Mike Bantick
Monday, 20 October 2008 15:56
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
The 17 other weapons in the game range from the mundane Bulldog assault weapon to the unusual LoadStone that fires a ball of incandescence, that in turn attracts enemies and debris alike inwards, and then devastatingly explodes them satisfyingly.
The Fracture weapons arsenal is fantastic, but the limitation on carrying one only means some of the more specialised weapons should be ignored in single player (again “How cool will these be in Multiplayer?”). There use is somewhat contrived during single player, for example, the casually available rocket launcher conveniently located at the precise time an enemy attack ‘copter strafes our position. This happens more than once.
As the game progresses, Briggs must blast away innumerable enemies and solve some physics based puzzles. Using either the Entrencher, or similar terrain deforming grenades, Briggs will be presented with a number of problems that involve showing off either some large set pieces or the excellent Fracture physics engine.
Having said this, sometimes the puzzles are just a little too obscure. I am not a dumb bloke, but there were a few times where I had cleared a room of enemies, and was left running around raising or lowering the ground randomly, shouting at the screen or, after fifteen minutes or so, turning the PS3 off and going to bed.
The next day, I would awake and then realise the unrelated piston hidden in the left corner of the room needed to inexplicably be raised several feet to solve the problem. Open the hidden door and allow progression. Maybe I am dumb?
Checkpointing is also a slight issue, dropping you straight back into the shit-storm that killed you in the first place more often than not. That’s no fun, but after the first few times you get used to it.
Sprint speed is also a little strange; Briggs is obviously weighed down by all his weapons, ammo and augmentations, and lopes about. Hitting the sprint button however seems to only result in the illusion of – via motion blur – increased speed, without actually increasing his speed.
CONTINUED on page 3
