This Week I Have Been Mostly Playing…
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout on PC
Late to the party? Not at all, I’ve always been super cool and down with the kids! Hence why I just spent the weekend playing Fall Guys, this year's breakout hit. Made by the London based Indie studio Mediatonic they seem to have honed in on a formula that has captured gamers imaginations in 2020. Ok apart from Animal Crossing… Part of the appeal is a simple premise, you control a jellybean person who must complete obstacle courses against 60 other people to grab the crown and be deemed the champion. It’s been compared to It’s a Knockout, a British TV show that mostly shown before I was even born, so that can fuck off.
Think Takeshi’s Castle for Kidney Bean mascots.
The short differing levels keep you coming back with the losers kicked out only to jump into a new match extremely quickly. The vibrant colours. Numberless skins that add no bonuses. Players battling it out until there is a sole survivor It’s an incredibly lazy comparison but this is so much like Fortnite, obviously minus the guns. And who are we to argue, if you are going to copy someone's homework, copy the clever nerd next to you!
This game is obviously not aimed at me, an indie noir wanker who shuns anything with an online component and other people. I say that out of realism, not that I have as of yet to win a crown…. Actually the game is a lot of fun but some of the controls are crap. And not in an intentional Human Fall Flat way. I am on PC but the Xbox 360 controller just flat out ignores some button inputs, making those falls into oblivion far more painful.
The beans themselves handle pretty well when running. I do love the simplicity of only being able to jump up and then dive over the line but the grab function doesn't work for shit. Unless it’s for those players who have been around since the beginning who hang around at the end of the courses who try to throw you off the edge before you make the finish line….
Levels are randomised meaning you should in theory get to play all of them at some point but I had a lot of repeats. This should help me get better but all I seemed to do was get worse. Even the basic levels such as Gatecrash come around far too often. I want to play the football level or the one with the disks that fall away. The fruit matching level can go fuck itself. There is variety here and we are still in ‘Season 1’. There must be a bunch of new levels coming our way.
Usually in the first level 60 beans start on the line and must rush to the end, with usually 40 odd qualifying for the next round. Fighting your way through this scrum is tough without the course trying to smash you with giant hammers! The next level is usually another race, like Slime Climb as the great ooze chases you up the obstacle course. Block party has you all on a platform as random blocks come up and try to push you off. There is an element of skill involved but it’s far better to just learn the shortcuts and routes.
The aim is to get to the Crown in the final level, meaning you are the winner and who doesn't want that? But the crowns earned can be used to buy exclusive items. You can also pay real money for costumes and colour palates though during each run you gain experience points that unlocks items as you level up. There's no gameplay benefits but it certainly helps you standout in the crowd!
For £15 this game is well worth it but I find it as frustrating as any other ‘battle royale’ title. Playing alongside a friend is cool though when they go on for four more levels and you just spectate and you do wish to dive in again. Sorry Chris! It’s early days and there are many more ‘seasons’ to come with plenty more content. It’s a great start. Anyway, yes to bite size fun levels with minimal violence beyond a spinning blade bashing you away. No to the egg grabbing level in which I manage to achieve Fuck All. Hello failure!
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