Fracture

"A very original, fun and challenging game. *MILD SPOILERS*"

When I first bought the game I bought it because the terrain deforming abilities were very original and it was interesting, not a common super power most characters in games have. You could create cover where there was none, sink and raise dirt ground from underneath enemies, and throw spike grenades onto the ground to get up to originally unreachable high ground.

What I also found that was good was that you were able to achieve helpful augmentations to your armor from time to time. So you could get moves such as trench - jumping, or more powerful melee attacks. That made the grounds you and your enemy stand on change from time to time, therefore you can't expect your enemies to always be the same. What was also good was that it was a challenging game, even though I was on Standard difficulty, which is like a Normal difficulty in regular games.

You had to be clever in this game, and think. A good thing is that your terrain deforming ability isn't just a gimmick or a scam to get you to buy the game, it really helps your gameplay. You need it to help get cover where there is none, raise ground to get to higher platforms, or lowering it to damage enemies' health. Another good thing is that you have a bunch of different enemies, some are weak, some are amazingly strong and unfair.

Now to the not - so - good stuff. The game is too similar to Gears Of War. Yes, it was a very successful game, but the way your character looks in the gameplay is very alike that GoW. You can sprint (which isn't very common in most games) you're in third person view (Just like Gears of War) and your character's armor even looks like the armor in GoW. Fracture has pretty original storyline and original abilities, but the way your character is made is too similar.

The graphics also aren't bad for a 360 game, but it can be a little laggy during cutscenes and sometimes it doesn't look very good when you have a closeup of your character and also looking carefully at mobile objects can make you slightly disappointed. But overall, the graphics can be impressive.

Conclusion:
You should buy Fracture. It's fun and enjoyable, and it's very original. But be careful, it's a PAL game, which doesn't work on some 360s.

You should buy this game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/08

Game Release: Fracture (US, 10/07/08)