The Eighth Day

It's the dawn of my eighth day in-game.

On the eighth day machine just got upset

A problem man had never seen as yet

No time for flight, a blinding light

and nothing but a void, forever night

- Hazel O'Connor, The Eighth Day

If I had the talent (and the time) I'd make a Fallen Earth fan-vid set to The Eighth Day.

Or maybe Two Tribes... or 99 Luftballoons.

Something 80s definitely. If Fallout is set in the future of a 1950s that never was then Fallen Earth takes more of its cues from a couple of decades later. As I've written before both games owe a lot to Mad Max, but Fallen Earth's atmosphere also evokes an entire sub-genre of sci-fi from Beneath the Planet of the Apes and The Omega Man to Escape From New York and Day of the Dead.

Fallen Earth is a b-movie of an MMO. It's scrappy and violent and rough around the edges, and shot through with satire and black comedy and sly social commentary. It's a quintessentially American MMO with an incredible sense of authenticity to its setting.

It's a game that feels like it was made by people, not a focus group.

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