Xbox 360 - Fracture

Fracture by Lucas Arts

Fracture is a brand new franchise from LucasArts. This game is a linear shooter with changeable terrain.

Gameplay

Most games today fall into very specific categories. Fracture is one of these games. Fracture is a standard shooter where the game leads you from point A to point B with very little side roaming. Regardless of the terrain modification addition to this game, the game really adds nothing of value to the genre. The terrain modification is only mildly interesting and only gives the player the ability to create temporary walls to hide behind.

The downside to these 'walls' is that most enemy weapons can knock them down as easily as you can erect them. So, the ability to create a wall that can easily be removed by the enemy is pointless. I just don't get why game developers can't understand these these concepts? Having the enemy knock down a user created wall is not challenging, it's frustrating. You want to use it as temporary cover, but you can't. So, you end up ignoring the use of this feature and using existing environmental cover anyway. The only time when this feature is useful is when you need to find a way to get in underground. And, even then, that's just a novelty.

Controls

Controls are typical of a shooter. Nothing special here.

Audio

Nothing to brag about.

Graphics

Better than many, but typical of a shooter.

Overall

This is a ho-hum franchise from LucasArts. The terrain aspect is interesting, but quickly becomes just a novelty and is, overall, pointless. The game is extremely linear without any side quests, so it's pretty straight forward. If you like mindless shooters, you'll probably like this. If you want extended gaming and like to roam and find hidden things, don't bother looking here.

Score

• Sound: 8/10 (Ambient, doesn't get in the way)
  
• Graphics 8.5/10 (Gets the job done, but nothing outstanding)
• Bugginess: ?/10 (not rated yet)
• Controls: 9/10 (reasonable)
• Bang-To-Buck: 1/10 (Once through, trade it in fast)
• Overall: 7/10 (Better games out there)