With inspirational captain Steven Pressley left out of the squad completely and defensive stalwart Robbie Neilson left on the bench along with midfielder Paul Hartley, Hearts looked like a completely different side from the one which has featured so far this season.
Conversely, Falkirk started with the same side that knocked Celtic out of the CIS Cup last week.
But the Bairns could not reproduce the form they showed in that match and it was Hearts who started the match better.
Hearts should have taken the lead early on when Andrius Velicka drew a one-handed save from Jeroen Lambers with a ten-yard header.
Falkirk's best chance of the first half fell to loan sensation Anthony Stokes, who had a great chance ten minutes before the interval, but he blasted his shot straight into the arms of Craig Gordon.
The visitors took the lead on 65 minutes when Velicka squeezed his shot inside the upright when Lambers seemed to have had it covered.
Falkirk showed considerable fight in battling their way back into the game and after a period of pressure on the Hearts goal found an equaliser.
It was Trinidad & Tobago international Russell Latapy, who struck picking up a pass from Alan Gow and stroking the ball past Gordon.
While Falkirk celebrated trouble erupted on the Hearts bench and stand-in coach Eduard Malofeev was sent to the stands.
Falkirk had their tails up after the goal, but couldn't capitalise on their chances with Gow's shot in the dying seconds deflected off target by a desperate lunge from Hristos Karipidis.