There are so many games coming out this fall that I’m continuously amazed by what’s coming out– there’s just so much that it’s impossible to keep up.  As such, today’s Penny Arcade comic made zero sense to me at first glance.  I knew they were obviously mocking a game, but how many games have guys in giant space marine suits these days?  Lots.

While I may not get around to buying as many games as I’d like, I do play demos as if they were my primary form of entertainment.  And why not?  In a world where the trailer is so often better than the movie, why not enjoy a slice of a game that is developed with the sole purpose of making you feel okay about losing fifty bucks?  I mean, I enjoyed the Too Human demo for the first five minutes of whizzing around the battlefield to wherever my thumb pleased, although I would never waste the time or money to play the wretched beast.

Anyways, it seems today’s PA was covering a LucasArts game called “Fracture“. The demo is split into two basic parts– mind-numbing “here are the weapons, you child” and “welcome to combat, sucker”, with no real sliding scale in between the easy and the sudden influx of bullets. As far as third-person space marine combat goes, it’s far clunkier than the alternatives. I have zero interest in the cardboard story, the cut scenes were laughably bad, but I did play the thing through because the toys are amusing.  Your main weapon is a dirt mover– make hills or craters.  The fact that technology is coming to this point hopefully means we can someday have video games in which we can truly do whatever the hell we want, and there is much promise in the primary pull to this game.  “Oh look, I made a hill!  Hahah, I made you fall in a pit!”  This is enough to sustain twenty minutes of a game– but not ten hours.  I would be curious to get a feel for the multiplayer, though.  I could see people doing horrible (wonderful) things to each other.  Too bad the third-person firing of your other guns seems so hard to control.

While the game will probably be far from worth your coin, if you have a 360 it doesn’t hurt to download.  And, in a trend becoming increasingly prevelant, I found myself enjoying the music only to be told, “Why yes, that’s Michael Giacchino“.

What say you about the demo?