Fractured Space (Alpha)

Zach Goodier

Fractured Space is a multiplayer-only game that pits two teams of 5 against each other in an attempt to secure resources and upgrade their ships, with the end goal of muscling past the other team and capturing their main base. As a player, you can use various ship types: support, attack, flagship, etc. These ships allow players to fill a type of role in the team, and help work towards final victory. All ships are large, and movement might seem very slow to some, but this is a game that emphasizes strategy and making calculated moves, not reckless ones.

There is no real story at this time, so consider I’ll move right on to the fundamentals of how you play and progress in the game. You have 3 starter ships of the heavy, middle, and light variety. As you would likely expect, light ships are more agile than heavier ships, but are also more vulnerable. You can unlock new ships via XP and credits, which you earn by playing matches. Most ships have upgrades you can purchase the same way, which allow you to make many of your ships better by giving them enhanced weapons, armor, or abilities. Each ship has unique abilities that fit its role in the fleet, like repair drones on a support vessel, or energy shields on an attack ship. These make each ship function in a unique way, so even ships of the same class will feel different from each other.

When you play the game itself, there is a lot to get used to as you learn how to play. The controls take some getting used to, since this game allows you to move in 3 dimensions, not just 2. This can make maneuvering tricky to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, you can focus on where and how you should be moving your ships to make best use of your abilities. Some ships should be near the front, attacking and/or soaking up damage (tanking, in other terms), while others are repair/support vessels and heavy-hitting ships. Often, it pays to see what ships your team is using, and try to select a ship that can work well with the other vessels in your fleet. Teamwork is essential to excelling in this game, since no single ship can realistically take on multiple enemy ships without some form of support.

One of my favorite aspects of the game is the use of respawn times. This seems like a ridiculous thing to focus on, but it complete changes the attitude you need to have in order to excel in this game. Where FPS games like to keep the pacing fast and furious, Fractured Space will up the respawn times each time you die, up to over  a minute.  This means that often the best strategy is to travel with at least one other ship, and when you feel you’ve lost the initiative or are at a disadvantage, you’ll want to try to retreat. The trade-off here is that you need to let your drive charge up before you can jump to another location. Furthermore, while charging, you are extremely vulnerable to enemy attacks. This means that you will have to be vigilant, and try not to put yourself in a situation where you can’t escape.

This game has been a blast, especially considering it’s still an alpha release. The ship models all look amazing, and my games generally stayed nice and smooth throughout. There are some things on the HUD that don’t have an assigned function yet, and various ships and upgrades are still waiting for release. Still, this is a great game to pick up if you like the space setting, and always wanted to have awesome space battles between warships. The only drawbacks are a lack of game modes (only conquest so far), and some ship upgrades are visible, but unavailable. However, these will likely be fixed in updates. In the meantime, the respawn system is fantastic, making you seriously consider the pros and cons of a strategy, because all it takes is the team being short 2 or 3 guys for a minute to lose the entire match, so leave that COD “run and gun” mentality planetside.

Good:

-Beautiful ship models

-Respawn system silently pushes players to strategize and cooperate rather than rush if they want to succeed.

-Ship store and upgrades tempts you to push forward to see what that next ship will allow you to do.

Bad:

-No other game modes available just yet.

-Some ship upgrades are visible, but unavailable presently.

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10