The Fall has almost everything a good adventure game should offer. A gripping narrative, well-written dialogue, excellent visual…everything you enjoy in a story-driven game. The game is also fully voiced with top notch acting. I’m a big fan of thought-provoking short games and really wanted to love this game. Unfortunately, however, the actual gameplay constantly prevents me from immersing myself into the compelling story. As other reviewers have already said, this is a 2D scroller where you will spend most of your time solving point-and-click puzzles. To clarify what I am saying, I should quote the review on the Bloody-Disgusting.com (which is very favorable): “Ninety percent of the player’s time will be spent tracking and backtracking to solve puzzles” (http://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3302916/fall-review-dystopian-horror/). For me, the puzzles in this game feel more obtuse than difficult. Yes, it requires attention, but in a rather pointless manner. Instead of letting you ponder over clues, the game likely keeps you walking around the same area over and over to make sure you are not overlooking something. And while I don’t intend to spoil the story, I have to warn you that there is a section where you are thrown into puzzles…to solve puzzles. At that point, the game began to make me feel like I was just mindlessly solving puzzles rather than exploring a mysterious sci-fi world itself. The controls (mouse and keyboard) are somewhat clumsy and counter-intuitive (for example, you can’t push an elevator button with a single key), which makes both puzzles and combat slightly more frustrating. The unpolished auto-save feature also adds needless annoyance. As the first chapter of an episodic game, this game delivers an engaging, yet hardly satisfying ending. Overall, this is an ambitious game whose great potential is hampered by the tedious nature of the gameplay itself. Definitely worth checking, but not that much enjoyable.
