Faultline (video game)

Faultline
Developer(s)	Black Horizon Interactive
Publisher(s)	Black Horizon Interactive
Director(s)	Marcus Hale
Producer(s)	Elena Kovač
Designer(s)	Thomas Reid
Engine	ApexForge Engine
Platform(s)	PlayStation 4 Xbox One Windows
Release	October 13, 2015 (2015-10-13)
Genre(s)	Role-playing Action-adventure Open world
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Faultline is a 2015 role-playing action-adventure video game developed and published by Black Horizon Interactive. Set in the fictional megacity of Carroway, the game is noted for its systemic role-playing design, allowing players to freely assume civilian, criminal, institutional, or political roles within a persistent open world. Unlike traditional crime-focused open-world games, Faultline emphasises player identity, social systems, and long-term consequence over scripted narratives.

Gameplay

Faultline is played from a third-person perspective within a large open world. At the start of the game, players create a custom character with no predefined narrative role. Progression is determined by player actions rather than a linear storyline, with skills, reputation, and access shaped by occupation, affiliations, and public perception.

Players may pursue a wide range of roles, including criminal, law enforcement officer, corporate employee, journalist, teacher, union organiser, or political figure. Each role offers unique gameplay systems, progression paths, and moral constraints. Players may transition between roles over time, though reputational consequences may limit future opportunities.

The game features a deep reputation and identity system. Player actions affect public trust, media portrayal, institutional relationships, and legal exposure. Crime is persistent rather than reset-based; arrest, imprisonment, dismissal from employment, or political disgrace may permanently alter progression paths.

Combat is optional and contextual. While firearms and melee combat are present, many gameplay paths avoid violence entirely, focusing instead on negotiation, investigation, policy-making, or economic influence.

Setting

The game is set in Carroway, a near-future coastal megacity characterised by extreme social stratification and vertical urban design. The city is divided into districts governed by separate institutions, economic conditions, and social norms.

Carroway operates as a living simulation. Elections, labour disputes, corporate mergers, criminal power shifts, and civil unrest occur dynamically. Players may influence these systems directly or indirectly, but are not positioned as the centre of all events.

Development

Development of Faultline began in the late 2000s, with Black Horizon Interactive formed specifically to pursue a systems-driven role-playing experience at city scale. The developers cited tabletop role-playing games, immersive sims, and sociological research as major influences.

The proprietary ApexForge Engine was built to support persistent world states, large numbers of simulated NPCs, and complex social systems. Development was reportedly lengthy and difficult, with several features scaled back prior to release.

Multiplayer

Faultline includes an optional online multiplayer mode integrated into the same world systems as the single-player experience. Players inhabit shared versions of Carroway, where their roles and actions may intersect or conflict. Multiplayer focuses on emergent interactions rather than traditional competitive modes, allowing players to collaborate within institutions or oppose one another through political, economic, or criminal means.

Reception

Upon release, Faultline received mixed to positive reviews. Critics praised its ambition, depth of role-playing systems, and willingness to de-emphasise violence, but criticised its technical instability, steep learning curve, and lack of clear objectives.

Retrospective assessments have been more favourable, with commentators identifying Faultline as an influential early attempt at large-scale systemic role-playing in an open-world urban setting. The game has since been cited as a cult classic and a precursor to later simulation-heavy open-world titles.

Legacy

Faultline has been retrospectively noted for challenging the dominant design conventions of open-world crime games. While commercially overshadowed by contemporaries such as Grand Theft Auto V, its emphasis on role freedom and systemic consequence has influenced subsequent role-playing and immersive simulation titles.