View to Kill

In a constantly evolving ‘live’ game, it’s no surprise that certain seasons favor some and spurn others. Fortnite lives and breathes off its continually changing sets of weaponry, but for most players, these alterations are minuscule – a slight tweak in the meta. As a legally blind user, however, I distinctly remember “Chapter 4 Season 3: Wilds,” not just for copying my last name, but because it finally molded me into a proper hunter.

It made me the Predator.

The game has had items like Thermal Fish for a while, which changes how players see the landscape, highlighting enemies, but consumables like this were temporary and not guaranteed always to be present. Recently though, there were perks like Primal Companion, which offered Thermal Vision while riding an animal, but those mounts die quickly if you’re not careful. The real gem of this season was the Thermal DMR, a nearly perfect ranged weapon with a scope, allowing me to extend my sight and see hot orange shapes moving across cool dark blues and purple backdrops. This weapon was my new friend; White Tiger, I named it.

“See how a jungle animal sees,” the description reads, and it does not lie. For once, I’m able to truly help my team, spot enemies at a distance, and pop them out of existence before they become a threat, pulling my weight in the squad and bolstering the scoreboard. These were my best days in Fortnite, and it showed by how much I was playing – and winning.

But seasons end. My precious companion is gone, and I find myself back in the losers’ bracket. My glory days are behind me and I’m not sure when they’ll come around again. I wonder if I’ll ever be back on an even playing field, allowed to be a real hunter once more.