We’ve sampled the new demo for Fracture, Lucasarts’ new third person shooter due for release down under 15th October. This is one of those titles where I implement a wait and see approach; it reminds me of last year’s Timeshift, a standard fare shooter where a new trick is thrown in to make it fresh and original. The catch with Fracture is terrain deformation. You can raise and lower terra firma to provide cover, destroy the environment, gain access to areas otherwise unreachable, kill the enemy or if you’re not careful, kill yourself.

Fracture is set in the year 2161 where the Western states of the good ol’ US of A are at war with the rest of the country over the use of genetic enhancements, it has been outlawed everywhere else. So you have the Pacificans (evil doers) against the Atlantic Alliance (your allegiance). Not sure who is the 22nd century version of the ‘damn Yankees’ here. You are a soldier for the AA sent in to apprehend the Pacificans’ commanding officer.

The demo has you starting in a dropship as your CO briefs on your HUD display. Upon insertion into enemy territory there is a short tutorial to familiarise yourself with the controls. Most of it will be familiar to shooter fans; 360 controls are as follows: RT to fire, LT for grenades. D-pad is for selection of one of four types of grenades, click LS to crouch, click RS to zoom over the shoulder like Gears. A button is for jumping, X is for an elbow to some fool’s face, B to reload, Y changes weapons or hold Y to sprint. RB & LB is where it gets interesting; RB fired at exposed earth causes it to rise and you can fire at the same spot again to raise it further. LB is for you guessed it, creating indentations in the earth. Repeated use on the same spot will create a sizeable hole allowing for some creative strategies for cover and offensive manoeuvres.

Graphically the game looks solid if unspectacular, there is plenty of detail in the environment and importantly your character is well modelled. I particularly liked your character’s animations, crouch walking and running up newly created mounds were the highlights. There is a lot of detail in the environments but like Lucasarts’ recently released The Force Unleashed everything on screen has a shiny finish to it; it won’t make anyone forget about Gears of War or Call of Duty 4.

Combat does have a different feel to it; you were instantly assessing how you could create your own cover. Surveying the battlefield strategically and implementing creative tactics will allow for some very unique combat scenarios. Raising some ground to hide from an enemy turret so you could lob a grenade over the top was a fun moment. Also there is a degree of destructibility in the environment; the tutorial has you destroying some structures with grenades and a rocket launcher. My favourite weapon was a torpedo launcher; upon firing you can see the earth deforming as it burrows underneath and you choose when to detonate with a simple tap of the X button. Yes it’s as much fun as it sounds.

Fracture does have some good selling points; combat has a fresh twist and the weapons are certainly a highlight. With any of these type of titles, I do wonder if this will stay interesting through a 8-12 hour campaign. The jury is certainly still out story wise as well. The game will have 12 player MP shipping with 8 maps but considering this is not a high profile release it is unlikely there will be a lot of love for Aussies online here. Due for release one day before Saints Row 2 and a mere 8 days before Fable 2 and Dead Space is not going to help this title on the sales charts. We’ll make a decision closer to the time on whether this one gets a review.

If you’re not pushing your download limit or too busy with Mercs 2 or The Force Unleashed it’s worth a play through to see what you think.