Apps In Bad Taste – What A Fall

Let me begin this post by making it clear that, when it comes to humor, I am anything but a prude. I’m not easily offended and, so long as measures are taken for children not to be exposed to "off-color" humor or images, I’m not concerned with the kind of humor that used. Heck, I laughed my head off at Borat.

Having noted that, I can’t help but feel that this particular application crosses the line. At least it does for me.

The game is called What A Fall. It is, as it probably won’t surprise you, based on the current economic crisis that is taking place. The game begins with a splash screen that says it seemed growth would never end and shows the S&P 500 climbing. That is, climbing until it plummeted.

The game itself shows an image of a Wall Street intersection. A dying bull is in the middle of the road and as the game unfolds various individuals begin to leap from the rooftops in despair. Your job as the player is to choose who to put a stretcher beneath said they might be saved. It’s not challenging if there is one person falling but when numerous individuals are falling at one time you need to make split-second decisions as to who to say.

When you don’t save someone, a cry and a bonus sickening crunch sound are played.

From a pure "game" perspective, this is rather rudimentary but fun. I have, however, already removed it from my iPhone and while I don’t believe in censorship I also cannot recommend this application as one you, our readers, should purchase. Here’s why —

Last night on Gray’s anatomy one of the storylines involved two sisters who were in a car accident. One sister dies. It was hard to watch — and that’s coming from someone who does not have a sibling who died in a car crash. I can only imagine that if someone close to you had died in a car crash the show was anything but "entertainment". It struck way too close to home. No, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have put the storyline in but it does mean that if I had a friend who was in such a situation I would likely encourage them not to watch the show.

Similarly, I live in an area that is filled with people who work on Wall Street. They, like everyone else in our country and throughout the world are often having a very difficult time. Things are just bad and the impact is being felt everywhere. Unfortunately, I already know of one tragic case which is a little too close to this game and has impacted many people in my area. For that reason, at least right now, I personally find this game to be beyond the pale. And for that reason I can’t read myself to recommend it.

You’re obviously free to disagree and I respect that. And if you do want to purchase the game you’ll find it here in the iTunes App Store. For me, however, it’s not something I want my phone and it’s no longer there.