What to Play: Fall Guys Ultimate Knockout

by the Opaque Senator, GGR Video Game Contributor

available on PC via Steam and PlayStation Network

Greetings one and all! So, the winner of my last article's poll was Final Fantasy VII: Remake. So...why am I reviewing a different game? Well, I need more time to get through an RPG, so that will be forth coming after I finish the game. Not to mention, Fall Guys Ultimate Knockout is a party style game that's quick to understand and talk about, and has really come out of nowhere and been one of the sleeper hits of the year 2020. Considering how truly odd this year has been, it makes a lot of sense that this game has become so popular overnight. With quarantines, social distancing and more people are staying at home a lot more often, it's left a lot of room for creators to get, well...creative.

Fall Guys is a game in which your goal is to be the last one to fall. Each new sessions starts with 60(!) players and a certain amount gets eliminated round after round until a winner is crowned.  With so many butts in their seats at home, what better time to release a game with that kind of needed player base?

Fall Guys is rather unique. It has a colorful, simplistic style. You would think this game would fall in line (no pun intended) with a Nintendo world or be that type of exclusive. As you survive the rounds and get closer and closer to being the last person standing, you start to see fiercer and fiercer competition. But, the game is also very repetitive. If you've never heard Brentalfloss' “with Lyrics” series of songs, this newer one does sum it up well and also gives you a remix of the intro theme music to the game...

The repetitiveness though allows people to get more practice at the levels you see often at the beginning. The great equalizer is the luck factor you see in many of the matches. Your character (pretty customizable but all with the same abilities...unless someone hacked the game) is also rather dopey and unbalanced. So, you may be about to qualify for a new round, but have your character trip after jumping and get stampeded by the 59 other players.

Or, in any of the “Tails Tag” levels, may hold onto a tail for a minute and a half, but in that last 10 seconds fall down on a jump and get your tail taken and get eliminated. It's a great combination of skill and luck, that really DOES keep people coming back for more. It's a great game to get a group of friends to jump in and play together, and it really doesn't matter if that group has the best all time gamer in there with the worst; there is still plenty of fun to have.

Fall Guys is currently in season 1 of the game, so there's likely changes coming down the line. I do hope there ends up being an added number of stages and challenges to play; especially towards the beginning of the game. Repetitive play is fine, and it's perfectly okay seeing similar levels over and over again, however those first two stages are always one of 4 levels.

I really like the individual challenge levels where it truly is skill and luck. My favorite levels are Hex-a-Gone, the Whirly Gig, and Jump Club Showdown. I like the varying strategies you can attack Hex-A-Gone with, but it's tough because you got to get to the last round to even have a shot at playing it, as it is always going to be the level crowns a winner. Like many others,

I am less fond of the team style games, as very often there's one team (usually feels like the one you are on) that gets manhandled, whether it's the soccer game, or Katamari rolling a ball to the finish line, or collecting more balls from the stage than the other teams. My absolute least favorite, as I indicated earlier, are all of the tails tag games. It comes down to a lot of wasted time as really only the last 20 seconds of a level matter to who passes through. But even though there are levels I greatly dislike, it's very quick to get you through the end of round procedures and jump right into another game. Losing doesn't take up much of your time, and even if you lose quickly, it's quick to get right back at it and try again...AND get a few rewards for your trouble (the game’s currency to buy items in the shop).

Not much to say on graphics or music. The graphics are meant to be silly, and it works for the game. The music, like the game itself, is repetitive, but you do end up humming themes as they come up. I imagine in another couple of months this game will really fade from public consciousness, even with the customization options, “freemium” elements luring people in, and competitive spirit really ramping things up. But in the meantime it’s a great game to just jump in and have fun with, especially with friends! And the developers, Devolver Digital and Mediatronic have done good charitable work with their quick rise to fame. Go check that out for sure!

Until next time, in this truly opaque world, I hope this makes things a little more clear.