For those who could not see the Kotaku sign, hit the jump for a closer look.

Fracture [Official Site]

Fracture [Official Site]

Fracture Contest [Official Site]

Fracture [Official Site]

Loved
Terrain Deformation: Okay, I might have thought it a bit gimmicky in the past, but now that I've played through the story mode and several online multiplayer matches, I am completely in love with terrain deformation. There's just so much you can actually do with it, which makes for many different ways to go through a level. Shoot all the guys in a building the first time through, raise the ground and crush them against the ceiling the next. So very much fun.

Instruments of Destruction: While all of the weapons in Fracture have a nice feel to them, it's the ones the screw with the land and gravity in general that completely blew me away. The first time you throw a Vortex Grenade you will be in love, and all other grenades will seem like children's toys.

Weapons Testing: Every shooter needs this feature. Weapons Testing is basically a playground for you to test out your weapons and strategies. Generate enemies, unlock new weapons by collecting data discs in game...there's even a cannon in the middle of the field that launches debris. It's a hell of a lot of fun, while still being a learning tool of sorts.

Multiplayer Madness: While the basic running and gunning are a bit slower than I'd like, the different terrain deformation strategies I've seen other players come up with more than make up for the less than lighting fast pace. Many amazing deaths, mainly on my part, but highly enjoyable.

Hated
What's Your Story?: It's not that the story for Fracture was bad,,,it's just that it is never really fleshed out in the game. The press materials contain these excellent background stories for each character, and we never really see much of that in the actual game at all. If those stories had been presented in the game itself it would have been a much more powerful experience.

Obligatory Driving Level: The obligatory driving level in Fracture features a very cool vehicle that unfortunately handles like you're driving a brick with the safety brake on. The vehicle itself is awesome, controlling it is a bit of a chore and doesn't really add much to the game's single player mode.

Enemy Enemy Enemy: I understand that the game deals with fighting against a structured military group, but some more enemy variation would have been lovely. They're mostly yellowish, with a few variants, and the end boss? Please. You'll see what I mean.

I have no idea what happened to me at E3 this year when I saw and played a little bit of Fracture and came away thinking the terrain deformation felt like a gimmick. Perhaps it was just the bits I played, because taking in the game as a whole it becomes much more than that, often times transforming the game into a shooter / puzzle game hybrid, especially during the third chapter. I think the important difference is that playing through the full game gave me a good grasp of what my weapons and various powers did, so instead of blindly stumbling I was a find-tuned weapon of mass distortion.

Fracture is one of the more enjoyable shooters I've gotten my hands on in recent years, it's terrain deformation feature lending itself to a relatively compelling story mode and online skirmishes that change the face of the multiplayer battlefield.

Fracture, developed by Day 1 Studios and published by LucasArts was released on released on Oct. 7 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Retails for $59.99. Completed single player mode on default settings, played multiple online battles.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

The demo will allow players to mess around with the game's terrain deformation, the key gameplay mechanic that separates Fracture from all of those other shooters flooding the market.

Fracture is set in the year 2161 in a U.S. that has been split in two by years of environmental neglect. The country's warring factions, the Atlantic Alliance and Pacifican States, fight it out using terrain shifting tech and lots of guns.

The demo will let you use terrain deformation to create cover in shoot-outs and solve puzzles.

I suppose one question here might be: what would a videogame look like as designed by Vicente Guallart? Would it look like Fracture? If Vicente Guallart and Behrokh Khoshnevis teamed up, would they have created Celestial Impact? But a more interesting, and wide-ranging, question is whether designing videogame environments is not something of a missed opportunity for today's architecture studios.

After all, how might architects relay complex ideas about space, landscape, and the design of new terrains if they were to stop using academic essays and even project renderings and turn instead to videogames?

It seems like you can take your ideas about terrain deformation and instant landscapes and nomadic geology and you can license it to LucasArts, knowing that tens of thousands of people will soon be interacting with your ideas all over the world; or you can just pin some images up on the wall of an architecture class, make no money at all, and be forced to get a job rendering buildings for Frank Gehry.
So would more people understand Rem Koolhaas's thoughts on cities if he stopped writing 1000-page books and started designing videogames – games set in some strange quasi-Asiatic desert world of Koolhaasian urbanism?

He also muses that this is perhaps mistaking 'popularity for engaged comprehension.' Would the pay off be worth having an architect collaborate on level, terrain and building design? There are certainly enough creative landscapes and architectural styles in games to provide interesting fodder for discussion or study — would formally trained architects actually add to that in a meaningful and recognizable manner?

Tactical Landscaping and Terrain Deformation [BLDGBLOG]

So we know all about the mechanics...how does it play?

Relatively slow, actually. It reminds me a bit of Lost Planet, which is more of a measured style of FPS than a frantic, running and gunning affair. Personally I prefer a bit more speed to my multiplayer games, but some folks just enjoy taking it easy. I felt the lack of speed took away from the excitement somewhat, reducing my desperate chase after the guy who had stolen our team's flag to a Chariots of Fire-style slow motion moment.

The terraforming mechanic, while certainly impressive, still comes across as a gimmick to me. While there were odd times when using the powers came in handy...hindering pursuit, for instance...other times it felt like all that it was just confusing the action or worse, trying to distract from it.

I think the key to making a multiplayer shooter that leans on a gimmick successful is to strip out the gimmick altogether. If the multiplayer is fun without the gimmick, than you've got a winner. Strip the time-twisting mechanic from TimeShift and you've got a rather average little multiplayer shooter. I'm a little worried that Fracture will fall into that crevasse as well.

Fracture Multiplayer - Fisting and Other Indoor Sports

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 Pacifican Rhino gun is a rifle that shoots living boulder's at people. These boulders can track lifeforms and chase them around, until the boulder either flattens them or explodes. Sounds like a barrel of fun.

Next up, the terrain deforming TDV-1 Assault Vehicle.

Atlantic Alliance TDV-1
Description: Brute strength meets terrain-deformation technology in the Atlantic Alliance TDV-1, perhaps the pinnacle of melding modern science with good old fashioned brute strength. While the majority of research into terrain-deformation has focused on weapons and the invaluable Entrencher, soldiers in the field were quickly faced with a dilemma. While the Entrencher and TD-related weaponry was useful in altering the terrain for a single person, altering the terrain on a large-scale proved to be too time consuming and left troops vulnerable to enemy attacks.

The solution was the TDV-1 vehicle. While a fully capable battle-ready vehicle with highly armored plating offering exceptional protection capability, the TDV-1 proved invaluable thanks to a number of key terrain-deformation modifications. Early attempts at outfitting the vehicle with an array of TD nodes running under the frame of the vehicle proved to be disastrous, resulting in the vehicle being literally swallowed up by the ground. The node array also proved problematic for raising the terrain, resulting in what came to be known as “TD take-offs,” with test vehicles being hurled up to 40 feet into the air.

Scientists soon discovered, however, that in order to get the TDV-1 up and running they would need to try a different approach and separate raising and lowering terrain into two different mechanisms. To solve the problem of lowering the terrain, scientists outfitted the TDV-1 with special grinder attachments that when powered, could tear through the ground and effectively lower the terrain in an area equal in size to the vehicle. To keep power consumption to a minimum, researchers employed return kinetic energy cells that were able to siphon the tremendous force of the deformation back into the vehicle, lowering its power needs substantially.

To raise terrain, scientists employed a more explosive approach and looked to their highly effective Torpedo weapon for inspiration.

Use:While the Torpedo was designed to shoot a subterranean missile that could be detonated at will, the terrain raising component on the TDV-1 utilized a non-lethal charge that, while also fired beneath the ground, could effectively raise the terrain once detonated. This raised terrain proved strong enough to support the entire weight of the TDV-1, including a driver, making it an ideal solution for ramp building. This feature has proven extremely valuable in the field, allowing the TDV-1 access to uneven terrain and other dangerous environments with little to no risk to the vehicle occupants.

While the TDV-1 is a rare find on the battlefield and has yet to see large scale deployment, early reports have shown that the vehicle will soon be an invaluable tool in the Atlantic Alliance campaign against the Pacifican states.

Update: Missed in my rather lackluster view of the game, LucasArts did reveal the all-new DC environment in the preview, frosted with snow. It's lovely, sure, but doesn't take away from my overall meh feeling. Perhaps the letdown from TimeShift - another shooter with an innovative mechanic - just has me wary.

From what I can tell of the trailer, in the future there's basically a big East Coast-West Coast rap war with earthquake guns. These can be used against your enemy or to give yourself a terrain advantage.

Fracture is due for release in October, on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Fracture - World Exclusive Trailer [GameTrailers via Gaming Bits]

You can visit the newly updated site at http://www.fracturegame.com, and be sure to tune into GameTrailers TV tonight on Spike for the premier of the new Fracture trailer. Hype machine away!

LucasArts Launches Newly Updated Fracture™ Website; Prepares Fall Release

“Groundbreaking” Action Game Web Site Features Development Blog, Community Forums, Gameplay Videos, Screenshots and Much More

Fracture Exclusive Trailer Premiers on Gametrailers TV Friday, May 30th at 10:00pm PT/1:00am ET

LucasArts and development partner Day 1 Studios today announced the redesign and relaunch of the Fracture™ Web site. The newly enhanced site will allow fans of LucasArts’ newest franchise to explore, interact and immerse themselves in the world of Fracture like never before. Development blogs, podcasts, contests as well as a plethora of videos, screenshots, story details and other background information are now just a click away at http://www.fracturegame.com. Fracture is slated for release in October 2008.

To complement the newly updated Fracture website, LucasArts will also offer gamers the opportunity to immerse themselves in a special community-oriented Wiki site. The site will give gamers the chance to interact with other fans of Fracture, watch exclusive videos, and gain access to in-depth information about the exciting features to be found in the game. Discuss Fracture and interact with other fans at http://community.fracturegame.com.

Fracture takes place in the year 2161. A series of ecological and seismological disasters have radically altered the planet’s landscape, and a classic ideological clash between the genetically altered Pacificans and the cybernetically enhanced Atlantic Alliance has brought the world to the brink of war. Players find themselves right in the middle of the genetic vs. cybernetic conflict as Jet Brody, a highly trained weapons expert fighting for the Alliance.

Fracture features truly next-generation gameplay with the use of “groundbreaking” terrain deformation engine technology. Players are able to literally reshape the battlefield as they see fit using advanced, futuristic weaponry that provides unprecedented power, freedom and control. Use Tectonic Grenades to jolt the ground skywards to access otherwise unreachable areas; take out hidden enemies with strategic use of the Torpedo Gun; or, blast out a crater to provide cover with the Entrencher during particularly intense encounters.

Fracture will be available October 2008 for Xbox 360™ and PLAYSTATION®3. More information about the game can be found at the official Fracture site, www.fracturegame.com.

While a lot of games are pushing the limits of what can be done visually in games, we also wanted to push gameplay to levels that literally could not be done on the previous generation of hardware.

The graphics while nice, seem pretty generic in that space opera kind of way we are getting so used to with titles like Mass Effect. Nothing really stood out about them and they really could have been part of any modern space game. Frankly the parts of the gameplay that we did see just seemed to involve raising or lowering grounds to suit your needs and came off seeming a bit like a Mass Effect game with a Populous battle system. There will be a multiplayer mode but if the game continues as is, I doubt that will do much to sell the title. The consensus of the gathered media seemed to be one of general ambivalence so I hope that something can be done to make Fracture a bit more intriguing the next time we see it. I also can't help but think if we had seen this before watching the awesome Force Unleashed presentation instead of after it might not have come off seeming so inferior.

Man they love saying "Terrain Deformation" don't they? I tried counting but lost count about two minutes in. I gotta say, despite all of the loose talk about terrain deformation, the video is worth a watch if only to watch a retired military officer running around an office with a Nerf gun. Classy.

It usually happens when your legs are crossed ever so slightly around
one of your nodules, putting an at-first-imperceptible amount of pain
which only reveals itself when the pressure is removed, when all the
minutes—or, oh god, hours—of that light touch pools
together into a gut-churning series of pulses emanating from the groin
into your lower stomach.

Fracture did that to my brain's balls, exerting a slow pressure
of appealing technology features and gameplay scenarios, only to
culminate over the course of a half-hour demo into a sub-sonic wash of
desire. Hey, he just threw up a grenade to make a barrier to hide
behind! (Hrm.) Oh, he just used a grenade to carve his way under a
building! (Uhh.) Did he just make a column of glowing earth pop up a
metal grate and then use it to take a sniping position while a giant
dropship cruised in over the playfield? (TESTICLE SHOCK WAVE.)

There's no reason Fracture's terrain deformation should be
anything more than a gimmick, but it's clear even at this relatively
early point—it's still an '08 game—that they've built an
interesting hybrid between a traditional future-military shoot-'em-up
and a sandbox physics game. And unlike lots of games before that let
you affect the physics or terrain, Fracture pretty much lets
you deform any of the terrain on the maps. (Within reason. They won't
let you dig under all static models, like concrete bases, if it would
expose the edges of the polygon models. Otherwise, you can raise or
sink the ground in about a "thirty to fifty-foot range.")

There is a plot. It has something to do with mutants versus cyborgs.
It appears serviceable, but hardly groundbreaking. (See what I did
there?)

There's no way to know if developer Day One will be able to make
Fracture into the Triple-A title it aims to be, but god damn if
they aren't on the right path. They've taken an extremely staid genre
and added something that could only be done on modern consoles (or,
yes, PCs).

Oh, and there will be a multiplayer. Now if there's a dirty sniper
camping you, you can just make his position disappear completely, or
throw up a giant wall of terrain to block him. There's a multiplayer
demo tomorrow that I hope to make, and I'll happily share my
impressions if I'm able.

There will also be a LEGO Indiana Jones game announced during the show and finally, Fracture, Lucas Arts earth warping video game, will get a July 2008 release date. The game, the tipster says, will take place in the middle of a second civil war, West Coast mutants against the East Coast cybers. The game will feature maps based in San Francisco (where global warming has dried up the bay), a desert in middle America, and Washington D.C. The gameplay will have defined mission objectives, and not sandbox play. The terrain deformation will affect buildings, which will be powered by the Havok physics engine.

Keep in mind these are only rumors. I'd say they sound likely, because of the rumblings of a new Star Wars game and the upcoming Indie film, but I'm still 50/50 on them.

Wow, this looks really damn cool. I love the idea of sucking an enemy into a land mass vortex in real time. This looks like it could be right up their with gravity guns and portals when it comes to hot FPS weapons. Brian Crecente

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.