Gaming

'Fortnite' Rival 'H1Z1' Just Hit PS4 and Looks Totally Gnarly

'Fortnite' finally gets some competition on PS4.

If Fortnite: Battle Royale on PlayStation 4 is a little bit too cartoony for your liking, then the gritty-looking H1Z1: Battle Royale — which just hit the console — is totally for you.

Daybreak Games released the PlayStation 4 open beta for H1Z1: Battle Royale on Tuesday and celebrated with a new trailer. The trailer highlights the game’s intense and gritty action — which includes drivable vehicles. Environments look mostly similar to those in Fortnite with its rural roads and compounds in varying states of decay and destruction, except H1Z1 opts for more realistic graphics and action compared to Fortnite’s cartoonish aesthetic. The middle portion of the trailer highlights an experience all-too-familiar to any fan of battle royale games: a player enters a bare house and engages in a chaotic firefight with multiple enemies. Perhaps the coolest gameplay mechanic that differentiates H1Z1 is the inclusion of vehicles. So while Fortnite players build magical staircases up the sides of mountains, H1Z1 players will be running each other over GTA-style.

Vehicles play a huge part in the 'H1Z1: Battle Royale' experience.

Daybreak Games

Fortnite often comes off as bit cartoonish and sometimes even childish, but H1Z1 goes all in on the more mature carnage with hyper-realistic graphics. Most character outfits look like IRL paramilitary gear, but H1Z1 also has unicorn masks and even a skin that looks like Ghost Rider. (Skulls are everywhere in this game, so you know it’s dark and gritty.) In an official press release, H1Z1’s producer Terrence Yee said of the game, “It’s fast-paced, intuitive, and its 15-minute matches make for fun, intense sessions.”

See also: How to Search Between a Bench, Ice Cream Truck, and Helicopter in ‘Fortnite’

Much like Fortnite, H1Z1 will be free-to-play during this open beta (not to be confused with Fortnite’s “early access” status). Right now, anyone with a PlayStation 4 can download H1Z1 for free in the PlayStation Store, but you can also purchase various cosmetic packs.

Xbox One already has PUBG, which sort of explains why H1Z1 opted for PS4 instead. So now everyone on PS4 will have options when it comes to their free-to-play battle royale gaming experiences.

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