If you can get a few friends to give this a chance, I think you'll get a LOT of play out of it.

It was a bit surprising when we completed the game and found ourselves wanting more, lucky for us the multiplayer delivers just that. LucasArts really created something special with the "terrain deformation" aspects of Fracture and the way it is implemented into so much of the gameplay mechanics was inspiring.

Take Gears of War and mix it with Halo. Add half a litre of Red Faction and a dash of Populus and voilà: You'll get Fracture. This principle is as simple as ingenious!

Most of Fracture's bad points are overshadowed by how much fun changing the terrain can be. Masses of action, huge explosions and a competent shooter with a fantastic gimmick.

An enjoyable and engrossing game. It's a little on the short side and it relies a bit too much on the strength of a single gameplay mechanism, but fortunately it's a mechanism that is fun and that we haven't really seen before.

Fracture is a fun but repetitive game that does well with its new ground manipulation technology.

It offers a unique and entertaining feature (terrain deformation), but doesn't utilize it in enough creative ways to keep it enjoyable. It's run-and-gun gameplay with too much run and not enough gun. It's a title that relies too much on brute force in its opposition, when it could have tested to see if the player could come up with creative solutions when completing objectives and having adversaries cross their paths.

Fracture comes close to greatness, but the story's disappearing act, half-hearted approach to level design, and poor enemy AI holds it back from being anything other than mediocre.

I think it would be a mistake for any gamer to not even give the game a trial because, for once, developers actually tried something new, and succeeded in the process.

Aside from the terrain-altering powers, nothing about Fracture is new, it's all been done somewhere else and done better. But does that make Fracture poor? Not really.

Fracture is a good game, despite its flaws; and although it has a lot of lost potential in its story, its distinctive gameplay mechanics allow us to give it enough credit to say it's worth checking out.

With its terrain-deforming mechanics and physics-based weaponry, Fracture features some creative gameplay ideas and can be a lot of fun, but unfortunately that creativity isn't matched in the art direction, story, or enemy AI.

All too often you'll find yourself thinking about what might have been and how another game - more than likely to be the sequel - is bound to do all of this better in the years immediately ahead. [Issue#75, p.104]

Unfortunately, the enemies lack anything resembling intelligence, something that is poorly remedied up by the common solution to such an issue -- adding more enemies. At least the multiplayer is interesting.

With the power to shift the very earth beneath your feet, Fracture could have reshaped the action genre. But repetitive missions and a barren plot leave only the multiplayer to shake this shooter loose from the rest.

Fracture makes all the mistakes of the generic shooter and hangs onto the hope that its one gimmick is enough to bail it out. It isn't. In fact, it's not even close.

Fracture is an entertaining romp while it lasts

If the creative forces behind Fracture had been willing to truly believe in its inventive gameplay mechanic then the end result could have reached well into the gaming industry's higher echelons. As it is, the rather languid presentation, rinse and repeat battle formula, and lack of A.I. variety mean that the appealing deformation elements come off as cobbled gimmickry designed to add a little gloss to a solid but staid third-person shooter.

Generic space marines fighting upon a generic future landscape will be tough to sell, terrain deformation or otherwise. The proof will be in the pudding, we guess – but we'll be surprised if this moves the Earth.

Multiplayer saves Fracture from itself in a way, because the wealth of modes and greater availability of weapons (not to mention the superior AI of human opponents and team members) provide a much deeper degree of variety.

But despite its faults, the terrain deformation and unique online twist is distinctive enough that it's worth playing, even if won't exactly alter the foundations of gaming forever. [Nov 2008, p.90]

Yet another average action shooter to add to the very big pile that are already released.

If you're the type who typically sits around playing video games as a solo endeavor, expect about eight or ten hours of arguably novel gameplay… and not a lot more. If you're willing and able to drag friends into the online hostilities that are Fracture, you'll get considerably more reward out of running up that hill.

Despite its uneven difficulty, Fracture excels in innovating with its dynamic terrain deforming combat.

I've played worse games than Fracture, but it's certainly not one I'd ever recommend. As it turns out, the core concept of terrain deformation is more of a gimmick than a fully fleshed out feature, and the rest of the shooter mechanics are painfully subpar.

Its well made and has some clever ideas...but still a very average shooter. [Christmas 2008, p.82]

Fracture tries to be more than every other shooter and at first it succeeds. Unfortunately after drilling through the game the hectic action and abundance of enemies causes you to forget what separates it from the rest of the herd and it quickly becomes what it is trying to avoid.

Fracture by name, fractured by nature. A competent, complacent shooter. [Dec 2008, p.78]

Fracture is a generic shooter with a nice set of weapons and terrain deformation, but the story is mediocre, the main character lacks charisma and production values are just average.

It's a shame that LucasArts and developers Day 1 Studios did not nail the blend of terrain deforming and first-person combat. The moments out of combat when the terrain is used for puzzles works fantastic and the developers certainly deserve a pat on the back for developing such a complex game mechanic.

It is surprising how the latest game from LucasArts turns so quickly into something generic in spite of the fascinating proposal that it had as starting point. Repetitive, lacking in charismatic elements and surprisingly superficial, Fracture is a lost opportunity to give an innovative twist to the genre.

That smile eventually turned into a neutral look as I plodded through the predictable levels. In the end, I just wanted the act to be over so I could play something else.

While it gets a fair number of things right, its numerous gameplay failings and technical issues far outweigh them all. Its highly derivative nature is another major turnoff and it's a shame to see this spoil what could have been a great experience.

A clever idea marred by a dull, dull world. [Nov 2008, p.72]

It will be an incredibly dividing game though, with many people unable to forgive its considerable flaws, others completely taken in by the technology and others unsure what to think either way. We certainly felt the earth move but not in the way we'd hoped.

The physics that enable you to make the earth move certainly work and will provide laughs in abundance for the first hour or so. However, when everything else about Fracture is a retread of shooters past, it's hard to feel anything else but disappointment that the brilliant gimmick has been squandered on a brief, just above average shooter.

Fracture is a mediocre title released at a time of year when that simply is not good enough. It is repetitive, derivative, and often times boring.

The big blockbuster feature of Fracture is the ability to alter the terrain, creating new ways to traverse levels and approach combat. At least that's what Lucasarts aimed for, but the truth is that the result is merely the same old formula we're used to coupled with a new tool that doesn't really change things for the better. Add to this a horrendously stupid AI, a lackluster online mode and an extremely linear story and what you end up with is a title that's decent at best.

The ability to alter terrain isn't enough to save Fracture from becoming the latest run-of-the-mill shooter.

A novel concept, but Fracture ultimately fails to deliver. Hopefully the terraforming concepts can be applied to another title, in the meantime this looks like being just a rental.

Fracture has staked its reputation on one main mechanic of making the earth move and for that, it doesn't deliver.

Quotation forthcoming.

Fracture is an aptly titled game, since many of its components don't fit well together. The single-player campaign seems unfinished, boss battles lack ingenuity, an awkward controlling vehicle sequence seems to have been tossed at random, and the automatic augmentation system offers few meaningful enhancements. The game's high production values aren't enough to make you want to revisit the campaign, leaving Fracture's long-term appeal in the hands of the multiplayer community.

What sucks is that Fracture could've been good. LucasArts and Day 1 Studios have this awesome idea of modifying the terrain to advance through the game, but they never capitalize on it...Fracture isn't a train wreck or anything; it's just generic and forgettable.

Fracture believes in itself from beginning to end, manufacturing a world crafted 100% around and for Terrain Deformation. This unswerving dedication builds a consistent universe around itself, at the expense of color and variety in gameplay.

Fracture offers action fans something new, but unfortunately, it suffers from the same problems seen in countless other third-person shooters.

The terrain deformation, a few cool weapons and the multiplayer salvage this from being complete junk. All in all, there must be at least 100 better ways to spend 60 bucks.

It has nothing new to offer an already crowded genre. Practically everything it does has been seen before, and the parts which haven't are too limited and clumsy to save the rest. The story is difficult to care about; the characters are generic and combat is repetitive and flaccid.

Fracture is a feature in search of a videogame. LucasFilm division LucasArts' latest attempt to establish a new intellectual property beyond Star Wars and Indiana Jones takes one compelling innovation -- weapons that can raise or lower the terrain -- and plugs it into a standard "Halo-esque" sci-fi shooter with no other original ideas.

If you're absolutely, positively dying to play some type of action oriented title, and you're not feeling particularly picky about the story aspect or how engaged you'll get with the characters used, then Fracture will probably satisfy that itch for a short while.

LucasArts touted Fracture not just as an exercise in extreme landscaping, but as an new property that would help them break their dependence on Jedi. They just forgot to invest in story, characters, or heart.

Somewhere deep within Fracture, far, far below its offensively derivative crust, lies a worthwhile, original game. It's very much a game with a gimmick -- terraforming terrain on the fly -- and while that gimmick works well (if a bit too predictably), Fracture is thoroughly unexciting.

Given that its bland combat is little enhanced by the ability to create cover, you suspect that the promises made for the technology have simply dug its own grave. [Dec 2008, p.90]

Many of the vast list of things we object to in Fracture equal the low standard set by the likes of "Turok" and "Haze," and that if you managed to survive those games without burning down the shop that sold them to you, this will suffice for a weekend's distraction.

By trying to match up to juggernauts such Gears of War and Halo, Fracture ultimately becomes a prisoner shackled by predictability and poor design.

Fracture feels like a concept forged many years ago, but it just doesn't stack up with any conventional standards. If you enjoy shooters, feel free to rent. Otherwise, it's safe to pass this one up.

It should be noted that the idea of terrain deformation is a good one, and one that deserves to be expanded on, but this time around its implementation is significantly below par in execution. So much so, that I'd be hard-pressed to recommend the game to anyone - even as a rental.

While the game itself is technically proficient, nothing about the gameplay pushes it above and beyond that base level of proficiency. Its biggest problem comes from a clever premise with poor implementation. There's some replay value here in the multiplayer and the collection of data cells, which unlock the weapons from the campaign in a weapons testing area, but even those can get old very quickly. Once you get past the limited use of the terrain deformation you'll find yourself searching for anything new or exciting in Fracture's take on the sci-fi third-person shooter.