Black The Fall Reviews
For me it felt far too derivative of Inside (it was of course in development before Inside's release, but looked awfully different), which was itself derivative of Limbo, and without the precision of either. Utterly beautiful when it remembers to be, but more irritating than fun in execution.
Listen, as dystopian and mostly monochrome platform puzzlers go, Black the Fall isn't bad. But I can't tell you it's great either.
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
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 is a game inspired by contemporary puzzle platformers that struggles to reciprocate inspiration.
Overall, if you are a fan of games like Limbo and Inside, then the chances are you’ll enjoy Black The Fall thanks to the similar mechanics and puzzles. Just don’t expect anything new or different being brought to the table. If you’re a newcomer to the genre however, be prepared for a lot of trial and error and potentially some frustrated hair pulling or broken controllers if you’re prone to a bit of rage quitting.
If you were to take a step back and look at Black the Fall on a purely reductive level, it would be hard to find an overwhelming thread of originality. The game is a 2.5D side-scrolling puzzle/platformer, from in independent studio, set in a futuristic dystopian wasteland. Despite sounding the by-product of game design Mad Libs gone horribly awry, it still manages to hold together as a singular experience. Sure, there are plenty of, “where have I seen this before?” moments, but these are spread far enough apart to still feel at least slightly non-conventional. Unfortunately, the proverbial meat of the experience consists of interesting concepts that are executed poorly. Much like what the player will encounter during several puzzles, gameplay itself feels like an ill-informed leap of faith that elicits more far exasperation than elation. Toe the edge carefully and think twice before taking this plunge.
Black the Fall isn't the most unique or ambitious title in the puzzle platforming genre, but it's a welcome and impressive first effort from Sand Sailor Studio.
This puzzle-platformer lives in the shadow of Playdead's Inside, but its rage against Romanian Communism is authentic and raw.
Black the Fall is an enjoyable, devilish platformer and one that deserves a tremendous amount of praise, however what it lacks is character and narrative, and this is what sadly prevents it from joining the top ranks of other titles in the genre.
Though Black deserves credit for adding new puzzle mechanics along the way, it could've easily seen its 6-8 hour runtime chopped in half and still gotten its message across. That entire time I found myself wondering if, like Inside, Black would have anything to say. When I finally discovered its message at the end of the campaign, it did inspire me to look up the real-life issue it was drawing attention to and learn more about it. I applaud it for that. Sure, it could've done so with a bit more subtlety – it's a bit heavy-handed at the very end – but at least Black does have a point to make. It's just a shame that it wrapped that in a game that's so shamelessly and distractingly derivative.
A unique premise and heavy interplay of gameplay and narrative elevates Black The Fall above its rather stock standard game mechanics.
It all comes down to a game that, while not terrible, isn't going to set the world on fire.
The main problem of Black The Fall lies not in political bias, but in absolute unoriginality of the whole project. Snatching a bunch of design decisions and mechanics from more successful colleagues, the developers failed to turn them into an interesting story and challenging puzzle game.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Black The Fall is an exaggeration of an Orwellian communist lifestyle but it's one that successfully drives a point home.
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.
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.
I love games that are clever, beautifully designed, tell an amazing story and make you feel for something or someone. Black the Fall ticks all my boxes. Enjoy.
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
Life in 1980's Communist Romania was stupidly harsh. Freedom of speech was nonexistent. Any anti-government whisper improved the chance of receiving a terrifying visit from the Securitate, Romanian secret police, which pressured families and neighbors to snitch on one another. Writer, journalist, and photographer became some of the most dangerous professions; citizens who engaged in these passions risked, for the crime of "denigrating the socialist reality," a minimum of six years in prison or a maximum of being disappeared, never to be embraced or gazed upon by loved ones again.