The launch day for Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout had an unexpected turn attracting 1.5 million people only in day one. This crushed the server instantly, which is why so many people were disconnected from the game.
What made this game so popular?
Well, for starters, it is much better than most were expecting. It is a 60-player battle royale competition where the goal is to reach the finish line as fast as possible. There are many courses that are semi-randomly selected, and you play a cartoonish character that looks very silly.
The vibe of this game is great. It gives you a sense of happiness, and it is very fun to play, especially if you combine the gaming experience with 59 other people. Plus, since it doesn’t take much time, it is a nice getaway game for hardcore gamers to break the routine from the titles they are used to play more often.
PlayStation Plus helped them with the release, which is why they attracted 1.5 million people in one day. It is definitely the hottest game right now. The fact that is free to download if you are a PS Plus user and also doesn’t add much space to your Playstation memory (4GB total space) made it a success among the console users.
For Steam it’s available for $19.99, which it’s quite an affordable price for a game that you won’t get tired easily. Depending on when and where you play, servers are still trying to keep up with the incredible demand, which is why sometimes you will have to wait a long time for matchmaking.
Xbox and Switch players will have to wait, as the game is not available on those platforms yet.
How to play?
The fun characters of this game make the difference. You can customize it with several skins and make your Fall Guy unique.
Fall Guys is an entirely online experience where you have to become victorious over a course of several rounds. Even though there is only a solo option, people are teaming up in order to improve their winning chances: there are some team levels, where you have to play a soccer game or a tail chasing mode, which is kind of similar to the children’s game of ‘tag you’re it’.
There aren’t any training modes or AI bots where you can improve your skills so far. We can expect them to add this in the near future and perhaps a co-operative mode where you can team up with your local friends or significant other.
With that said, the game is very easy to learn since you can only move, jump and dive. Basically there are only 3 buttons needed and you don’t need complicated joystick combos like in FIFA or NBA 2K.
You cannot win this game only with skill though: luck plays an important part as well.
What about the graphics?
The graphics are incredibly colorful. Fall Guys gives you that cartoonish feel that is very eye-pleasing and as mentioned, quite light for any console: you can be assured your PS4 won’t be screaming like when you launch a heavier game.
One of the issues with this game due to its random nature is the lack of voting or choosing the next stage. There are no complex algorithms determining skill or choosing maps. Fall Guys is basically a random 60 people placed on a random extremely difficult obstacle map, and your job is to get to the finish line first and grab a crown.
Apart from that, Fall Guys has a free seasonal battle pass system as extra motivation. As you level up your character, you will gain all sorts of beautiful cosmetic rewards that can be used for customizing your character.
Additionally, there is an in-game currency called Kudos with daily rotating skins, outfits, and emotes. Bear in mind that all the additions to your character will not improve your gameplay.
Mediatonic are the ones who developed this game and say what you want: their support has been outstanding. Either interacting with their community on Twitter or Discord, they showed how down to Earth a gaming company should be and we expect them to implement the requests the community has been asking.
They confessed they are thinking of constantly working on new free levels and trying to freshen up existing stages to keep everyone on their toes.
If you want an extremely fun and casual game, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is the way to go. The chaotic gameplay, followed by the incredibly cartoonish design and silly characters, will make you play for hours. It’s the kind of game that feels frustrating and rewarding, without too much effort and without having to go burst a vein from rage.
Still, even though it is probably the best feel-good game of 2020 so far, you can feel furious when you get knocked out. But, since you can get back into the game in a minute and start over you easily forget about it.
It is also very unpredictable. Even when you have a big lead, your victory is not guaranteed since you can get stuck at some obstacle. You can also get first place on one level and get knocked out on the next one quickly.
Fall Guys is basically like a horse race and it feels as exciting as participating in the Kentucky Derby (which will happen in September, click here to know more). Have fun and don’t smash your controller!