At first glance, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout doesn’t seem quite as addictive and time consuming as it truly is. Developed by Mediatonic, Fall Guys is the perfect knockout-style battle royale game for all of us who are stuck inside this semester. The character that you play as, complete with impeccable jellybean vibes, is fully customizable. From his skin color, to the patterns on his “suit”, you can have your character rock whatever your heart desires.
As of today, it has only been released on Windows and PS4 for a little over two weeks, and has already sold over 2 million copies. While the game is free for a limited time only on Playstation Plus, the PC version will cost you $20 without DLC costume packs. This incredible amount of sales has caused the game to rise to the top of Steam’s best-sellers list quicker than ever seen before. At the moment, the game’s rising popularity has potential to pass up other battle royale-esque games such as League of Legends and Fortnite, but it still has a while to go.
The style of the game is battle royale, which seems to be an increasingly popular gaming style, complete with knockout rounds and different minigames within each round. The game starts with 60 players, all competing in what’s called a “show”, lasting 4-5 rounds until one player overtakes the other 59 in the different types of minigames. There’s races, memory games, team-style games, and survival games, all designed to eliminate a certain number of competitors each round. If you are the one remaining victor, you get a “crown”, which can be used to purchase different skins, costumes, or face colors for your “fall guy”, which takes the form of a squishy jelly bean-looking character.
In just the first week, sales had skyrocketed so high that the servers were unable to support 1.5 million players at once, and disconnections were way too frequent to make the game enjoyable. However, since this major issue was patched, there were far less issues regarding the gameplay other than lag. Another issue that should be noted bumping other players happens nearly every game, and it can be rather annoying when you’re trying to break away from the pack.
The controls on the game are insanely easy to pick up, and it leaves room for competitive and casual players alike to enjoy the game together. You can “grab” other players or items in the minigames (SHIFT key on keyboard; Left bumper on controllers), and you can even hug other fall guys around you! One thing that I find annoying about grabbing is that other players can literally use their grab to hold you in place for a couple seconds, which can hinder your progress when you try to get ahead.
Overall, this game has some serious potential in the gaming industry. It’s easy to get hooked into playing multiple “shows” in a row, and it’s near impossible to sit down and just play one quick game. While this game has a relatively casual approach, I can clearly see some true eSports value to Fall Guys. While racking up your crowns is the quickest way to become a pro, they certainly aren’t easy to obtain when you sit down for a quick game.
