No doubt about it, battle royales have been a major hit on the tail-end of the eighth console generation. Games like PUBG, Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Warzone have proven time and time again that the genre can change and evolve drastically over time. Now the next evolution in battle royale games seemingly begins with Fall Guys, though this game is drastically different compared to previous popular battle royale titles. Practically every battle royale game has been a shooter of some kind, but Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is simply not that.
Rather than being focused on killing opponents with better guns, Fall Guys takes a different approach. Rather than focusing on the loot aspect of battle royale games, Fall Guys is just strictly a race against time, or otherwise an evenly matched gauntlet of players. Similar to the Wipeout TV Show, players need to navigate obstacle courses and other challenges, and only a certain number of players can qualify while stragglers are eliminated. While the gameplay is familiar, it does reflect that truly flexible nature of battle royale games.
Fall Guys' Surprising Success
Shooters have dominated the genre for good reason. Same goes for the best-selling triple-A games each year, with games like Warzone topping the battle royale craze, but Fall Guys seems to be reaching heights other battle royales have peaked at before. Other non-shooter battle royales have been rather successful before, but Fall Guys is perhaps the first non-shooter battle royale (other than perhaps Tetris 99) to reach such mainstream acclaim. It's even gotten to the point where the Fall Guys servers have crashed multiple times due to the high demand of players, especially those who got the game on PS Plus.
Not many battle royale games that are massively popular haven't involved shooters or violence of any kind. Fortnite, while still being a shooter, at least differentiated itself with the building mechanics in-game. Arguably the last battle royale to reach this kind of mainstream acclaim, without being a shooter, would've been Tetris 99. The title was largely carried by its free-to-play release and the fact that Tetris is an iconic and easily recognizable game for all gaming fans went a long way. Now the platforming absurdity of Fall Guys is surging in popularity, proving that not all battle royales need to follow generic shooter formula to be relevant.
Not all Battle Royale Games Need Guns
If anything, this proves that not all battle royale games need to be shooters to be popular. Fall Guys is the perfect storm of easy fun and uniqueness compared to other games. Sure aesthetically, it's similar to other indie titles like Gang Beasts, but the gameplay finds this weird marriage of Human Fall Flat and Crash Bandicoot. The gameplay loop is just simple and approachable enough to make Fall Guys a huge success, especially given the fact that its on PS Plus for this month. Fall Guys' recent greatness should be a solid indication that different battle royale games have a place in the gaming mainstream, and with any luck, could lead to more.
Other franchises continue to experiment with battle royale formats, to different effects. Forza Horizon 4 attempted to adopt the battle royale format into the iconic Xbox racing franchise, and while it wasn't the most popular online mode for fans, "Eliminator" still gets solid playtime from fans. Destruction AllStars, a new vehicular battle royale akin to that of Rocket League, is also on the way to PS5. There's a select few games that aren't shooters attempting to be the next battle royale game. While Fall Guys holds the ticket for the next battle royale game, the game should also be a good sign for non-shooter games to adopt the formula.
Seeing more variety in the battle royale genre is exactly what's needed at this point. For many, Fortnite and Warzone are starting to become old news as players wait for the next great craze in the genre. While it's unclear if Fall Guys has any lasting potential, the game is getting its time in the sun for now.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is available now for PC and PS4.