What is a fractured mind?

TThere’s no shortage of indie horror games out there, but some titles stand out more than others. Fractured Mind is one of those titles that caught our attention thanks to its realistic body camera perspective and PT inspiration. Although this sounds incredibly realistic, Fractured Mind is created by a single developer called ACid. It is as independent as possible, considering Fractured Mind appears to be ACid’s first public video game. Unlike many hyper-realistic games that get a trailer without any demo or release, Fractured Mind is currently offering a free early access demo on Steam until its planned release in September. Join us to find out what this game is all about Fractured Mind and if it looks as promising as it seems.

The first thing that struck me about Fractured Mind It was its realistic body camera graphics. Fractured MindThe body camera perspective is probably inspired by Not registeredanother yet-to-be-released first-person body camera game made with Unreal Engine 5. Not registeredThe March 2023 trailer led the UE5 community to create tutorials explaining how to recreate Not registeredRealistic body camera perspective of ‘s using Unreal Engine 5. It’s not too surprising to see games like Fractured Mind Take advantage of this body camera trend. Not registered, Fractured Mind uses a fisheye lens distortion effect with a wobbly camera simulating realistic body movement, although I have to admit that playing it in a more or less finished state like the Fractured Mind The demo is more impressive than any simple trailer. But enough talking Fractured MindThe inspiration for ‘, what does it really consist of?

Those who know Hideo Kojima PT will understand the essentials Fractured Mindpremise and gameplay of . Like PTyou travel through a continuously looping environment that changes slightly every couple of loops, giving you new story clues and things to figure out along the way. Instead of a mansion hallway, Fractured Mind takes place inside train compartments. The demo has you walking from one train compartment to the next, looping every time you open the door to the next compartment. The demo only includes one chapter of the game, so there are probably other locations besides the looping train inside Fractured MindWe’ve already seen other environments in the demo itself, such as the rainy exterior entrance of the train located somewhere in a Romanian suburb. It will be interesting to see other locations in Romania as the player follows the distressed protagonist, Michael, along his psychological journey. Speaking of distressed protagonists, as with PT, Fractured Mind goes all out in its psychological horror elements.

The 30 minute demo left me asking myself a lot of questions about what I was seeing in front of me. The slow progression through the looping train is well paced, with very slight changes in each loop giving you little clues about what’s going on in the story and characters. Fractured Mind has a slow burn similar to that PT The game is very weird indeed, with some truly crazy things happening right before the end of the demo. This slow flow of information quickly speeds up once you notice something particularly… weird. The moment you see this weird element is the moment the game enters a surreal nightmare. Some of the oddities I saw included train seats stacked on top of passengers, radio broadcasts screaming at me, and the occasional strange demonic creature lunging out from the corner of the screen, to name a few.

If this 30-minute demo is anything to go by, the full game will offer a steady stream of surprises and “glitches,” so to speak, in the protagonist’s perception. The protagonist already has a fairly in-depth backstory, which suggests we’ll be getting a character arc or more characterization with the full release. For example, check out the game’s Steam description; it lists the protagonist’s full mental health assessment. There’s a granular level of detail here, with credible information like the DSM-5’s descriptions of his PTSD diagnosis. This character backstory is also shown in-game, through fourth-wall-breaking posters on the train and radio broadcasts that fluctuate between local events and voices in Michael’s head.

Speaking of radio broadcasts, the radio voices are the only element of the game that uses AI tools. It’s a shame that real actors couldn’t be used for this game, as it could have improved its world-building and tone even more, but at least the developer is transparent about the use of AI. The audio in general is suitably atmospheric with a low-fi train vibe accompanying the journey. The moments where it’s completely silent don’t work as well because all The sound is muted, though it’s hard to tell whether this sort of thing is intentional or not, given the game’s propensity to make you lose your mind. Either way, it’s a very atmospherically immersive game, with the flourishes of Unreal Engine 5 to really make it stand out.

Oh yeah, there are guns in Fractured Minds too; it’s not just a walking simulator after all. Of course, the game doesn’t focus much on shooting mechanics, as the many train posters remind us. The demo doesn’t require you to fire your gun at all, as far as I can tell. But based on the alien demon I saw running away, I’m guessing you’ll be shooting some weird stuff at some point in the full game. Then again, I only saw one of the two possible endings in the demo, so maybe there’s some shooting involved. Regardless, the shooting works as you’d expect from a first-person shooter.

You have a pistol with limited ammo and you can aim down sights for accuracy. There is no heads-up display, except for the reticle when you are looking at an interactive element of the environment. Aiming down sights while turning your character has a certain weight and momentum that I appreciate, but there is no run button to speak of and no mobility other than a short jump. Another gameplay element Fractured Mind The game is all about puzzles. I didn’t encounter any puzzles during the demo, but you can pick up documents with clues and numbers. Even the signs on the windows say to pay attention to the numbers in order to get through the “lock”, whatever it is. So expect hidden object puzzles with the full release of the game.

Fractured Mind The game is currently scheduled to release on Steam in September 2024, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if it gets delayed given that this is a one-man team. We don’t know what the full game will cost or how long it will be. If the demo is anything to go by, Fractured Mind will provide a deep psychological horror story with ever-evolving revelations regarding the main protagonist. The gameplay has the opportunity to expand on the shooting mechanics and puzzles, offering something a little more involved than PT and traditional walking simulation games. There is even potential for several branching routes similar to Stanely’s Parablealthough this might require some sort of dialogue choice feedback, which isn’t present in the game yet. If you’re a fan of psychological horror games, walking sims, or PT-style experiences, Fractured Mind This is a game worth watching.

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