

Finally, it wouldn't be a cyberpunk adventure without hacking, right? Fortnite's take on this theme is available to battle pass holders, who can take on this mission to collect computer chips called fortbytes. Collect all 100 fortbytes to "decrypt a mysterious message", and finding them all will unlock "rewards and the secrets of season 9". 18 are available from the start,with at least one new fortbyte unlocked each day, detailed on the challenges info tab.

In terms of weapons, the main new addition is a semi-automatic combat shotgun with "tight spread and fast fire rate", while the popular Pump Shotgun gets the vault and Tactical Shotgun gets buffed. The Drum Gun is also reduced in availability, which should give builders some breathing room.

It would be amiss not to note that the human cost of Fortnite's frequent updates may not be acceptable to many of you, and while the hard working creatives involved will likely want to see Fortnite continue to be successful, players shouldn't hesitate to let Epic Games know exactly what they think of this.

The Season 9 Battle Pass

Every season comes with its own Battle Pass. Epic Games have announced that 128 exclusive rewards are ready for you to unlock. The price? Still steady at 950 V-bucks. Naturally, the season comes with a ton of new futuristic goodies, new skins and gliders, rousing theme tunes and some cuet robot pets.

And much, much more...

Those are the main content changes to Fortnite Battle Royale, but there's a lot more going on including balance adjustments, new events, bug fixes and convenience tweaks. Creative Mode gets new Neo Tilted assets and the PvE Save the World mode gets new heroes and missions. To get the full list of changes to all modes, you can comb through Epic Games' extensive patch notes. 

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What do you think of the latest changes to Fortnite Battle Royale?