On the face of it, Human: Fall Flat seemingly doesn’t do anything that’s really different from the veritable throng of physics based titles that are already out there. Indeed much like its genre stablemates, Human: Fall Flat would seem to frustrate early, its protagonist an unwieldy mess of spindly limbs and face-flopping Havok powered physics.

What a pleasant surprise it was then to discover that Human: Fall Flat not only embraces its bizarre nature, but does so in a way quite unlike any other effort before it. Chiefly, the primary reason for this is that the developers understand that, first and foremost, Human: Fall Flat should be a game and not a glorified tech demo.

The diorama visual style of Human Fall Flat is undeniably attractive

Taking place from a third-person perspective, similar to the likes of I Am Bread and other such games of a similar ilk, Human: Fall Flat has players guiding what can only be described as a vaguely humanoid-looking chewy sweet around eight very different levels, clambering up onto different surfaces and solving a myriad of puzzles en route to the exit.

A platform puzzler at heart, Human Fall Flat doesn’t do quite enough to eradicate all of the fundamental issues with the ragdoll physics platformer but it’s arguably the best take on this curious little genre that we’ve seen so far. From the off it is important to understand that if you’re in anyway expecting some sort of revolution, you won’t see it here; Human: Fall Flat still has that oddly imprecise sense of control where you feel like you’re fighting the controls rather than having any sort of true mastery over them. Indeed, climbing over obstacles proves difficult at first; eschewing a graceful ascendancy for what can only be described as a whole bunch of vigorous vertical humping. Soon though you learn how to latch onto surfaces and pull yourself up very easily, leaving such frustrations so typically associated with this sort of affair in the past.

Handily, rather than just leaving the exact controls a mystery as so many of these efforts often do, Human: Fall Flat has a number of video tutorials which can be attained by collecting the numerous portable video projectors strewn around its eight levels, which take in everything from construction yards and castles to name just a few. Starting off useful and then gradually devolving into irreverent comedy the further you get into the game, these videos offer than only real collectible that you’ll see. Away from co-ordinating all those limbs to leap and clamber over stuff, Human: Fall Flat gives a great account of itself in the puzzle side of things, too.

Many different types of puzzle featur

Incorporating many different types of puzzles from pressure pad head-scratchers to more elaborate conundrums, Human: Fall Flat stands above its contemporaries because these puzzles feel like they’ve been designed with true and not unfair challenge in mind; their machinations deftly bolstered the game’s subversively effective controls. Chiefly, Human: Fall Flat’s myriad of puzzles feel satisfying because they encourage you to think out of the box, rather than forcing you to a consider a singular solution. In one example, I used some poles that were propping up a ramp to keep a switch lever wedged into place, thus keeping the door at the top of the ramp open and allowing me to make my escape as a result. This sort of imagination is replicated throughout the duration of Human: Fall Flat and it makes it feel all the more enjoyable as a result.

Going back to the frustrations of the physics-based genre that Human: Fall Flat sidesteps for the most part, the game is also generous when it comes to failure, since falling to your doom simply causes your avatar to tumble from the sky, landing you near enough right where you left off. That said, Human: Fall Flat doesn’t avoid all the frustrations which are synonymous with the genre entirely. Being a physics based title I was both surprised and frustrated to find that there was no ‘unstick’ button as I had found the various limbs of my avatar securely embedded in the scenery on more than one occasion. Ostensibly, this is functionality that should feature in all physics based titles going forward so hopefully this will be addressed in a future patch.

The eight different dreamscapes of Human Fall Flat take in some visually sumptuous locations

Performance & Graphics

Minimum Requirements

OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10 x86 and x64

Processor: Intel Core2 Duo E6750 (2 * 2660) or equivalent

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ (2 * 3000) or equivalent

Memory: 1024 MB RAM

Graphics: GeForce GT 740 (2048 MB) or equivalent

Radeon HD 5770 (1024 MB)

Storage: 500 MB available space

Additional Notes: RealSense features require Intel gen 4 processor and front facing RealSense camera
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One of the most striking things about Human: Fall Flat is the non-textured, low-polygon look that it embraces. With its flat-shaded surfaces and liquid smooth animation, Human: Fall Flat simultaneously looks like a throwback to the early 90s whilst also looking eerily ageless; the result of impressive art direction that some other similar titles could do well to learn from. By adopting such a fanciful, yet technically minimalist approach to visual presentation, Human: Fall Flat doesn’t demand a beast of a PC so just about everyone should be able to run the game well enough.

To put that into perspective, my own PC which packs in a 2.8 Ghz i5 CPU, 2GB Geforce GTX 670 and 16GB RAM, had no issues whatsoever running Human: Fall Flat on maximum settings without a single dropped frame as far as I could see. Speaking of settings, in spite of its relatively modest, low-polygon visual style, Human: Fall Flat allows a number of different parameters to be tweaked. Aside from the usual resolution and v-sync settings, cloud quality, texture quality, ambient occlusion and antialiasing can all be adjusted to various states depending on the preference of the player.

You can customise your floppy avatar with paint, or if you're especially brave, use a webcam to paste your face onto the character

Audio/Voice Acting

There isn’t a lot to report here really, if I’m being honest. For the most part, there is no backing musical score to the physics-based shenanigans of Human: Fall Flat, but when it does kick in on the odd occasion, delicate piano work is leveraged to establish a sense of calm and tranquillity which succeeds in underscoring the twee, though considered tone of the game. When it comes to voice acting there is only the tutorial narrator to speak of and he certainly acquits himself well enough in the role, while the sound effects though clear, are merely functional and no more than that.

Some levels are wonderfully sophisticated affairs

Additional Thoughts

Away from the obvious idiosyncrasies that are synonymous with physics-based affairs such as this, Human: Fall Flat currently suffers from a lack of longevity. With the eight different dreamscapes spread across around fours of play, it’s clear that the game could stand from being a little longer; such is the quality of its puzzles and generally enticing nature that it makes you simply want more. That said, hopefully the incoming mod support and additional content from the developer will result in more levels of a similar standard in order to prolong the experience for as long as possible.

Though uncommon, you can find yourself embedded in the scenery on occasion

In the end, the physics-based genre will always be associated with gimmick rather than the substance, with the likes of I Am Bread, Octodad and other titles of that ilk struggling to escape from the shadow of that very stigma as a result. It’s perhaps because of this status quo, that Human: Fall Flat stands out as an exceptional prospect rather than merely becoming another addition to its derided ranks.

In large part the reason for this seems to be that the developer, No Brakes Games, grasps what makes a decent puzzle platformer. In a manner completely alien to any physics-based jaunt before it, the developer has managed to combine the two to create an effort that stands both on its own and as a representative of the much-maligned physics-based platformer genre. Because it resolutely remains a card-carrying member of the latter genre, its appeal will still sadly be limited to those who are willing to give Human: Fall Flat a chance, rather than the majority who may be conditioned into thinking that the game wallows in abject gimmickry rather than something a lot more substantial.

Human: Fall Flat is currently available on Green Man Gaming at 20% off for £9.59.

HUMAN: FALL FLAT VERDICT

Human: Fall Flat might concern the adventures of a floppy limbed chap who ambles about the place, solving puzzles and whatnot but the game itself does anything but, instead raising the bar for a genre that so desperately needed a game to champion its cause and not another half-baked experiment to invite further derision. How nice it is then, to have one of the former and not one more of the latter.