The combat is real-time with a pause function. There is also an auto-pause facility available, which can be triggered by a variety of options such as being attacked, having low ammo or a party member being severely injured. The total list is a lot longer and applies to all the members in the party.

Pressing and holding the right mouse button reveals a selection of tactical combat moves, such as lying down, kneeling or standing. When moving, the characters stay in these positions, which allows them to crawl around silently, for example.

Once in combat, attacking is simply a matter of pointing and clicking. In general, a major part of combat in The Fall is issuing the different commands to your party members while the game is paused. During this time the position of the team members, the weapons they use and what actions they will perform are selected. Even though this sounds simple, planning the right strategy can be rather difficult. Splitting the party up into smaller groups and making the right groups can often be the difference between winning and loosing.