The Fall
Overview -
Another Kickstarter alumnus, 'The Fall' was funded in autumn 2013 on a modest budget of $30,000. It is developed by Over The Moon games, a small studio led by John Warner. The game was released over a year ago on Steam and has since been trickling onto consoles.
Video Review
This game is a 2D sidescroller in the vein of 'Limbo', and like that game has very dim lighting (but it’s not black and white). It doesn’t have beautiful textures or amazing effects, but skillfully complements the story with its bleakness, with ARID’s glowing helmet always visible, even when it is in stealth mode. There are some stutters in the engine, usually at inconvenient moments like right when jumping or shooting.
Audio Review
Like its story and visuals, the sound in 'The Fall' is dark and ominous. It is pushy enough to heighten the tension, but subtle enough to not intrude. The voice acting is mostly good, especially Alison Kumar’s excellent performance as ARID. Perhaps acting a monotone robot seems easy, but ARID’s moments of humanity are genuine.
Final Thoughts
'The Fall' is a great story and interesting discussion of synthetic morality, but ironically has some problems with its own mechanical side. It is possible that these issues were caused by the port to the Xbox One, but things like checkpoint saving are fundamental and cannot be overlooked. Regardless, I am happy that Over The Moon is continuing with the series, and hopefully we can expect the second episode before too long.
