We do our best to brighten the days of some post-apocalyptic survivors (but mostly get beaten up by smiling, murderous robots) in our IGP First look at Fallback.
Humanity’s had a rough go of it. We accidentally blighted the Earth with our hubris. Then, when we dug out an underground home for ourselves, we accidentally gave robots the ability to enslave and imprison us. We’re really not doing great here. Plus we wear gas masks all the time and our hair’s fallen out. We’re hardly in a position to reclaim the surface and overthrow the machines.
That kind of shows in my performance trying to fight my way to the surface and free the people. The robots are quick and merciless, making short work of any rebel who’s brave (stupid) enough to challenge them. Combat goes down quick, so you need to be fast with that dodge. These machines aren’t idiots, though, and will change their attack direction if you dodge too early. They’re also built to deal with your back attacks and other sneaky maneuvers, resulting in attacks that often take you by surprise. It made combat deeply involved, and forced me to keep moving quickly instead of just dodging behind things and hitting them.
The game also offered a handful of interesting power-ups that could build off of various play styles, which added to the fun of a fight. However, exploration was the most interesting part, as the game uses a mixture of 2D and 3D, allowing you to explore the seemingly-2D environments in some neat ways. Secrets could be right under your feet, teaching you to pay attention to the environments when I’d normally not look twice. It added a great deal of depth, making the journey as appealing as the combat.
Fallback is a sharp roguelite with snappy combat and some clever exploration. Definitely a good time, although possibly not for all of those rebels I got killed.
Fallback is available now on Steam.
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