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"Terrain Deformation" is LucasArts' next-gen answer in Fracture
We haven't heard much from Fracture in a while, but we've always had it in the back of our minds as a game to keep our eye on. This new video talks about the main draw to the game, terrain deformation, where you can alter the landscape of the battlefield to your hearts content given a plethora of devices with varying effects. You can see some new footage (on the 360 build), some behind the scenes work, and more or less a big propaganda machine in action (even a military officer is singing praises about the concept). Worked on us! We won't be seeing this game this year, but early next year we definitely expect to hear more and hopefully we'll be able to get our hands on something. Messing around with the very ground beneath your characters feet may prove to be just what the action-shooter genre needs to reinvent itself.
Joystiq impressions: Fracture (Xbox 360, PS3)
Sure, this is a science-fiction title from LucasArts, but this is not a Star Wars game. I repeat, this is not a Star Wars game. LucasArts' Fracture is one of the most innovative games in the first-person shooter genre we've seen this show. We had a chance to watch a demonstration of the single-player game and the terrain deforming mechanic that defines the shooter and separates it from the general lot.The story is essentially an extrapolation on the possible effects of global warming and genetic engineering 150 years into the future. With the entire middle portion of the US underwater, the East coast and Europe's cybernetic-centric Atlantic Alliance go to war against the West coast / East Asia's Republic of Pacific. While you only get to play as the Atlantic in single-player, both sides are playable in multiplayer. (The Pacific side will likely be your team for Fracture 2.) What about the rest of the world, such as South Africa? A LucasArts representative said with a smile, "to be answered in Fracture!"If you remember the old game Scorched Earth, you'll recall there were weapons that cratered and created (via "sand piles") land, and Fracture takes much from that idea. Using special grenades you can lower and raise the land. Examples shown were creating a wall between enemies and lowering the earth to turn a crack in a wall into a new doorway, among others. You could even use it to make stairs to a higher ground. We were told that there is a floor and ceiling to terraforming the land, but that it is reportedly "forgiving." We saw within minutes a battlefield that was utterly devastated and warped, very impressive. %Gallery-2929%
Fracture details explode forth from the ground
LucasArts is making a game called Fracture. We've covered it once or twice before. We're really excited about it. Taking that into consideration, when we read a new preview of the title, our excitement grew even more because the terrain deformation mechanic is starting to make more sense to us. We'll explain how it works without going into all the back story -- read that if you want. What we will tell you is the visuals look sharper and resolutions higher than 720p are being considered.You can carry two weapons at a time, along with four types of grenades. Each weapon has a primary (shooting) feature and a secondary. The secondary features primarily (get it?) deal with terrain deformation -- the machine gun will chip away at the ground, making a staircase on a steep cliff. The shotgun bullets bounce off walls and the rocket launcher creates a subterranean torpedo. Another weapon serves as a type of vacuum, sucking up dirt and debris into a gigantic ball, then rolling it into enemies for an eventual explosion. The grenades serve different purposes as well, mostly for terrain deformation. They're really cool sounding, but that's for you to read up on. Look for the game in early 2008 as well as more coverage over E3!
New Fracture details, co-op confirmed!
If you missed the strangely entertaining (and musically epic) trailer for the upcoming LucasArts title Fracture (or if you're like me, Psi-Ops with land-altering grenades minus the psychic abilities), please go back and watch it. It just hit the right chords for me -- a guy who generally doesn't find entertainment in first- and third-person shooters. PSU scored an interview with LucasArts producer David Perkinson and we're going to summarize it. It's pretty cool, so go ahead and read the entire thing if you're particularly interested. The game takes place in America and addresses many "hot button" issues like stem cell research, genetic engineering and global warming. Using American landforms or man-made icons like the Golden Gate Bridge will give players a feeling familiarity and emotional stake in the game's story. Hopefully. Moral and ethical shades of gray permeate the story -- right and wrong aren't clearly defined and what you see ain't what you get. So to speak. Terrain deformation is integral to gameplay: solving puzzles, creating advantageous battlegrounds, and destruction are just as important as the generic aim + shoot formula in most similar titles. Weapons are unique, too -- machine guns will eat away at the ground and a subterranean missile launcher allows you to detonate the missile at will. More details to come on weaponry. An "augmentation" system will be put into play later on -- think status-up boosts in sports game, classic RPGs, or games like KOTOR. There will be both split-screen Co-Op and online play available from day one. LucasArts claims to take advantage of each system's specialties (PS3 and 360), but they're vague on purpose. We expect an interesting announcement in the coming months. As far as resolution and framerate goes, they're vague again but from the comment "We plan to optimize the game to achieve a high frame-rate, while maintaining the level of gameplay desired" we translate that as 720p/60fps. Agreed? That's it for now. Don't know why, but this game might just turn into a sleeper hit or a very, very far miss. Odds are higher on a sleeper hit, though, since it seems to share a few design similarities with the aforementioned Psi-Ops. We'll keep you updated on this one.[Thanks, Justin!]
Joystiq Podcast 007 - Synergy edition (feat. Shawn Andrich and Dennis McCauley)
Arriving fashionably late is the latest installment of the Joystiq Podcast, double-oh seven! No, it's not "Bond edition," it's "Synergy edition." Why synergy? When you combine guest host Shawn Andrich, of the popular Gamers with Jobs Conference Call podcast, with discussion of Jaffeton you can't help but feel the synergy. Roll in some discussion with GamePolitics blogger -- and Joystiq columnist -- Dennis McCauley, and thinks get downright synergistic. Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3) [RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [Digg] Like the show? Digg it. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Hosts: Christopher Grant and Justin McElroy Guests: Shawn Andrich (Gamers with Jobs) and Dennis McCauley (GamePolitics) Music: "We Weren't Put Together" by David E. Sugar Program: 0:01:30 - Spider-Man 3 synergy ("who cleans up all that webbing?") 0:12:36 - Sony goat of war II ("red phone") 0:21:07 - PlayStation 4 is coming ("fourth dimension new chipset") 0:27:53 - GTAIV "limited" on 360 ("it makes no qualitative difference") 0:33:38 - LucasArts' Fracture ("everybody's a miner") 0:41:00 - Wii release calendar ("What're ya' buyin'?") 0:49:55 - Dennis McCauley on Clements High maps 1:03:48 - The Jaffeton (censored)
How's about an earth-changing trailer for Fracture?
This game. Looks. Awesome. No, not graphically -- stuff like Gears of War still has it beat, but the concept behind the title is fantastic in premise and executed (at least in this early trailer) with such pizazz that you can't help but think: "Now that is cool." See, Fracture allows you to handle different types of weaponry that actually alter the ground you fight on. Want to make a jagged earth spike pop up from under your enemy? Done. How about turning the ground into a whirlpool of quicksand? Done. This game looks to be a lot of fun, sticking something new in a tired genre, the way Psi-Ops did on the PS2. Let us know what you think.
Joystiq takes a first look at Fracture
Just announced yesterday, LucasArts' new title, Fracture -- debuting next year -- has an interesting premise. In the future, terrain deformation will become an integral part of warfare. In Fracture, players will utilize a number of weapons that alter terrain in many different ways. Joystiq got a closer look at the game last night at a media event in San Francisco. Joystiq learned a few new details about the plot, including how terrain deformation came about and why the eastern and western halves of the United States are bent on each others' destruction. Of course, the meat and potatoes of the event were firsthand looks at the game's weapons. Joystiq notes that most of the terrain-affecting weapons are grenades, though there are some interesting guns as well (including a subterranean grenade launcher). Unfortunately, Joystiq also found out that the terrain weapons do not affect buildings and other structures, which makes the game seem more constricted than we had hoped. All in all, though, Fracture looks like it could be a very fun game.Hit the "read" link for Joystiq's full impressions.
Joystiq impressions: Fracture (PS3/360)
LucasArts and Day 1 Studios unveiled Fracture last night at a San Francisco media event. The Presideo campus headquarters of LucasFilm, LucasArts, and ILM (as seen on Conan O'Brien) housed us for several game videos, a demo, and question-and-answer time.We weren't allowed to play Fracture, but I got a better sense of the title beyond the initial announcement. Fracture, which will rely on players reshaping the game's terrain in real-time, has a lot of potential. A few parts of the game concerned me -- like how the terrain weapons don't affect buildings and if changing the landscape will be fun in the middle of a fight -- but the basic ability to ripple and distort the land was impressive. Hopefully, Fracture will live up to its potential; we've already seen destructible games fall short of their hype.%Gallery-2929%
Fracture to (literally) change 360 landscape
LucasArts, in cooperation with Day 1 Studios, has announced a new franchise for Xbox 360 and PS3. Entitled, Fracture, the game is based around the concept of destructible environments and land deformation. The game's plot is interesting to say the least. Fracture takes place in the 22nd century, after the polar ice caps have melted, causing the Mississippi River to flood and effectively cut the United States in half. In this new chaos, the eastern half of the U.S., known as the Atlantic Alliance, has opted to survive by employing cybernetic technology. The western half, now the Republic of Pacifica, modify themselves at the genetic level, effectively creating a race of mutants.The gameplay revolves around destructible environments and shaping the land to your advantage. Played from a 3rd person perspective, players use different weapons that can destroy or otherwise reshape the land. For example, you might throw a special grenade that creates a pit in the ground. On the other end of the spectrum, another grenade causes the ground to shoot upward, potentially giving you access to higher areas. See a video of Fracture after the break.
Just announced: Fracture by Lucasarts and Day 1 Studios!
Lucasarts just announced a brand new third-person shooter in collaboration with Day 1 Studios. Titled Fracture, the shooter is set in America in the year 2161, and is supposed to integrate highly destructive environments into its gameplay. The story involves an East vs West divide along the Mississippi, with mutants on one half and cybernetically enhanced humans on the other. Now, everybody knows that cyborgs and mutants hate each other, so of course, conflict is natural.As Joystiq points out, the whole 'destructive environments' thing is something we've heard many times before and it has never really been delivered. I loved the Red Faction series myself - but I always thought it was odd how the second one actually toned down the destructive environments. I liked taking down whole bridges with people on them. It was fun.
Destructible game, Fracture, announced for 2008
Fracture is the new collaboration between publisher, LucasArts, and developer Day 1 Studios. To be released in mid-2008 for the PS3 and 360, the third-person shooter will rely on destructible environments as a key component of the gameplay. We've heard that promise before, but like a bass noticing a Shad Rap, the game's potential is high enough for us to follow this lure to the boat.It's the year 2161, and the United States has been divided by its flooded Mississippi River. The East is full of cybernetically enhanced humans, while the West is populated with powerful mutants aided by genetic engineering. The freaks can't get along, and this premise -- which hopefully plays out better than it sounds -- incites a world war based in America. (We look forward to the "K" broadcasters finally settling their feud with the "W" stations.)[Update: Be sure to check out our impressions of the title as well.]%Gallery-2929%
