Fractured Soul is a game where you have the power to jump between alternate realities and shoot robots. Sounds pretty generic, right? That's exactly what it should be! This game takes place on a space station, half of which is full of water, high winds, and scorching heat in one reality, and enough floating platforms to shake a stick at all around. It's a simple side scrolling shooter, where your goal is to get to the end of the level as fast as you can while collecting the optional bonus emblems, called "secrets". These "secrets" are used to unlock the extra 10 bonus levels with added difficulty and layouts to contribute to the main games 30 levels. The main game itself contains 5 different areas, each with its own twist on physics and dynamics.
Fractured Soul is not for the faint of heart, and I don't mean your physical heart. This game isn't really scary, nor is there a clear story behind why you are on the station or what is going on. The levels, however, are not for your everyday dose of platform gaming. Each level contains two separate versions of that specific level, one for the top screen, another for the touch screen. You must navigate the levels by switching between both worlds, This process is incredibly streamline aside from the difficulty of remembering which screen you are on, or even remembering where an upcoming enemy will appear.
The level design, graphic wise, does a nice job of setting the tone of the space station. The level design itself can be rather challenging and insanely difficult a majority of the time. When you have to jump between realities with split second timing, and remembering which world has which platform, it can become incredibly hard and enraging.
If you like a game that grows progressively more difficult with each level, you will love this game. I personally find the switching between screens to be difficult, especially in the later levels involving underwater physics and wibbly-wobbly gravity. Fractured Soul includes even more challenges, such as intense heat and the classic wind gusts. Did I mention the insane gravity?
After a while you will encounter some strong bosses that try to make the shooting aspect of the game more intriguing. I was already flustered with the controls, and the stronger enemies didn't "up" my experience. It doesn't help that you are limited to only five controls. Circle Pad to move, A/X to shoot, B to jump, L/R to switch screens, and occasionally Up on the D-Pad to mess with a control panel here and there.
Game play aside, the graphics and audio aren't half bad. The music isn't exactly my cup of tea, but I can't think of anything better to set the spacious mood of the game. The graphics are DS quality, as this game was fully made and set to go as a DS title. I'm sad that the touch screen has no use, and the developers didn't even add a 3D aspect to the game. I would have loved this game a smidgen more if it contained one of the previous two aspects, but nevertheless Fractured Soul is truly a challenging game, and if that is exactly your type of game, I insist you download it from the eShop now for $11.99.
