Fortnite introduces new Among Us-style game mode

The new Fortnite LTM "The Spy Within" is effectively Epic’s take on Among Us.

The Spy Within is a game mode for 10 players, where you are split into two teams, Butlers and Spies. Each game has eight butlers and two spies. The Butlers have to complete jobs or discover the Spies to win, while the spies have to eliminate the Butlers to win.

THE SPY WITHIN LETS GOOOO pic.twitter.com/vMn88mFEr6

— ❄️Yevgen Snowz❄️IS BLINDED BY THE LIGHTS! (@Yevgen_Here) December 15, 2020

Among Us in Fortnite has been done before

This isn’t the first time Among Us has come to Fortnite. Prior to The Spy Within, the Fortnite community had already created its own Among Us game mode titled “Amidst Us.” Similar to Amidst Us, The Spy Within differs significantly from the original inspiration in part because of the difference in medium.

The Spy Within forces players to adopt a first person perspective and uses small rooms and sharp corners to limit players’ lines of sight. This gives the spies the opportunities they need to score eliminations.

When a body gets found, players can report it and will be brought to a round table where they can discuss information and vote to kick someone out.

One significant difference from Among Us is the expectation of voice communication in Fortnite. Because players usually have access to voice chat, and Fortnite supports its own integrated voice chat, the discussions are expected to make use of this feature.

Comparatively, in Among Us this can only be achieved with alternative third party software.

The Spy Within is a bit more than an Among Us clone

The Spy Within takes a lot of inspiration from Among Us, such as the tasks, sabotages, and other features. However, it shifts players’ goals enough and makes use of the first person perspective in a way that is significantly more integrated than previous community game modes.

Notably, rather than having each player given a set of tasks to complete and finishing the game when all tasks are finished, tasks in this Fortnite game mode can be repeated. Completing a task rewards players with gold coins instead, which must then be deposited into a single location to make progress towards the team goal.

It does, however, still have the appearance and physics of Fortnite. Admittedly, it is a little odd seeing players carrying pickaxes while wandering around the game, or having to shoot buttons to vote players out, but this isn’t too much of a problem. Players don’t jump into a Fortnite LTM expecting it to be a totally different game.

Despite this, something certainly does feel off about this game mode. For a social deduction game, The Spy Within has significant pacing issues likely tied to the fact that they are using game design meant for Among Us and shoehorning it into a first person perspective.

The Spy Within quests are now available! #Fortnite pic.twitter.com/t3Zje8pGYY

— Fortnite News (@FortniteBR) December 15, 2020

Additionally, because the character models in Fortnite are usually overly detailed, and because players can often have the same character models, it can feel a lot harder to immediately identify players.

The simplistic colors and prominent name tags in Among Us allow players to keep tabs on each other. Whereas in Fortnite, games can feature a half dozen Master Chief’s wandering around the same areas.

All in all, it’s worth a shot and a good effort, but doesn’t feel like it quite gets there.