I get knocked down, but I get up again. FALL GUYS :Preview

First thing I played during my visit at PAXEast 2020 was Fall guys - Ultimate Knockout and it was a great way to kick things off. Fall guys is a 60 player online party game where each player acts like a contestant in a series of physical challenges trying to survive to until the end and take the crown.

When you enter the game round you are randomly split in teams , but do not get comfortable too much with them because soon they will become your competition. A series of various frantic games will cause some teams and/or players . As teams and players get eliminated they fall of a big contestant tower and those players are then free to connect to the next game and try again. The remaining players go on to the next round. 

The game is pretty heavy on the physics so you will see some crazy leaps and bounces as you get hit along the way making you smile with delight. The little character design look hilarious and There are plenty of customization options for your character such as colors, patterns , hats and outfits to make you stand out from the crowd. 

A quick explanation at the beginning will instruct players of the goal for this minigame but lacks strategy, that you have to figure out for yourself. The first round we all ran down a big hill towards various walls that were bricked up. Some would tumble over as you ran into them and you could run towards the next series of walls, others refused to break slowing you down in your race to the bottom. In this phase it was not important to be number one as long as you are not last.

In round two players were split in teams again with the goal to grab eggs/balls from the center and bring them inside their own base. You could also steal from other players hands and bases as well. Everyone running in to each other made the whole experience chaotic and fun to watch. 

Round 3 was a bit different , it was more everyone fend for themselves. The objective was to grab a fox tail which would connect to your behind. But there were only half as many tails are there were players. You keep chasing and fleeing until the round timer runs out and it can be pretty tense especially the last few seconds. This round effectively reduces the players in the game by half.

The other half had another down hill obstacle race. Various hazards and traps along the way do their best to slow you down and knock you out. Being up front from the start might not always be the best strategy. Perhaps you want someone to be slightly ahead of you for a bit so they can run into a trap leaving the path of victory open for you . At the very end a floating crown awaits the players. Jump and grab it and you are the winner. I missed it by just a smidgen and fell down a gap ... too late to go around someone else timed their jump better and took the crown ..shaming me into defeat.

Those were just a few of the challenges in the game we got to play at the demo booth. The online version will have more games and will not feature bots. I asked the possibility for customized servers and it is not going to happen right away but is being thought about. If you play with your friends then you will be put together.. at least initially as obviously it will be every one for themselves in the end.

There is no local shared/split screen play planned, but I can still see this as a party hit as you take turns playing and have your friends and family cheer you on. For that same reason I can also see this game to become pretty popular in the streaming community. The game is battle royal without being battle royal and has a good chance of remaining fresh for a long time as long as the mini games stay varied, challenging and fresh.

Fall guys - Ultimate Knockout is scheduled for release later this year on PC and Playstation.

Game information:
Title: Fall Guys
Developer: Mediatonic 
Publisher: Devolver Digital

Release date: 2020

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4

ESRB: TBD