Fracture, from LucasArts and MechAssault developers Day 1 Studios, is a third-person-shooter where the main attraction is that you can raise and lower the terrain to help you solve puzzles and progress through the game. The game looks pretty nice and the concept is definitely interesting, but a short, linear single-player experience and only so-so multiplayer make Fracture hard to recommend for a full price purchase. Find out all of the details right here in our full review.
Quick Hits
- Title: Fracture
- Platform: Xbox 360
- Publisher: LucasArts
- Developer: Day 1 Studios
- ESRB Rating: “T” for Teen
- Genre: TPS
- Pros: Nice visuals; terrain deforming is fun; some neat puzzles; cool weapons; decent vehicle section
- Cons: Very short single-player; somewhat linear and predictable; a bit too much guidance on some puzzles
Fracture’s story reveals a future Earth where global warming has caused the oceans to rise and people have used terrain deformation technology to build great walls to hold back the water. The rising waters of the Mississippi River have literally split the U.S. in half, but it is not only a physical separation but a philosophical one as well. The people in the East (Atlantic Alliance) believe in technological advancement while the people in the West (Pacificans) believe in genetic advancement. When the U.S. government decides to outlaw genetic testing, Civil War breaks out and the Pacificans send a hulking, city-sized walking fortress to destroy the Atlantic Alliance. It is up to you as Atlantic Alliance soldier Jet Brody to stop the Pacificans and save the day.
All in all, the concept is cool, but the story doesn't really deliver, mostly due to a cop out ending that makes you feel like your whole struggle was pretty pointless. The single-player is also surprisingly short, checking in at only 5-6 hours. There is a fairly robust online multiplayer mode, complete with all of the game types you’d expect (as well as terrain deformation, of course), but I wouldn’t count on the online community holding up long-term.
Gameplay
LucasArts
The gameplay in Fracture is definitely solid and can be a lot of fun, but a few design decisions hold it back a bit. The core gameplay is pretty much like any other third-person-shooter. Move and aim with the sticks, shoot with the right trigger, melee with B, throw grenades with the left trigger, jump with A, switch weapons with Y, and “use” with X. The real appeal here, though, is that LB lowers the terrain, RB raises it, and there are grenades that raise and lower as well as create a huge spike that rises out of the ground. Shooting people in Fracture is pretty standard faire, but altering the terrain is what makes it special and worthwhile. You can raise the ground to build yourself cover so enemies can’t shoot you. You can dig underneath structures to make them collapse. You can use spike grenades to lift up platforms. There are some pretty neat puzzles in Fracture. The weapons also range from standard rifles and shotguns to the more interesting ice gun, underground torpedoes, or the Lodestone that shoots out a dart that pulls everything towards it. The weapons are definitely cool. There is also a vehicle section in the game that holds up pretty well. The vehicle has a turbo boosters for jumping over canyons as well as the ability to dig into the ground, and the whole level you use the vehicle is pretty darn fun, unlike a lot of shooters where vehicle sections kind of drag them down.
So the shooting is fun, the vehicle is fun, and the terrain deformation is well executed. But there are issues here. The game is very linear and every room you enter plays out pretty much the exact same way. You enter the room, a dozen enemies all shoot you at once, you build some cover, and then you kill them all. The enemy placement throughout the game is pretty predictable and there is very little in the core combat that will surprise you. Likewise, the puzzles start out interesting, but the same handful repeat over and over. Also, the game makes it pretty obvious how you are supposed to approach a given situation since because the exact gun or grenade you need is always always always right there next to the fallen bridge or impassable door or high ledge you can’t normally reach. What all of this means is that while the core game is pretty fun, the level design is completely mediocre and the game gives you way too much guidance on the puzzles and how to progress and that ultimately hurts the game. It is also disappointing that there is only one real boss type throughout the game and even the final battle at the end is just a variation of that same battle There is nothing to keep you coming back after your initial 5-6 hour play through which places Fracture firmly in “rental” territory.
LucasArts
Visually, Fracture is a pretty nice looking game. The environments look pretty good and the terrain deformation is pretty darn impressive. There are some animation issues, however, and the framerate chugs along whenever things get a little too intense.
Sound
The sound is pretty good. The voice acting is okay and the music gets the job done. But the real star here is the sound effects. Gunfire is nice and loud and raising and lowering the ground is accompanied by an appropriate deep rumbling.
Bottom Line
All in all, Fracture is a game that is loaded with potential but falters a bit in the execution. Pretty much everything you do in the game is fun, but the puzzles and firefights start to repeat themselves fairly early on which make it hard to be as impressed and excited about the experience as a whole as you might be with the first hour or so. The multiplayer is actually pretty fun, nothing that will draw the masses away from Halo, GoW, or COD, but still quite fun. Overall, Fracture is a decent third-person-shooter, but the short single-player and (most likely) small long-term multiplayer community make it pretty hard to recommend for a purchase. It is definitely worth a rental, though.
