So what’s the twist? Besides that spiffy terrain altering gun you heard all about earlier? It’s all about the Vortex Grenades, baby. This little incendiary can (and should) be tossed far away from the player to land in 1) an enclosed space, 2) right in the middle of a bunch of guys or 3) right next to your flag – which results in a mini-energy tornado. Said tornado sucks in everything around it; people, boulders, debris; and whirls it around furiously before exploding in a bright flash. The Vortex is indiscriminate – it’s got “team-killer” written all over it, if you’re not careful to announce to your guys you’re throwing one down. Even if you survive being pummeled by all the stuff inside the vortex when it goes off, nobody survives the explode-y part.

What was I talking about? Oh, right – Fracture multiplayer. I got my hands on four different modes: death match (both team and free-for-all, but I lump them together in one mode), conquering-points-on-the-map, capture the flag and something called king of the hill.

We’ll start with king of the hill, because as far as I can tell (and feel free to point out my ignorance in the comments), it’s unique to Fracture. You spawn in and locate a point on the map that appears on your radar as a white blip and in front of you as a white, hazy circle. Step inside and the circle turns the color of your team and you earn points. You get more points for more of your team getting inside with you – but you’ve got to hold the point against the other team that comes to take it from you (and this is where the Vortex Grenade comes in handy). After a few minutes, the point will move to somewhere else on the map and you’ve got to frantically go find it and hold it all over again.

Conquering-points-on-the-map is a game model everyone knows; Fracture adds to it by making you “excavate” the points and then wait around while a giant spire grows out of the captured point (like waiting for your flag to hoist or something). The spires can be destroyed, so the idea is half your team is defending while the other half is conquering new or occupied points. The one with the most at the end of the time limit wins.

Capture the flag seems like it hasn’t changes since I played Tribes with my eighth grade boyfriend after school. But Fracture’s terrain gimmick does change gameplay a little because there are no defined choke points on the maps. Anywhere that looks like it might be a bottleneck can suddenly become a cavern, a mountain range – or they could just go around it, make a bridge through an acid river and attack you from behind. That was the one thing I got good at in this map – jumping into the acid and then executing a double-jump to set off my terrain gun directly beneath me, raising up non-acid chunks of land for me to stand on temporarily while I figured out where to go on the map. You really need to be looking at the radar and not at the terrain – because the terrain never stays the same for a whole match.

Above: "Frank, get down from there!"

Death match is what it sounds like; I mostly used the time to try out all the weapons, since I hold no prayer in hell of actually killing anybody on purpose with any of them. The ice rifle was cool (no pun intended), freezing your opponent into a block of ice, which you could then shatter for the kill. Spike grenades caused a spire of earth to suddenly jut out of the ground flinging bodies this way and that. And the rocket launcher… well, do you really need to be told what that does?

After dying about ten times, I decided I should stop pretending to play like I actually knew what I was doing. I instead started doing what I always do in these games: running up to people and hitting them (eff the guns).

Every time you kill someone, you get that battle text that tells you who you killed and how. Only the “how” is represented by an icon and the icon for a melee kill is… a fist.

“You fisted killadog37!”
“You fisted Puffpaynt!”
“You fisted Your Mom!”

I called the QA lead over. “So, if I melee two people in a row – unlikely, since I suck – will I get two fist icons?”

“Um… maybe. Why?”

“Because then I’d be double-fisting.”

It took him a minute to get it. Give him a break, the guy hasn’t slept in days, most likely.

We concluded our multiplayer hands-on with one last king of the hill match. Shaun McInnis of Gamespot killed everybody with frequent Vortex Grenades on the capture points; Flynn De Marco and I discussed Tinkerbell the video game; and of course, the QA teamed owned the collective journalists’ ass at the end of the match.

Fracture is out this October on 360 and PS3.

But! I can tell you about the single player mode that I snuck back in to see today…

After being plied with sushi and diet coke, I sat down with Fracture big wigs Chris Norris and Paul Armatta to play through a few levels of the campaign. I won’t lie – I suck at shooters, so I was anxious about embarrassing myself, even on the lowest difficulty setting.

When I told this to Chris, he replied: “[Former LucasArts president] Jim Ward always said easy needs to be easy.”

And so it was. It was so easy, I was able to run up and punch three guys in a row, unlocking the “pugilist” Achievement.

Still, melee is melee for any shooter – much like a shotgun to the face never gets old. The big question, then, is: How is this different than Halo? Pretty much everyone asks this question whenever a shooter comes out; and you can bet your ass developers ask themselves the same question whenever they make a shooter in this post-Halo world.

Fracture’s answer: deforming terrain. The whole shtick of gameplay involves raising and lowering terrain with a nifty excavation tool/weapon in order to get into areas, defeat enemies, and create your own cover (suck it, Gears of War).

The idea, Chris says, is not to make something so overwhelmingly new that you turn off Halo-fans, but to make something familiar enough to comfort them – and then add something new and super cool they can latch onto.

Paul admitted he didn’t think too much of the terrain deforming gimmick when he first started playing Fracture. He’s more of the run and gun type (like me, if I didn’t die so much). But now, he says, the he uses the terrain gun without even thinking about it.

Part of this is due to level design – there’s a strategy/puzzle element to moving terrain around. If you were to tear through an area without any thought to where the bad guys were or how you’d get to them, you’d be dead in a matter of minutes, even on easy. But with the terrain gun, you can make cover, elevate platforms to reach higher places, or wreck enemy regiments by caving in the ground beneath their feet.

The story behind single-player is the U.S. has split into two factions – the Atlantic Alliance (good guys) and the Republic of Pacifica (the bad guys). The RP have decided that bio-engineering is good and the AA disagrees… forcefully. Caught up in the middle of this is war-baby-turned-badass Jet Brody, our hero. Jet’s a demolitions expert on the frontlines of the war between the RP and the AA.

Through the course of the game, Jet travels from war-torn, post-apocalyptic San Francisco, to the war-torn, post-apocalyptic “Midwest” (like… Iowa, or something), and then on to the slight less war-ton, semi-pre-apocalyptic Washington D.C. Supposedly, he’s after some Big Secret Thing that may or may not end the war; he’s also on the trail of an RP scientist named Mariko who’s also onto the Big Secret Thing. Contrary to popular shooter formula, there’s no sexual tension there (which is great because Jet looks like someone took a lawnmower to his face right before puberty).

These 150+ years of back story plus the current Jet-Mariko plot twist is brought to you in a series of cutscenes framed like news casts and in-game cinema scenes where stuff blows up and Jet has smartass remarks. No 90-minute-order-a-pizza movies, here - the longest expository newscast we saw was easily less than five minutes.

What struck me was how well every element of the game blended together. Fracture is still a few months off (October-ish), but the cutscenes and the voice acting – combined with some really great music from Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille, the next Star Trek film) – knit together to tell a story that’s more interesting than what mere Halo-clones usually come up with (*cough* Haze *cough*). Plus it looks pretty good; post apocalypse is usually washed-out sepia at best, but the San Francisco fight under the Golden Gate bridge was bright and vivid.

The last thing I got a look before I had to get out the door was the driving. As per Halo's formula for Awesome Shooter, there had to be some sort of all-terrain vehicle – but because it’s Fracture, said vehicle had to be able to raise and lower terrain. And boy did it ever; you get these underground charges you can launch ahead to erupt beneath enemy barricades. Or you can use them to make a ramp for you to drive over and catch mad air before slamming down on people on the other side. Overall, the driving handled way better than anything I’ve ever driven in a Halo game, and it didn’t feel tacked-on at first glance (I’d have to play all the way through to make absolutely sure).

So, long story short, here’s what you need to know about Fracture’s campaign mode:

1) Averages 10 hrs in length (more if you suck, less if you rock).
2) Three difficulty levels (and they aren’t kidding when they say “hard”).
3) Three locations – San Francisco, Washington D.C., and the Midwest.
4) Rechargeable “shield” HP, a la Halo.
5) Tons of Achievements available (but no Trophies… yet).
6) Frequent checkpoints (awesome!).
7) Short-ish cutscenes.
8) Friendly A.I.s that’ll help you survive.
9) Hostile A.I.s that adapt to the terrain you change.
10) You cannot just run and gun; you’ve got to take your time, think, and use the terrain gun.

Check back tomorrow for more on fisting, vortex grenades, and other multiplayer tidbits.

That's right: fisting.

The game, which will ship for both the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3, sets the stage for a futuristic civil war, pitting cybernetically enhanced humans against their genetically engineered rivals in a battle for... something. Something important, I'm sure.

Fracture also features a unique "terrain deformation" feature set, seeing players dynamically reshape the battlefield with futuristic weaponry. Say, this is starting to sound very familiar.

You can check out additional details in the press release or get a perspective on how the game will look in our gallery. Michael McWhertor

LucasArts and Day 1 Studios Reshape Next-Generation Entertainment With Fracture

Futuristic Warfare Is Literally "Groundbreaking"

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — May 2, 2007 — LucasArts and development partner Day 1 Studios today announced Fracture , in which players reshape the battlefields in a futuristic conflict with global implications. This epic war fought on American soil pits cybernetically enhanced soldiers against warriors augmented by the benefits of advanced genetic engineering. The company that brought you Star Wars and Indiana Jones, as well as successful new intellectual properties such as Mercenaries (the No. 1 new IP in 2005) and Thrillville (the No. 1 original children's IP of 2006), presents a new franchise full of groundbreaking next-generation gameplay, an intriguing storyline and compelling characters.

"Exciting new intellectual properties serve a vital role to the growth of LucasArts," said Jim Ward, president of LucasArts. "Fracture represents the next step in this company initiative, complete with the intriguing story and compelling characters audiences expect of a LucasArts release."

Fracture advances players to the year 2161, where ecological and seismological disasters have radically altered the planet's landscape, and a clash in ideologies places society on the threshold of war. Players set foot on the frontlines of this epic conflict in the role of Mason Briggs, a demolitions expert fighting for the Atlantic Alliance, the side that relies upon cybernetic enhancement. Pitted against the genetically enhanced soldiers of the Pacifican army, players will experience a revolution in 22nd-century warfare. In utilizing the core gameplay mechanic of Fracture, a destructive next-generation technology known as Terrain Deformation, players are equipped with an arsenal of futuristic weaponry to strategically reshape their surroundings on the fly. Every action they perform dynamically reshapes the earth in ways no videogame has ever seen. When Briggs throws a tectonic grenade on a level battlefield, the ground blasts upward to provide access to an otherwise unreachable area. Moving on, when he comes across what appears to be an impenetrable structure, Briggs utilizes the alt-fire functionality on his rocket launcher to create enormous craters to burrow underneath the wall. Surrounded on all sides by enemies, Briggs heaves a vortex grenade, creating a swirling tornado-like mass of boulder, dirt and debris to dispatch his foes. These are just a few samples of the possibilities for Terrain Deformation. Players not only change the battlefield — they change the face of the battle itself.

"LucasArts sees simulation-based gameplay as an essential component of a true next-gen experience, and that's exactly what Fracture delivers," said Peter Hirschmann, vice president of product development at LucasArts. "Day 1 Studios has done a phenomenal job of creating true next-gen tech that not only dazzles on a visual level but also serves as a core gameplay mechanic. Unlike many other next-gen games on the market, Fracture simply isn't possible in the previous generation of consoles."

"LucasArts' excitement for Fracture is palpable, and it only inspires us even further to ensure the game lives up to its lofty expectations," said Denny Thorley, president of Day 1. "The opportunity to work with a company such as LucasArts, that knows not only how to launch large entertainment properties, but also successfully bring new IP to market, is truly a privilege. With Terrain Deformation leading the way, we know we're creating something special, and we have absolutely no doubts that LucasArts is the only company to make sure Fracture receives its due."

More information about the game can be found at the official Fracture website, www.terraindeformation.com, which will continue to release details throughout the year.

"LucasArts is determined to deliver outstanding new ideas to next-generation consoles, and our partnership with the great people at Day 1 Studios creates another opportunity for us to bring innovation and creativity to the market," said Peter Hirschmann, Vice President of Product Development at LucasArts. "The phenomenal technology created by Day 1 directly affects gameplay in extremely innovative ways— and it perfectly complements the engaging story and intriguing characters you'd expect of a LucasArts title."
"We wanted to work with a publisher who would set the bar sky-high," said Denny Thorley, President of Day 1 Studios, "It's a privilege to work with the creative minds behind some of the most successful franchises in entertainment history, and we are inspired by the opportunity to work with LucasArts on their first entirely new property specifically for next-generation consoles."

This could be interesting, I wonder if it will be another Mech-ish title? Brian Crecente