Gamers should be well versed with the post-apocalyptic, nightmarish scenario where Mother Nature’s gone on sick leave and wide-spread war seems inevitable. While Fracture’s premise could be considered somewhat outlandish, there’s enough end of days stuff to make any doomsday lover sit up and take notice.
In the wake of devastating earthquakes, melting polar ice caps and rising water levels, a future United States is divided down the middle by a huge flood. Along with the physical comes the ensuing cultural division, where the Eastern half-turn to cybernetics to ease their collective woes, whereas the Western folk take the genetic manipulation/superhuman route. Playing as a newly conscripted soldier for the Eastern side, you find yourself behind enemy lines and in the thick of battle with the Westerners mob. At this point there’s nothing to differentiate Fracture from a gazillion (yes, that many) other titles out in the digital ether. But then the proverbial rabbit pops out of the bag and it goes by the name of the Entrencher.
The Entrencher allows you to raise or lower earth to your heart’s content, turning the very ground into a weapon. Getting shot at? Raise a small hill and you’re covered. On the other hand, sink a bunch of enemies down a few feet, lob in a grenade and they’re as good as gone. Along with an assortment of other weapons you’ve got four grenade types that with similar ground transforming abilities. Facing a closed hatch poses no problem as throwing the grenade underneath the hatch spews forth a column of rock into the air, pushing the grate open. It’s not all about the ‘groundbreaking’ weapons though.
Fracture’s AI copes well in the face of the unique D.I.Y. cover system. Even knowing the location of the nearest enemies, displayed via the radar framed within a very lean UI, doesn’t help your situation much. Dodging projectiles, finding alternate paths around suddenly sprouting mounds and holes or concentrating enough firepower to get you working up a sweat is all in a day’s work for those genetically mutated freaks.
The musical score feels out of place, seemingly appropriated from a Star Wars game, and the not so splendid melee attack gets you into trouble more than it gets you out of it, but the control system is quick to master and one of the more responsive setups we’ve come across.
That said, the focus is on the unique weaponry and what you can do with them; Fracture offers an ever expanding array of problems you need to solve to continue. Can’t find an entrance to a building? Rather than crash through the door, why not dig under it? Or why not make a few mounds high enough so you can climb to the roof?
It all functions fine, although we daresay Fracture will be facing an uphill battle to get noticed. Generic space marines fighting upon a generic future landscape will be tough to sell, terrain deformation or otherwise. The proof will be in the pudding, we guess – but we’ll be surprised if this moves the Earth.
