Fortnite channels its inner Helldivers 2, adds ragdoll-like tumbling, which is either very funny or incredibly embarrassing depending on who you ask

Fortnite Chapter 7 is here, and with Season 1 there are a number of new mechanics to use in the battle royale, including the ability to roll around when you're knocked down. With that also comes something else – Helldivers 2-esque ragdoll-like physics, which can see you uncontrollably tumbling down hills and being flung around by friend and foe alike.

When playing with a team (or solo, if you've managed to grab one of the rare new Self-Revive Devices), when you get knocked, you now have the ability to roll as well as crawl, giving you more room to flee from danger and get rescued by your friends. You have a fair bit of control over this… unless you happen to be by a hill, where your player character's newfound floppiness can see them tumble all the way down – very funny if it's what you were aiming for, perhaps less so if your friends are stuck watching you fall when they could really do with getting you back into the fight.

"This is the most embarrassing mechanic ever added to fortnite," one unlucky player writes, sharing a clip of them going on what must have felt like a journey across the entire map in one spectacularly long tumble.

Generally though, it's incredibly amusing. Responding to one clip on Twitter, Fortnite design director Ted Timmins reveals it was also, understandably, a very comical mechanic to test: "I remember in the internal playtest reviews for this having tears in my eyes as we practiced tumbling down hills over and over again."

Those new floppy ragdoll-esque animations are also front and center when knocked players are thrown and hit with cars. Social media is currently full of clips of people being launched in spectacular ways – you can bask in their glory below.

While some have been quick to point out that the mechanic doesn't really count as true, proper ragdolling – characters certainly aren't quite as floppy and likely to be sent into the stratosphere as they are in Helldivers 2, for example – it's still funny to watch, and feels like Epic may have taken another leaf out of Arrowhead's book after its bug-fighting season. Whatever the inspiration, however, I'm here for it.

Fortnite Chapter 7 was designed to take the game "back to its battle royale roots," even though it didn't actually start as one, and one lead is "both in awe and hugely proud of this team."