A port no one asked for that’s a few years late to the party.

In 2021 virtual reality (VR) enthusiasts who owned the first PlayStation VR (PSVR) were able to play action shooter Fracked by nDreams.

Back then this game seemed like a marvel, offering interesting mechanics and action movie shootouts on a headset considered to be one of the worst on the market. The PSVR was by no means a technological step forward with its cumbersome amount of wires, the need for a camera to inconsistently track lights on the headset, and utilization of the ancient PS Move controllers – which offered no analog movement stick.

Because of all these issues and more, having a game like Fracked come out was a pretty big deal for those with the headset.

Jump forward a year (2022) and the game moved over to the PCVR platforms, expanding the group who would be able to play. Considering all games – and mods – available on platforms like Steam VR and the PC headsets, this game was nothing special, giving those who picked it up a few hours of shootouts and odd bad guys, all tied together with a very thin story.

As of Aug. 29, 2024, those with a Quest headset were able to play this game, and honestly, this seems like a cash grab.

Playing Fracked on Quest 3 is like watching a forgotten television show from the 80s on a 4K big screen – you know it’s old and nothing has been done to make it look better. Sure, some shows have been upgraded and they look great, but some have not and watching that 4:3 box isn’t appealing. This game falls squarely in the latter camp.

Fracked plays exactly the same as it does on the PSVR – except here there are analog sticks to make movement easier. You play as what one can only assume is some action hero, as you ski, climb and shoot your way across a snowy mountainous region.

Having jumped between headsets to see the difference, graphically the game looks a little better on the Quest, but in all honesty it’s not that much improved. Everything is a little sharper in a Quest headset, but overall the textures and animated look of the virtual world still present pretty much the same as PSVR.

When it comes to the controllers this is where the biggest difference can be seen. Firstly, the analog sticks for movement greatly improve getting around. In the PSVR version, you had to hold the front button and tilt the Move controller in the direction you wanted. This was overall not the best considering how often the camera would fail and not properly track the lights.

Because gamers no longer have to use the dumbest of VR controllers to ever accompany a headset, tracking things like climbing, shooting, and other things which require arm movement is also greatly improved; although there were some instances when the game first launched where sometimes trying to grip a surface would take a few tries.

Thanks to these controllers, you can also experience haptic feedback from shooting. This is a welcome addition to the immersion of the game, but, it did not work well at first. In fact, after the first skiing level – when you’re starting to walk, zipline and shoot – there was a game-breaking bug that forced a complete uninstall, restart, and reinstallation of the game.

For the record the bug was dropping down after the first zipline and getting stuck in the floor, sliding around like a puck on an air hockey table.

Once the game was removed and reinstalled, not only was the bug gone but haptics started to work. Getting past this, there were no real issues noticed besides some janky movement and grab mechanics – but those were pretty inconsistent.

Before we wrap up, let’s quickly talk about gameplay.

You’re going to be shooting a lot of enemies – not sure if they’re zombies or mutants or what, but essentially they’re warped by some work going on in the mountains. The guns you get – there’s only two main guns and a few other specials – are very basic and aiming with them is not the greatest. The starter pistol – which has infinite ammo, you just need to swap out the mags – at least has a “sight” down which you can aim. However, it’s not the best and often the bullets don’t go where you’re pointing. This is at least better than the SMG you’re given as a secondary weapon which has no sights and it’s almost as if they mean for you to spray bullets wildly in the hopes of mowing down your enemies.

If you’re grabbing things to get behind cover, the aiming becomes even worse, but at least your pistol has more ammo so feel free to just launch bullets everywhere. Of course if you care about the in game scoring system you may not want to waste bullets, lest you have a lower accuracy score.

The game is short, about four hours if you are taking your time and for the price ($26.99) it may not be worth it if you’re looking for anything more than a very simple – and almost arcade styled – shooter.

For those who really enjoyed the game when it first released, you might find some nostalgia jumping into the Quest version. However, If you’re accustomed to the longer experiences and better games, this is probably going to disappoint.

If nDreams wanted to do something for the Quest headsets they could have done any number of things like: upgrading the graphics of Powerwash Simulator VR beyond looking like a blurry pile of junk, finally fixing the save game issue in Shooty Fruity which made it a broken and unplayable waste, or even bringing over Far Cry VR.

Bringing Fracked to the Quest headsets seems like nothing more than a way to get some extra cash, and after you’re done the game, you may be wishing you can get your money back.

Fracked, was reviewed after purchasing from the Quest store at full price.