In 2014, Over the Moon Games released The Fall; the first part in a trilogy of sci-fi, Metroidvania style puzzle games, which was easily one of the best indie games that year had to offer. This year, after an eternity of anticipation, they have finally graced modern consoles with the second installment, The Fall Part 2: Unbound, a direct continuation of the first game, and an equally impressive accomplishment.
While the first game took place in a more isolated, intimate setting, Unbound truly lives up to its name in just how much more expansive it is than the first game, building onto the original formula, and and adding new, and highly distinctive environments to explore, and puzzles to solve. This includes a particular portion of the game which more directly brings to mind feelings of playing Super Metroid, and similar games of old, but in a way that is still wholly unique.
In Unbound, Arid, the same AI from the first game, has been stripped from her body, and finds herself navigating a virtual network, in search of her aggressor, who attempted to upload a malicious virus into her programming. This routes her through various other service droids, each with their own purpose and parameters. Arid must now co-inhabit these different forms, and find ways to work with and around their protocols to serve her own needs. This creates three fully independent dynamics in the game, for which the culmination of events is as fascinating as it can be frustrating, but ultimately worth the effort.
From a functional standpoint, the game performed admirably, for the most part. I will point out that there were moments where the audio would drop or skip. This may or may not have been a Switch specific issue, caused by the console’s suspension mode, as it usually occurred when I turned the game back on after a day or so, and was easily fixed by closing the game out completely and opening it back up. This did lose me what was initially about thirty minutes of gameplay, which was easier to repeat than to figure out in the first place. Still unfortunate, but better than continuing gameplay with choppy audio.
Overall, Unbound builds successfully on what The Fall was to begin with, expanding significantly with regards to the story, and adding more variety to the course of gameplay. Not to mention, the ending leaves the series open for what is sure to be an outstanding third installment.
So, how did you like The Fall: Unbound? Have you completed both games yet? What are your thoughts on the story? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
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