LogFAQs > #949832092

51. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (PC, 2020)

Don't! Get! Eliminated!!
Fall Guys takes its cue from Takeshi's Castle, MXC, Wipeout, and the horde of heavily-padded over-the-top game shows by pitting players in a battle royale obstacle course gauntlet with a single winner (usually) prevailing at the end. Its appeal is pretty clear - it's simple, cute, and addictive. There are race rounds, team rounds, and survival rounds mixed in, so there's enough variety and luck built in to ensure that even less skilled players feel like they always have a chance. It's easily my favorite new game from 2020, though I absolutely haven't played a lot of new games in 2020, so take that for the grain of salt it is.
[Mid-review Pivot #1!] So, uh, I have a confession here. I've played exactly 10 games of Fall Guys. (I did win once!) I don't own a PS4, I don't have a gaming computer, and my current internet connection is an absolute mess. It's really hard to justify placing a game I have so little direct experience with on my list at all, let alone this highly. On the other hand, 2020 was just a goddamn weird year and my life's experience with friends, gaming, and community has been shaken up a whole lot from the norm. I found myself digging into Twitch catching speedruns, tournaments, and some favorite chill streamers a lot over the course of the year, and over the summer a ton of people I followed really got into Fall Guys. Some of them ended up pivoting to the game entirely, devoting a ton of hours to playing, hosting, and participating in tournaments over the past 5 months. And I've probably ended up watching hundreds of hours of the game at this point - I weirdly know a game I've barely played like the back of my hand. But the surprising level of positivity and community I've seen from the game makes it stand out; the players who I follow are absolutely competitive as hell and want to win, but there's not the mad toxicity built into its culture like so many other online multiplayer games (minus the "lol dead game" trolls). I really appreciate the, for lack of a less cliched term, "positive vibes" that have come out from the game and its community, especially given my inability to really fully connect with friends across the country in 2020.
[Mid-review Pivot #2!] I'm gonna go on a rant about video games, competitiveness, and the industry in general here, so feel free to back out because there's not really much more important about Fall Guys that I haven't already said.
There are too many video games about shooting people, and there is too much violence in video games. This isn't a statement saying I have a problem with those things existing, but that the range of interesting video game concepts and ideas is still drastically lagging behind concepts trotting out those simple tropes. It's a huge deal to me that Fall Guys exists, because it's a battle royale game that doesn't demand that you kill or shoot anyone, and it's a competitive game that doesn't demand you beat down your opponent. It's immensely refreshing to me that there's clearly space for a multiplayer competitive game that is lighthearted and cute, and seems much more focused on having short, fun experiences rather than a dramatic long-form competition. This kind of thing is a big reason why I've never been into Starcraft, or League of Legends, or Overwatch, and why the other shooty BR games lost their appeal to me quickly; there feels like too much toxicity in the culture which I think to some extent comes from the structure and design. Fall Guys might not be the best battle royale or competitive game, but I really just want to see more competitive games out there that eschew conventional aesthetics and designs and make something especially memorable. I find myself rooting for it to succeed for all of that, and I hope that its success (and that of other indie games) inspires more competitive games that feel like they're designed for me in the future.
Anyway, sorry about the rant. Fall Guys is great. If it ever comes to Switch, or I get my compy situation resolved, and it continues along with enough support, it'll probably end up being a Top 25/20 all-time game for me. For now, it (and my long-winded rants) will mark the midway point of this countdown.

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