On August 29, 2024, the VR cover shooter was released on the Meta Quest Store, having previously been released for PS VR in 2021 and Steam VR in 2022. Aim and dive headfirst into explosive shooting, skiing and climbing action, because thanks to developer and publisher nDreams, you don't need PS VR or Steam VR to enjoy the game.
Story and plot:
Fracked is an action game, but in a dynamic and almost frenetic style, in which you don't even stop in some passages, but simply shoot a few heads after another, change magazines and shoot heads again. In Fracked, you take on the role of a soldier and an experienced skier who has to save the planet. Far away in the mountains, you discover a mining operation where an evil organization, Fracking (hence the name Fracked), opens a portal to another dimension and turns unsuspecting, innocent miners into purple monsters armed to the teeth. Behind this is a maniacal CEO who wants to destroy the whole world, and you're the only one who can stop him. But you're not completely on your own, because you have your liaison in a mountain rescue helicopter who will navigate you through the area, tell you more about the story and sometimes even really help you.
Get your heart pumping
Fracked is an FPS game that constantly tries to keep you moving, and there are various ways to do this. Sometimes you'll be on something, and these are mainly skis. You just charge down a hill, jump on them and sometimes almost fly. All the while, you'll have a weapon in your hand and also have to watch out for hordes of enemies, most of whom ride around you on snowmobiles or are conveniently positioned on towers and platforms (with even more conveniently placed explosive tanks so you can take them down with ease). These passages aren't particularly long, but they'll get your heart pumping and provide a decent adrenaline rush. You'll also be doing a lot of climbing, crawling and abseiling. The game doesn't try to tackle these aspects too realistically, but makes them as intuitive as they are in reality. You simply reach somewhere and press a trigger to catch yourself. And again and again, one hand after the other. You reach for ropes, climb a ladder, scale a collapsed bridge and so on.There's even a moment that feels like a clip from Uncharted, only here you experience it first-hand, and it's really very well done. Part of climbing is knowing when to let go. It's also important to remember that there are enemies around you, so sometimes it pays to let go with one hand and grab a weapon instead.
Action is quite bland
You've probably noticed that I haven't emphasized the action, which is what the game is primarily about, and the reason for that is simple, it's basically quite bland. From this perspective, Fracked is a very generic action game that doesn't really stand out from what you've come to expect from the genre. Enemies pop up everywhere when you execute a script. And they either only stop when you trigger another one somewhere further away, or when you've shot them all down. And so it goes on and on. You arrive somewhere, the enemies run in, you kill them and move on. Every now and then, you interrupt the whole thing with a lever or something. The enemies often appear right in front of you, and the AI isn't particularly good either. But this is where the virtual reality factor comes into play and suddenly gives even such an ordinary shooter something special. Something that ensures you end up enjoying the game. The VR version of the game is excellent and you can really immerse yourself in the action. The environments are richly textured with a variety of obstacles to take cover behind in an emergency. You have a gun in one hand, the other is empty, and with this you simply grab a crate and hide behind it. Then you simply peek out, aim and shoot. The enemies come at you in large numbers, and without cover you have no chance of getting through. And you can't do it without running back and forth between the covers either. The problem with the whole thing, however, is that there are only a few enemy types that keep repeating themselves. And secondly, there are only two weapons, a pistol and a submachine gun. And that's awfully few for an action game. There are also special weapons, but they can only be used to a limited extent and only appear in certain places. For example, you can find a large Colt that kills enemies with one shot, but you can't keep it.
Good controls and great cel-shade style
At this point, I would like to praise the resolution of the controls and also the comfort when playing. You don't teleport here, you walk around like in normal games. You use the buttons to turn at the angle you choose in the settings. When skiing, you control the movement with your head. Climbing is comfortable and intuitive, as is shooting, taking cover and everything else. Without the controls causing you any difficulties. But you would have to recalibrate them at the start of each level. The game is dynamic, and it can happen that the controls become uncalibrated in the course of a level, so that you aim a little off, for example. Graphically it may not be that great either, but I have to praise the cel-shade style of the game, which makes it look pretty good even with relatively simple graphics. It reminds me of the original XIII, and that really suits the game. And while the graphics are almost immediately eye-catching, the music is rather uninteresting. It accompanies the actual gameplay well, but it doesn't offer anything additional. It lacks something that would really grab your attention.
Trailer:
Summary
Since the end of August 2024, Fracked can finally be played stand-alone with Meta Quest headsets. With almost continuous “action” gameplay, in which walking, skiing and climbing phases alternate with a motion gaming concept, it easily joins the list of the most fun VR games to date. However, it is regrettable that the adventure is over quite quickly (maximum 3 hours), as there is a lack of variety in terms of enemies and weapons. The cel-shading in combination with beautiful light and particle effects makes Fracked a very nice VR game that doesn't have to hide behind competing platforms. If you love VR cover shooters, you might like Fracked very much, even if the replay value is almost non-existent.
Fracked
Story:
70%
Gameplay:
80%
Graphics:
75%
Sound:
70%
Fun factor:
75%
Atmosphere:
70%
Pros and Cons
Well-functioning interactions, shooting, climbing and cover Successful cel-shade graphics Complex environments Good action dynamics Successful controls.
Game length too short with eight levels Few weapons Low variability of opponents.
