The half-hour Fracked demo should tell you everything you need to know
PlayStation VR is still getting developer support in 2021, and one of the more memorable upcoming games, Fracked, has a demo out now ahead of its full release on August 20.
You can queue up the Fracked demo via the PlayStation Store if you’ve got a PlayStation Move controller (or two) charged up. My whole setup is packed up right now.
This trailer runs through the highlights: a bit of skiing, ziplining, climbing, and cover-based shooting in a not-overly-serious fight against “interdimensional foes” who bleed purple.
The last big virtual-reality game from developer NDreams was Phantom: Covert Ops, a stealthy first-person shooter with kayak action, so this isn’t their first rodeo.
“There’s lots of fun arcade-like experiences in VR, but they’re generally short and often on-rails,” said creative director Steve Watt. “We set out to provide our take on a more conventional campaign experience, with full freedom of movement.”
“We feel that in VR you can get caught up on the technology and lose sight of what the gaming audience want, which is just a really fun game. With a great gaming experience as your priority, you ask yourself how VR can elevate tried and tested FPS sensibilities, rather than focusing on providing a VR tech demo.”
There’s a “grabbable” cover-based shooting system.
Fracked probably won’t rope in anyone who isn’t already invested in PS VR as a platform, but hey, nothing wrong with that. There’s enough of an audience here.
The full standard version will cost $30 (with a 72-hour-early-access Deluxe Edition also being sold for $35), and nDreams says Fracked will have an “uncapped dynamic resolution,” faster load times, and an “improved framerate” when running on a PS5.
I’m extremely ready for Sony’s new PS5 VR headset and modern controllers. Anyone else?
