If you're tired of battle royale shooters, then Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout might be the game for you. For fans of Mario Party minigames and TV game shows like Wipeout, this is the perfect mashup. Fall Guys is a physics-based battle royale where 60 players compete in various objectives that eliminate players until there is only one person left. Each round is a delight, and Fall Guys is a game I will keep playing for a long time.
The Many Faces Of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
A game of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is composed of five rounds. Each round has different categories, which are Race, Team, Survival, Logic, and Final. Each round eliminates players based on the objective. For example, race modes will only have a certain amount of people that will finish the race, while survival objectives will continue until a certain amount of people get eliminated. The final round has around five to thirteen people, where only one person will be crowned the winner.
Each game type has different maps. The most common one that players will encounter is the Race game type. Each map type has a theme that players need to play through to make it to the next round. Door Dash will have players running through doors while likely encountering fake doors that will hinder their progress, while Dizzy Heights has players run through rotating discs that try and throw players off balance. Survival maps focus on eliminating players instead of having players qualify for the next round. Maps like Rollout, where players stand on a rotating cylinder and try not to fall to their death, and Block Party, where players have to dodge and jump their way through blocks to make it to the next round, are some standard survival maps I encountered.
Team games divide players into teams that compete in objective-based competitions. Depending on the map, two to four teams are competing in the round. Teams need to score points, and the team with the least amount of points gets eliminated. Games range from soccer to grabbing raccoon tails from other teams and having the most tails at the end of the round. I found the team games to be the tensest of the categories. Logic games require quick thinking to beat them. One of the logic games is a matching game where players have to memorize pictures of fruit. The game then shows which fruit players should stand on. If players are standing on the incorrect fruit, then they fall to their death.
Each game ends with a final challenge. Only one person can win, and these games can range from racing to survival types. Fall Mountain has players race up a mountain to a crown. The first person to grab the crown wins the game. Hex-A-Gone, on the other hand, has players stand on a bunch of hexagons that fall out from the players after they are touched. The last person to live is the winner.
An Ode To The Great Game Shows
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is inspired by some of the greatest game shows on TV. Playing through the courses reminds me of TV shows like Wipeout, Hole in the Wall, and Nickelodeon's GUTS. Each course is bright and colorful. Even the game's "lava" is slime that is a reference to the old Nickelodeon game shows. The game is visually appealing from the course design to the cute jelly bean characters.
One thing that needs to be mentioned about the game is the fantastic soundtrack that has been produced for the game. The music in the game helps set the frantic pace of the game. I don't think there has been a soundtrack this frantic and catchy since Splatoon 2. It's a soundtrack that I find myself jamming out to every round, and it is a soundtrack that needs to be available on streaming services as soon as possible. It's one of my favorite video game soundtracks in a long time.
A Battle Royale For Those Who Hate Battle Royales
The thing I love about Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is its accessibility. In other battle royale games, players have to figure out which weapons are good, where the best places on the map to drop are, and figure out the other mechanics of the game, such as building in Fortnite or the different powers in Apex Legends. While each map has some strategy, people can jump in and pick up each map quickly. One small gripe about the game is that sometimes the physics can screw people out of moving onto the next rounds, which can lead to some frustrations.
Fall Guys also has the same bells and whistles as other battle royales. Players can jump in alone or with a squad of friends. Cosmetics and seasons are in the game, along with a battle pass that players can level up. Players can unlock currency to buy things in the store as well. The player characters are cute little jelly beans. The costumes that players can unlock for their characters are great. I love the pigeon and hot dog costumes. I do wish that I could customize my character's color pallet, but with post-launch developer support, I hope that is something they will add in the future.
A Genre Refresher
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout proves that battle royale games can be more than shooters. It's a fresh take on the genre that is crowded with shooters following similar formulas. Each game I jumped into felt slightly different because of the map variations. While the game started to feel a little repetitive after long sessions, there are 25 maps at launch, and more maps promised after launch. I also wish there was a free cam to spectate because it would enhance an already great spectator game.
The game is incredible, and for anyone looking for a great party game that is easy to jump into, Fall Guys might be the game for you. I'm not a big battle royale person, but Fall Guys will be my battle royale of choice for a long time. With its bright visuals, thrilling gameplay, and an excellent soundtrack, Fall Guys will make its mark on the battle royale genre in a way that no other game has before. If you are looking for a party game to play with your friends this summer, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is the game for you.
A PC copy of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout was provided to TheGamer for this review. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is available now for PC and PlayStation 4.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout brings the fun of TV shows like Takeshi's Castle and Total Wipeout to your PC or console, while marrying it with the battle royale genre. You must navigate a series of zany challenges with the aim of being the last one standing.