Today, LucasArts unveiled the first details on an all new title planned for next-generation consoles. Although the publisher is most famous for its Star Wars line of games, this title will be an all new IP known by the name of Fracture. The game, which will be in the hands of independent developer Day 1 Studios (F.E.A.R., MechAssault 2), is scheduled for release on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Although the company didn't offer any details on what genre the title would be, screenshots and details seem to suggest it will be a first/third person shooter. What we have found out, on the other hand, are details behind the title's huge scale and operatic storyline.
The game will be set in an alternative timeline United States in the year 2161, ruined and decimated by earthquakes and polar-ice cap runoffs that have split the country into two halves. The eastern states have banded with the nations of Europe to form the Atlantic Alliance while the western half has founded the Republic of Pacifica by joining forces with Asia. Players will be cast into the shoes of Mason Briggs, a soldier in the Atlantic Alliance military whose skills in battle are enhanced with the use of numerous cybernetic augmentations. His immediate enemies will be the genetically engineered forces of the Pacifican armies.
One of the key features in this game is known as "Terrain Deformation", which will allow the player to use the environment itself as a weapon to use against oncoming forces. As the game's press release explains:
"When Briggs throws a tectonic grenade on a level battlefield, the ground blasts upward to provide access to an otherwise unreachable area. 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."
Fracture is currently planned for release in the summer of 2008, and both GamePro and LucasArts will continue to offer more information on the title as the year progresses.
Source:
http://www.gametrailers.com/viewnews.php?id=4557^^^Sounds real cool