F.R.A.X: BLACKOUT

my initial first impressions with this game aren't very positive, and according to the developer's early access intent it really does need the 2-3 years to get to something a bit more digestible starting off good, i really like the art style of the illustrated cutscenes and the dialogue is brief but engaging enough to at least intrigue me on the story premise and the build up to the world around you. i can tell the vision for this game is really vast and there's a ton of ambition going into the project, so i don't see the dev abandoning it at any time. unfortunately i already noticed and had a lot of issues within my short initial playtest, and i'm sure i'll find even more after i get these thoughts out. first off, the lack of a proper control introduction or even a splash screen of what your controls are creates a very confusing onboarding experience. i had to find the controls screen on the esc menu and use that to open up the minimap that lets you see where your next objective is to progress. my first encounter with a zombie was confusing because combat is dictated by you holding RMB to "aim" even the melee weapon, and then swinging. none of which is explained. for a…

Design is very good but at the moment the game still needs quite a bit of work. The UI could be way better and simpler since things such as the pause menu have like 95% empty space and two little buttons for quitting and help and please add a "are you sure you want to quit" pop up since I accidentally quit when trying to figure things out. The inventory and crafting menus are simple and ok but would be better with some soul so to speak and when you die in the game it would be best to add a load button rather than the only button being quit. Combat is very clunky and I chose a police officer for my characters occupation but he was swaying the pistol around as if I chose the other ones. Melee combat isn't as responsive or fun as other zombie games and I resorted to sneaking around as best as I could to avoid it when I had no ammo. Sneaking though is pretty nonexistent since you can't crouch or anything you just have to hope the zombies don't see you. idk how this one zombie saw me though when I was in a house. Another thing I didn't get was why was my pistol not loaded even though I reloaded it and went to a melee weapon then switched back it had zero rounds in it? The map in the…

Yeah......no. this is pretty bad. Camera is way too close. Missing a metric ton of QOL. 4 crashes. Character Customization is barebones. Did the intro four times. I really dislike leaving negative reviews, but this is just.....no. The price is WAY too steep to justify the current state. I LOVE Jank in games but this? I'm going to pass.

A quick review after approximately half an hour of playtest is that the game needs a ton of work for it to become something worthwhile. I like the ideas but right now its more akin to a playable proof of concept and a fairly bare bones one at that. However I suppose that's what early access is for, I donno how large the team is for this but its got a similar feel to the Disaster Report series which is a series I do really love; I hope that the devs take the time they need to bring this to life properly because otherwise a potenrial gem will get lost under the mire of "games that could've been good".

5/4/2026 Gameplay: It's tense, you're always moving from place to place, scavenging, crafting, and fighting. The combat is visceral, with your attacks visibly severing limbs and breaking bones depending on the weapon type. However, the mechanics themselves are rather barebones as of now and things could be better polished in general (for example, the third person camera can block your view inside buildings at certain angles occasionally). There are some minor bugs, I haven't encountered any game-breaking ones yet. Story: The characters are distinct from each other and their interactions feel genuine. The beats that are supposed to be horrific feel horrific. More plot points will be introduced as the game is updated and I'll have to see more before writing a more detailed review on this aspect, but I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. Graphics: In-game models and animations are serviceable, I have no complaints other than the blood sprays looking kinda weird. I do like details such as dried blood splatters and bloody hand prints on the ground, as well as body bags swarming with flies. The art style of illustrations and the realistic backgrounds during the VN portions of the game com…

Good story with great writing, Though combat falls a bit flat at times it's fine. Characters are written rather well and one of the biggest pros of the game, However The cons include things like time moving too fast, Infected can see you from too far away, Lastly weapons durability runs out WAY too fast. TO a point it feels like you are more or less managing that then your hunger, thirst or sleepiness. I'd give it a 7/10 in it's current state, Would recommend if you love good stories. I hope the dev continues work on it! UPDATE: Developer has tweaked weapon durability to a way better degree! Good going!