Fallen Demo

Some ideas are good enough to deserve an homage every every now and again, especially if the homage in question is good enough to be enjoyable. Platformers are not complex when it comes to gameplay mechanics, but they can be rather tricky to get right. In short, the controls have to be responsive and snappy, otherwise frustration keeps you from having fun.

Fallen is a 2D puzzle-platformer in which you get to explore a dark world and fight off the enemies that try to bring your progress to a halt. The mechanics are very similar to what you may have experienced in Limbo, except a tad simpler and less engaging when it comes to the story. However, simplicity has power as well, depending on whether you are in it for the challenge or the atmosphere.

The story is nothing to write home about, unfortunately, given the fact that there are no major revelations at play. In short, you play the role of a father looking for his son in a dark cave full of nasty monsters, but the plot slips into the background most of the time. Thankfully, the gameplay keeps you busy, especially if you like puzzles.

Your character can jump, attack and perform a few other actions in order to stay alive, but it’s up to you to make the most out of his skills. Double jumps come in handy as well, and you can also push objects around to create temporary platforms, or even flip switches to unlock the way forward. However, the controls feel a bit too slippery, which is not good in a platformer.

Lastly, the graphics are very similar to Limbo as well, which is not exactly a bad thing, depending on your attitude toward simple, mostly black visuals. The environments are very basic too, which can cause orientation problems sometimes, especially due to the lack of clear visual cues. Not much can be said about the music, unfortunately, which is a bit of a bummer in an experience such as this one.

In the end, Fallen can easily keep you engaged for a while, depending on whether you can live with the touchy controls and the slightly too dark graphics. However, some of the issues could be fixed with a patch or two in the future.