Fortnite Game Modes We Want Back

If you've ever stepped foot into the world of Fortnite: Battle Royale, you're probably aware of the many limited-time modes the game has rolled out since it launched back in 2017. There are some that are slight variants of the main game. There are also some that do away with everything you might expect from a game called Fortnite: Battle Royale and play by a whole new set of rules.

The one thing most of these games modes have had in common though? For the most part, they've been highly entertaining.

As much as Epic Games likes to update Fortnite and keep things new and exciting, we still have a problem. All of the limited-time modes that we've enjoyed so much have been just that: extremely limited. Perhaps Epic wants to keep experimenting and trying out different ideas with Fortnite's player base. But we think that there's a whole lot of love out there for what's already come and gone. And we'd really like to see some of those past modes make a return.

These are the Fortnite game modes we want back. If you're listening, Epic ... please?

There's nothing better than a Fortnite mode that drastically alters the way everyone plays the game. Right from the jump, most dilly dally around whatever spot they land in, looting for weapons and gathering resources. The storm takes such a long time to move that there isn't a real sense of urgency. This can cause some games to drag out — especially in larger team-based modes.

But not in Steady Storm.

Steady Storm makes one change to the game, but it's a big one. Instead of incremental periods of shrinking, the storm is constantly closing in on you. As soon as you drop onto the field of battle, the playable space is getting smaller by the second. And that means you have to move. If you're right on the storm's edge, there is no time to fuss with those gold attic chests. You won't have the opportunity to chop down a forest's worth of trees to collect wood. Instead, you'll have to get trucking toward the center safe zone immediately.

We love the way Steady Storm drives players toward combat more quickly. And we love how that, in turn, shortens each match. Please bring it back, Epic.

Remember how we talked about Fortnite being a game that's primarily focused on fun? It may be no more evident than in some of the game's weird limited-time modes, which take the traditional battle royale formula and throw it out the window entirely. And this next mode might take the cake in the weird department, for sure.

It's called Disco Domination. And if the image didn't give it away, it's all about getting down.

Some of Fortnite's most popular cosmetic items are emotes, which are animations of dances and other movements. Most like to use emotes at the start of a match, or at the end upon winning. But Disco Domination is a mode that asks players to dance in order to win — and that is such a cool idea.

Each disco dance floor serves as a sort of control point. By dancing on the floor, players can elevate a disco ball and, eventually, capture that point. And all the while, a "dance bar" for your team fills up on screen. The first team to have their dance bar reach 100% wins the match. Which means that it's quite conceivable that a team could win without doing much shooting at all.

We loved the way Disco Domination flipped the script the first time it appeared. How about some more of it?

Fortnite's 50 vs 50 modes are a whole lot of fun. They're also great for beginning players, as the games tend to play out in a more predictable manner. But sometimes, they can be a little too predictable. Two teams eventually make their way toward the center of the map and, quite often, entrench themselves on either side of the line that runs through it.

In Teams of 33, though, that can't happen.

Teams of 33 forces three teams (with 33 players each) to meet in that same middle. But after that, it's not quite as simple as shooting across the center line toward enemies on the other side. There are two flanks to worry about, and the knowledge that the center of the map where all teams meet will be a zone of absolute chaos. It adds a new twist to the game and forces players to keep their heads on even more of a swivel than before, and that makes for a really good time.

In a game that can support 100 players on the map, it's nice to see some variants on how Fortnite reaches that number. Teams of 33 is probably the best yet, and we hope it makes a return soon.

Team Rumble isn't the only tried-and-true shooter mode that Fortnite has introduced. There's also another that made its way into the game for a brief period of time, albeit with some uniquely Fortnite changes.

That mode was called Food Fight. And before you get too excited: no, it did not involve slinging actual food at your opponents.

Instead, Food Fight mode was all about protecting your base. And because Fortnite has some weird obsession with fast food, the bases in question were restaurants, and the objectives that required protecting inside them were either a giant burger or a giant tomato. The opposing team of 12 would attempt to infiltrate your base in order to destroy your giant food item. And your team of 12 would have to defend said food item while also trying to destroy the opposing team's food in the other base.

Food Fight had some real promise, but unfortunately, it didn't really stick around long enough for everyone to jump in and spend enough time with it. If Epic wants to make some tweaks to Food Fight, that's fine. But we'd really like to see the mode pop up again sometime soon — and not disappear so quickly this time.

Here's a dirty little secret about Fortnite: the team behind Epic Games likes to keep the game as fresh as possible. And sometimes — to borrow from Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg — they move fast and break things. New weapons are removed for being too powerful. And things like traps are taken out after players find ways to exploit them.

But there's a mode where all of these misfit toys can be played with once more. A mode where Epic says, "Go wild." That mode is Unvaulted.

As you can probably tell by the name, Unvaulted resurrects everything Epic removed in the past. The overpowered guns and items come back out of the vault, so to speak, and land right back on the map for players to use as they see fit. That semi-auto sniper rifle that seemed a little too good? The bouncer traps that drove players absolutely mad? In Unvaulted, they're back, giving veterans a way to relive Fortnite's crazier days and newcomers a chance to see what the big fuss was about.

Unvaulted is a nice way to shake things up, and for that reason, we hope Epic decides to put it on the schedule for the near-term.

One of the best things about Fortnite is how the studio behind it, Epic Games, isn't afraid to throw caution to the wind and try new things. The Battle Royale side of Fortnite has been almost as much a Petri dish for new game types as it's been a battle royale game, and that means that there have been occasions where Epic's really stepped out and taken some changes.

Case in point: the game's limited-time mode called The Getaway.

In a typical battle royale game, a large sum of players make it their mission to loot and survive with the hopes of being the last person alive. The Getaway did away with that premise, instead asking squads of four to locate four safes spread around the map. Each safe contained a jewel, and once a team was able to obtain one of those jewels, they needed to make their way to a getaway van and escape.

Each game could end with up to four teams winning — a pretty big departure for the battle royale formula. It would be great to see more modes step away from the norm like The Getaway did. And it would also be great to have The Getaway get back sometime soon.