10 Video Games That Tried Way Too Hard To Be Cool

2. Fortnite

fortnite agent
Epic

As surprisingly as it might be, I'm not actually going to rag on Fortnite for being, well, Fortnite. The colourful characters, bandwagon jumping and flossing are all fair game and a distinct part of the brand, and what helped it become a pop-culture phenomenon.

What is a desperate attempt to nab 'cool points' though, is the constant crossover events. Pretty much every time there's some kind of notable movie coming out, Fortnite will sell its soul to include a tie-in. From Star Wars to John Wick, (seriously, how many kids playing this game know who the hell John Wick is?) the devs don't miss a beat to cash in on the thing everyone is talking about.

Throw on top of this in-game 'gigs' headlined by virtual versions of artists like Marshmallow, which encourage everyone to pop off their best emotes, and the whole thing comes across like EPIC is desperately scared Fortnite's insane popularity will dwindle, and are doing everything they can to associate it with whatever hip brands are currently in vogue.

Advertisement
Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.