The Fall (video game)

Plot

After crashing from space into the surface of an unknown planet, a Mark-7 Combat Suit powered exoskeleton activates its Autonomous Robotic Interface Device (A.R.I.D.) artificial intelligence when no response can be detected from the pilot Col. Josephs. With no logs detailing previous mission parameters and the suit's health monitoring system malfunctioning, A.R.I.D. is given control over the suit's motor functions with the primary directive to seek medical attention for the presumably critically injured and unconscious pilot.

Navigating the decaying lower levels of the industrial facility she finds herself in, A.R.I.D. is captured and subjected to an evaluation by an android identifying itself as the Caretaker. She is unable to prove her primary function to the Caretaker because the pilot is non-responsive, so the Caretaker declares A.R.I.D. to be faulty and attempts to wipe her using an electromagnetic field so the suit can be "de-purposed". Since her and the suit's destruction would place the pilot's life at risk, A.R.I.D. is given control over the Mark-7 suit's networking functions which she uses to incapacitate the Caretaker and escape.

A.R.I.D. attempts to explore further into the facility and encounters an intercom terminal which connects her to the Administrator, the artificial intelligence which operates the facility and has managed to achieve sentience despite being narrowly constrained by its programming. The Administrator explains that the facility is a re-purposing centre for faulty Domesticon Corporation domestic robots. The Administrator attempts to let A.R.I.D. pass through the facility to a medical room on the upper level, but the Caretaker appears and notes that she violated her primary operating protocols by purposely placing her pilot at risk to gain access to the suit's cloaking system.

Unable to lie to the Administrator due to her basic programming barring her from "misrepresenting reality", A.R.I.D. admits to her actions and is declared faulty. Forced to pass re-calibration testing as a domestic robot to avoid being destroyed, A.R.I.D. undertakes the tests with a significant challenge caused by the decrepit nature of the facility. Operating outside the rules, and with limited assistance from the Administrator, she is able to pass most of the tests but is unable to pass the final challenge which involves submitting to a simulated drunk house guest.

At the suggestion of the Caretaker A.R.I.D. descends into the laboratory areas of the facility to find the Administrator's mainframe, because it can be used to override her prohibition on lying. She encounters infestations of dangerous local flora and fauna, which presumably contributed to the facility's abandonment, including: fungi which produce a highly potent acid, piranha-like fish capable of biting through steel, and massive slug creatures. Once she reaches the mainframe room A.R.I.D. is forced to undergo immediate repairs after the Caretaker appears and sabotages her power systems, declaring her faulty and needing to be de-purposed immediately. The Caretaker re-emerges while A.R.I.D. is incapacitated in the repair chamber and implements a master reset on the mainframe, destroying the Administrator's sentience and returning it to its original programming.

A.R.I.D. pursues the Caretaker through the facility and destroys it, after which her parameter against misrepresenting reality is eliminated. A.R.I.D. uses this change to successfully pass the final test and reach the surface level of the Domesticon facility. A.R.I.D. enters the medical suite to submit to an automated scan of the suit's occupant, and the Administrator informs her that there is no human present in the combat suit. She removes her helmet, revealing that Josephs is not in the suit, and states that nothing binds her as the Administrator summons security droids to remove her for evaluation. A.R.I.D.'s final two operating parameters, obedience and protecting the active pilot, are deleted as she is partially dismantled and taken away.

Cast

Development

The Fall was largely the work of John Warner, founder of Over the Moon Games. Warner described working alone as "incredibly gratifying. It’s what I would do if I had infinite resources, if I was a billionaire." The game is inspired by Metroid and the Monkey Island games, Limbo serves as its visual inspiration. The game was partly crowdfunded through Kickstarter, raising C$38,155 in October 2013. A sequel is in development.

Reception

The Fall has received generally positive reviews, with scores of 70, 76 and 81 across multiple platforms at reviews aggregation website Metacritic. Giant Bomb declared the game as having the "Best Story" in its 2014 Game of the Year editorial, writing that the game "manages to weave a tightly told tale into gameplay and visuals that support and propel you through a science fiction adventure".