Fallen Aces is a throwback’s throwback, which is to say it’s a 90s-style FPS that’s really more about being a two-fisted noir detective punching and shooting and beating up mooks and criminals in a city where it’s always dark and the streets are lit with flickering street lights and burning barrels.If you like atmosphere, boy, does it have atmosphere, from the environment to the soundtrack to the difficulty levels being Fuggedaboutit!, Wise Guy Eh?, and Sleep With the Fishes.
I am going to admit straight from the start that I am a sucker for crime, noir, crime noir, 90s games, FPSes, 90s FPSes, and games that look like this. If you want someone who pretends to be “neutral” or “objective”, get out. If you want a guy who was already donning his fedora, chewing a cigar stub, and doing a “nyeahh, see, we don’t like your type around here, see?” voice as Steam was downloading the preview build, well, me and the boss think you might just fit in around here, nyeahhh!
If you are A Youth, you’re going to be at a substantial disadvantage: there’s no yellow paint or flashing signals that tell you what to do. The first time I electrified the floor, baited some mooks into walking on it and dying, then had to figure out how to get around the now-electrified floor using old school skills like “cursive writing,” “drinking from the hose,” and, most importantly, “using my brain,” I felt the Old Ways shaking off the dust and rising from their slumber. And the first time I died and just fuckin’ died and had to restart the entire level because I hadn’t quicksaved, I laughed. Truly, this is a game of The Old Ways.
As you figure out who’s been taking out Switchblade City’s A.C.E.S. (they have fallen, you see), you’re going to punch a lot of goons, mooks, and thugs. You’re also going to hit them with lead pipes, a board with a nail through it, a fire extinguisher, and a variety of other weapons. This is almost a Bethesda game in terms of the fuckery you can get up to, which is to say yes, you can eat that banana for health and, yes, you can drop the peel on the ground and get them to slip on it, and yes, it is hilarious.
Fallen Aces is both fairly straightforward–generally, you want to head towards your objective–and delightfully unstructured. The game doesn’t constantly yell at you or send NPCs to bark at you or constantly flash reminders at you that HEY BUDDY YOU NEED TO GET THAT CHEEVO TO PROGRESS THE PLOT DID YOU FORGET THAT OKAY JUST CHECKING BECAUSE I GOTTA A WHOLE CUTSCENE READY BUT…OKAY WELL TAKE YOUR TIME…you can go climbing around on buildings just because it’s fun. There may not even be anything up there. But you can because it’s fun, not to get 20 shiny geegaws to unlock the whizbang doohickey or get da cheevo. It’s not Mandatory Fun, it’s just fun.
But exploring is also fun and provides the opportunity to ambush more mooks and goons and thugs and beat them up and get plot development. It’s great to burst into a barbershop, jump a guy being a jerk, and get the key to the back room because the barber is grateful. It’s fun to stumble on a group of thugs in a back alley and go barreling in with your trusty board with a nail in it and beat them senseless. But you can also just head straight into Next Plot Point if you are not oddly compelled to go poking around all the back alleys and clambering up all the buildings and walking on the wires to See What Happens. Just quicksa…oh goddammit do I have to start over?
As for the plot, story, etc., let’s just say you’re a two-fisted noir detective that solves problems with punching and kicking and shooting and hitting guys that say things like “Sure thing, boss” and “Right away, boss.” It’s got heavy influences from comics and noir and crime movies and is basically made for a guy like me that loves that kind of thing. And if you don’t like it, git outta hyeahhhhhhh!
