Every game has something that makes it special. A game with unique features, tools or weapons etc. makes it more interesting to play. Max Payne had slow motion, Splinter Cell had its stealth techniques and Quake came up with an array of weaponry. Fracture has terrain deformation. This new game from Day 1 studious and LucasArts, features a never before seen ability of rising or dropping a section of ground. This new capability makes Fracture stand out from the crowd of first and third person shooting games.
The story line of Fracture is well written and feels logical as well as intriguing. The game takes place in the 23rd century United States which was facing oceanic flooding around the coast because of global warming. To prevent flooding, United States resorted to the use of terrain deformation to build a wall on both sides of the coast. Due to time constraints, the area in the middle was left without any walls, which lead to the division of both sides into west coast and east coast. With the passing of time both sides choose different paths to their future. While the East coast took to technology and cybernetics, the west coast resorted to gene modification and molecular biology. Eventually this lead to differences between both sides and a civil war was struck where east coast tries to stop west coast from taking humanity to the path of destruction with gene modification.
The player, Jet Brody is a soldier in the east side of the United States which is given the name, Alliance. His task is to stop Sheridan, an aggressive dictator of the west side who wants to take full control of the world. There is a great deal of profound story that is uncovered all along the game play.
Terrain deformation is one of the highlights of this game, as Fracture does an attempt to create a dedicated fan following with this unique ability, the immense possibilities that terrain deformation gives to its game play are never ending. While playing the game you can use grenades that rise or lower the ground to hide from enemy fire. Not only this, the enemy soldiers are now forced to aim at you by looking above or below the ground depending on the ground conditions that you created, this gives a realistic and fun feel to the game. You can also raise sections of the ground to protect yourself from heavy enemy fire or create slides to roll explosive grenades down the path. Although the ability to experiment with the environment gives great power, terrain deformation is also available with the enemy, so as to keep the game exciting and challenging.
Weapons in Fracture are usual by standards. Basic weaponry consists of machine guns, rifles and rocket launchers. It is only in the second stage of the game that you get different weapons that are innovative enough to keep you shooting. Graphics and the sound effects of Fracture are above average and heavy multiplayer shooting or terrain deformation does not hamper with the smooth game play. Game length is well supported by the intelligent enemy AI which is one of the best seen in the industry. Overall, Fracture, with its terrain deformation looks sure to make a place in one of the most innovative games of this year.