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How Metascores Are Calculated
76
Age of Booty
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games. |
Amidst a backdrop of worldwide ecological and seismological chaos in the mid-2100s, the United States has been split in two by the "Great Flood". As a result of the polar ice cap melting, the Mississippi River has destroyed the central portion of the United States, causing an ill-equipped Federal Government to fail and literally cutting the country in half. These two halves are left to fend for themselves in the aftermath. The East, now known as the Atlantic Alliance, symbolic of their union with Europe, puts its faith in surviving this new world in cybernetics, an established yet evolving technology now more than 150 years old. On the other side of the flooded continent, the Western states, now called the Republic of Pacifica and having allied with Asia, resort to solving their problems at the genetic level, effectively restructuring the DNA of its inhabitants -- a method the Atlantic Alliance finds morally reprehensible. By 2161, it only takes a hint of unauthorized military preparation in Pacifica for the newly restored president to order a strike in the heart of Pacifican territory -- an outpost in the now dry San Francisco Bay. This strike leads to the unthinkable: an epic conflict with global implications fought on U.S. soil. As a soldier in this struggle, Mason Briggs uses explosive, terrain-deforming weaponry to change the face of battle: He not only destroys the land in his path, he outright transforms it to gain the strategic advantage in completely unscripted ways no game has ever seen. With such a devastating arsenal at hand, Briggs never leaves any battlefield the way he found it. In addition to weaponry that allows players to do things previously only imagined, each side of the conflict, Pacifica and the Atlantic Alliance, boast soldiers with powers beyond those of ordinary men. Genetic augmentations provide Pacifican forces with amazing abilities, while Atlantic Alliance soldiers like Briggs counter the threat with the more "traditional" method: cybernetics. The differing states of superhumanity result in balanced yet stylistically different combat tactics that have never been seen before. [LucasArts]
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more... 80
Jolt Online Gaming UK
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.
 79
DailyGame
Fracture is a fun but repetitive game that does well with its new ground manipulation technology.
75
GameZone
Fracture is a solid effort that offers a new mechanic to the shooter formula and allows for some exciting new ways to play. Unfortunately, for what it does right in Terrain Deformation, its issues fall with the basics of the genre due to spotty AI and frustrating aiming issues.
75
Game Informer
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.
75
Worth Playing
LucasArts and Day 1 do deserve kudos for taking such a risky endeavor by integrating the terrain deforming mechanic. I can't recall seeing anything like Fracture in a game before, and I have to admit that I had quite a good time launching enemies into the air by putting a mountain right under their feet. When it comes to the game as a whole, though, terrain is but a fraction of the entire experience, and here Fracture falls flat, with few other outstanding qualities to make it stand out from the rest.
74
Gamer 2.0
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.
72
Play UK
Fracture supplies the recommended dose of excitement, and not a drop more. While its puzzles come close to rescuing matters, that feeling of half-hearted exploration and only just adequate gunplay never quite wears off.
70
Game Over Online
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.
70
Gameplayer
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.
70
GameDaily
Unfortunately, the enemies lack anything resembling intelligence, something that is poorly remedied up by the common solution to such an issue -- adding more enemies.
70
GameSpy
Despite Fracture's promises of altering the gaming landscape as we know it, its aftershocks will likely be nearly imperceptible.
70
PSW Magazine UK
Not the greatest shooter with some annoying puzzles, but Fracture serves as a hugely entertaining game for those looking for something a little bit different.
69
PSX Extreme
Not only were some of the enemies too difficult to bring down with the basic machine gun, but there were also far too many of them. Dozens of enemies can easily thwart your efforts and make you feel decidedly overmatched, although on the other hand, the influx of constant enemies did coerce you into using the Entrencher and some of your other nifty goodies.
67
PSM3 Magazine UK
The game's clearly aimed at the same audience as Xbox's macho shooter "Gears of War" but Fracture lacks the tactical depth needed to keep you interested. [Dec 2008, p.86]
67
GameShark
Despite its uneven difficulty, Fracture excels in innovating with its dynamic terrain deforming combat.
67
Game Revolution
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.
66
Cheat Code Central
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.
65
ZTGameDomain
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.
65
PTGamers
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.
63
MEGamers
Not the game you are looking for. LucasArts promised so much, yet delivered so little.
62
3DJuegos
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.
60
VideoGamer
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.
60
Playstation Official Magazine UK
A jarring experience that tries (and fails) to marry a wildly ambitious gameplay dynamic with some of the most disappointingly generic art design we've ever seen. [Nov 2008, p.106]
60
GameSpot
The ability to alter terrain isn't enough to save Fracture from becoming the latest run-of-the-mill shooter.
60
G4 TV
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.
60
Gameplanet
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.
60
NZGamer
Overall Fracture takes parts of Xbox 360’s Halo 3 and Gears of War, PlayStation 3’s Resistance: Fall of Man, GameCube’s Metroid Prime and several other recent sci-fi shooters. Unfortunately, once you’re over the novelty of ground manipulation, it’s not nearly as fun as any of the above.
60
LEVEL (Czech Republic)
An interesting idea is sometimes good enough to make a great game. And sometimes not. Demolition and terraforming cannot hide the overall emptiness of this average shooter. [Nov 2008]
60
Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)
The puzzles become a little more complicated as Fracture goes on, but that pretty much sums up the highlight of this otherwise generic third-person shooter. [Holiday 2008, p.74]
59
IGN
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.
58
Gaming Nexus
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.
50
Gaming Age
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.
42
The Onion (A.V. Club)
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.
42
1UP
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.
40
DarkZero
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.
40
Edge Magazine
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]
40
Giant Bomb
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.
40
TotalPlayStation
Fracture is disappointing, because it is immediately apparent that a lot of good ideas went into it. Unfortunately, the experience of playing it is generally not fun.
Mark J. gave it an8: Jack H gave it a2: Jack C. gave it a9: Aaron C. gave it a3: |
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