Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout Season 5 released this week with an adventurous new theme, inviting players to a super-colourful stumble in the jungle…but not everything is as it seems! Ratchet and Clank have tumbled through a rift to the Blunderdome and have decided to stick around to host two Limited Time Events; extra-special opportunities for players to unlock unique costumes and rewards, fresh for Season 5. We’ve teamed up with PlayStation to let you know what to expect from this dimension-hopping extravaganza, with an artistic insight into how the team brought Insomniac Games’ iconic duo to life… in bean form!
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Building a Bean…
Designing Fall Guys costumes based on well-established characters such as Ratchet and Clank is always an exciting and interesting creative challenge. As an Art Team, we always want to make sure that our creations feel like a Fall Guy wearing a costume—as if our little beans are championing and cosplaying a character rather than ‘becoming’ them.
Our goal is to reflect this back onto our players’ experience. Sure, a player may pick a costume just because it looks cool and that’s great! But we’re hopeful that many choose to rock a costume because they love the collaboration characters as much as we do and want to show off their fandom to the world through expressing themselves in the Blunderdome.
Concept art created by the Fall Guys team as they began to imagine how Ratchet and Clank could look in bean form.
Bringing Ratchet and Clank to the Blunderdome
When picking characters for a Fall Guys collaboration, one of the defining factors is asking ourselves; “do we think this is cool?” We’re huge gaming fans as well as artists, so if there’s not passion behind the selection, we’re never going to get the great results Fall Guys players deserve.
As soon as the possibility of crafting both Ratchet and Clank in bean form came up, the decision was never in doubt; we all wanted to do it! On a personal level as lead artist, Ratchet and Clank are a genuine benchmark. The games they star in show such ambition and the art direction has always left me astounded. As characters, they are instantly recognisable and appealing, so it immediately felt like a great opportunity.
A Fall Guy peeks out of their in-development Clank costume as the 3D team begin to work their magic.
Hyped as we were, bringing Ratchet and Clank costumes to Fall Guys presented our Art Team with a classic design conundrum. How do you take iconic characters and wrap them around a little bean so that they feel like a Fall Guy, but are also suitably true to the source material?
How do you craft a Lombax bean?!
Luckily, we’re getting pretty well practiced at this with multiple Fall Guys costume collaborations under our belts and have a core set of rules to abide by. These inform how much of the base Fall Guy has to remain visible and crucially, how the costume can be divided into Upper and Lower parts to combine with other costumes (safe to say, we absolutely love seeing players’ surreal, creative costume combos!)
Ratchet costume art concepts are then brought to life by the Fall Guys 3D team.
Once these limits are established, we start with our first concepts, testing shapes and experimenting with the details we need to include that will truly showcase the essence of characters like Ratchet and Clank. It’s an intricate process to make sure the likes of Ratchet’s archetypal Lombax ears and Clank’s chunky robotic features look just right for the Blunderdome! There’s a bit of back and forth between our artists and the lovely team at Insomniac Games, as we collaboratively work to agree on designs that we can both be proud of (they’re super cool, so that part is really easy!)
We then move these concepts onto our super talented 3D team to get the game models going and after a bit more back and forth…here we are! Two awesome costumes and an array of cosmetic treats that we believe combine the spirit and iconic look of Ratchet and Clank, through the filter of our silly and slightly clumsy Fall Guys. We absolutely cannot wait for you to grab them for yourselves! Here’s how…
Teleport to Ratchet and Clank Limited Time Events!
This interdimensional crossover will see Fall Guys players issued with special challenges from the galaxy’s most stupendous duo in two rocket-fuelled Limited Time Events. These will have you racing against the clock to unlock a dazzling array of both Ratchet and Clank costumes, banners, emotes and other cosmic cosmetic treats!
Ratchet Limited Time Event will be dropping July 26 – August 1
The Ratchet Limited Time Event brings a whole week of special Challenges from the hot-shot heroic Lombax, with the exclusive opportunity to unlock.
Ratchet Banner: 600 pointsLombax Pattern: 1000 pointsRatchet Costume (Lower): 1600 pointsGroovitron Emote: 2000 pointsRatchet Costume (Upper): 3200 pointsClank Limited Time Event is set to stumble on August 6 – 15
Clank brings a new set of challenges and oodles of exclusive futuristic rewards for players to get their hands on, featuring…
Clank Banner: 600 pointsClank Pattern: 1000 pointsClank Costume (Lower): 1600 pointsClank’s Laugh Emote: 2000 pointsClank Costume (Upper): 3200 points
Plus, if you complete both events, you’ll obtain an ultra-special banner featuring the new Lombax Resistance fighter, Rivet!
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Dive into Fall Guys Season 5!
Limited Time Events are just one facet of Fall Guys’ Season 5 jungle adventure. This major update drenches the Blunderdome with glistening pools, tropical Penguins and even a mysterious Lost Temple to explore, spread across multiple dazzling new Rounds packed with fresh mechanics and our signature ridiculous obstacles.
Stumble in now for…
Six new Rounds – From rambunctious rhinos to multiple perilous paths to expanding frogs, we’ve got half a dozen new Rounds to test your bean dexterity!Squad goals – Jump in with pals to take on the Blunderdome including limited time Duos and Trios shows.Costumes – Oodles of new looks for the most fashionable (or outrageous!) beans.Even more Limited Time Events – More chances to take on special challenges and unlock unique goodies.Smoother stumbles – Numerous fixes and improvements for an optimal tumbling experience.From myself and all the Fall Guys team, we’re delighted to welcome you on this journey to the heart of the new look jungle-dome. And for all those ready to hop through the rift in search of Ratchet and Clank Limited Time Event treats? Prepare for blast off!