Is Fortnite Save The World still worth buying in 2023? All pros and cons & in-depth review

Is Fortnite Save The World still worth buying in 2023? All pros and cons & in-depth review in this article where we cover all the important aspects of Epic Games’ Fortnite Save The World with all its core components and game mechanics.

What is Fortnite Save The World and how is it different from Fortnite Battle Royale?

Fortnite Save The World (also known as STW) is the first Fortnite game released back in July 2017. In fact, it predates the Battle Royale which came out in September 2017. Save the world, unlike its Battle Royale counterpart, is not a PvP game, but rather a cooperative PvE, where players work with each other to eliminate Husks (enemy NPCs) that have dominated the world.

The game itself was in Eary Access for a very long time, with Epic Games announcing the end of Eary Access only in 2020, 3 years after the initial launch. While Epic stated that the game will eventually go free-to-play, they later decided to keep it a premium experience, and as such, to this day, Save The World is a paid add-on to the Fortnite game.




It’s a less-known fact, but the free Fortnite Battle Royale is a spinoff to Save The World, with many components from STW being ported to Battle Royale. Of course, in time the Battle Royale has proven way more successful and as such, it has evolved a lot more.

Even the menus themselves on Save The World still look like they’re from Fortnite Battle Royale Chapter 1. If you come from Battle Royale now (Season 6 Chapter 2: Primal), you get a huge avalanche of nostalgia if you’ve played in Chapter 1. The menus, the map, buildings, rocks, hills, and cars, all look like how the Battle Royale used to look the way they used to look in Chapter 1. It’s really a nostalgia fest.

What platforms is Fortnite Save The World available on?

If you wanna purchase Save The World, you should know that not all platforms are supported. The most common ones are available, but it’s notably absent from mobile devices, Nintendo Switch and Stadia. The game has, however, been successfully ported by Epic Games to PlayStation 5, not that it matters though, because at this time I am writing this, you’re more likely to find a unicorn than a PlayStation 5 in a store.

Currently, Fortnite Save The World can be played on the following platforms:

• Windows PC.
• macOS compatible with Fortnite (Needs a Mac with a graphics card that supports Metal).
• PlayStation 4
• PlayStation 5
• Xbox One

Will my locker cosmetics from Fortnite Battle Royale work in Save The World?

Not every cosmetic, but most will. Notably, there are no contrails in STW, no glider, etc. But the outfits, pickaxe, loading screens, emotes, these will all work. This won’t really apply vice-versa though. Heroes unlocked in Save The World do not appear in the locker in Battle Royale unless it was a bundle like the Metal Team Leader.

There are, however, cosmetics from Save the world that can work in Battle Royale, most notably the pickaxes you keep updating. You also get a few pickaxes for free that work in both BR and STW, such as the Ol’ Woody pickaxe.

There are some events in Save The World that may give you cosmetics that can be used for both BR and STW. Most notably these events include:

• Frostnite (A winter event which upon completion, grants you a loading screen and a lobby track, both winter-themed). I have both and they are rather nice.
• Dungeons (This seems to be a yearly event where you need to complete 4 dungeons with other players). The reward, amongst other STW-only items, is a loading screen that works for both.

What is the story behind Fortnite Save The World?

The action takes place on Earth after a massive storm (yes, the purple storm you keep running from in Battle Royale) has wiped out 98% of the world’s population with only a handful of people remaining to defend the Earth from the monsters the storm has spawned.

These monsters are called Husks. Undead creatures spawned by an evil force that’s behind the deadly storm. They have only one mission, to kill everyone on Earth. The handful of survivors that are scattered in the ruins of the old cities is waiting to be rescued by a team of a dozen or so people under the guidance of Ray, a sassy female robot with lovely character traits. And you? Well… you are the commander. It’s up to you to march your heroes into the battlefield and kill as many husks as you can.

The goal? Clear the zones, and save the survivors from houses and basements and wherever they are hiding from the husks. You also try to learn more about the husks and the storm in the process, collecting data for Ray to analyze because not even you know what the heck happened to the Earth.

The story is pretty convoluted and as it is classic to Fortnite by now, many parts of the lore are yet to be understood, but there is a clear fact: you will have to fight the boss who has spawned all these atrocities on Earth: the Storm King. A huge purple monster with enough power to wipe the whole earth. Don’t worry though, he’s you’re last concern. You first need to get to him and the path ain’t filled with roses.




There are 4 main questlines in 4 different locations. The locations are Stonewood, Plankerton, Canny Valley, and Twine Peaks. You start in Stonewood, which is the easiest. Each mission or part of the city has different tasks to do. Rescue survivors, protect the ATLAS, launch and protect Lars’ Van, retrieve the data, destroy husk encampments, etc. For each of these, you have a power level that is required to make sure you can tackle it. The more you progress towards Twine Peaks, the harder it gets, with Twine Peaks requiring between 70- 160 power to safely enter.

You increase your power by upgrading your hero, being in a party with other more powerful players, and doing research for your cores (Health, Damage, Regeneration, etc.). Every so often you have to increase the power of your Storm Shield and defend it so that the Homebase, your base of operations, can protect even more land from the husks clearing zones.

During each “Storm Shield Defense” mission, waves of husks will attack from multiple directions with breaks in-between attacks to regroup. Thankfully these missions can be done with other players so it’s rather easy to defend your Storm Shield if you build and place traps. You can do your builds and traps long in advance and only when you feel ready do you trigger the quest.

A nice feature is that you can go play side quests and gather Wood, Metal, Stone, and other crafting ingredients, then come to the Storm Shield and deposit them for later inside the Storm Shield Storage bin. This way, when you wanna defend it you have a ton of materials to work with.

Here’s the official intro movie you get when you start to play Save The World, which explains the plot.

Is Fortnite Save The World still worth buying in 2023?

In short? Yes, you may still find joy in playing Save The World in 2021, and nowadays it is dirt-cheap to get. As a matter of fact, Save The World is included in May 2021’s Fortnite Crew Pack on Battle Royale which is rather cheap for what you get (it gives you your Battle Pass V-Bucks back, 1000 V-Bucks bonus, an outfit, pickaxe, Loading Screen, back bling, Save The World Access + 3 months of free Spotify Premium). It’s actually not bad at all.

Even if you can’t get it in the May 2021 Crew Pack, it’s still rather cheap to obtain stand-alone, and it’s worth it.

Pros of getting Fortnite Save The World in 2023:

• It’s a fun game. You do have a lot to do in it, a plethora of quests to complete, husks of various types and strengths to beat down, and places to explore.
• The same game mechanics as Fortnite Battle Royale. You build the same type of structures such as walls, ramps, cones, platforms, etc. They are a core part of Save The World, only here you can upgrade buildings to make them stronger and more resilient to attacks.
• Traps. Yes, Epic Games have kept the traps in Save The World and they are, in fact, a core component that saves you a lot of hassle. You can craft them easily, or find them in boxes, chests, etc.
• A ton more loot. Almost anything in Save The World can be looted, from chests to Sofas, shelves, drawers, boxes, toolboxes, mailboxes, vending machines, cabinets, etc. You can find loot in all the weird places. Much more than in Fortnite Battle Royale.
• Quests are engaging and require power and skill. While husks don’t exactly run toward you, at least not in the beginning, they still can deal damage if you leave them to overtake you. Upgrading your hero with more abilities using XP you gather from quests is rewarding and the game is overall engaging.
• There are events all the time which not only give you new places to explore and new enemies to fight, they give you very nice loot.
• With the introduction of Ventures, even if you finished the main quests and beat down the Storm King, you still have new challenges to complete and test your mettle.

Cons of getting Fortnite Save The World in 2023:

• Limited player pool. It’s no secret that Save The World was not a massive hit for Epic and the Battle Royale spinoff was dozens of times more successful, largely because of its Free To Play nature. As such, it can be hard to find players to play with. For most of the normal quests in the main questline, you can still find players in your region with no problem. People still very much play this game. However, for some events, you may just not manage to find a lobby to join, or you may only find 1-2 players when the game requires 4. You can still play, but it’s harder.
• Outdated graphics. Compared to Battle Royale, Save the World has not received as many graphics updates. It still uses the same textures from back in Chapter 1 of Fortnite Battle Royale. The graphics are fine, but it does feel outdated at times if you also play the BR.
• Epic doesn’t really care that much anymore about Save The World. While they do add more stuff to it from update to update, the progress of the game has been rather slow, many bugs remain unfixed to this date and most of Epic Games’ focus is now Battle Royale. That being said, the game is playable and quite ok as it is. I just wish they won’t just shut down the servers one day because the game doesn’t have massive amounts of players.
• You can no longer earn V-Bucks from the game. Many people heard of Save The World because while it was in Eary Access, it was quite expensive to buy, but if you bought it back then, you get quests that give you 50 – 100 V-Bucks from time to time. Those are a nice free V-Bucks sources, but only those who bought the game in Early Access can have that. If you were planning to get it for V-Bucks, it’s not possible in 2021.
• Menus are a bit confusing, especially with all the possible upgrades and powers that are oftentimes not well explained.
• There’s a severe lack of tutorials on how to do many things on Save The World. There are far more tutorials and guides online for Battle Royale.

Conclusion:

It’s worth it to get Save The World in 2021, and if anything, you really should get it now because it’s only gonna get worse as time goes by. Fewer and fewer people will play it if Epic Games doesn’t make it free-to-play and with fewer players to party with, the game is insanely hard. While there are still people to play with, it’s well worth it and it can bring a less-known face of Fortnite.

The game is still interesting and has a lot of quests to complete on a different maps with different plots. It’s really different from Battle Royale and if it wasn’t for the cartoony style, prominent building, and characters, I would have thought it is a completely unrelated game. It’s a nice experience to have while you still can, as the future of Save The World is very unclear.

Overall Score:

7.8/10

Other Game Guides:

• Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2: All Legacy Achievements
• Red Dead Redemption 2: Chapter 1: Colter Walkthrough and Guide
• The Biggest Game Releases of 2023
• All new Locations in Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2
• GTA V – San Andreas Sightseer Trophy Guide – Explore all of Los Santos and Blaine County
• Best PlayStation / Xbox Controller And Sensitivity Settings For Fortnite (Chapter 3)
• Fortnite Chapter 3 Season 1 – All Legacies / Achievements
• Fortnite launches Impostors mode, an Among Us-like experience (And it’s Great!)