Screenshot: Fall Guys
I saw a tweet a few years ago that said something along the lines of “
Mario Party Battle Royale.” At the time, battle royale games were the most popular thing.
PUBG and
Fortnite dominated—and while
Fortnite is still a pretty big deal, it seems like even games like
Apex Legends and
Call of Duty: Warzone could only create a battle royale style of game within pre-established frameworks. That’s why
“Mario Party battle royale” stuck out so much to me. What a great idea--and it’s kind of a thing with
Fall Guys.
Fall Guys would best be described as a series of insane obstacle courses, with the occasional mini-game or even team-based game thrown into the mix. You play as a jelly-bean-like-thing that has to run, jump, grab, and otherwise avoid elimination through four different phases of obstacle courses and other challenges. It’s like playing only the minigames from
Mario Party, with the party size increased by over ten times. I spent some time with
Fall Guys in this weekend's closed beta, and it’s the most fun I’ve had playing a battle royale in a very long time.
Screenshot: Fall Guys
Part of the draw of
Fall Guys is the randomized levels: you won’t know what you’re going to have to do next until you’re already struggling to do it with dozens of other players, depending on the phase you’re in. See,
Fall Guys doesn’t play out in one game or match. Instead you have to attempt to reach qualification status in each of the three preceding levels before you have a chance at the fourth and final round where you can claim victory.
Fall Guys being set in rounds is a genius idea. If you qualify for any of them, you feel like you’re winning. And unlike some hyper competitive shooters, losing in
Fall Guys often doesn’t feel as personal—or happen as often.
Screenshot: Fall Guys
Of course, what would a battle royale be without cosmetics? You can customize your little ‘fall guy’ right from the start, or accumulate experience and currency to make yourself stand out from the crowd. Of course, I’m sure there’s going to be some sort of premium cosmetics that you can purchase, but it’s entirely up to you how you want to represent yourself as you flail, jump, and grab your way to qualification or elimination.
Fall Guys is easy for anyone to pick up—though its player versus player nature makes it unlikely anyone who picks it up will be winning matches from the start. But even preventing elimination in the first round feels like a massive victory sometimes. I really can’t wait to get more time in this great game. We've even heard rumors on
Fall Guys' official Discord server and
Twitter account that there might just be another closed beta weekend this coming weekend, so you'll want to stay tuned. Finally if you're wondering if there'll be crossplatform play? The answer for right now is not at launch, but they're open to prioritising it with enough community interest--so we can't wait to see what happens.
Fall Guys launches on PS4 and Steam August 4th and will be available as a PlayStation Plus game for the month of August.
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