In Fracture, global warming has spurred humans into pursuing alternative means of survival. The East has chosen terrain deformation as a means of the overcoming rising sea levels – with innovative new technology, they can raise the earth by several meters. The West, however, has chosen genetic modification to cope with the rapidly changing world. These different ideologies are hardly a mechanism for friendly relations, and the East quickly suspects the West of straying too far into human experimentation. Fearing an imminent war, the East sends a soldier to investigate.
Assuming the role of that commando, players infiltrate enemy territory to face hordes of genetically altered soldiers and creatures. Your character comes equipped with two weapons, and there is the usual assortment of guns to choose from, including sniper rifles, machine guns and rocket launchers. At this point, you may think that Fracture is simply another addition to the crowded third-person shooter market. Indeed, the game shares the majority of features with similar titles. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition immediately came to mind while we were playing, and while the two games aren't too far apart, Fracture does boast one unique gameplay feature.
You can shoot out the ground from beneath your enemies – literally.
In keeping with the terrain deformation policies of the Eastern faction, the player's character comes equipped with a portable terrain deformation cannon. Each time you fire the terrain deformation gun, the ground can be raised or lowered by several meters. In the Xbox 360 preview build that we played, tapping the right bumper raised the earth and left bumper lowered it. Mapping the terrain deformation gun to the bumpers made firing the cannon really accessible. Shooting the ground out from below the feet of enemies is extremely entertaining, and adds diversity to the standard 'shoot everything that moves' gameplay. The only hitch with the deforming cannon is that it only works on natural ground – shooting at ground that has been built over has no effect.
Fracture challenges players to a number of obstacles that have to be solved by raising or lowing the ground. Whether it be burrowing under a wall or reaching a high ledge, the hurdles are never too difficult, but nonetheless add variety to the game, much as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune did. In addition to the terrain deformation cannon, there is also an assortment of grenades that effect the natural environment, which are equally vital to solving challenges. For example, one grenade can raise the ground several stories higher then the deformation cannon, and it is essential to reaching extremely high switches and doors.
The terrain deformation cannon only works on natural ground.
The terrain deformation feature does go some way towards differentiating Fracture from other third-person titles, and from the hour or so that we played, we can say that it works extremely well an is an essential element of the game. Level design helped compliment the terrain deformation, with the majority of areas having the ability to be modified. Another element of Fracture that impressed was the visuals. Though Day 1 Studios is still working to improve the frame-rate, the game looked on par with most other next-gen games, and the terrain deformation animations were quite good.
In the level of Fracture we played, the game provided a detailed tutorial on the guns, grenades and deformation processes. We were then given the opportunity to let loose with the unique arsenal of weapons. We ploughed through almost half of the first level, in which we destroyed a number of objectives and turned the ground inside out. Fracture allows players to melee their enemies, and we certainly restored to this a few times. Overall, we felt suitably challenged and entertained at the same time.
LucasArts has a history of pioneering video games, and they are happy to boast that Fracture's terrain deformation feature is a first. The third-person shooter may seem fairly ordinary on a cursory glance, but after playing the game we can say that it offers an experience different to other games in the same genre. Fracture may not (literally) be the most ground-breaking title, but with unique gameplay and solid visuals, it is shaping up as one of more entertaining games to be released later this year.
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