Review in short
Fall Guys is the most physically accessible Battle Royale I have ever played. With so many publishers and developers releasing their own iterations of the popular genre, it is so refreshing to know that physically disabled individuals can finally enjoy a barrier-free title.
Score
10 out of 10Full review
I cannot help but feel that the current era of gaming is inundated with Battle Royales. After the immense success of PUBG and Fortnite, numerous publishers and developers are trying to create their own hectic, fast-paced gems in a proverbial sea of mediocrity. Nevermind the fact that many of the shooters are too exhausting for physically disabled players, or the skill level required is rarely achievable for those with limited mobility. Yet, within mere weeks, Fall Guys revitalized the stale genre with colorful visuals, addictive minigames, and an incredibly accessible system for physically disabled players.
Developed by Mediatonic and published by Devolver Digital, Fall Guys transports up to 60 players into varying objective-based games with the goal of being the last man standing. Unlike traditional Battle Royales, there are no ridiculous skill ceilings, nor are there any egregious weapons that require exact precision to properly utilize.
Instead, individuals must achieve victory through level memorization, obstacle awareness, and occasionally sheer luck. Combine that with the capability to customize controls, as well as the need to only use four keys, and Fall Guys becomes the most physically accessible Battle Royale I have ever played.
As previously mentioned, Fall Guys relies on four buttons: Move, Jump, Dive, and Grab. While playing with a keyboard and mouse, it is entirely plausible to simply hold ‘W’ to move while rotating the camera with the mouse cursor. As for the other three actions, it should be noted that they can only be bound to an individual’s mouse with supportive software.
For example, I use the Logitech G903, with each side button corresponding to a unique key on my keyboard. As such, my jump and dive buttons, while being bound to ‘F’ and ‘R’ respectively, are two buttons on the right side of my mouse. Unfortunately, physically disabled individuals without this tech are unable to bind any action to the mouse, but all keyboard keys are customizable.
In conjunction with needing to customize only four keys, Fall Guys is so beautifully simplistic in its gameplay. The majority of minigames require only two actions: running and jumping. Occasionally, games like “Egg Scramble” or “Team Tail Tag” utilize the Grab mechanic, but since players are placed onto teams for these activities, physically disabled individuals need not worry about underperforming.
If need be, teammates can easily pick up the slack if grabbing becomes too exhausting. Currently, there are no games that require solo players to continuously hold the grab button, meaning that physically disabled players will not be excluded from a game if an action is inaccessible.
Fall Guys is a game about patience. In a genre where speed and precision are hallmarks, it is so refreshing to play a Battle Royale at my own pace. If I lose the match, it is not because of a lack of customizable controls, or my inability to properly execute an action. Rather, I simply failed to understand the physics-based mechanics of the current level. In a genre filled with Chicken Dinners, Victory Royales and Championships, Fall Guys is the only Battle Royale worthy of receiving the crown.
