Once again as I show off a new game each week for Extra-Life, we come across another freebie meant to be completed in a single session just sitting around on Steam and waiting to be played. This time, however, it was a title that had waited a lot longer in my backlog. In fact it's possible this one waited a few years. And even then, I can only hope based on what I played we get to see more come of it. There wasn't a lot here, but what was here was some really good atmospheric work and signs of a lot of talent I would hate to see go to waste.
Story: Welcome to the daily grind. Some people sit in an office all day typing at a computer, others build buildings or maintain the grounds for big companies in this day-to-day world. This is Edward's lot, but the company he works for is a bit more unique. He doesn't work for a large corporation selling widgets or whackets to the world. What he does is maintain a decomposition research facility: literally a place that researches how bodies decompose so that the likes of any given city's best and brightest in forensics can do their jobs better. And while he certainly is at the job because he needs it more then anything else, this is not a good night. He's on the midnight shift.
And this is clearly not a normal facility that trusts it's employees either. Cameras everywhere keep track of who's here, who's not, and exactly what they are doing. This may seem normal for a company who's work is relied on by the government, but that doesn't explain the pills. Every day, Edward is required by the company to take a red and white pill or risk losing his job. Further more, there is a specific mirror in the bathroom he is required to take it in front of, like they have to be sure he does. Strange, but he's been at it for years and hasn't died yet.
But tonight is also different in other less settling ways. The world seems a bit less stable tonight as weird and unsettling things happen around Ed... small things at first, like a door closing on it's own, and slowly over the night getting worse. Just what is going on... is it all in his head being alone at night? Maybe this time, the pill was just a little different? Anything is possible when experimenting with dead bodies, I guess.
This basic setup will encase your journey through what could arguably be the worst day at the office anyone has ever seen. Unfortunately that is about all you will get since this was not made to tell you a story. It was made to entice you to come back and play the main game. It's effectively a glorified demo. But the elements it does put together, it does so masterfully. Even so, due to this being less of a plot and more of a setting, I can't rate it very high where plot is involved.
4/10
Graphics: As with a lot of games out there in the past few years, Dark Fracture is a game aiming for as close to photo-realistic as possible. And considering the hardware requirements it throws at you, I would have to say they nailed that goal. You will play the game in a decently sized but decrepit office and you can just feel the wear and grime you are walking through in the areas best cared for. Dark, dingy, and in some places literally falling apart, this place feels like you are working in an abandoned building and will fill in all the gory details appropriately.
And gory just might be the best way to put it. What starts as clearly extremely neglected escalates into the kind of blood soaked world a mass murderer might blush at. Blood, organic remnants, you name it... it's all here for you to see and admire, well as much as you can see it.
This is also a game that uses lighting extremely well to produce a disturbing atmosphere, even when nothing is going on. Even when the power is on (not always the case), you can't always count on seeing things clearly without the shadows playing tricks on you. Of course you have a few light sources of your own but one is limited, so you will likely want to hold onto till you absolutely need it and the other only works in flashes, making you almost dread using it every time for what those brief moments of clarity might reveal.
And while you are not alone, you unfortunately do not get many looks at your "companions." They basically exist to scare you and disappear, never staying long enough to get a good look. They are not really the stars here so much as part of that space: the real star this time.
It all adds up to a vision of a space that is truly messed up and plays with your expectations exceptionally well! It even manages to avoid the aging affect most photorealistic games have after just a few short years! Nice job!
9/10
Sound: Like the graphical realm, I have to give this game very high praise in the sound department, but oddly not where most games get this. There is very little music in this game, limiting it to moments of paranormal activity and when a few low notes or increasing pitch will just jack up the tension of what you are doing. Other then that, all you will hear are the ambient sounds of the world and Ed's own internal monolog.
And while that monolog sounds descent enough, it is the sound effects that are the real star of the show here. Much like the graphics, everything is accounted for, from the hum of electric circuits in an old building, to the creak of the doors moving to just the still ambiance of being "alone," this game puts it all together beautifully. The scariest things you will find you won't see... you hear before dreading to look in that direction. And to that end, I have to say the sound work in this title is absolutely masterful too!
9/10
Gameplay: Allow me to be up front. This game is very much a walking simulator and a demo to show off the world you are playing in. You will play Ed in a first person view as he goes about his shift at work, initially to faithfully fulfill his duties. This resolve will be tested as weirder and more disturbing events happen around him. Nor are you really threatened directly by anything in the game. However, you do have a health meter to keep track of of sorts... in this case mental health. You see Ed isn't exactly in the best of mental shape to start with. Events in his past have left him a little easier to push over the edge then others, and he keeps on a prescription to help with that. So when weird shit happens around him, it can very well hurt that wellbeing. Some things you can avoid, some things you can't. But you never know when you might have to deal with something and draw your sanity meter that much lower.
To counter this you will find yourself with a bottle of pills and taking one will return some sanity. However the game warns you they are limited so you should avoid using them if you can, this is both true and not. On the one hand, yes they are limited. You will get 6 pills and that's it. However, your odds of needing more is very low. Unless you go out of your way to look for every supernatural event, this shouldn't be the case. This balance will make up most of what the game offers you, making this much more of an experience in the atmosphere then any actual gameplay to challenge yourself with. And considering this is supposed to give you a taste of what could follow then being a real game itself, this is about on par for what you should expect at the word "prologue" in the name.
5/10
Bugs: Overall, this game ran exceptionally well, especially for how good it looks. HOWEVER, when I went to stream it the first time, the intro video became a slide show, which is bizarre as it was literally a pre-rendered video of the opening screen and company credits. There was nothing actually going on. I know some games do this as when they are building shaders or detecting settings, but that was the kicker of this: I had tested it the night before and saw none of this.... with and without OBS running. However on restart of the game, it went away just as easily as it appeared. (And even when it happened, the main game seemed to be running fine. I restarted to see if it would happen again more then actually needing to).
Digital Rights Management: I was unable to find anything to suggest any DRM outside of Steam itself for this game.
Score: Unfortunately this "game" isn't so much a game as a showcase. The developers want to show you the kind of mental torture the game they are working on will offer, and they did so brilliantly. But at the same time, the gameplay is so basic and limited you could get about the same experience wearing headphones while playing a non-commentary playthrough. This is just not much here to play.
So I am kinda of two minds when giving a final score to this game. If you are here to PLAY a horror game and have a good time challenging either your survival or puzzle solving skills, you are in for a massive disappointment. However if you are here to play with something genuinely creepy and crave that experience that can actually make you jump and leave you uneasy while playing it, you are going to LOVE this. I tend to lean towards the second group myself, and if you do too, especially for the low price of free, you probably will want to spend the short time it will take to play through it.
7/10
System Requirements:
- Intel Core i3 Processor
- 6 GB RAM
- NVidia Geforce GTX 560 or AMD Radeon R7 250X
- Windows 7, 8, or 10 (64 Bit only)
- 3 GB of Hard Drive space
System Specs:
- Ryzen 7 (5700X) 3.4 Ghz
- 32 GB RAM
- AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT (8 GB VRAM)
- Windows 11 (64 Bit)
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