Fall Guys

[DaHeckIzDat]

This was one of the free PS+ games this month, and it's already become ridiculously popular. Some people are even calling it "the next Fortnite." Honestly, I don't see the appeal. It's based on comedy game shows like Wipeout, where the contestants have to go through obstacle courses that bounce them around like pinballs if they slip up. It begins with 60 players, and gradually eliminates them as the series of challenges progresses until only a few remain to take first place. It's an interesting idea, but ultimately it's more frustrating than fun. The courses are small and cramped, creating huge traffic jams as everyone tries to cram their way to the finish line. I know that's exactly what the developers intended, but how is this fun? There's no strategy or skill to any of this, all you can do is charge forward and hope you end up at the front of the group so that your path isn't obstructed. It doesn't help that your character is a bumbling idiot with less coordination than a blind bumper car driver. And don't even get me started on the team challenges!

In brief, it's a fun idea for a funny little game, but not very well executed. But it looks like I'm in the minority here, so what do I know?

[Retro STrife]

I downloaded this game earlier in the month too, and I've played it several times since. I wouldn't pay more than $5-$10 for it, but I can't complain for a free game. I find it to be mindless fun to play in quick snippets. A full game is done in 15 minutes or less, so it's easy to jump in when I want to play a game but don't have a lot of time. However, I can only play like 30 minutes max of this game in one sitting before I'm over it.

Most of your critiques are on point though. I hate the team challenges, because I don't want to depend on 10 random other people to decide whether I get eliminated or not. Still, I have fun with the obstacle races or most other events. It's like part platformer, part party game, and part battle royale. Probably best for kids; more of a quick diversion for us. I like the structure of it, where 59 other people get eliminated across 3-5 mini games, and then one winner is left standing. I've finished in the top 5, but still can't get #1. I'll probably get bored with it soon, but for now I like to jump into one or two games a night when I have my PS4 on. Here's a screenshot for anyone that hasn't seen it before:

[VicViper]

It's best played with a group of friends since you always find yourselves together in team mini-games, and it's just more... convivial.

Otherwise, it's like playing Mario Party mini-games on your own, but against bots that have a human brain (which sometimes is debatable ). It's still fun, but multiplayer is where it's at.

Playing it on PC, and unfortunately they took away the ability to have names due to people on Steam using exploits/glitches related to special characters, so for now we're numbers! We'll have to wait for a patch until we can come back to being free men. PS4 doesn't have that issue.

Thing is, the reason why this game's getting popular is that, much like Fortnite and Apex Legend (before), it's garnering a lot of attention from streamers (who may or may not have been paid to advertise the product). So what do kids do when they see their favourite streamer play a new quirky game? Especially since Fall Guys is somewhat of a Battle Royale, a game style that's heavily popular nowadays?

Bet Team Sonic Racing would've done a lot better if Ninja had streamed it. *sigh*

[mbd36]

It's best played with a group of friends since you always find yourselves together in team mini-games, and it's just more... convivial.

Otherwise, it's like playing Mario Party mini-games on your own, but against bots that have a human brain (which sometimes is debatable ). It's still fun, but multiplayer is where it's at.

Playing it on PC, and unfortunately they took away the ability to have names due to people on Steam using exploits/glitches related to special characters, so for now we're numbers! We'll have to wait for a patch until we can come back to being free men. PS4 doesn't have that issue.

Thing is, the reason why this game's getting popular is that, much like Fortnite and Apex Legend (before), it's garnering a lot of attention from streamers (who may or may not have been paid to advertise the product). So what do kids do when they see their favourite streamer play a new quirky game? Especially since Fall Guys is somewhat of a Battle Royale, a game style that's heavily popular nowadays?

Bet Team Sonic Racing would've done a lot better if Ninja had streamed it. *sigh*

Interesting, that makes sense. I'm a Twitch junkie who watches retro streams and I have noticed a lot of streamers doing Fall Guys lately. It looks like the next Fortnite in terms of hype.

[DaHeckIzDat]

they took away the ability to have names due to people on Steam using exploits/glitches related to special characters

How does that work? Typing in a certain name gave them some kind of advantage?

[Retro STrife]

It's best played with a group of friends since you always find yourselves together in team mini-games, and it's just more... convivial.

I gave it a shot with two friends last night but didn't notice much difference compared to single player. Most of the time your friends are lost in the sea of other players, so you have no clue what they're up to, except for what they tell you over the mic. It does make it a little more exciting feeling like you're all trying to make it through together - and hearing your friends' cries of defeat through the headset - but it wasn't a game changer for me. Plus, since you can be eliminated separately, it means that a suckier player is going to do a lot of sitting around and watching if their friends advance to the later rounds. But maybe the biggest flaw with multiplayer was this -- when you qualify or get eliminated and your turn is over, then the spectator camera should immediately switch to one of your friends. Instead, it switches to a random person and you have to cycle through 40 people trying to find one of your friends to watch. That seems like an obvious design flaw that they need to patch.. it should have been obvious that players want to switch to watching their friends' progress once they're done.

Anyway, I still like Fall Guys in small bits. I'm at Level 8, and I've told myself I'll play til about Level 10 before calling it quits. For now, I just jump into it for quick games (15-20 minutes) when I'm looking for a quick diversion on the PS4.