Fracked review: a fast-paced, lovingly made FPS

This zippy, moreish, colourfully vacuous action-shooter reminded me of the title of a Russ Meyer movie: Faster, Pussycat! Kill Kill! Sheer speed is a core feature of Fracked, which tumbles along at a cracking pace—opening with a frenetic skiing sequence executed in the spirit of a James Bond escape scene. We whoosh down steep slopes, outrunning an avalanche before arriving at a mountainous base full of baddies, where we’re introduced to a range of familiar FPS elements that dominate the experience going forward—including climbing mechanics, ziplines, and shoot-outs with trigger-happy, personality-devoid aliens.

The gameplay elements are familiar but also, generally speaking, very well executed. The gunplay for instance is snappy and polished, and the simple act of taking cover—by grabbing onto a wall, bench, crate, whatever—almost joyously satisfying. These mechanics appear designed to enable the objectives implied above: keep it fast; keep it frenetic. No need for time-wasting activities such as fumbling around with reloads. The pace of the experience is paramount, prioritising plot—action-based events—above overarching narrative.

>Release date: August 20. 2021
Release date: August 20. 2021
Available on: PSVR, SteamOculus Rift
PSVR

The shreds of story that do exist are pure poppycock: a save-the-world story involving ending the fracking industry, and the tyrannical reign of a mining magnate who employs the aforementioned aliens to drain the planet’s resources. This bad guy is almost always heard but not seen, giving him a dull and vague aura that feels tacked on—though his presence does serve a clear point: to provide a narrative justification for making our way through various mountainous mining sites and clearing out the villains, of whom there’s no short supply. These thoroughly repetitive scenes comprise the majority of the experience. 

Occasional deviations include a set piece that involves clinging onto, and moving over and off, a train carriage hanging precariously from a high altitude; this plays out like a homage to Uncharted. There’s also the aforementioned introductory skiing, controlled via headset (you turn according to the direction you’re looking), which is pretty good, but an odd choice to frontload the experience with. Why not begin by infiltrating a mining site, having a spectacular shootout—establishing the essential elements going forward—then perform a daring escape via snowy slopes? 

Another very appealing feature of Fracked is its graphic novel-like art design, which ignores the common strive for realism in favour of an aesthetic reality built from the ground up. This fabulous, hand-drawn look is bright and colourful, and feels lovingly made—the textures having a pop and a zing you don’t often find in first-person shooters. The same can be said of the game itself.