Human: Fall Flat Review (PS4)

Human: Fall Flat is a physics puzzle platformer that gained a lot of popularity through YouTube last year. Its excellently wacky character movement, similar to that of Gang Beasts, can create some hilariously funny moments which make it a brilliantly entertaining experience.

You play as Bob, who’s just your average guy: he must solve various puzzles in order to reach the exit and progress to the next level. It starts out simple enough by getting you to press a button to open a door and then move a box onto a switch to open another. Eventually the puzzles become more complex and you’ll end up operating machinery, wiring up circuits, and stoking a fire with coal for reasons unbeknown to us other than to reach the exit. The large variety in puzzles really keeps the game feeling fresh from start to finish, and although they sound simple enough to solve, it’s the game’s control scheme that makes it that bit more interesting.

The controls are not the tightest or easiest to play with by any means, as they seem to have been designed more for entertainment purposes than for actual use. Bob is a ragdoll that flops around all over the place, no matter what you do. You are able to move and jump around the environment freely at the same time using the triggers to raise Bob’s arms and interact with objects. Although Bob being a ragdoll is incredibly funny to begin with, frustration will eventually kick in – especially in the later levels where you have to operate trucks, cranes, and forklifts with precise movements of switches and levers in order to progress.

When you’re not solving puzzles there are various obstacles to climb up or gaps to negotiate without falling. If you do happen to fall, however, there’s no need to panic as you'll fall right back into the world in which you fell out in one seamless falling motion. You'll land almost exactly where you fell off and you're able to continue almost instantly – it’s pretty nifty.

The game is entirely level based, each one being set on a differently themed floating island. From the rocky slopes of a mountain to the hazardous rubble of a build site, each place feels totally fresh and introduces new puzzle elements and solutions. With a total of nine stages that will take at least 20 minutes each the first time around and the ability to bring a friend along for the journey, there is plenty of content to jump into.

Visually the game is very minimalistic with plain and simple textures. There's very little detail throughout and some areas feel very lacking in terms of objects or backdrop; there are many places within environments with just plain grey walls and floors that feel out of place. The music on the other hand is a very peaceful piano playing some beautifully elegant tunes that certainly help to calm you after you miss the same jump for the 50th time.