Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout: PS4 Review

Developed by Mediatonic

Published by Devolver Digital

Platform: PS4 (through PSPlus August game giveaways)

The multiplayer genre is one that's already stuffed with entrants.

Generally though, they are shooters of some description. And with the likes of Fortnite and Overwatch still reigning supreme, there's been a hole in the market place for a good solid family-led inclusive multiplayer game.

Enter Mediatonic's Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, with its cartoony blobby bright colours mash up of fun and silliness.

Essentially an online version of 70s UK TV staple, It's A Knockout and elements of WipeOut USA, the extremely colourful and amusing Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is aimed squarely at fun, and delivers in more than spades.

While its first weekend has been plagued by server issues due to a surge demand (global lockdowns and a desire to play online will do that), Mediatonic's done more than enough to get the game back up and running to cover the 59 players needed to take you on.

Over five rounds of what appear simple games, it's up to you to come first and take the win. Progress through each round without being eliminated to make it through to the final game where you can be crowned winner.

Sounds simple, but in practice, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is anything but - though annoyingly, it's highly addictive and charming enough to keep sucking you back in.

Using physics as well as a bit of old fashioned luck, you'll need to scoot around various challenges to try and win.

From an obstacle course where you have to jump over seesaws, to a Rocket League inspired football match, the games are simple and easy to dive into. That's part of the real charm of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, it's so frustratingly simple that when you get knocked out by a wrong move or a simple issue of gravity, you immediately want to dive back in.

As a solo game, it's solid and entertaining - with 59 strangers all out for the same thing, it can get competitive. But it's a bit harder on the so-called team games where you're expected to work together - especially if you are without headphones as collaboration goes out the window.

A lack of a local multiplayer game that's offline sets a worrying alarm bell off for the game's future - who knows what's ahead in 6 months' time. But Mediatonic is teasing that this is only season one - however, long term freemium games do face the faddish desires of the players who desert the servers like magpies once the newest shiniest thing comes along or the old fave they dived into launches a new season amid hype.

Ultimately, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is disposable family fun, that's worth diving into whatever your age - and these days for multiplayer, you can rarely recommend that.  Hopefully, it'll keep people entertained for many seasons to come, thanks to an ease of play, a simplicity of design and a rocksolid foundation of execution.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout was played on PlayStation Plus via a code provided for the service by PlayStation New Zealand