Fall Guys Review: A Better Battle Royale

Participating in game shows like the Ninja Warrior, Wipeout and Takeshi’s Castle is still a dream for every single one of us. And Mediatonic has fulfilled our wish by developing a Game Show like Battle Royale game that is Fall Guys. Fall Guys, developed by Mediatonic and published by Devolver Digital, is another title to the overhyped Battle Royale genre but with a twist. The game seems like a legit Game show set with different hurdle filled levels. And the game probably is a rejuvenation for the gamers having a hard time at Warzone. 

FALL GUYS IS A GAME SHOW

As I said, Fall Guys’ premise is straight out of Takeshi’s Castle(OGs Know), Wipeout and Ninja Warrior(Most Extreme). A total of 60 players can compete with each other in a series of events such as running through obstacles, collecting eggs and protecting them from not being stolen, playing tag and grabbing raccoon tails from each other. And after every round completed the players unable to complete the task gets eliminated. And the final round leaves only one winner. 

Fall Guys have the aesthetics of a typical televised game show. Bright and Colourful characters competing and bouncing around a colourful and bright course while bubbly music plays in the background. Interludes between every round show the eliminated players falling off the screen after pushed out from their alcoves. A large text same as the broadcast chyrons appears after every round to inform about the number of players left. Even the system messages slide onto the screen like the typical broadcast chyrons. 

DIFFERENT LOOKS AND SKINS

Now one of the things that separate the game from the real-life TV show is the playable characters. The contestants are small legged jellybeans with eyes instead of humans. And this jellybean character supports a lot of customization. Multiple patterns and colours are available for the jelly bean bodies. You can also get a costume for your character. Costumes like dinosaur heads, chicken head, milkshake tops and more. There’s a ton of them to fill up your inventory. And when a crowd of 60 unique costumed jellybeans assemble at the arena, it does looks like a TV show with different people wrapped in rubber costumes. 

But the thing is, you have to buy those costumes. The patterns, the costumes and the colour palette are all unlockable as you progress through the game and gain experience points. Just like a Battle Royale game, you gain exp points and level up every season. This way different item and resource unlocks and can be used further.  

You can also win Kudos, the in-game currency used to unlock and buy different items. You can also get Crowns after winning a game that helps in buying more exclusive items. 

The better you play, the more Kudos you earn. If you get eliminated in the first round, you’ll only get a few. If you win a game, then you’ll get over a thousand Kudos. And if you’re able to get to the last round but end up getting eliminated, you’ll surely get a few hundred. You will also gain the experience points concerning your performance in a match. 

DIFFERENT ROUNDS

Each game is divided into rounds that are randomly chosen by the system. There are about two dozens of events that are randomly selected. Events like Hit Parade, Dizzy Heights, and The Whirlygig are obstacle courses where you run from the start to the end. Avoiding moving objects and trying not to get knocked off platforms (falling in these events generally take you back to a checkpoint in the course, though in Slime Climb, falling into the rising slime is an instant elimination). After a certain amount of players (based on the round and the number of participating players) cross the finish line, everyone else gets eliminated. 

Events like Block Party, Perfect Match, and Jump Club take place in a limited space and you have to be the one of the last to be dropped out of that area, knocked, or simply dropped into the slime below. Block Party sends big blocks sliding over the ramp you stand on to push you off. Perfect Match shows different fruits flashing on a grid of sixteen platforms, then will show a single fruit and you will be forced to jump on the correct platform. Jump club has three big arms that rotate around a circular ramp and you have to jump over those arms to stay on the ramp until the required players get eliminated. 

Events like Team Tail Tag, Fall Ball, and Egg Scramble are team tasks where you team with other players and challenge to beat the other teams in activities. Like pushing a big ball into a goal, playing tag by grabbing raccoon tails and getting as many eggs into your corner of the field before the time runs out. The team with the lowest score gets eliminated. 

Most games last four to five rounds depending on the number of players left by the end of the third round. The last round is always chosen from these events (Hexagon, Tail Tag, Fall Mountain, and Jump Showdown), with only one winner at the end.

The full game lasts for a bit more than 20 minutes. And during the whole game, the developers have succeeded to engage a players concentration on it. The results are quick and there will be no time to rest while the rounds are going on. 

EASY TO MOVE CONTROLS

Controls will remain the same regardless of the event. The left analog stick moves your character, the right analog stick controls the camera, one face button jumps, one face button dives forward, and the right trigger grabs onto the nearest player or object. You can win the round with just jumping and running. Grabbing the players is only necessary when playing tag, tail grab event or the egg scramble event. You can also grab onto the edge of a platform and slowly pull yourself up, but that move is very inconsistent, especially when the platform is moving.

SHOP IN THE FALL GUYS STORE

Microtransactions are obviously the option to buy bundles and Kudos. You can also get a DLC costume pack starting from $5. But if you really want to get Kudos, I recommend you keep playing and earn with your gaming skills. Still, some of the costumes can only be bought through microtransactions.

SMOOTHNESS AND NON-VIOLENT NATURE

The game will run even if you, an Intel Core i5 or equivalent CPU, Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 or equivalent GPU, and at least 8GB of RAM. And it will run pretty smoothly at 75 fps if you have an Intel Core i7 CPU, Nvidia GeForce 1070 GPU, and 16GB of RAM at 1,920 by 1,080 resolution with no stutter. 

The game supports game controller option in PC too. Fall Guys is available for Playstation 4 and PC.

Fall Guys is a Family-friendly, violent free Battle Royale game. It is, on a serious note, a very addictive game. With its non-violent nature and family-friendly graphics, it is suitable for children.