The SCP Basis is a powerful factor. For those who won’t know, it’s mainly a fan-created wiki of kinds that tracks unusual, weird and (usually) harmful beings, arising with total tales by itemizing how these beings are contained, and a obscure description that gives simply sufficient to mild up a reader’s creativeness, however by no means sufficient to offer the reader a transparent image of what precisely it’s they is perhaps studying about. As such, the SCP Basis web site has develop into a beautiful supply of not solely creepy horror tales, but additionally of inspiration for horror video games.
Previously, we’ve largely seen video games adapting the fiction of the SCP Basis by extra generic horror mechanics. These titles are likely to characteristic one or two of the enduring creatures from the SCP web site, with SCP-173 being an particularly standard topic because it tends to make for an appropriately spooky expertise with the factor chasing you may solely achieve this if it isn’t being noticed. SCP: Fragmented Minds, nonetheless, manages to carve out its personal identification from the ocean of SCP variations by leaning extra closely into the thought of being an motion sport.
Make no mistake, nonetheless, SCP: Fragmented Minds nonetheless has aspirations of being a horror title. In truth, very like its predecessors, you gained’t discover a lot in the best way of fight right here both. You do, nonetheless, get methods to struggle again in opposition to a few of the unknown creatures that you just’ll discover roaming round as you discover a Mars outpost after some type of cataclysm occurred. However earlier than we get forward of ourselves, let’s first perceive the setup.
“SCP: Fragmented Minds nonetheless has aspirations of being a horror title.”
You’re Agent Kovich, a member of the SCP Basis’s safety workforce, at the moment setting out in your first posting to Mars Web site-113. Whereas the needs of the location aren’t fairly clear but, you do know that you just’ll should take care of some degree of fight, because you had been put by a moderately rigorous coaching regime. Apart from that, nonetheless, this mission to Mars looks as if a comparatively cozy gig. Little have you learnt that issues are about to go horribly incorrect.
A collection of subterranean earthquakes have managed to mess up Mars Web site-113 fairly a bit, and by the point you’re awoken in your cryopod, the entire Martian settlement is seemingly abandoned. Slowly exploring by some wreckage and even the floor of Mars finally leads you into discovering one different survivor, who’s then capable of allow you to get deeper into the SCP facility to try to reconnect together with your workforce. All in all, the story and basic setup of SCP: Fragmented Minds is comparatively easy and acts fairly effectively as an excuse to throw you into the thick of it.
The one actual criticism I’ve with the sport is that the beginning is only a bit too gradual. Whereas the overall visuals and environment are fairly good within the sport’s opening hour, issues begin getting a bit boring when all you’re doing is strolling round and looking for the best way ahead. There’s actually zero pressure till you get round an hour into the sport. Positive, there are some tutorials you get within the opening minutes, the pacing typically may very well be dealt with a lot better than what we finally acquired. Good factor it’s nonetheless an Early Entry title.
“The one actual criticism I’ve with the sport is that the beginning is only a bit too gradual.”
The identical pacing points additionally apply to the gameplay. For a sport with aspirations of being an motion horror title moderately than a stealth horror one, you don’t even get entry to a weapon till you’re a few hours in. By then, you’ve confronted loads of situations of SCP-3199 that you just’ve needed to sneak your means round, and even if you lastly do get a weapon to try to struggle them off, you’re going to have the ability to, at most, tackle one by one. This doesn’t even really feel like a case of forcing you to preserve your sources as a lot because it looks like poor pacing.
Talking of which, there isn’t actually a lot in the best way of enemy selection in SCP: Fragmented Minds. You’re largely going to be sneaking round or preventing off varied situations of SCP-3199. Whereas this does imply that you just get to expertise creatures in an SCP title that aren’t simply what you’ve seen earlier than, the shortage of nearly some other type of enemy to struggle in opposition to does extra hurt than good to the overall sense of poor pacing all through the sport. This is a matter that, as soon as once more, seems to be like it would get fastened down the road because the title will get extra chapters by future updates.
One key space the place SCP: Fragmented Minds completely excels is in its visuals. Mars Web site-113 has been fantastically realised, with nearly each darkish crevice, nook and cranny being rife with the potential for hidden terrors lurking round. The environment can be top-notch, with lots of work being completed by the sport’s wonderful use of lighting and volumetric fog results to ramp up the stress. Being an Early Entry title, nonetheless, does convey with it some clear technical points. For example, I usually discovered myself needing to close down and restart your entire sport as a result of it might refuse to load a room behind a locked door. I additionally had lots of bother grabbing footage for the sport, with fixed crashes taking place every time I began recording gameplay.
“There isn’t actually a lot in the best way of enemy selection in SCP: Fragmented Minds.”
Whether or not these points are intrinsic to the sport, or if it was a difficulty associated particularly to my {hardware} setup is at the moment unknown. Usually talking, SCP: Fragmented Minds positively has its justifiable share of points, be it the poor pacing or technical issues. Apart from that, nonetheless, the sport feels prefer it’s a strong basis for what may in the future be a superb motion horror title. The environment is great, and the truth that the title might be making use of a few of the lesser-known beings from the SCP wiki signifies that we’re in for some splendidly bizarre and distinctive encounters in future updates.
Because it at the moment stands, nonetheless, SCP: Fragmented Minds is a tough sport to suggest. The pacing points alone signifies that you’re going to be spending the overwhelming majority of your time with the sport simply operating round and hiding from goofy trying creatures. The roadmap, nonetheless, makes me suppose that there’s a lot of promise within the sport’s future, and multiplayer is an particularly fascinating characteristic to keep watch over down the road.
This sport was reviewed on PC.
