Release date: 5 August 2020
Platform: PC, PS4
Developer: Mediatonic
Publisher: Mediatonic
The good:
- Oddly addictive
- Colourful and absurd
- Gets you hooked every level
- Pushing friends off platforms
The bad:
- Slow character progression
- Technical bugs in the game
30 seconds. That’s all you need to fall in love with Fall Guys. No plot twist required. No need to unlock any game-changing ability either. Unlike certain games that take an hour or two of gameplay before it grows on you, Fall Guys subverts the battle royale genre and turns it into a wild party. Imagine if Call of Duty: Warzone, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and Mario Party had an illegitimate child. Intense? Definitely. Cute? Yes. Well, if a battle royale with 60 jelly beans dressed as owls, dinosaurs, pineapples, and more isn’t, we don’t know what is. But trust us, trying to survive until the end and walk away with the coveted crown will give you anxiety with the barrage of gunfire. While it feels like your typical battle royale, it actually is a battle royale unlike any other. The best part? No guns. Just fun. And you’ll still feel like a winner even though you have lost.
A full match takes about 3-5 rounds, each of which are randomly selected from a field of 24 different levels. And what’s amazing is each level brings a different type of fun. Think bouncy players racing across giant seesaws to advance, and sprinting up a hill, shoving other players while trying to avoid massive fruits. Every level doesn’t fail to surprise, and there’s definitely something for everyone.
While there are no private games at the moment, you can still invite friends to games. Unfortunately, there are no squad-based modes either, but it’s still fun to keep track of your friends and witness their victories and defeats, which will crack you up all the same. The game can get infuriating on some levels too, especially when players do not follow the rules in soccer mode rounds like ‘Fall Ball’ and the ever so messy ‘Egg Scramble’. That said, whether you’re playing alone or together with friends, you’ll definitely enjoy every level regardless.
Run. Jump. Dive. Grab. That’s all there is to the game. And that’s what makes it beautiful. Even a first-timer would seem like a seasoned gamer. It’s simple, especially how certain gamers would shy away from the battle genre given how intense it can get. Fall Guys is filled with many silly mini-games that will provide just as many silly moments. It’s easy to play and there’s a lot of mass appeal for sure. It’s wickedly fun too. Just wait till you use ‘grab’ to hold someone in place until they fall off a sinking platform, or drag someone down to elimination with you. Well, just because you can’t win doesn’t mean you can’t succeed in making others lose!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CD0NlgzpQYm/
All in the name of fun
Yes, it’s a battle royale game. And it’s anything but intense. Frankly speaking, it really is pretty easy to get into the groove of things. Each round lasts about 2 minutes, and even though elimination comes early for most, defeat still tastes rather sweet.
The colour palette is bright. The soundtrack is energetic. More than just a party game, Fall Guys is in itself the party! Not a gamer? That’s alright too. It’s just as entertaining watching the game.
Because you’ll still feel like you’re part of it even though you’re just spectating. As much as it is a thoroughly exhilarating game to both watch and play, if you’re into highly competitive games, the randomness of Fall Guys may not be something that you’d appreciate. What we didn’t really appreciate was the physics of the game. It’s unpredictable and you’ll get “crowdsurfing” jelly bean avatars piling on top of each other. And as funny as that may sound, it actually gets frustrating. What’s more, each level begins with players randomly placed at the starting line, and if you are highly competitive, you’d realise that a front or side placement would give you a slight advantage over the others. To the more lighthearted competitors, it’d just be an irresistible mix of skill and luck. Truth be told, it’s a game that favours good fortune, and no one would be able to rely on their skills forever. While that’s something not every player would enjoy, Fall Guys is all about having fun unlike most other battle royale games. You actually feel good when you lose. And besides, you’ll only be a few seconds away from beginning anew with 59 other goofballs. Also with Fall Guys, there’s no such thing as ‘just one game’.
You can also show off your jellybean-like avatars by dressing them up in costumes, emotes and colourful patterns. And if you’d like to unlock items, be sure to come out on top with more wins, and by levelling up. Alternatively, you could just purchase them. Don’t worry, they are all reasonably priced. Kudos (pretty cute, huh?), the game’s currency, can be obtained through regular play or even purchased with money. And costumes, emotes as well as colour patterns go for about 800 Kudos a pop. But if you’re not willing to part with your money that’s ok, you just got to spend more time on the game. And just as you thought things can’t get any better, this is only ‘Season 1’ according to Mediatonic, which only means that it’s highly likely for the game to have new levels, or even cosmetics!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CD0IDRbHdZ_/
If there was anything wrong with the game, it’d definitely have to be its congested servers. But hey, this only means that it’s popular! With Fall Guys, Mediatonic didn’t just break the rules, they basically rewrote it. And to put it simply, Fall Guys is like battle royale. But on crack.
4/5 stars
