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First impression
I played the first part, The Fall, sometime ago and liked how the game was written and played. I like to question human mind, psychology and reality. The Fall questioned many of those in an unique way. I’m graving these kind of games and movies as it feeds my overly curious mind. The Fall wasn’t a long game, it was more of short indie that left me wait the sequel unpatiently. The Fall Part 2: Unbound got my eyes and I wanted to play it. I didn’t have any knowledge of the game itself, because I willingly didn’t read anything about it. I just wanted to be surprised and see how the story continues and what is there still to be unbound.
Story
For a short replay of the first part, it was a story of a robotic suit, Arid (portrayed as female), that had an injured unconscious person inside of it. She had fall to a place of unknown, having very high AI that can still move the suit, it searches for information where she is and seeks help for the human inside of it. The story goes tricky and interesting as Arid wants also to know things, but also acts like a basic AI: with no emotions. Everything has to be logical and with perfect explanation. I’m not gonna tell how it ends, but with the Part 2, Arid founds itself loaded in a computer/machine in a distant place. She founds out she’s being destroyed by a virus, so she seeks help. Only way out is to contact other household robots/androids, but things get difficult as these androids are stubborn as ever. They only knows their routine and logic. Emotions might be there but they are “ERROR: IRRELEVANT”. It becames a huge task to make them do things for Arid. It takes control of three different androids to try “NEW RULE: SAVE YOURSELF”.
Not the story itself and how well it’s written, but the way it’s presented makes The Fall Part 2: Unbound extremely special game. The story being tricky and questioning even player’s moral takes it to another level. Even if the story was great, but it felt little too long and too tricky at then end. That is very logical, when things happen they tend to have a snowball effect ending with a huge impact.
Gameplay & Controls
The Fall Part 2: Unbound is played sideways jumping up and down. This type of games is not suited for everyone, but is the way most gamers can enjoy it. Imagening it being played totally 3D I would say it could work, but this way it’s more simple and presentable to everyone. Gameplay contains shooting enemies, taking control of other robots and change their perspection of view, fighting, collecting items, lots of talking and solving puzzles that are constructed brilliantly, even though sometimes it felt just trying something as my ideas were all used. The game could benefit for being little more easier and clear on the puzzles and keeping the story the main point as it’s not the most simplest one to follow, but that’s more of a suggestion than giving scores.
The fighting and shooting happens only in certain areas and certain times. It was no sudden enemies attacking, the player always was noted when the fight is going to happen. I like how both of them were constructed; shooting was skills of jumping, moving and shooting when fighting was more of timing. Controls were simple enough and worked fine with these settings.
Graphics
The Fall Part 2: Unbound seemed to be graphically very alike with the first part. I could see many upgrades in details and refinings, but I think this whole game is not about how good it can look. It isn’t ugly or lazy game, more of simplistic yet beautiful. My only little notch is how close the camera is to the character, I would’ve liked it a bit more further. It gives feeling of everything being ‘in your face’. Technically I could see different styles mixed together, 2D and 3D graphics were used with still images and dynamical as well. Overall everything is well put together, even so using these techniques it makes the game look much older than it is, but that might be completely intentional.
Sound
Every character was voice acted and I liked to listen Arid’s voice. It was robotical, but there was something in it. It’s like an AI, that you can hear a real person hiding behind it. The background music was not memorable which means it wasn’t overly unique. It was more to give the places a voice rather than being just nothing.
Difficulty
Comparing to the first part this was much more complex and longer game. The puzzles sometimes got on my nerves as I tried every logical things and even tried every option available and still I couldn’t go onward. It was a some minutia thing that got over my sight and this is very much the ‘problem’ of point-and-click games. As The Fall Part 2: Unbound is mixture of sideway action and point-and-click, I would these kind of games have more than one option to figure out something. We all have our own perspective and logic and game like this where player needs to jump into other character’s mindset plus change its perspective of view three times makes this very tricky game sometimes. Not forgetting my main character Arid. This game isn’t for people who doesn’t have brains for middle complex story-driven game. I’m saying, yes, this game is difficult. Not maybe to control, but to understand what is going on, where you are, what you are and what you should do.
Last impression
Thinking of subjects The Fall Part 2: Undound has, always feeds my mind, but it truly felt too long and too complex in the end. I like challenge, but it was difficult to get the deed done in the end. I’m in this reality within this mind and person and twisting it to think differently all the time, makes it hard to keep up to. I know this is what the developer/writer wanted, to trick players and give them something to think about. The final part, conclusion to everything is making its way, and I can’t wait to play it and see which way I need to bend my mind this time.
Thank you Over The Moon Games for providing the review copy.
RELEASE DATE: Feb 13, 2018
GENRE: Action–adventure, platform
PUBLISHER: Over the Moon Games
DEVELOPER: Over the Moon Games
PLATFORMS: PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Nintendo Switch
Steam
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One More Level 