This past week at PAX East we got our hands on Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout for a multiplayer demo. Fall Guys is being developed by Mediatonic Games who has previously worked on Gears Pop! and Murder By Numbers. Our demo took us through a small handful of mini-games where our group of 60 was narrowed down to one. For our demo, the 60 Fall Guys consisted of a mix of NPC’s and other attendees.
The demo starts off with customizing our Fall Guy’s outfit and color. There were a number of outfits broken down into hats, shirts, and pants. You can mix and match between the sets, as well as change the color of the Fall Guy itself. For example, there is a pineapple costume and a pigeon costume. I went with the pineapple top with the pigeon legs. I found any combination to be absolutely hilarious.
The Challenges
Once we selected our Fall Guy we were off to the first challenge. I spoke with Jeff Tanton, Fall Guys Game Director. He said the team is aiming to have around 30 challenges or mini-games ready for the launch of the game. Each complete round needs about 5-10 challenges to narrow the 60 Fall Guys down to one. Our first challenge was to pass through a series of closed doors. Some of them were locked, we wouldn’t know until we tried to pass through. The doors are made from blocks that break apart as you attempt to bust through. The colors, the animations, the zaniness of the costume really come together here to create a hilarious moment.
Most frequently asked question at PAX:
"What does MANTLE mean?!?"#PAXEast #PAXEast2020 pic.twitter.com/g69bGS2zpv
— Fall Guys (@FallGuysGame) February 29, 2020
Another challenge we survived through was more difficult. It was almost like the old board game Hungry Hungry Hippos. There was a bowl of small eggs in the center of the map. Then we carried each egg to our corner. The map has fewer eggs then there is time, so you must go to the other player’s corners to grab their eggs. This brings in an element of strategy, all while having to avoid obstacles.
Our final challenge was like The Aggro Crag from Nickelodeon’s TV show Guts. There is a tall mountain you have to climb while avoiding falling rocks and spinning hammers. The first one to the top grabs the crown and wins the complete set of challenges. You don’t have to win all of the challenges to win the game, you just have to place high enough to make it to the final round.
I’ll Tumble For You
I thoroughly enjoyed this game, Fall Guys is a load of fun. Grabbing, diving and, jumping as a Fall Guy has this charm to it that makes you laugh while you play. Then there is this tension you would get from a shooter. There is a combination of things here that can really become something special. It has roots in Battle Royale games, that are some of the most popular streaming and competitive games on the planet. Then it can also be a fun game to play with your friends. There’s something special here that is fun and accessible to a wide range of players.
Mediatonic plans to release the full game at retail then follow with free content updates. New costumes can be unlocked with in-game currency. While new challenges will be added over seasonal updates along with costumes. There are no plans for any sort of microtransactions. Right now Fall Guys plans to release this summer to launch exclusively on PS4 and Steam. There are no announced plans for other platforms at this time. However, I have confirmed with the team there are no platform-exclusive agreements.
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