Black The Fall Reviews
Black the Fall by Sand Sailor Studios is one of the better platformers that I've played in a while. With both Nick and myself having previewed it at various stages of development I'm both confident and happy to say that the final product has been worth the seemingly long development time.
A stylish, bleak puzzler which overcomes many of its flaws through tightly polished delivery.
Black The Fall is a special game. The prodigious range of puzzles and platforming mechanics present rival that of a game ten times longer than it, and the visual and auditory treat on offer elevates that gameplay to an incredibly high standard. You'll witness the human race at its very worst through some horrifying imagery, but this presents itself as more of a gas to fuel a revolution. Black The Fall is a remarkable experience that will stay with us for a long time, and it's one that you must not miss out on.
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.
If you can push through some frustrating moments during the opening hour, Black The Fall offers challenging puzzles with a thought-provoking narrative.
In general, Black the Fall has conquered us, above all by the harshness of its setting and its denunciation of the total regimes and the control of modern citizens / consumers. An excellent recreation of the futuristic myth of Orwell and a wake-up call so that we do not let ourselves be controlled by the Big Brother. Deep, entertaining and technically very surprising.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Black the Fall paints a pretty bleak picture of a quite personal dystopia. It doesn't excel at its puzzle-solving all that often, nor does it always feel well-designed, but it does well enough to keep you moving through the oppression in the hope the protagonist gets to fulfill his dream of freedom from it.
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.
Through the stylishly muted visuals and the trappings of a Communist state on the brink of collapse, Black The Fall challenges you to escape its series of perilous puzzles in a bid for freedom from oppression. Though it will live in the shadows of its critically acclaimed peers and has a few rough edges, Black The Fall is a great addition to the puzzle platformer genre.
Black The Fall is an atmospheric 2D puzzle platformer, and although it creates an interesting tone, the game itself can't quite hold up against the titans of the 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
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 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.
Impressive processing of the Romanian revolution in 1989, which has minor weaknesses when it comes to game mechanics.
Review in German | Read full review
The similarities to Inside are unfortunate, but this is still a gripping and inventive action puzzler with a grim, if unsubtle, message about authoritarianism.
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.
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 beautifully and subtly shows the oppression in communist country. Great logic platformer for two-hour session.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Though Black The Fall's presentation is beautiful, the combination of sluggish controls, trite puzzles, and a weak conclusion makes this journey a hard sell