Fracture Updated Impressions

When developers talk about destructible environments in their games, they most often mean destructible buildings. Sure, you might be able to knock down a tree or fling some rocks around, but more often than not you're undoing the work of a few dozen construction workers rather than going toe-to-toe with Mother Nature. Day 1 Studios is looking to do things a little differently with its game Fracture. The focus will be on your use of a collection of futuristic weaponry to create a swollen, twisted mess of the ground beneath you. We've seen a few of Fracture's terraforming guns already, but we were recently treated to a demo that included a new level and a fresh stockade of guns with which to display a spirited disregard for the Earth's floor.

In the sci-fi world of Fracture, the year is 2161 and global climate change has become a very real factor. So real, in fact, that mass flooding has created a rift between the Eastern and Western United States. Each side has taken to using new technology to gain the upper hand in a civil war with one another. The Pacificans use genetic modification as their upgrade of choice, whereas the Atlantic Alliance has gone the relatively more restrained route of cybernetic enhancement. As Jet Brody, you belong to the latter faction. The demo that we saw placed Brody deep in enemy territory: a rain-drenched Pacifican research facility hidden among the mesas of the American Southwest.

The first gun that we saw, the entrencher, was fairly straightforward: aim, shoot, and a brand-new mound of earth pops up before you. The interesting thing about this weapon is the strategic capability that it offers. You might use it to create some cover for yourself, rob a group of enemies of their balance, or mimic those enterprising soldiers in Team Fortress 2 by doing your own version of the rocket jump called the terrain jump. While standing behind your mound of earth, you can switch to a standard machine gun to chip away at the ground and create a customized sight line to take out nearby Pacificans. But be warned: These enemies aren't quite sitting ducks. In the demo, we noticed that the AI was quick to adapt to the ebb and flow of the terrain.

This particular gun has other strategic uses. At one point Jet Brody found himself in the middle of a puzzle that prompted him to destroy two generators that were connected by an energy bridge. When he destroyed the first one, the reaction caused a power failure that took out the bridge. Rather than make a feeble attempt at jumping across the gap, Jet instead used his terraforming gun to raise a pile of earth right below the emergency-backup switch down on the ground. This triggered the switch, which restored power and let Jet cross over to complete the puzzle.

The next weapon we saw was the spike grenade. This one has a particularly interesting application. Rather than cause a curved mound of dirt to pop up, this one is used to lift a narrow column of earth far higher into the air. At one point Jet used this to make it up to a second-floor balcony rather than take the stairs, but it has its defensive purposes as well. The level shown in the demo featured enemies called Pacifican creepers, which are giant spiders that can cut through the ground like sharks through a wave. You can tell where they are by the small bump cruising along the ground, which gives you a fairly good idea of when they'll pop up to say hello in their own special way. Taking them on head-to-head would be a fool's errand, so Jet used the spike grenade to create a safety perch for himself 20 feet in the air, on which he safely sniped away the creepers that infested this part of the level.

A short moment later, Jet found himself a bit of hardware called the ALM-37. This gun introduces the element of temperature to the goings-on by giving you the ability to freeze the ground and any Pacificans unlucky enough to be caught in its way. Frozen enemies follow the usual route of turning to ice sculptures that can be shattered with a well-placed melee attack, but using the ALM-37 on the ground can be helpful as well. Frozen terrain is less susceptible to transformation, so if you're in a bad way and need to keep your cover, you'll do well to freeze the mound of earth you're hiding behind so it doesn't get taken out by a pesky Pacifican.

These were our favorite guns from the demo, but they don't make up the entirety of Jet's arsenal. One of the others shown was a vortex gun that creates a tornado to suck up anything within range, including you. When it reaches critical mass, it flings its contents every which way. Another gun, the black widow, lets you shoot six grenades and trigger their explosions whenever you like. Maybe not as thrilling as wreaking havoc on the floor with an entrencher, but certainly a good way to set up a booby trap.

As fun as the weapons look, they're only complemented by a presentation that teems with cinematic charm. The visuals look good, with lots of sci-fi flourishes and a frame rate that manages to keep up with the constant deformation. But the real star looks like it will be the soundtrack, which is being composed by Michael Giacchino. His name may not ring a bell, but his portfolio of Ratatouille, The Incredibles, and Lost certainly might.

Fracture looks like it has the makings of a fun little shooter. The big question now is how it will play. The demo was hands-off for us, which just makes us all the more eager to see if the weapons feel as good as they look. Hopefully we'll get that chance before long. Fracture has been slotted for release later this year.