Fall Guys, the new non-violent Battle Royale game taking the streaming world by storm, has already got a problem with hackers. Inspired by game shows Takeshi’s Castle, It’s A Knockout, Total Wipeout, and Ninja Warrior, the hilarious game has garnered huge support online while still in beta.
Due for full release on August 4, the elimination platformer has been met with acclaim for the ‘pick up and play’ fun factor it offers. Evidently though, for some people, it’s only fun when they’re winning.
Streamer ‘BladeLMAO’ recorded one hacker while playing the game yesterday. Waiting on the starting line with the rest of the Fall Guys, BladeLMAO spotted one of the characters launch themselves forward at a fantastic speed, crashing through the first barrier before anyone else had barely moved. By the time the rest of the group had shuffled through the first gate, the hacker was already disappearing off the screen, bouncing through the fourth gate with ease.
The objective of Fall Guys is simple: reach the finish line first. Thanks to an array of hurdles, rotating walkways, swinging pendulums and Indiana Jones style closing walls though, achieving that simple objective is anything but. While there is some skill involved and experience with platform games will help you, it mostly comes down to luck.
Nobody won Takeshi’s Castle through being skillful, did they? Actually, nobody seemed to ever win Takeshi’s Castle at all.
The joy of Fall Guys comes in the chaos. It’s certainly a well made game by Mediatonic, but the basic premise can be found on dozens of mobile games. The real genius of the game is how fun it is to play together, how well it constructs obstacles which are just frustrating enough, and the manic ways you can be swept along in the crowd.
Though it’s unknown exactly what the hacker has done to the game, it looks like they’ve given themselves a speed boost. Even in the limited view we get from BladeLMAO’s vantage point, the hacker doesn’t appear to take a perfect, scripted pathway. They try several gates at the third barrier before finding the right one, but thanks to their increased speed, they’re never in any danger of being caught.
Most of the skill and luck in Fall Guys is wrapped up in timing, so a speed boost makes the game significantly easier and frees you of the hustle and bustle of the other players. The game will launch in full tomorrow, also coming to PS4 players for free as part of PS+, and perhaps the launch version will close the exploit the hackers have found.
While hacking, cheating and finding exploits is hardly a shock in an online battle royale, not many would have expected the cuddly Fall Guys to fall victim to them quite so soon.