Dark Fracture

The game focuses on the psychological portrait of the protagonist in the context of the plot and on the exploration in terms of gameplay. The game is a tribute to the whole genre of horrors and before its premiere it won numerous awards at festivals dedicated to indie games. Two developers known as Twisted II Studio are responsible for its development.

Plot

The hero of the game is Edward, an employee of a body farm (an area where court anthropologists investigate decomposing corpses) located in a rural region of the United States. He is facing mental problems due to a difficult past, and only a special cure and a routine in which there is no space for exceptions keeps him in line. However, these are not the means that can completely eliminate the protagonist's accumulated mental problems. We begin to follow Edward's story during one of his night shifts, when there is a series of strange events that put into question the mental health of the protagonist.

In the course of discovering the story, we will sometimes judge by ourselves whether the adversities seen by the protagonist are real, or whether they are only products of his imagination. Our actions will determine how Edward's life will turn out - whether he will succumb to his visions or oppose them. The plot is presented in an enigmatic way, forcing the player to connect every single clue and arrange it into a coherent whole.

Mechanics

Dark Fracture focuses on exploration, puzzles and escaping from enemies. We store the collected items in our equipment and then use it to unlock a further road or a completely new area. Some objects can also be grabbed directly in the hands, which is useful when solving the many environmental puzzles present in the game.

During the game we encounter many randomly generated paranormal events. This makes every game unique, and it also means that we have to solve some problems in a different way than someone else has done. Some items are also drawn, and sometimes, when a level is restarted, their location changes. All the clues found are written into our diary and their descriptions help to understand the story and make progress in the game.

When examining specific areas, we must continue to pay attention to the Edward's sanity meter. Paranormal incidents increase it, and when it reaches a critical level, the protagonist loses control of his mind and we fail. In order to control the hero's mental stability, we must regularly take the appropriate medication, the amount of which is obviously limited.

Technical aspects

As for the game created by two people, Dark Fracture presented a high graphics level on the day of the premiere. The style of the locations and creatures encountered was inspired by the works of H.R. Giger (author of the Alien character) and Zdzislaw Beksinski.