Review: FRACKED
FRACKED is a game I have played through on both PSVR and PCVR, and one I found myself returning to a couple of times. So, to see it coming to another platform and being available to a whole new audience is great and I was interested in seeing how the standalone device would handle it.
Release Date: August 24th 2024
Developer: nDreams
Publisher: nDreams
Price: TBC
Reviewed On: Meta Quest 3
* Access Provided For Review *
Fracking Hell
In the story you are placed into the shoes and skis of a reluctant hero, who is placed in the final stand to save the planet. As, you go on your way to try and bring the end to fracking on your planet, you have to fight your way through a legion of inter-dimensional enemies in order to do this.
Take Cover
The gameplay is about using cover and taking out the enemies with the arsenal on offer. The gunplay is fast paced, which mixes perfectly with the excellent cover system – designed by nDreams with the PS Move controllers in mind. When it comes to the guns you get two main weapons a pistol and a sub machine gun, both of which are used with one hand to allow for the cover to be used. Outside of these you will find special guns that include one round of ammunition and then disintegrate. Ammunition for your two constant weapons is not in short supply in the game, with enemies dropping it on death, and it wasn’t often I found myself having to search for ammo.
The next part of the combat is the very will handled cover system. Most objects placed around the map can be grabbed onto with your none dominant hand. You then can lower yourself into cover, peak over and lean out of cover to take your shots, and this works great and seamlessly in those tense combat situations. As aforementioned this was originally designed with the PS Move’s in mind but, I am so pleased they kept it in the later releases of the game because it really is something special.
Outside of the straight up gun fights, the game puts in some skiing and climbing elements, both of which break up the frantic gunplay well. Although, the skiing does include some shooting, which has you taking out watch towers and enemies on snowmobiles – with these sections making you feel like your Xander Cage from xXx. The climbing segments aren’t full of combat, but still manage to include some elements of excitement. This is done by parts breaking that you are climbing on, and made me think of those sort of segments in Uncharted, leaving you hanging on for life in VR.
When it comes the enemy types, you will find a mix of smaller enemies that will shoot, throw grenades and explode upon death, with each type having a more altered appearance to stand out from each other. Outside of these you will also take on a larger enemy that can be a pain to take down, even when you are used to the method for this type – this is due to the smaller enemies also attacking you at the same time. There is a few segments in the game when this gives it a bit of a difficulty spike, but you certainly get a sense of achievement when getting through them.
Borderlands-esc Beauty
One thing I have always loved about FRACKED, is the Borderlands-esc art style, that have always looked excellent when in the game. This art style has allowed the team at nDreams use this style to their advantage with the mobile-chip offered by the standalone device. With this it has allowed them to keep the environments looking awesome with the fantastic level design. However, one thing I did notice is some of the surrounding background elements the textures seem low quality and it does suffer a little bit of pop-in, which is no present in other versions of the game.
The team have done great work with the audio, the 3D audio is perfect in the game, and it was easy to pick out where the enemies we coming from in the frantic combat – which saved my life at times. The voice acting for the characters was also to a high standard, that helps keep you immersed in the world of Fracked. The final good use of the 3D audio was the mix between the atmospheric sounds and music, which was used the set the mood in the current situation in the game.
Comfort
The Verdict
FRACKED has made the jump over to the Quest 3 successfully, and like the previous releases of the game the final product on the standalone device has not let me down. The game brings with it fun and frantic action, mixed with great gunplay and an excellent and easy to use cover system, broken up with some skiing and climbing. Everything about the visuals and sounds design is lovely, despite some pop-in being present on the mobile chip it does not ruin the experience. I am please the team at nDreams decided to make this game available on the another platform, as it is one everyone should experience.