Black The Fall

Black The Fall bought me with its brilliant atmosphere of hopelessness that even Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four would not be ashamed of. [10/2017, p.57]

Black The Fall is a rarity, something unexpected for its ability of mixing a setting inspired by the true history of Romania before the fall of the communist regime and the mechanics of a traditional puzzle-platform. The result is crippled by some flaws, but Sand Sailor Studio has created a nice alternative to the Limbo/Inside subgenre.

Impressive treatment of the Romanian revolution in 1989, with minor weaknesses in the field of game mechanics.

Great logical platformer strength is mainly on delightfully drawn distressful atmosphere and fine visuals. While gameplay is not completely spotless, a number of interestingly designed puzzles makes the game a pleasant thing for anyone who likes to think.

It is sometimes even able to shine with its own light, succeeding in refreshing the sensations generated by a genre that in recent years has known too many emulsions and a few really original works.

Black The Fall is a pretty good allusion to the crimes of the communist regime in Romania. The game has a rich atmosphere, but there are also some serious shortcomings.

An attempt to escape from the Communist prison in Black the Fall has a plenty of strong moments and great environment design. It´s a pity, there is only a short campaign and many technical issues. [Issue#277]

Brilliant bleak atmosphere and sharp graphics. I love the concept of fighting against Communism and the puzzles are rather challenging, I must admit, especially the one that you have to rely on sound only.

What story? Background. 3/5 There are no speeches only some shouts of guards. But the background atmosphere is supposed to inject you with feelings of oppression by Communist regime. There are in between parts which show you the world. They are called chapters and you get a checkpoint after each puzzle solved. Game play? Good. 4/5 It is rather relaxing puzzler where you solve puzzles and use reflexes to jump around or time your escape under the lights of enemies. You continuously get to understand your controls and how to get past guards. Some puzzles are repeating themselves with slight variations inside the environment. Mostly, you need to be attentive to the signs giving you clues. Re playability? Acceptable. 2/5 I have got 36% achievements in 1st walk through, though it seemed very linear to me, surprised that I did not unlock 100%. There were machine buttons that did not move a thing when pressed. There are probably some collectibles or hidden rooms I am not aware of. Graphics? Good. 4/5 Art style is great, light effects too, there is some music here and there, but most sounds are coming from the machines around you. It is 2.5D side-scroller and you will turn to the sides when moving around. Hardware requirements? Low range. It ran smooth on my GTX 1060 and i7- 8700 with above 150 FPS. How difficult? Normal. You should get through by trial and error, watch the reactions of guards and environment changes. Lights and sounds also play their roles to trick player. There are only few controls, walk, crouch, jump, fall, use, aim and command. Exhaust them all, look around your chapter, your options are limited. How long? less than 2 hours. The fastest you can get through is little over 1 hour. 2-9 hours. I finished it in 3 hours. I am giving Black the Fall 7/10. It is short and linear puzzler, not very frustrating if at all, atmosphere is kind of a background story.

Black The Fall is an extremely interesting and rewarding game to play. With a very symbolic story, Black tells a dark, cold, hard story of an escape from communism in a brilliant, wordless narrative way. Graphically stylized with a very particular style, the game demonstrates well the artistic treatment, acclaimed by the critics. The soundtrack is intense and immersive. Mechanically the game is very simple, but with challenging and elaborate jigsaw puzzles. I think for this game using a controller will be a huge plus, but I did not have any issues playing it with a keyboard. Black is a very nice "outside of the box" game, that I honestly enjoy every moment.

A very basic sidescrolling platformer. Lacks the charm of other more favorable games of this type. Not doing anything new or original.

A game made for right wing uneducated people who gobble up anything fascist and authoritarian fed to them