Uncompromised, audacious, and unashamedly stylish, Fracked grabs the PS VR by the Moves and delivers ass-kicking virtual reality gameplay.We discuss the environmental implications of the dramatic drop in the price of natural gas following the US shale gas boom due to the rise of modern hydraulic fracturing.
#FRACKED REVIEW FREE#
It's the end of the fracking world! From the creators of the ground-breaking Phantom: Covert Ops, Fracked is the trailblazing VR action adventure that seamlessly collides relentless "run and cover" gunfights with free and fluid skiing, running and climbing. The puzzles are also well executed, not too hard or easy.Īs I approached the final encounter, though, the combat sections became more frequent, the map flooding with more and more waves of enemies, bogging down the pace before it came to a close. From the outside you might look silly flailing with your Move controllers, but in the headset you’re shimmying around collapsing structures like Nathan Drake. I’ve done most of those things in VR before, but never in the same game.
At various points you'll find yourself skiing, climbing, zip-lining between platforms, operating a crane, and a lot more besides. For instance, the kamikaze enemies generally make noise as they approach, but sometimes one would appear behind me and explode without warning.įortunately, there’s plenty to do aside from combat. I died quite a bit in these sections, often in ways that felt unfair. It would be nice to have more weapon variety available during any given shootout.Ĭombat is fine in small doses, but later in the roughly three-hour run time you'll have to kill a lot of enemies before you can move on. So the only two guns you can always access are a pistol and an Uzi-like automatic weapon that shoots lasers. The weapons feel satisfying to use, but unfortunately the more powerful ones, like shotguns and grenade launchers, are single-use and they disappear when you run out of ammo. Enemy variety is lacking, with only a few different types of foes to go up against. There aren't any bosses to speak of, or other enemies that might make you rethink your combat approach. Finally, you'll encounter heavies who stomp around littering the ground with landmines. You have some basic gun-toting soldiers who usually just stand in place and shoot at you, and then there's the exploding variety who run at you and detonate in a one-hit kill if they get close enough. One reason is because the enemy variety is lacking, with only a few different types of foes to go up against. In fact, I preferred the quieter sections over the shootouts, which can feel drawn-out and repetitive after a while. The campaign's pacing is nicely varied, with environmental puzzles and exciting climbing sections sprinkled between the action-heavy shooting areas. It didn't take me long to get the hang of the controls, and soon I was navigating the mountainside mining operation with ease. Also, when you have to climb, reload your weapon, or use your hands in general, everything feels nicely tactile. The controls work exceptionally well, all things considered, especially if you're familiar with games like Skyrim VR that use a similar control scheme.
#FRACKED REVIEW FULL#
When you have to climb, reload, or use your hands, everything feels nicely tactile.ĭespite the Move controllers' lack of analog sticks, you have full freedom of movement. In the headset these become your hands, appearing in your vision as meaty, floating gloves you’ll put to good use: you use them to pull yourself behind cover, shoot and reload guns, climb ladders, turn cranks, and operate levers. To play Fracked, you'll need a pair of Move controllers. It’s an exciting start that’s perfectly in line with the action-hero exploits to come. Occasionally, beat-driven electronic music kicks in, suiting the style of the world nicely. You hardly have time to soak in the appealing cel-shaded world before an explosion causes an avalanche you have to outrace. At the start, you find yourself skiing high up on a snowy mountain.