The Fall is chillingly gripping
Over the Moon's The Fall is an amazingly atmospheric game, with a deep, riveting story, let down only slightly by occasionally rough gameplay mechanics.
The Fall begins with the player, clad in an exosuit, hurtling out of space and into a cavern, deep underground. The game immediately takes a left turn when it is revealed the occupant of the exosuit is incapacitated by the eponymous 'fall' from space, and it is left to the suit's AI to protect its pilot and return them to safety. The cavern is revealed to be the entrance to an industrial facility of some kind, wherein it becomes clear that something has gone terribly awry, killing the human employees, and leaving the facility in the hands of the robotic 'Caretaker', and the more friendly system administration AI, who offers some limited aid and guidance to the player. To say anymore would ruin a fantastic and engrossing story, the primary theme of which is how an AI should and would interpret its rules and limitations, with the three examples given, the player, the Caretaker, and the Administrator, each offering a different interpretation of their own guiding rules. The AI characters are reminiscent of Portal's G.L.A.D.O.S. or particularly I, Robot's VIKI, and an interesting twist on the genre is that, as there are only robots, the only 'human' perspective offered is from the player themselves. The story goes to some quite dark and at times, unsettling places, but the way in which the player character and the other characters react to this world and the rules which bind them creates a compelling story.
The gameplay itself is relatively straightforward; the player navigates the game's 2D environment, solving puzzles in order to overcome obstacles, in a standard 'adventure game' format. For example, the player may need to find and use wire cutters to cut pieces of wire to then use on something else. For the most part this puzzle solving is not too difficult, although can be challenging. The game rarely, if ever, tries to 'trick' you, and the will usually be useful tooltips associated with things that can be interacted with. Where the game falls down in this respect is that determining what you can interact with is sometimes difficult, as such things are only shown when illuminated by the player's flashlight. The game also doesn't clearly register changes to the environment cause by player action, for example where something has come loose and fallen, and can be interacted with, so if the player didn't find it in an initial 'sweep' of the flashlight, they may not be aware an item or point of interest has appeared.
The most frustrating part of the game is, however, the combat. Although not a major feature, it does occur regularly. It is, again, relatively straightforward, with the player wielding a pistol against similarly armed robotic opponents. There is a recharging shield as the first line of defence, and when depleted, the player's non-recharging life support, ostensibly keeping the all important pilot alive, is impacted. There are basic cover mechanics, with the player taking cover until the enemy has ceased firing, and then returning fire. The frustration comes when using a controller's analogue sticks. The pistol's aim is quite finicky, and there is not enough time to carefully aim, leaving the player to return fire somewhat wildly when using a controller. This doesn't necessarily make the combat more difficult, merely more time consuming.
Overall The Fall makes up for its occasionally frustrating mechanics by featuring a simply superb story and engrossing atmosphere portrayed by simple, yet beautiful graphics. The story's themes of robotics and AI, and the rules that govern them are increasingly poignant in today's world, and they are addressed with deft and care. It is a relatively short game, and can be completed in under 3 hours, but is apparently the first episode in a series, and a fantastic one at that.
