Overview – developed by Fallen City Studio and published by Eastasiasoft, Fallen City Brawl is a throwback to the arcade brawlers of the yester year, with action packed beat ‘em up chaos. Take on the gangs of the criminal underworld, who are waging war for control of Fallen City in the year 1989. This title is currently available for Steam and GOG, with console version coming in the future. Links to the available versions will be at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Eastasiasoft for providing the copy of Fallen City Brawl that was used for this piece, via the Keymailer service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story. I will be only discussing the single player experience, as I was unable to play the game with another for this review. The story details have been taken from the game itself.
Story – In 1989, a brutal battle for control of Fallen City’s criminal underworld rages, a once peaceful city descends into chaos. A former balck-ops mercenary known only as ‘Ignition Gear’ seizes control. Ignition Gear’s six deadly lieutenants grip each area of the city, hope is almost lost. Only four stand against them. Joined by a fearsome wolf, together they will decide tonight in Fallen City. Who will live and who will fall.
Gameplay – Fallen City Brawl is a classic side scrolling brawler, inspired by the classics of the genre. Players must fight their way across 7 distinct locations, either alone or with a partner, taking down the criminal thugs and their leaders in battle. There is a singular mode in this game, with the standard arcade mode. But there is a solid tutorial that allows players to learn the ropes, while also giving players a chance to try out the different characters.
The roster of fighters for this release is fairly distinct, each with their own unique style, special attacks and unique weaponry. The team consists of SGT Clay, an ex-swat member framed for a crime he didn’t commit. He fights to clear his name and clean up the FCPD, armed with his standard issue pump shotgun. Ricco, a special forces operative who’s unit was destroyed by Ignition Gear. He fights to bring him to justice, with his side arm in tow.
Then we have Natasha, a mechanic fighting to find her sister, with the goal to convince her to leave Ignition Gear’s side. She takes the fight to the enemy with her trusty wrench. Last is Iron Jackson, a former lieutenant of the gang who was betrayed by Ignition Gear. He fights for revenge, wearing a heavy iron chain and using Molotov cocktails to incinerate his foes. All of the characters fit different archetypes, like grappler and street fighter.
All of the characters have the same basic move set, with a standard four hit combo that will knock enemies down to the ground. This can be augmented with variants that will launch enemies across the screen, alongside attacks that will juggle foes to extend combos. When beating down enemy goons, the player will build up a combo counter, which will last for a limited time before resetting. This can be extended with additional skills and attacks.
The player is able to grapple enemies, dealing extra damage before sending them across the screen. players can also further damage downed enemies with a special input, initiating ground and pound against them. All of the characters have special attacks, which have increased damage but at the cost of some health, making them a double edged sword. The most unique skills for each fighter are their ranged weapons, which are limited but ammo can be collected.
By beating down the hordes of enemies, they will drop items for players to collect. The most common will be gems, which will fill up the RIOT meter below the characters health bar. Gems are dropped when combos are hit, making it important to continue chaining attacks against enemies. As the bar fills up, the player will be able to access their ultimate attacks, with increased damage and special effects depending on the level they are activated.
If the player fully fills up the RIOT meter, they will be able to activate the final CHAOS power, which will summon two shadow enemies. These enemies will attack the player, but if they are defeated they will yield great rewards. As the player makes their way through a stage, they will find weapons that can be used against enemies. These include swords, hammers and even enemy motorcycles, the weapons have limited durability when being used.
Defeating enemies will cause money and coins to drop. The money will provide points that build the players score, these are simply to get the best possible score for the rankings. Coins will drop when the RIOT meter is filled fully or when the super meter is activated. These replace gems, with coins dropping with every 10 hits like gems would. During the RIOT state, these are changed to red coins, giving a higher yield. Collecting 100 coins, gives an extra life.
At the end of a stage, the player will encounter a powerful boss. These deadly foes include gang leaders armed with heavy weapons, martial arts masters and even cyborgs with explosives. Within these battles, the challenge will be increased as these bosses are tougher, hit harder and have unique attack patterns. Some of the bosses will also wait to attack, only jumping into the fight when the henchmen are defeated.
At the end of a stage after landing the last hit on the boss, the player will get a score screen, where bonus score rewards will be awarded. The bonuses are based on the remaining time for the stage, the number of gems collected and the total coins picked up. By racking up a big score, the player will be able to secure their place on the Steam rankings. But this can be pretty tough, as the players score will be reset if all lives are lost and the player is defeated.
The player will start off with three lives and three credits, which can be enough to make it to the end of the game. However, if the player is unable to make it to the finale, there is a failsafe for the game. In the event that the player gets a game over, they will be able to continue from the start of the stage they were defeated on. When doing this, players can select a new character with a fresh set of live and credits, making it easier to reach the end.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – for this game, there is a pretty simple and easy to use control scheme, using 5 inputs for all of the in game actions. There is a snappy and responsive feel to the inputs, with the action flowing pretty smoothly. This title is recommended to be played with a controller for the best experience, with all controllers supported via Steam Input. But there is keyboard support, as well as fully customizable controls for any input choice.
Difficulty – in general this is a pretty challenging and mostly fair arcade style brawler, but there are some minor issues when it comes to game balance. During play, there will be some issues with difficulty spikes, which is most common during segments with vehicles and boss fights. This is due to what feels like awkward hitboxes, leading to unfair damage from bosses and some enemies. When this happens it can be frustrating, due to the risk of unfair defeat.
Presentation – from a visual perspective, this game has that arcade style which works well. The spritework and animations have a feel that sits between 16 and 32 bit, with bold sprites and fairly detailed environments. Then there are the visual effects, with camera zooms, explosions and flames that aid the action on screen. This is all complimented by a pretty good soundtrack, with compositions that have the essence of the time period throughout.
Final Thoughts – I do love a good arcade brawler, as I have many a fond memory of the genre. So when I was given the opportunity to play Fallen City Brawl, I was excited to dive into it and give it a shot. My experience was generally positive, with some fun and engaging action, action packed brawling and interesting characters. I did a few runs as a solo player, trying out all the characters with some mixed results during play.
There are some flaws to the game, with awkward hitboxes that lead to unfair damage, as bosses can hit the player while being hit in a combo. I also had a few crashes during play, which caused the game to just close. These issues were very frustrating, sadly tarnishing what is a pretty fun and deep beat ‘em up. I can recommend this game, but I have to add the caveat that the game does need a little polish, as it has the potential to be truly great.
In the end, I give Fallen city Brawl a final score of 3.5/5. This is an enjoyable beat ‘em up, which has its inspirations on full show, with responsive brawling, interesting gameplay mechanics and a solid roster of playable characters. It is unfortunately let down by some rough edges to the experience. If you want to check this title out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to Steam version (HERE)
Link to GOG version (HERE)
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