Fracture - Reviewed

Considering how long Day 1 Studios have been around they really haven’t developed that many titles when compared to other companies. In case you forgot, Day 1 Studios were makers of one of the first truly successful Xbox Live titles – MechAssault. The studio also handled MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf and transferring the PC hit F.E.A.R. to the Xbox 360. So it is kind of surprising that in the company’s 7 years of existence Fracture is only their fourth game. It being their first true next-gen game, Day 1 Studios set out to make Fracture one ambitious game.

Anyone who has experience with programming can tell you how difficult it is to get the terrain just right, let alone when you let the user manipulate it. And this is exactly what Fracture lets the player do. It certainly is revolutionary, but just how well can Day 1 Studios pull it off? Does Fracture suffer from the same mistakes that Advent Rising suffered from due to Majestic’s lack of experience, or does Fracture overcome many of the same rookie mistakes?

It’s obvious within moments of starting up the game that all of the production values are there, but sometimes the execution of these elements is not. The character models, environments, and weapons all look and sound amazing, but they rarely ever feel like they are just right. All of the CG cut scenes look sharp, but the animations in them can be anything but fluid. Also, the characters look eerily similar to the characters from Gears of War.

The sound, while good, can be a little too intense for its own good. It is next to impossible to hear your commander talking to you when there is any type of combat going on, and there is absolutely no sound to indicate your shield has come back. It may not sound like a big deal, but it quickly becomes an issue as soon as the bullets start flying.