The demo release of “Fracture” for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 gives gamers a glimpse of a game that has broken new ground in terms of play mechanics. Developed by Day 1 Studios and published by LucasArts, “Fracture” puts players into the middle of a civil war set in the future where the battlefield is solely based on technology.

The main draw to the game seems to be the concept of “Terrain Deformation”. The weapons used in the game can do anything from lifting ground up into giant mounds and creating giant craters to forcing a giant spiky rock to erupt out of the ground below with the toss of a grenade.

The demo’s main focus seems to be introducing players to this type of game play.

Such environmental interaction in a game might remind some of the ability to blow holes in walls in the “Red Faction” series or the ability to blow up anything in the recent release of “Battlefield: Bad Company.”

But this stands out — it’s not just destruction. It’s altering the battlefield around you. What was once level ground can be changed into a giant mound that you can use to jump over walls. One can only wonder just how this will factor into the online multiplayer component of the game, which supports up to 12 players.

The demo of “Fracture” is currently available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace & the Playstation Network. The full game releases on Oct. 7 for both systems.