Fortnite Season 5 is here with golf carts, rifts, new locations and a more deadly storm

It has begun! Season five of Fortnite, the worldwide phenomenon of a game(mode), has been launched and Epic Games has made sure that this one’s even more exciting than the rest, offering a whole host of new locations, weapons, vehicles and mechanics.

After teasing a historical theme at the end of Season 4, the new update brings us viking ships, some sandy shores, ancient statues and plenty of skins to do them justice. Just look at the trailer. Look.

As expected, the biggest changes are on the map. The developers have unveiled a new desert environment, which gives you a break from the continuous lush green hills between the Towers and the Divit.

They’ve also added two new named locations: Paradise Palms and Lazy Links, on top of a few anonymous areas that you’ll just have to try and find yourself.

Updates ripping through space

With these two new locations, Epic Games thought that players might need to get around in more style. Yeah we have the shopping carts, but what about something… motorised?

So we have ‘All Terrain Kart’s’ (ATK), which are basically ruggedised golf carts that enable speed boosts when drifting. All four members of a squad, or four rando’s in Solo’s, can climb inside, but also work together to enable higher jumps using a well-timed lean. For a quick escape, the roof also acts as a bounce pad.

Remember the cracks in the sky at the end of Fortnite Season 4? Epic has brought some of them down to earth in the form of Rifts. These Rifts are mini portals that can transport you all over the island, providing a quick escape route to a random point on the map.

In-game mechanics have also been updated (count on Epic to keep this ship sailing smoothly). Where storm circles would normally just shrink, Epic has decided that the seventh, eighth and ninth circles should move in random directions, giving campers a whole new headache to deal with.

However, the first storm circle will now only ever do one point of damage, no matter how long you’re stuck in it. So you’ve got a while to figure out the game plan.

One of those selfish teammates who ignores other members of their squad after they’d been downed? Shame on you! From now on, players can earn XP for reviving their teammates in any 50v50 and Teams of 20 matches.

The new Fortnite season is already available on all platforms, just make sure to download the latest update on your PS4, Xbox, PC, or Nintendo Switch.