FRACTURE Posted by Joe Anderson on Oct 5, 2008 15:59 (Oct 5, 2008 15:59) |
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Lucas Arts will be looking to continue their fine form of late and now that the release of the excellent, Star Wars: Force Unleashed is behind them it is time to concentrate on yet another, if not quite as exciting release in the form of Fracture.
Fracture which is set in the year 2161, tells the story of Jet Brody, who is a member of the Atlantic Alliance Armed Forces. Global warming and the search for ways to combat it’s effects have split the world into two factions. Your adversaries as a member of the Atlantic Alliance are the Republic of Pacifica who believe that adapting the human genome to cope with the changing world is the way forward, of course your guys tend not to agree with this theory, however it’s time to decide who is right.
 So story aside, what sets this game apart from the rest? Well in a word, weapons. In your arsenal you are blessed with all sorts of goodies, first of all there is your suit which not only shields you from oncoming fire but also has a few other tricks up it’s sleeve (haha), then there are the weapons which range from the usual Shotguns, Blasters and Sniper rifles to the more unusual such as the Rhino and the ALM-37 which have devastating effects whenever you use them.
Another essential piece of equipment that you usually find in action shooters is also present in Fracture, the grenade. The big difference here is that these are no ordinary grenades, some cause the ground to raise, other the ground to sink, while another will cause a platform to raise from the ground, enabling you to create temporary bridges or get underground via the grate you otherwise could not lift. My personal favourite though is the Vortex grenade, this basically creates a whirlwind effect and sucks anything and everything into it’s path, including you if you are within range. The Vortex grenade really is great to use when you are under heavy fire from enemies as it will give you a bit of breathing space.
Perhaps the most unusual tool (I say that because it is more of a tool than a weapon) in the game though is the Entrencher, this is basically at your side at all times alongside your weapons and it’s effects are the only thing that really sets this game apart from other run of the mill action shooters. The Entrencher basically allows you to lower or raise the ground, which in turn helps you gain access to buildings by going under the walls or likewise helps you climb walls that are too high. Because the Entrencher doesn’t take ammo you can pretty much use it as often as you like, it just needs to recharge now and again after constant use, which only takes a couple of seconds.
Thankfully the Entrencher has other uses too, seen a colleague under heavy gunfire? use the entrencher to save him by creating a hill in front of him, likewise if you are also under heavy fire and are about to take one bullet too many. Yes it is a pretty neat device, it’s just a pity that this is about all the game has got going for it.
Fracture is made up of three chapters which are not broken up in anyway so they do feel very long, although the game does save itself at crucial points so you will never lose your progress should you feel like a break. During each of the chapters most of your time will be spent running through killing every enemy in your path (with and without your squad) and also completing objectives. One of the objectives I came across was to destroy one of the enemies machines, this was achieved by using the large balls that the machine was generating, raising the ground and allowing them to roll into it, however whether you were successful seemed more due to luck than anything else. Another objective was to use spike grenades to make a temporary repair to a bridge, not exactly much of a challenge. To be honest none of the objectives within the game seem to require too much thought, which is a bit of a shame really.
 Unfortunately the combat doesn’t really fair much better than the objectives, the enemies you will face up to during the game start to become quite boring after a while, occasionally you will meet new enemies, however in general it will be the same grunts time and again, with the only variety being in the way that you decide to dispose of them.
Graphically there are no real complaints as far as the environments go, they are well implemented and add to the atmosphere. Unfortunately though the game does suffer from a nasty case of frame drop syndrome, oh and the cut scenes look really ugly.
Lets face it, the Xbox 360 and PS3 already have their fair share of action/shooter games and to be honest when another is announced, unless it looks like something really special then it is hard to get as excited as maybe a gamer should. Fracture really does fail to excite me in anyway, which says about all you need to know really.
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