Fortnite Season 9 has officially arrived and if day one of it is anything to go by, it could well be the biggest season yet. If you thought Season 8 ushered in a lot of change, you ain't seen nothing yet. As expected, the map has been altered like never before. Yes, the Fortnite Island we do battle on today is vastly different from the one the game started with, but those changes have happened gradually. Season 8's volcanic eruption meant iconic areas of the map were in dire need of a facelift, so let's start there.
The biggest story of all right now is, of course, the obliteration of Tilted Towers. It felt as if half of the Fortnite community hated the busy location while the other half loved it. Either way, it is now gone and has been replaced with what is effectively a futuristic version, Neo Tilted. The setting fits in with the futuristic theme of Season 9 and is far less crowded. Retail Row has been similarly replaced with Mega Mall, and Pressure Plant now stands where the volcano once did.
If you haven't paid a visit to Fortnite Island yet during Season 9 but have closely studied the map, you might have noticed another difference - another form of transport... well, sort of. It is being referred to as a slipstream, and there are two of them. One large one goes around the middle of the map, while a second smaller one circles around Neo Tilted. Players can jump into the stream of pressurized air and be transported somewhere else on the island. You can jump out whenever you like.
Unsurprisingly, a number of items and weapons have been vaulted. Since Season 8's pirate theme has sadly come to an end (spoiler alert: Peely is now a smoothie but appears to be okay with it) items such as Buried Treasure and Poison Dart Traps have no place in the game anymore. However, the vaulting of the Pump Shotgun came as a huge surprise to all of us. It has been replaced with the Combat Shotgun. The new item has a larger magazine and a faster fire rate, but it does dole out less damage.
With a new season and a new theme comes a new Battle Pass, which, in turn, unleashes new characters, skins, and items to unlock. Upon purchase of this season's Battle Pass, the two characters you unlock will be Sentinel and Rox. The former appears to be some sort of robot chicken. We're not sure whether that is relevant to the ongoing Fortnite storyline, but we're sure we'll find out over the coming weeks. For the more dedicated players among you, if you make it to Battle Pass level 100, you'll unlock the awesome looking Vendetta.
Honestly, you can keep Vendetta. What we are interested in is getting our hands on are Fortnite's new mechanized pets. We were excited when Epic first introduced pets to the game, equally as excited when they added more, and now just as excited that we can get our hands on mechanical versions. There are also new wraps and emotes to unlock but yeah, we are primarily focused on getting those pets. Now if only Fortnite would actually let us pet them properly.
Last but certainly not least, Fortbytes are a completely new addition to the game and again, something only Battle Pass holders will be able to get their hands on. There are 100 Fortbytes to collect in total and when you get them all, they will apparently reveal a mysterious message about Season 9. Eighteen of them are available to start with and it seems like how to find or unlock a new one will be revealed each day. We're assuming we won't be able to figure out the hidden message until the end of the season.
That's all you need to know about Season 9. All that's left to do now is give it a whirl. Personally, we are thoroughly enjoying playing on a Tilted Towers-less map. We know not all of you will be on our side with that one, but you never know, maybe Neo Tilted will end up being an even better hunting ground for you in the coming weeks.