Fortnite Season 8 released on September 13, so we’ve had plenty of time to play through it and see what it has to offer.

Today, we’ll be looking at the Battle Pass, map changes, updates, and meta, to see where Chapter 2 Season 8 fits in the overall rankings.

Battle Pass

The recent Fortnite Battle Passes have all been above average, in my opinion. They offer plenty of value for those who play every day, with enough challenges and variants to keep people coming back.

I have so many skins at this point that I won’t even buy a Battle Pass without a top-tier crossover like Rick Sanchez or Lara Croft (not a huge Carnage fan).

Still, Charlotte, Kor, Toona, and Carnage are more than enough to sell the Battle Pass and offer a substantial amount of value.

Verdict: not really for me since I have too many skins already, but there’s some good stuff in there. B+ Battle Pass.

Epic Games

Map changes & updates

The new map was underwhelming when Season 8 launched – especially considering the destruction we saw in the cinematic.

I mean, seriously. A nuclear plant was struck by a massive cube and only one building was affected.

It was entertaining to watch the cubes roll around the map and The Convergence has a ton of chests, but it’s the only new major POI of the season.

The new Slipstreams are great – mobility is always a plus, but the map didn’t change as much as I wish it had. It seems like most of the recent seasons have had the same issue on this front.

Verdict: Returning mechanics are fun but The Convergence is little more than a gimmick. Underwhelming map changes. C.

Epic Games

New mechanics & events

First, we’ll start with Fortnitemares: fun for PvE players and skin junkies, but didn’t do too much to change the overall grading of the season. Brooms were fun while they lasted, though.

As far as the new mechanics of the season – the Sideways – it’s just more of the same. We’ve had roaming NPC antagonists for several seasons, and The Sideways was just another form of that.

I like that we don’t have to engage with The Sideways unless we want to. It’s better this than IO Guards, Marauders, and the other menaces we’ve had throughout Chapter 2.

The voting mechanic was also a plus until recently. We saw a Drum Gun 2.0 when the Combat won the vote over the Boogie Bomb.

Verdict: I never go to The Sideways. The weapons aren’t worth it. Still, better than other open-world NPCs we’ve seen. C+.

Epic Games

New mechanics & events

Arena is still pubs with siphon, but this time Epic made it much harder to make it into Champion’s League.

Epic took a tiny step in the right direction, but even pro players are now finding it hard to level up in Arena – not a great thing.

I was hoping for more substantial changes, but didn’t expect much more than what we got.

Verdict: Breaking news, Fortnite Arena still isn’t super competitive. The changes only made things more of a grind. C-.

The meta

This is the most important category out of them all – at least for me.

Thankfully, it’s probably the best category for Fortnite right now – except for the braindead community that voted for the Combat.

The original Charge and Pump (and the three people who use the Lever) meta is one of the best shotgun metas in Fortnite.

There’s been a lot of mobility throughout the season with the Slipstreams, Shockwave Launcher, and the limited-time Brooms. More mobility isn’t always a good thing, but it is almost always more fun.

Rifles are in a decent spot as well. The AK is trash, and I’m happy to see it go.

For healing, we now have Chug Splashes and Chili Chug Splashes, which replaced the OP Chug Cannon. 

Verdict: Overall, I really like the meta. It’s a slight upgrade from last season, which was already pretty good. A-.

Epic Games

Final verdict

Season 8 a decent season, but didn’t do too much to differentiate itself from previous ones.

The past three or four seasons have been basic Chapter 2 Fortnite with shuffling metas, reworks of old items/mechanics, and a new theme. Season 8 is no different.

That isn’t to say Season 8 isn’t fun, but it probably won’t do anything to bring players back to the game. We might have to wait for Chapter 3 for that.

Final grade: B

This will change if the BRUTE returns this season, which it very likely will. We’ll have to see the spawn rate and how disruptive they will be.

Jimmy Russo is a writer and editor for jaxon.gg covering a variety of games and topics. He specializes in first-person shooters including Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Valorant, while also covering livestreaming news on Twitch and other aspects of the gaming industry.