Devolver Digital has hit it out of the park again! Fall Guys is an absolute blast that you can sink hours and hours into.
Devolver Digital. That really sums up what you can expect from the newest king of Party games. The developer that brought us ludicrous titles like BroForce, Enter the Gungeon, Hotline: Miami, and Devolver: Bootleg returns to the ring with the game we didn’t even know we wanted! This time around, they’re not making a bootleg library of their own popular games or reinventing the twin-stick shooter. This time, they’re just trying to be the life of the party.
Fall Guys blasts onto your screen with bright colors and fast action. You’ll start out with a free version of a Battle Pass, earning new cosmetics as you level up. As you start playing and learning the maps, you’ll probably notice you’re terrible right out of the gate. Somehow, even failing miserably is pretty fun in the land of competing jelly beans. Each mini-game is designed to keep the last place from falling too far behind. Some levels cull players who fall too far back in races, like Slime Climb. Other levels are designed to slow the leaders down, like Tip Toe or Door Dash, to keep everyone in the race. You’ll always feel like you can win, creating the “One More Game!” mentality the best games thrive off of.
As you play each level a few times over, you’ll notice there are strategies to get 1st place on each of them. While strategy in the chaotic Fall Guys universe isn’t the easiest thing to employ, this creates a small yet critical skill gap. Some are already clamoring for a ranked mode. One of the most popular Valorant commentators already cheekily tweeted about a possible eSports league. Where the plans for this game will go is anyone’s guess, but there’s definitely potential for something. If for no other reason, this game is just fun to watch, similar to Rocket League which plays their championships play on NBC.
I wouldn’t be doing my job without talking about the problems with the game. They’re all technical and should be fixed before long. During peak times, the servers feel like they’re on fire, kicking me from games, desyncing players teleporting around, and the game not allowing you to exit a match until you reach a certain screen. These are problems that all popular games go through at launch. If anyone played Pokemon Go the first summer, you know what I’m talking about. However, at the time of writing, they have already released multiple patches and fixed many of the bugs. I played last night and it ran smoothly. I should also mention that I play on PC. People I’ve talked to who play on PS4 have not experienced any server issues.
BOTTOM LINE: Devolver Digital has hit it out of the park again! Fall Guys is an absolute blast that you can sink hours and hours into. Whether you’re solo or looking for a fun night with the crew, Fall Guys is the right choice.
Kevin Coleman