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Fracture Preview for Xbox 360 (X360)

Fracture Preview for Xbox 360 (X360)

Machineguns replacing Lightsabers

August 15, 2007 – A few months back, we revealed a few tidbits about the upcoming LucasArts / Day 1 Studios game Fracture. Since E3, a few pieces of the story and shots of the game’s graphics have started to impress us. Unfortunately, maybe not as much as we would like to have, but then again the release of the game is still quite a ways off. You can bet, as we get closer we will have loads of more info for us to drool over. After all, when LucasArts is involved you can almost bet it will be an entertaining title.

Fracture screenshot

The first thing revealed about the game was some of the details of the story. The new cinematics show us the beginning of the war between the engineers of Pacifica and the cybernetic Atlantic Alliance. It looks like Al Gore was right as Global Warming has ravaged the Earth and left the world’s geographical plains in total distress. To try to fix the problem, humanity created a tectonic device that would allow people to change the Earth with their own ideas in mind. Naturally, as it is with most everything, the device created in order to save the world and humanity is now used in combat.

Aside from this new terraforming weapon of war, a few scientists from Harvard and MIT begin work on perfecting the human race through cybernetics. This new project is being called HUMANITY 2.0. Shortly after the introduction of this new way of life, it collapses, falling victim to horrible mutations and diseases. The research soon becomes outlawed in the Eastern states, and the scientists involved in the program flee to the Western states to continue their research. After allying with Asian nations that support the continued research into the genetic fields, a split between the nations occurs and thus form the Pacifican Empire. The Eastern states, after abandoning all genetic research, begin building armies focusing on the cybernetic sides of human evolution. They become the Atlantic Alliance after allying themselves with several European countries.

Fracture screenshot

The year players begin experiencing the new way to go to war will be 2161. As a soldier in the Atlantic Alliance charged with missions to bring the Pacifican Empire to its knees, each player will have to use their personal tectonic weapons to turn the tides of the battle, though they will have to be careful not to turn the tides in the favor of their enemies. These strategic tactics of the game will become more apparent in the multiplayer of the game. However, this could also become an extremely difficult thing for the game, making the online multiplayer potentially become too convoluted with the new terra-formed landscape. This was apparent in a few of the videos I have seen for the game. While the graphics are looking much better now than in the previous images of the game, I do wonder how the explosive uses of the tectonic weapons will affect the graphic performance of the game. With game having almost a full year left before arriving on our consoles, I fully believe that any problems this may cause will be ironed out as much as possible.

While only a few brief bits of information have been revealed surrounding Fracture, it is enough to begin the rumblings of the anticipation. The story may be nothing entirely new as far as the basic plot of faction vs. faction, but the new potentials of combat are setting up this game to become the game to own next summer. We will have to wait until more information about the games arrives, but having the ability to control the shape of the world to increase my possibilities of winning the war will be an entertaining aspect I look forward to experiencing. Keep checking back to find out all of the latest information on Fracture as we get closer to the release date for the game.

Fracture screenshot

Features:

  • Innovative tectonic weaponry allows you to alter the landscape in real-time.
  • Reshape the land to create cover, make chasms, dig tunnels, and destroy obstacles. Use your weapons in new and original ways!
  • Incredible graphics show the terrain deformation in stunning, next-gen visuals.

  • The game that moves the world

    May 8, 2007 – What if, instead of just shooting at your enemies like the typical shooter, you could actually use the environment against your foes? What if you could literally create mounds for cover or create underground tunnels to get around or under obstacles? Lucasarts, with their newly pledged focus on innovation and new IPs beyond Star Wars, has decided to answer this question with their latest project, entitled simply Fracture.

    Fracture screenshot

    The story behind Fracture is an interesting concept beyond the simple “we don’t like one another so let’s fight” premise that a lot of shooters have. One hundred years in the future, global disasters have destroyed the middle of the U.S., submerging it completely underwater, so all that remains are the east and west coasts. Now, in addition to being physically separated, the opposite coasts are divided on the issue of genetic manipulation. Previous uses of genetic manipulation caused horrible effects on the subjects, many of whom died horrific deaths. The Eastern Seaboard put an immediate ban on genetic modification, while the West Coast decides to secede and continue to allow experimentation. This sets the stage for another Civil War, another “brother versus brother” conflict centuries after the close of the first one.

    This is where the player comes in. As soldier Mason Briggs, you’ll play as a demolitions expert for the Atlantic Alliance, which are the states on the east. You’re charged with putting down the rebels of the Republic of Pacifica, which are the western states allied with some Asian countries. In addition to the innovative story, Fracture is different from the average shooter in that Briggs can use the environment to his advantage. While Pacifica was focusing on genetic modifications, the Atlantic Alliance focused on furthering their grasp of technology and were able to create weapons that modify the terrain as you choose. For example, a tectonic grenade will cause the ground it strikes to rise and create a large mound. Conversely, the vortex grenade creates a hole that sucks in all surrounding objects and people.

    Fracture screenshot

    While the uses of the tectonic weaponry has obvious offensive abilities, they also have more uses. The tectonic grenade created mound can provide cover or create makeshift stairs to reach previously unattainable heights. The spike grenade creates pillars of stone, which can be used to cross chasms. You can use your weapons to destroy terrain and buildings, solve puzzles, and even create advantages for yourself, bringing an innovative and unprecedented interactivity with the terrain for the gameplay. Of course, since Pacifica was focusing on genetic modifications, the enemies you face will have superhuman abilities to counter your tectonic weaponry, so you’ll have to be careful as you make your way to your goal.

    The visuals in Fracture look good, especially since the game is still early in development. Especially impressive is the way that the environment deforms and reshapes in real time, since that is a feat that has rarely (if ever) been attempted in this way. The game is viewed from the third person, which is essential to give the player a decent view of the terrain and the best way to utilize their terraforming abilities.

    Fracture screenshot

    Since Fracture is still a year off, there is still a long amount of development time in which the gameplay could be altered and the visuals upgraded, but even at this early juncture the game’s ideas are intriguing. Lucasarts is hoping that the game is the beginning of a new franchise, so they’re sure to throw their full support behind the game’s development. Hopefully this game winds up being as innovative as they’re promising, and we’ll see when it releases in the second quarter of next year.

    Features:

  • Innovative tectonic weaponry allows you to alter the landscape in real-time.
  • Reshape the land to create cover, make chasms, dig tunnels, and destroy obstacles. Use your weapons in new and original ways!
  • Incredible graphics show the terrain deformation in stunning, next-gen visuals.

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