Fall Guys Ultimate Knockout is out today in PS4 (free on PS Plus) and PC (Steam). The Devolver Digital-published multiplayer battle royale isn’t your usual battle royale. It’s more of a game show in video game format.
Think Takeshi’s Castle obstacle course challenges, and a mix of Wipeout (the game show, not the video game)’s huge platforms and moving obstacles all enclosed in squishy foam. Married those game show elements with physics-based slapstick and 60-player count and that’s Fall Guys.
On day one, Fall Guys is looking good… until the servers finally broke.
Bumble And Fumble
Here’s how Fall Guys works. You and 59 other players enter an episode where you will be competing to be the winner. Each round is a randomly-selected challenge where only a limited amount of players get through. Survive until the final round, and you’re in a shot for the crown.
These challenges can be obstacle course runs with a lot of random shenanigans, such as jumping on multiple rotating platforms, avoid getting smacked by a giant propeller or run through a barrage of flying, giant fruits. Others are team-based challenges where you’ll need to work together to get the team qualified.
You only have three actions. Jump, dive (after a jump) and grab. That’s all you need for some silly fun, and it works brilliantly on paper.
Game Show, The Video Game
Wipeout (the game show) did have a video game adaptation, but it was not fun. But in 2020, the pieces are in place to make the perfect video game off those game shows. Physics-based shenanigans popularised in games like Gang Beasts and Human Fall Flat mixes so well with battle royale’s massive player count. And that’s what Fall Guys did.
It even includes the random nature of these fun game shows, where you can’t go on skill alone- you’ll need a little bit of RNG to be in your favour.
In a sea of battle royale shooters, and very hardcore realistic games, Fall Guys stand out for being goofy, chippy and energetic in its aesthetic. The soundtrack slaps, and features funky bass slaps.
The Fall Guys themselves are blank, but expressive little jellybeans ripe for customisation. Put on funky colours, or a funny hat, or a furry costume. And seeing all these customisations mushed into a sea of colours during obstacle courses is wonderful to see.
The Online Works, But There’s More Work Needed
It’s a surprise that Fall Guys is even releasing in Asia, given that this is an indie title. Thankfully, having it free on PS Plus should give the game a decent player-base on launch.
On day-one, before the server broke, that seems to be true: the online works. Matchmaking to 60 players is fast. This is around 4-6PM on a weekday, which I wouldn’t expect fast matchmaking.
However, there are instances where everyone slows down. Collision detection can sometimes be off as well. Grabbing someone, or even just jumping can be a hit-and-miss.
The online experience isn’t perfect, but still playable.
And then the servers broke. At one point it’s reported that at least 120,000 players connected to the servers concurrently. The game is pretty much alive, unlike games that are dead on arrival, and it’s a good problem to have. Better this than having no player base at all. Still, it didn’t stop from people being angry about it.
What’s With The PS4 Version?
I did spent some time with the Fall Guys PC beta before, and this is the first time I jumped to try it out on PS4. I have issues to bring up.
It’s a bit of a bummer it’s not 60fps on PS4. The clean, charming aesthetic looks more fluid and fun in 60fps, but hey, it’s playable.
What I’m taking issue the most is actually the camera options. Or rather, the lack thereof. There’s no settings to change camera sensitivity, and even worse, no option to invert camera axis. I swear the PC version has this, and it’s driving so mad I sent a support ticket to request this feature on PS4.
Okay, so these are still minor quibbles in the bigger picture of, say, servers are not up and running. But I have to bring those up.
Will It Last Or Will It Fall, Guys?
Fall Guys is purely an online multiplayer affair, and it has all the features you’d expect from a live service game. There are seasons, where you collect fame (XP) to unlock levels of rewards available for certain time periods. No paid tiers in this battle pass equivalent. Instead, Fall Guys let you buy kudos (in-game credits) using real money, and then use that to buy cosmetic unlocks.
Winners of a Fall Guys episode will get a crown. And these are actually the second currency used to buy fancier cosmetics, like a ninja suit. You can’t buy crowns, but a few can be unlocked in the battle pass. It’s not a premium currency.
Mediatonic has said there are plans to continue adding more rounds on top of the current rotation of 25 levels. Like most game shows, it will get stale if it’s the same rounds over and over. And there’s likely to be less goofy shenanigans once most of the players that stuck around are veterans.
Hopefully, the flow of free content continues to maintain a steady number of players.
But first, the servers must be up first if they want to continue this momentum, or else, Fall Guys’s server fumbles may get them eliminated early from the battle royale conversation after a strong head start.