The Fall starts with a figure, presumably an astronaut in a space suit, hurtling through space. As the the figure begins to heat up, it becomes apparent that it is entering a planet’s atmosphere. At the last second, the suit’s automatic protocol kicks in to activate a shield to protect against impact with the planet’s surface. Despite the effort to cushion the crash, the suit sustains major damage to its core systems, including the system that monitors the health of the human inside. With the human seemingly incapacitated and in dire need of medical attention, the suit’s artificial intelligence (AI) assumes control in order to save its charge. The AI, known as ARID, is governed by three Isaac Asimov-inspired rules. First, they must not misrepresent reality. Second, they must be obedient. Lastly, they must protect their active pilot.
As you can imagine, the game sets the table for a conflict between ARID, who ostensibly is able to think for themself, and the contradictions inherent in their programming. This becomes even more interesting when ARID encounters other AIs that are governed by different rules which clash with the protagonist’s goals. It’s all great setup for an interesting sci-fi story that seeks to explore the concepts of free will and duty. Unfortunately, the execution of these ideas does not live up to the initial premise, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the gameplay.
ARID finds themself in an abandoned facility that previously was used to service and repurpose robots. The moment-to-moment gameplay involves exploring the environment in a 2D plane in order to solve puzzles and advance. This mostly involves finding items and activating the suit’s various systems to creatively get past obstacles. At first, the game remains engaging by offering a unique mix of point-and-click adventure gaming (complete with items to collect and use) and metroidvania-style character advancement. Unfortunately, the game gets too interested in throwing minor obstacles in the player’s way that culminates in a bloated middle section full of unintuitive and menial puzzles. Add to that a combat component that feels bolted on and awkward to control, and the 2 hours that it takes to finish the story starts to feel a whole lot longer.
The narrative also makes the gameplay feel especially pointless. After completing 7 of 8 tasks to earn the ability to advance to the endgame, ARID runs into a seemingly insurmountable roadblock. The final task requires ARID to tell a lie, and that is counter to their programming that states that they cannot misrepresent reality. However, by not lying, ARID cannot advance and get the medical attention their human presumably needs. So now there’s a conflict between the rules “must not misrepresent reality” and “must protect active pilot”. This is where the game’s premise really falls flat, and it becomes glaringly apparent when we consider the work of Isaac Asimov.
Like The Fall, the robots in Asimov’s fiction are typically governed by rules, which he referred to as laws. The most famous version of his laws (per Wikipedia) are as follows:
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Notice how Asimov established a hierarchy in his laws. He understood that since robots are built to serve humans, they must prioritize human safety above all else, including human judgement and the robot’s own preservation directive. Of course, there are still situations where the laws generate internal conflict, such as when one human is trying to kill another and the only option for the robot is lethal force. Asimov understood this and mined those conflicts to tell some iconic sci-fi stories. Now let’s compare Asimov’s laws to The Fall’s rules for ARID:
There’s no apparent hierarchy, no consideration of what to do when the rules contradict one another. I certainly don’t mean to presume that the world of The Fall takes place in our own universe, but I think it’s fair to assume that a society advanced enough to create artificial life and master space travel would have programmers with enough foresight to consider how their code would work in practice. Certainly, one could make the argument that ARID is a unique AI in a situation unforeseen by their creators, but the game fails to provide any indication for that to be the case. In fact, the game fails to provide a satisfying answer for any of its questions.
The Fall embraces the recent trend in atmospheric 2D games of “less is more” storytelling. For many games, like Limbo and Thomas Was Alone, this approach works to emphasize their themes. But The Fall takes it too far. There’s no explanation as to why ARID fell in the first place, or why the facility they’re exploring is overrun with hostile robots, or why ARID is conveniently able to ignore their rules when the plot calls for it. I’ll not reveal the game’s final twist, but I will say that it introduces even more questions than before and isn’t all that surprising.
I’ll admit that a big reason why I’m so down on The Fall is because I really wanted to like it. I’m a sucker for a good sci-fi story that considers the implications that come from the existence of artificial intelligence, but the game squanders its promising start with a half-baked narrative. Granted, the disappointment is softened somewhat by Over The Moon Games confirming a forthcoming sequel that hopefully answers some of the questions its predecessor raises. But as a standalone product, I can’t help but feel underwhelmed with The Fall.