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1 people found the following review helpful:
Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here. A good problem!, May 9, 2019by deathbytroggles (Minneapolis, MN) I've always enjoyed games that take place in space, especially on failing space vessels (e.g. Mission Critical, Seedship). I fell immediately for Fail-Safe's hook, which entails playing the role of mission control talking to the lone survivor on a failing space vessel. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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2 people found the following review helpful:
Old-school, but in some ways still unsurpassed, June 6, 2017by Ivanr The formal conceit of Fail-Safe is very clever, and in my opinion underutilized (not (Spoiler - click to show)the twist, I mean, just the PC-narrator split). Other than Deadline Enchanter, which was doing a bunch of other weird formal stuff as well, I can't think of a modern game that has really tried this in a longer form. I think "giving commands over a staticky radio" was a great formal conceit in terms of reducing the artificiality of the interaction, and made what would otherwise have been some pretty hum-drum sections much more engaging. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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2 people found the following review helpful:
Remarkable atmospheric game is actually too effective, March 1, 2017by Audiart (Davis, CA) Although I did not enjoy playing Fail-Safe, I had to give it a good rating for its very effective and innovative narrative voice. Jon Ingold is really a master of this and it shines brightly in this early game. In fact I think the brevity of the game really accentuated the tantalizing and creepy atmospheric effect of the narrative. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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3 people found the following review helpful:
A clever game with a sci-fi setting, August 6, 2015Fail-Safe is my absolute favorite Jon Ingold game. The game has an unusual plot device which you discover quickly. I won't talk about it in this review, because the game is strong enough without it. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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3 people found the following review helpful:
Maximum Urgency, January 15, 2014by lisapaul Due to the gimmick, I found my sense of urgency ramped right through the roof. I've only played for 5 minutes, solved one simple puzzle, and it's not setting, writing, exciting puzzle-building, but (Spoiler - click to show)POV that's got my adrenaline pumping. Wow, 5-stars for originality, seriously. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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4 people found the following review helpful:
I love this fast, clever game, October 17, 2013by streever (America) I loved this game. It is quick and clever. At first it is confusing, but slow down: read the text carefully and think about the situation you are in. This game makes very clever use of some classic IF conceits, including the notion that you the player may not be the character. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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14 people found the following review helpful:
Intriguing experiment in player-narrator relation, February 10, 2011by Victor Gijsbers (The Netherlands) Fail-safe is a very short SF adventure, containing one big puzzle, some less than stellar (but by no means bad) implementation, and a very brief story. That may not sound like much, and it isn't much. But what makes the piece is how it experiments with the relation between the player and the narrator. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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16 people found the following review helpful:
Innovative and Polished, July 9, 2010by Matt Wigdahl (Olathe, KS) This was one of the first games I played on my return to interactive fiction. I count myself lucky to have picked it first. Fail-Safe is very short, often confusing, and experiments with the player/protagonist relationship in interesting ways. It's a fascinating brief work that really only could work as IF, and when you finish it, you'll want (or in my case, _need_) to play it again. You'll understand when you get there. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (1) - Add comment
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17 people found the following review helpful:
Suspended's cynical little brother, January 11, 2010by Mr. Patient (Saint Paul, Minn.) Completely by accident, I played Fail-Safe in the same week that I played the Infocom classic Suspended. Fail-Safe is essentially Suspended's more cynical little brother. In both games, the PC is immobile and completely dependent on NPCs for sensory input, movement, and manipulating objects. Both are also set in science-fiction worlds where a massive calamity has just occurred, and the PC has to walk the NPCs through repairs that they have trouble describing and can only dimly understand. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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12 people found the following review helpful:
Perfect IF, March 27, 2008What a great game. While I can imagine a straight fiction based on the same concept, this is a perfect example of a story that cries out to be interactive. The only reason it misses out on five stars in my book is that the endgame becomes slightly repetitious. However the game as a piece, as a whole, is IF born to be IF. Highly recommended. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
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