Black The Fall Reviews
While playing, you can tell the game is competently built and comes from a place of passion with the developers, but outside of some eerie imagery and unique uses of the player's robot companion and Designator tool, Black the Fall fails to be the next big standout entry in this ever growing sub-genre.
Black The Fall is a puzzle-platform set in a dystopian and dictatorial world, which echoes the political situation of Romania. Gameplay and storytelling are excellently connected with each other.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Black The Fall not only succeeds in Sand Sailor Studio's aim of bringing attention to the Communist history of Romania but it also stands strong as an excellent puzzle platformer. The use of unique devices and companions ensures that you never solve the same puzzle twice and the excellent design ensure that every moment of your journey to escape from oppression is enjoyable.
Black The Fall's uniquely varied puzzles are what kept me playing from start to finish. Without repeating the same element throughout, it always feels fresh, especially with the platforming sections breaking up the different puzzles. There were a few frustrating parts that required me to retry them more times than I would like to admit, but with an instant restart and generous checkpoints, Black The Fall ensures players can keep advancing. As the name implies, there is one section in the game that takes place entirely in darkness, serving as a real highlight of the experience.
Taking on some heavy subject matter, Black The Fall has moments that will live in the memory once it's all over. And while Sand Sailor's game might be on the brief side and occasionally frustrating, it's also perfectly fine. But that's about the long and short of it.
Black The Fall beautifully and subtly shows the oppression in communist country. Great logic platformer for two-hour session.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Black The Fall is a decent way to spend a few hours, with good puzzles, fun world-building, and great design that's all let down by a lack of any real depth.
Black The Fall isn't exactly revolutionary when it comes to the world of atmospheric platformers, but it still excels in what it sets out to do.
A stylish, bleak puzzler which overcomes many of its flaws through tightly polished delivery.
The whole experience ended up being a few hours long. The likelihood is that this is a one--and-done playthrough, as once you've figured out the puzzles there really isn't a reason to play again unless you'd like to go back and look for clues to figure out the back story. I wouldn't say it's the best puzzle-platform title available, but it's unique and was worth the short time investment.
In many ways, Black: The Fall is just the ordinary that everyone would expect but its gameplay, nevertheless, must be considered as a positive point, though you will find the puzzles irrelevant to the story. After a few hours of experience, you'll encounter an ending fit to the game which after, the whole game would finally make sense but, too bad since this only occurs when you're about to leave the game forever after!
Review in Persian | Read full review
A unique premise and heavy interplay of gameplay and narrative elevates Black The Fall above its rather stock standard game mechanics.
Black The Fall experienced a heart transplant, but survived. Deprived of gothic charm, game became history of liberation struggle against the totalitarian regime. No hidden meanings and vague allegories: this is a walk through dystopia, which aimed at reminding the player about Romanian way through the 20th century (according to the developers). The project, deeply reminiscent of INSIDE, unexpectedly gets to the promise of 1979 Revolution: Black Friday — to a certain extent, and in a grotesque manner. And from a slightly awkward, but not so bad clone turns... well, not in a beautiful swan with a strong personality, but in the project with its own voice.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Black the Fall definitely isn't for the casual gamer; it's crazy tough, but for someone looking for a fun challenge it's worth a try – or two, or three… since you'll be dying. A lot.
While most players will likely see where its influences lay, the dystopian world of Black The Fall succeeds on many occasions in creating a distinctly disquieting atmosphere, while a trial-and-error-based puzzle design offers just enough interactivity to keep its spooky narrative kicking.
Black the Fall is... okay. Not the worst atmospheric puzzle-adventure out there, but also very far from the top steps of the podium. A strong, oppressive atmosphere can get you places, but a game of this kind still needs a good plot, and some gameplay mechanics that are more than decent.
As with similar titles in the puzzle-platformer genre, Black The Fall lacks replay value. Still, this is a fantastic game and an exemplary showcase for what the medium is capable of. All of its elements are designed so that they don't conflict with one another. The visuals are stylish, but never at the expense of playability or comprehension. It relies on the background to tell its story, and superbly crafts the surrounding area with puzzles. No matter what happens, the player is always able to follow exactly what's going on. This is all accomplished without a single written word, and it's absolutely brilliant.
Overall, Black the Fall is a pretty good ride with a bit of a story to tell, though without words and dialogue the interpretation of that story falls on you. Throughout the few hours I played it I was consistently challenged and periodically take aback by some of the clever solutions that could be reached through a bit of experimentation. Cognizant of how difficult the game is and how often you’ll die the fact that you rarely get backtracked much is a relief and much appreciated. If you’re looking for something a bit different, and maybe a little aggravating, it will provide several hours of head-scratching entertainment.
Overall, Black: The Fall is a fun and challenging game that is suitable for those who wants a game full of mind-blowing puzzles. It may not be as fun and unique as Limbo and Inside, but Black deserves a credit.