Review: Fortnite's Star Wars Mini Season, "Galactic Battle," May Be the Popular Video Game's Most Immersive Crossover Yet

Fortnite’s largest Star Wars collaboration is finally here. The new Chapter 6 mini season, titled Galactic Battle, brings in an impressive amount of Force-filled content. I had a chance to try out the new season, so let’s take a deep look into Fortnite: Galactic Battle.

The Force is with Fortnite as it dives into a brand new, out-of-this-world mini season titled Galactic Battle. Aligning with the annual Star Wars Day celebrations on May 4th, Epic Games and Disney have teamed up again to bring in the month-long event to the battle royale-style game. Yesterday, we shared information about the update as well as their Star Wars Watch Party island, which gives fans a sneak peek at the new series Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, but today, we are gonna dive into the game’s battle royale island to experience all of the incredible, intergalactic action of Fortnite: Galactic Battle.

Loading into the game, Star Wars fans will be welcomed with an exciting cinematic as well as a themed lobby for the season. As the Galactic Empire has now invaded Fortnite’s Battle Royale island, all weapons have been replaced with blasters, lightsabers, and other Star Wars-themed items. Standard healing and shield items are still available. Star Wars can be felt everywhere on the map, including in the sky where a large Death Star looms from outer space.

Jumping into the battle as one of my favorite Star Wars characters, Darth Maul, I was ready to explore all of the new points of interest (POIs) that now decorate the map.

Boarding the Battle Bus, the Star Wars “Main Theme" blasts, providing an extra amount of Star Wars flare to an integral part of the game. For my first match, I decided to head to the Resistance Base.

Featuring the iconic Millennium Falcon, X-Wings, and Poe Dameron, there are plenty of bunkers and crates to explore. Finding a handful of different blasters, I loaded up my loadout and headed to go talk with Poe who gave me a rundown on the area and the battle.

While I was excited to explore the Resistance Base, the storm was closing in on me, which meant it was time to venture out farther into the island. After exploring, and taking down a few enemy players, I was greeted with the familiar lightsaber hologram icon on my map, which looks pretty much identical to those used in past Star Wars events. As I approached, I was delighted to find Darth Sideous’ hologram. After “training" with the character, I received the Red Lightsaber equipped with Force Lightning. I love Fortnite’s use of lightsabers, which add really helpful movement abilities, like Force Jump, that really make combat more fun.

I hopped aboard the train to unlock the loot crate, but found myself confronted with another enemy player. It was my time to try Force Lightning, and I couldn’t wait. Activated by blocking with the lightsaber and pressing the action button, lightning shot from my fingers, dealing quick damage to the other player.

You’ll need to be accurate with aiming to do real damage with Force Lightning, but once you lock in, the other player doesn’t stand a chance. Force Lightning is definitely not meant for ranged attacks, so make sure your target is close by.

Now, unfortunately, I was taken down by another Sith Lord equipped with Force Lightning, so it was time to jump back on the Battle Bus and check out another one of the game’s new locations.

Next up, I hit Outpost Enclave. Reminiscent of Tatooine, this desert village was packed with places to explore.

This includes a Cantina, where the iconic Star Wars jingle echoes through the deserted looking bar.

This is the area I think I felt the most immersed into the Star Wars universe, as there were just so many places to find blasters and chests. There is also a sandcrawler that can be explored. However, there isn’t much to do as the area doesn’t have any boss bottles or X-Wings to fly off with, so it’s definitely a safer POI to land at than the other 3.

I still just need to say, it is so fun hearing the TIE-Fighter noises in the sky.

Something really interesting about this new season is Story Quests are far more obscure than in previous seasons. It relies on players getting onto the island and exploring. Make sure you keep an eye out for “!" markers on your map, as they often lead to hidden quests and characters. Towards the middle of the island, I ran into General Grievous, who was rather rude to me. However, the conversation unlocked a quest for the character, requiring me to bring him a lightsaber. Galactic Battle really encourages players to go out and find challenges and adventures.

Heading towards another POI of interest, I decided my next drop would be Vader Samurai’s Solitude.

Don’t let the name fool you, landing here didn’t provide any kind of peace or quiet. Home to the Darth Vader Samurai mythic battle, this place is crawling with Stormtrooper Samurai. While beautiful and stylized, this place is somewhat of a death sentence. Landing here the first time, I found myself immediately confronted by Stormtroopers, who quickly allerted Vader himself. I tried to get in the TIE-Fighter and fly off, but Vader used the Force to pull me back in. I managed to escape momentarily, but was quickly taken out by the NPCs.

I decided to try landing a little farther away from the summit the next time around, hoping to find good blasters and shield potions prior to heading up into the area. I quietly snuck in through a building, but was somehow detected, Darth Vader Samurai exploded the entire front facing wall, exposing me. Using his lightsaber and Force Throw and Force Pull abilities, I had no choice but to try and retreat. I was once again unsuccessful.

I tried, once again, to try and take Vader out. This time, I came from the sky in a TIE-Fighter, which did more damage than I had without. However, being blasted by Stormtrooper blasters took a toll on my ship, eventually leading to its explosion and my elimination. Heading here with a lightsaber or a friend seems like your best bet. Or maybe its just a skill issue on my part. But Vader was relentless, as far as Fortnite mythic battles go.

Last up was the First Order Base. There is a ton to explore both at the top of the summit, as well as the backside facing the ocean.

This area also has Stormtroopers, but far less than on Vader’s Samurai Solitude. Here you’ll find the other mythic battle against Captain Phasma. She can be found inside the large hanger that has been dug into the side of the mountain.

Phasma, along with her small army of Stormtroopers, will come at you quickly. I took the Stormtroopers out first, avoiding Phasma until I had a clear 1 v 1 with the Star Wars character. Her attacks come in the form of blaster attacks and Thermal Imploders. You’ll really want to make sure you are moving around to keep from getting damaged by the explosions.

Try throwing one back at her if you find one. It was pretty cathartic.

Otherwise, Phasma is pretty easy to take down. Dropping both her mythic blaster as well as a medallion, it was a rewarding boss fight and far more manageable than Vader. Her medallion exposes you on the map, but also decreases cool down periods for blasters, a benefit worth the risk.

Fortnite: Galactic Battle has gotten off with an incredible start. I wish the Story Quests were a little more straightforward, as the season seems to have a really promising premise. However, I didn’t hate being encouraged to explore corners of the map that aren’t the new POIs. It’s so great to have lightsabers back and I love that the current weapons are all from the Star Wars universe. It makes gameplay feel immersive and balanced. I’m, honestly, sad that Galactic Battle will only be around for the next month. My favorite part of the new season was absolutely the area music added to these new locations. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of being in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It’s also a testament to how impactful John Williams’ score truly is. Overall, this may be Fortnite’s most immersive crossover to date. With even more exciting content heading to the game over the following weeks, we will be back to check out all of the exciting new events, characters, costumes, and weapon releases.

As for now, go hop on Fortnite and live your Star Wars adventure, now through June 7th.

Fortnite is a free-to-play, battle royale style video game by Epic Games, available on PC, mobile, and all major gaming consoles.

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