PixlBit

While heralded by aficionados as the salvation of games from AAA tropes, indie games have their own host of issues.  Frequently unpolished, sometimes relying too heavily on nostalgia, and often times too clever or difficult for their own good, indies can be just as flawed as their major studio brethren.  However, despite this, there's a reason that some of us keep coming back to indies, and that is they commonly provide thrills and the element of surprise that tends to be infrequent with AAA games.  With indie developers more capable of taking risks, indie games can sometimes provide experiences found nowhere else.  Case in point is The Fall: a flawed game to be sure, but one also imbued with creativity and inspiration, resulting in a game that's hard to classify, but is without a doubt a joy to play. 

The Fall's developer, Over the Moon, based in Vancouver, was created in 2013 with the mission to create rich, compelling worlds, and to blend game play with storytelling.  The Fall is the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign, and the game also did time in Early Access on Steam before it was finally released on Wii U.  Supposedly the first chapter in a longer story, The Fall is puzzle and adventure game at heart, but one rich with atmosphere and story. 

The game starts with a mysterious figure falling through the atmosphere on a strange planet.  This turns out to be Colonel Josephs, a soldier in a high tech combat suit.  However, the player does not take the role of Colonel Josephs, who has been severely injured by the fall, but instead the role of A.R.I.D., the artificial intelligence managing the combat suit.  A.R.I.D. has almost full control of the suit, and is able to walk, jump, run, examine and interact with objects, interface with other machines, as well as use other skills, only limited by her programming protocols -- which the player must break in order to succeed in the game. 

This conceit, that you are the A.I. in control of the suit trying to save Colonel Josephs, is the heart of the game, and is both intricately woven into the story, and in the abilities the player has to work with during the course of the game.  It's a very clever set-up, and Over the Moon takes full advantage with the plot and game mechanics resulting from it. 

Control is marvelously simple: with the left analog stick you move, and with the right, I aim your flashlight or gun. Your flashlight enable you to examine things in the game you can interact with, while your gun (obviously) kills stuff. 

The puzzles are diverse, but sometimes a little obtuse. I had to use a walkthrough and Steam forums to figure out some puzzles in the game, but others I figured out myself, which was more fun.

I believe this game was on PS4, and maybe even was a free game for a month, I'm not sure. But, if you've overlooked this game in the past, and what I've written here sounds interesting, I definitely recommend it.

However, with the unfinished story, let's hope that we see a sequel sooner than later.....

4 Stars.