Black The Fall Reviews
This puzzle-platformer lives in the shadow of Playdead's Inside, but its rage against Romanian Communism is authentic and raw.
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.
The similarities to Inside are unfortunate, but this is still a gripping and inventive action puzzler with a grim, if unsubtle, message about authoritarianism.
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
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.
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
If you can push through some frustrating moments during the opening hour, Black The Fall offers challenging puzzles with a thought-provoking narrative.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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
It all comes down to a game that, while not terrible, isn't going to set the world on fire.
Black The Fall is an exaggeration of an Orwellian communist lifestyle but it's one that successfully drives a point home.
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 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 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.