Don't mind me, just clearing more games from my backlog. BACKGROUND:
Per usual, I didn't know anything about this game prior to adding it to my library on the week it was free. I just thought the vibe looked interesting and read that it had puzzles in it. PLOT: A pilot crash-lands on a mysterious planet and is rendered unconscious. His suit's AI (called the ARID) takes over in his stead, and its protocols to preserve its human's life kicks in. Commandeering the suit, ARID must explore the planet to find a way to get the pilot medical attention and hopefully get him out of this mess. Pretty much everything in the story is a mystery. ARID has no intel regarding its pilot's mission, and it has no logs on anything about the planet they crash-landed on. Upon further exploration, ARID finds that the planet houses a derelict industrial facility involved in the manufacturing of domestic robots and testing their AI. To make things extra difficult, a rogue robot/android tasked with the caretaking of the facility seems hellbent on shutting ARID down (which will endanger the human inside the suit). You'll have to observe the environment and read some stuff to figure out what happened to the facility (again, I'm fine with this, but I get that others aren't), but I found the implied story of how it fell into such disarray to be quite sinister. The game doesn't answer everything, however, and big questions like how exactly shit hit the fan are left mostly unanswered. Plus, your very presence here is not addressed at all, with the most you get is an extremely vague insinuation that the pilot had some intention of going to this place. I kind of wish more time was spent fleshing things out lore-wise. I was so intrigued by the gruesome things that happened within the facility, but I felt like the game was content using it as a backdrop as opposed to giving you definitive answers about most of anything. I suppose that makes sense since ARID is exclusively concerned with following its prime directive (save its pilot) and not really figuring out what's happening, but I personally would have loved to learn more about the place, and maybe also learn about why the pilot even ended up here of all places. You're not completely bereft of company in this abandoned world, as ARID will occasionally run into other AI on its journey. Two of these AI make for great foils to ARID, as they kind of represent the extremes of how sci-fi AI usually go. The aforementioned Caretaker, for example, is fully committed to its directive (but in a twisted way a la Ultron), while another AI called the Administrator is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, having achieved a level of sentience close to that of a human. ARID is fascinating since it kind of falls in the middle; it's certainly committed to accomplishing its mission by any means necessary, but as you play through the game, you'll see that ARID is willing to bend the rules and find loopholes in order to serve the main goal. This take on AI is easily the most engaging aspect of the story to me. I loved seeing the juxtaposition of ARID's commitment to following its prime directives and its willingness to find ways to circumvent its own programming for the bigger picture. The prime example of this is when ARID deliberately puts the pilot in danger in order to force an override that allows it to use a necessary function that will allow the AI to protect the pilot. The game ends with a massive plot twist that blew my mind. The reveal is genuinely shocking in the moment (less so in retrospect), but what makes it sting is how the game ends on that. It's not a cliffhanger per se (not when evaluated on its own), but upon learning that the game has a sequel, I can't help but be a little miffed that the game doesn't explore the implications of the big reveal. That said, it's a hell of a way to market your next game. PRESENTATION: Immediately, I am reminded of Limbo when I look at this game. The Fall takes heavy inspiration from it for its visuals, and while it isn't fully grayscale, the heavy shadows give the game something quite close to the silhouette aesthetic. Both this and the utter disrepair of the surroundings do well to give the game a foreboding atmosphere. The only issue I'd level at the game in this sense is how it's sometimes too dark for its own good; even with the flashlight, it's not always easy to discern important elements in the environment. The menus (and occasional in-game visuals) are reminiscent of command prompt/terminal screens, which gives the game a sort of old-school sci-fi vibe. I thought it was neat, though there should definitely be some sort of photosensitivity warning for the more glitchy effects. There's hardly any music, with the only sounds keeping you company are eerie ambient noises that complement the almost oppressive visuals. There will be occasional voice acting, but since every character in the game is AI, you'll be treated to appropriately robotic voices with oddly formal English. I wouldn't call any of the voices unsettling, but the fact that you mostly hear robot-sounding AI throughout the game gave me that feeling that I was very much a stranger on this world. GAMEPLAY: As a whole, I'd describe The Fall as a puzzle platformer, but some of its key elements deviate from what I typically expect from the genre. For one, the puzzle-solving in this game is much closer to a classic point-and-click adventure, and I'd say the only thing remotely "platformer" about it is the side-scrolling perspective. For another, this game actually features a bit of combat, which isn't common in puzzle platformers outside of gimmicked fights. Just like point-and-clicks, most puzzles in the game will require you to inspect the environment, pick up items, then use items in the correct spots to unlock the path forward. The game overall is around 50/50 on puzzles being clever or obtuse, which is honestly par for the course for point-and-click games. I thought a few of the solutions to puzzles were neat (like how you get around dangerous critters in the late game), while others seemed contrived to me (using a chemical to make a fungus volatile to cause an explosion....?). Your main tool will be a gun, but for most of the game, you'll be using it for its flashlight. You need to shine the light on interactables to interact with them (doing so will bring up an old-school point-and-click menu that shows you what actions you have available), and I found it to be quite awkward both as a concept and in terms of how it actually controls. I'd have preferred if you could simply just walk up to things and press a button to interact with them, or, you know, just go full point-and-click and let me use the mouse. Because that's what this game is. Don't worry, the gun is used for shooting, too, as you can break faraway stuff to solve certain puzzles (albeit sparingly). There will also be occasional sections where you fight rogue robots, and you can take advantage of nearby cover to avoid their attacks. There's barely any variety in terms of enemies, you can take a few good hits (and have slowly regenerating shields), and combat is incredibly simple (take cover, shoot, repeat), so I didn't find the presence of combat particularly remarkable. There's even a stealth takedown option, but it's hardly worth going for most of the time. Perhaps the coolest thing the game presented to me was the ability to unlock the suit's abilities by forcing overrides. Key moments in the story will imperil the pilot in the suit, allowing ARID to override suit functions that normally require a human to authorize use for. These will unlock abilities such as remotely networking with electronic devices, active camouflage, and even faster fire rate for the gun. I really thought the game would go full Metroidvania on me and introduce a good assortment of neat suit abilities (and present you with various challenges that make use of them), but you only get the three I listed (despite the menu teasing that the suit has more functions), and you can count on one hand how many times you'll use them to solve puzzles. I couldn't help but be a little disappointed with this aspect of the game, because I loved the concept behind unlocking the abilities, and I feel like it's such a missed opportunity to not design more puzzles and challenges around them. I suppose active camo and the faster shot at least see use in combat, but that's it. VERDICT: Though elements of the gameplay leave something to be desired for me, I will still give The Fall major kudos for its Metroid-style "isolated on an alien planet" vibe, mystifying (albeit not fleshed out) story and lore, a distinct take on AI with ARID (that leads into a great plot twist), and some inspired gameplay concepts and puzzles. I'm definitely interested in playing the sequel down the line to see how the story goes, though I'm concerned that the gameplay would just be more of the same with no improvements or additions to it. Given how short this game is, it would probably behoove you to wait for a sale. Nonetheless, if you think a dark sci-fi point-and-click puzzler is your cup of tea, you might enjoy The Fall (if you can get past the weird controls). You should probably have a walkthrough handy for some of the more obtuse puzzles, though. Links to the store platforms below: - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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