An asteroid crashed into the Earth and brought civilization to its end. What do you do? Survive the Fall lets us entertain that thought. If you like city/base builders, RPGs, and open-world games, then you might enjoy what we have today.
The story unfolds like you might think. The world ends, and an alien menace known as Stasis emerges from the ashes. Humanity falls into factions—those who give in to Stasis, those who roam, others who are secretive in their ways (and intentions), and those who survive in spite of everything (us). We don’t know where the road leads, but we take it one step at a time.
Survive the Fall reminded me of several games blended together. Naturally, Wasteland comes to mind given the post-apocalyptic setting. We roam the landscape with an overhead camera view, and we can scavenge anything that is not nailed down (and if your inventory has space). I also thought about This War of Mine given resource scarcity and constant peril while rummaging for supplies. I personally enjoy that we find technical documents for research; it reminds me of scribes from Fallout.
We meet other survivors along the way and can take on side quests for them in order to earn rewards. When we are not socializing, we are sneaking around and avoiding the enemy’s line of sight. We can also stealthily take enemies out to thin out their numbers or simply remain undetected. Pro tip: hide the bodies—they take notice.
Transition to combat is nearly seamless. We can preset what our party members will do in each situation. For example, one person can take on a melee/tank role while you deal damage from afar, mashing space to dodge. You hover your mouse cursor and align your sights to take your shots. We can strategically pause and create plays on the fly, something like Dragon Age Origins lets us do. Pause and play is also an optional feature; you can keep playing in real-time if you don’t want to break immersion.
Our home base is the place where the resource management comes into play. We need to utilize what resources we have to restore buildings, build facilities (e.g., a canteen), cook food, gather raw resources, conduct research, etc. While we can only travel in packs of 3 members, we can make use of our entire crew at home. We also have to make sure that all of their needs are met, like health, stamina, and hunger. All the while, time passes with a day/night cycle.
I think the game looks good and handles well. I really like the UI from the menus to the inventory to the resource/loot icons. Characters are mostly shown as illustrations in dialogue and in character menus; otherwise, you see them fully 3D from the overhead camera view. The world-building is great and feels intentional. I had a mixed feeling of discovery but also a feeling of being led through the environment. We also have maps to help navigate, eliminating the fog of war as we move around.
I would say this is a title that will keep you occupied for many hours and offers many ways to play. Survive the Fall is a good take on the post-apocalypse. While the first biome in the game takes place in the National Park, there are others to explore as well. The developers noted that they are fixing up known bugs. Luckily for me, I barely noticed any bugs, if any. I think a fair rating for this game is a 8.5 out of 10.
Survive the Fall launches today for PC via Steam.
Related: Reviews by John Pruitt
I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.
More Stories
Dune: Awakening Review for Steam
STEEL STEED Review
JDM: Japanese Drift Master Review for Steam