Here’s another gruesome addition to the growing list of apps that are plain bloody and merciless! If you’re in it for the brutality and the disembodied limbs, your search for this kind of games won’t be too painstaking no more (pun intended). A few clicks here and there and you’ll end up with a handful of applications which are on the borderline of being entertaining and being psychotic. Now let’s get to business as I introduce Falling Fred, the guy that has a future which isn’t looking bright.

Get a chance to alter the unfortunate beginning of this game as you control Fred’s direction as he falls down a very deadly corridor knowing that there’s no way but down. With Fred’s unfeigned reactions to them deadly whatnots, Falling Fred will have you fidgeting as you see his face change from normal to almost zombie-like.

Who in this world would not lose consciousness and turn violet after hitting so many tubes, bricks, and mechanisms with spikes? Okay, maybe all the Avengers can and the Ninja Turtles for that matter but this game ain’t about them. We’re talking about Fred here, the guy who seems to have drowned himself in booze and found a way to get himself in trouble, ergo the fall. Since I haven’t played any tilt-controlled games lately, I decided to give this one a try seeing that it has a lot of gore awesomeness in it.

Falling Fred is a multi-platform endless runner (or falling?) game by Dedalord which you can get at no cost. A year has passed since it was published in the app market but this game contains a lot of oomph, enough to get it to the top free games in the Google Play Store. The success of the game pushed the developers to create sequels to the loved Falling Fred in the form of Running Fred and Super Falling Fred which are available for free download as well. All three games utilizes your smart device’s tilt controls which adds to its difficulty.

Falling Fred: To The Hospital Or Not?

Ah, I assume that you’re already used to tilt-based games. Falling Fred, of course, did not fall far from the tree. The game play is easy and plain to master. All you have to do is avoid all the obstacles along Fred’s fall as this can definitely kill him. From blades, intertwined tubes, to even fire shooting gears, you have to tilt away from them so your game won’t end prematurely. With each hit from the obstacles, blood will splash through your screen. Disturbing and awesome at the same time! What a perfect combination, huh? As what I have mentioned earlier, this is also an endless runner game where taking note of how many meters have you already gone are the basis of unlocking some of the achievements you can collect in throughout the game. Also, look out for the neon-colored shining letter blocks along the way because they are essential for the increase of your scores and for the awards too.

The main thing you should be wary of is Fred’s head. Don’t let it hit the obstacles for more than three times because that is when your game will end. As long as his head is pretty healthy, his fall will go on and on. Oh, this is making me sad right now because I’m not even sure why Fred has to suffer this kind of punishment, really.

Going back to the game, the moment that Fred’s head becomes unidentifiable—you can refer to the picture on the top left of your screen—a brick floor will appear wherein he’ll meet his untimely breaking of bones. Okay fine, Fred won’t be going to heaven after a game (thank heavens!) but he’ll get broken bones and even get a shot to fame by being the headline of the daily paper! See, there’s good in every bad. Kidding! If you care to read the “news”, you will see that it was the result of the fall. It’s detailed and is presented in an unusual way so I really enjoyed having to know how many bones and how many limbs Richardson L. Frederick III a.k.a Fred has cracked and lost.

He’ll definitely recover, that’s for sure! Because he’ll be falling off again soon enough. For my mad mind, forgive me, dear readers. There are three difficulties for the game, the age-old easy, medium, and hard. But to my tilting capabilities, the easy level is too much for me because I have been sending Fred to the hospital for over ten times already.

It’s Not Just Fred

If you already pity Fred, then go ahead and let somebody else take the fall! The application includes seven characters all in all but only two of them are available for free namely Fred and the Doctor Crash T. Dummy—which also sheds blood, weird. The other five can be bought through an in-app purchase because they’re “stars”. If you can see, we have there the imitations of Lady Gaga, Osama Bin Laden, and even Justin Bieber! If you want to see them bang their heads on the obstacles, then go ahead and buy them. But here’s the thing, their prices are not indicated in the “select your character” page which is a con for me because as much as possible, apps should give all the needed information to those who’ve downloaded the game.

Features

• Seven characters to choose from. (Fred, Crash Dummy, “M. Gandalfi”, “Ogama Ben Ladder”, “Blodie Gigi Lala”, “Outrageous B.”, and “Martin Castor”)
• 30 various hazards to dodge
• A “replay” feature to watch the whole of your game and see how you’ve not managed to give Fred a safe landing—if there is one.
• Twitter and Facebook integration so you can compare you and your friend’s falls
• Good graphics
• 3D sound scoring

The arcade look of the game is good but a little tweak or two won’t hurt, which they eventually did (please see Super Falling Fred). I do like the preview of Fred’s face during the fall, though. It kinda gets to me in an emotional level because it pushes me to do better in the game and make sure Fred won’t really look so… “beaten”.

Harrie Is Falling For Fred

Before I start babbling about the things I do like about the app, I just wanna let this out: I have no idea why Fred is free falling in a deadly corridor. The application did not include any story whatsoever to make the players understand the premise of the game. For me, it would have been better if there’s a short clip on what occurred right before Fred faced his fate head first—literally.

As for the over-all look of Falling Fred, it is engaging enough because the blood stains are definitely a great touch. Plus the fact that Fred really looks like a rag doll at the end was just as amazing. I’ve encountered “bloody” apps with killing and all that but the characters oftentimes looks fresh by the end of the game which kinda puts me off. I mean, even though it’s a game, one might as well make it seem real at the least. So I’m giving the app a thumb up!

All in all, Falling Fred is worth the download but make sure not to let little kids play it.