Fracture Interview
May 12,2007 - LucasArts recently announced Fracture, an original IP being developed by well-known design house, Day 1 Studios. Acting as a testament to the publisher’s commitment to create new franchises, Fracture comes as a breath of fresh air for their portfolio which is filled to the brim with Star Wars games. We were fortunate enough to speak with the producer of the title, David Perkinson, who answered a few of our questions about the game and their future plans for the franchise.

Amped News: Please introduce yourself and your involvement with the game.

David Perkinson: My name is David Perkinson, and I am the producer at LucasArts for the game Fracture.

Amped News: What’s the story behind Fracture? Who is the main character?

DP: The game is set in the year 2161. It is an epic war that is fought along the lines of genetics versus cybernetics. The game has a really detailed back story that gets the player up to speed on how we got to where we are. We think the story of the game, which makes it really appealing about it, is that it’s topical to current day issues and it’s plausible. It’s what we think is a plausible future for the game. Basically the United States has been split in two by a series of ecological disasters, and the federal government is unable to react appropriately to the size of the disaster. Think Katrina, times a thousand. So, we created these two separate halves that have to use different technologies to spur recovery from these disasters. The East falls back on cybernetic research and the West, partnered with Asia, pursues the science of genetic manipulation. The recovery and the rebirth of these two halves is based along the lines of these two competing technologies. The East has also allied itself with Europe. So, you’ve got, not only a break in the United States, but a clearly allied division on a worldwide scale as well. So, we think one of the really interesting things about it is that it’s not just a battle that’s set in the United States that has implications in the United States. It’s a battle that has implications on a worldwide scale. The character that you’ll be playing is a demolitions expert in the Atlantic Alliance army, his name is Mason Briggs, and you’ll be playing as him in the game.

Amped News: What happened to Middle America and the Midwest? Is it all underwater now?

DP: The polar icecaps just melted, which is a major change in the United States, but there have been some earthquakes along the west coast that caused a new mountain chain to develop outside of San Francisco, west of the Golden Gate Bridge. So, the San Francisco Bay has actually been dried out, and that’s the setting for the first mission in the game. But in terms of the polar icecaps melting and the impact on the center part of the United States, is that it’s basically been leveled.

Amped News: What made you guys decide to make the main character a part of the Atlantic Alliance as opposed to the Republic of Pacifica which is all genetics?

DP: We felt like it was a natural place for him to start. The Pacificans make for an extremely interesting enemy to fight against, and we’ll be revealing more about his story as we go along. So, I don’t want to give too much away, but there’s some history with Mason that we’re not ready to reveal at this point.

Amped News: How long has it been in production?

DP: The game has been in development since November 2005.

Amped News: What kind of locales can we expect to see? It’s based in the United States, so are we going to be in the Rocky Mountains?

DP: We are going to have several locations for the player to fight in. We want the player to be fighting in places that are familiar and iconic. But at this point we can’t reveal more than that.

Amped News: Is the game going to focus on the multiplayer aspect like most shooters, or can you promise a solid single player experience?

DP: I think we want to have a great single player campaign. Story and character are very important to LucasArts and the best way to get the player into the story is through the single player campaign. We have a very interesting story and one that we hope can grab and suck them into the experience. That said, one of the great things about Day 1 Studios, our development partner, is that they have a great history of multiplayer, and multiplayer is something they do extremely well. But we will have what we think is a very compelling single player campaign along with a very robust and polished multiplayer experience as well.

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