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The Best Current-Gen Gaming Engines

Every game runs on an engine that either makes or breaks the concepts that the developers set out to accomplish during the months leading up to launch. Each of these engines has a different objective, whether it's making the sexiest game out there, or creating one of the most realistic physics systems for all those ragdoll-powered moments of glory. Whether you're trying to create the most amazingly lit landscape seen in gaming yet, or if you're going for unique concepts that can only be delivered on the most versatile of video game engines, you can't go wrong with any of the following gaming engines.

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Showing: 1 - 34 of 34 Comments

CrippleH - 236 days 18 hours ago

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1 -

How can you rate CryEngine 3 when it's not even completed yet.

It hasn't even been put in a game yet.

Crysis Warhead is using CryEngine 2 not 3 so far.

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jack who - 236 days 7 hours ago

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1.1 -

no Engine is ever completed

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BulletToothtony - 236 days 7 hours ago

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1.2 - how can K2 be the best looking game and yet another engine be better?

it's a different thing to show an engine, and then to use it in a game..

K2 has proven that it can handle graphics, detail, physics and AI, cryengine has proven nothing... i know what kind of people write these articles.. and they are not very bright people

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Chubear - 236 days 7 hours ago

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1.3 - No doubt!

Hands down it's the Edge Engine that runs KILLZONE 2. That thing is a beast. Can you imagine an RPG or MMO on that thing?!

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king dong - 236 days 5 hours ago

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1.4 - interesting topic

killzones engine is no1 for me at the mo. with capcoms MTframework engine, and the beast that's gonna be running gran tourismo. although, it's pretty clear that the CRYengine3 engine is going to be something special.

the unreal3 engine needs to die...like right now!

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GWAVE - 236 days 4 hours ago

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1.5 -

Wow. This article is pathetic. Havok is good. I'll give the author that.

But Unreal3 and Source? If he was planning on making me laugh, he succeeded.

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Leathersoup - 236 days 1 hour ago

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1.6 -

I agree. If cry-engine is on the list then idtech 5 should be as well.

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KenAdamsNSA - 236 days 18 hours ago

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2 -

It's referring to CryEngine in general. CryEngine 3 is just the picture I used.

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Slinger420 - 236 days 7 hours ago

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3 - My favorite engines

are Killzone 2 and Modern Warfare/World at War

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IcarusOne - 236 days 7 hours ago

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3.1 -

I was especially surprised MW wasn't included since that engine is one of the most beautiful my screen has ever seen. I can't imagine the PS3 cult will be happy that Killzone has been left off the list. My only thought, in terms of justification, is that the engine is still unproven.

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squidyj - 236 days 7 hours ago

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3.2 -

It's more of a case of limited application of Killzone's engine IMO

BTW CoD4 looks like ass. It's a lot of fun but it does not look good at all.

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Chubear - 236 days 7 hours ago

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3.3 - @3.1 - you've got to be high

All they naysayers like you said the 2005 KZ2 trailer was impossible for even the PS4 to reach and KZ2 surpassed the trailer but you still call the Engine unproven?

You're just a hater that's tired of eating crow cause you all got Killzoned!

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IcarusOne - 236 days 7 hours ago

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3.4 - @ 3.3 yes I am high

But that doesn't change the fact that KZ2 did not meet the target render, let alone surpass it. Not only are you now the one who's high (which I don't hold against you), but you're a blind fanboy to boot.

Every engine on that list has been used by more than just the devs who designed it. That's why I call the KZ engine unproven. Just because Guerrilla can make a pretty game with it, doesn't mean it's an engine with staying power. Let's wait and see what other devs do with it.

Calm down, buddy.

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Marcelles25 - 236 days 2 hours ago

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3.5 - actually

littlebigplanet and infamous both use deferred rendering engines i dont know if it the exact same one but they use the same thing basically

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KionicWarlord222 - 236 days 7 hours ago

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4 -

the unreal and the source engines are really good. i cant wait to see cry engines should be pretty big.

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Reibooi - 236 days 7 hours ago

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5 -

Putting the Unreal Engine on there loses alot of credibility in my opinion. Sure the engine worked great for some games but it has also been the sole reason other games failed(The Last Remnant) and it is common knowledge that the engine has horrible technical problems such as slowdown and collision detection. Which in turn lead to massive amounts of glitches even in games made by Epic themselves.

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SpoonyRedMage - 236 days 7 hours ago

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5.1 -

Totally agree dude, Mass Effect was screwed up by it as well and don't forget that Epic have withheld a more advanced version for them to personally to use.

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thebudgetgamer - 236 days 5 hours ago

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5.2 - i think the unreal engine is hurting progression

if everyone uses the same engine how different can the games be?

:)

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Leathersoup - 236 days 1 hour ago

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5.3 -

Well visually they may look similar and they may suffer from similar technical glitches but the content is what makes the game and that can be changed.

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Tomonobu Itagaki - 236 days 7 hours ago

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6 -

"Current-Gen engines" > "Source"
Fail.
First because it's an old-gen engine, but also because the only thing that engine shows is that we can make ugly games full of aliasing even with an engine that has been over-exploited since 5 years.
Left4Dead or Team Fortress 2 are maybe good games, but it's not thanks to their engine but more on their concept.

And how about the deferred rendering engine?

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marcindpol - 236 days 7 hours ago

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7 - !

stupid article!

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BlackPrince 42 - 236 days 7 hours ago

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8 - Fail

Well not completely. The CryEngines and UE3 deserve to be there. But omitting the KZ2 engine, the COD engine, the MGS4 engine, the Dunia, and the Uncharted engine from this list, and still including the Source, is just plain ignorant.

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dirthurts - 236 days 7 hours ago

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9 - Euphoria

Euphoria engine is sooo overlooked. In a game I would rather see things move and react in a realistic way than having outrageous graphics that do nothing for the game.
Sure, Killzone is nice looking and all, but other than that, the game has no real meat to it.
Physics make a game interesting to play,not just to look at.
The Cryengine is also pretty impressive. If you have it running on a good rig, it can do some amazing things with Physics and graphics. Probably the most impressive engine, but also the hardest to run.

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GiantEnemyFlop - 236 days 7 hours ago

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10 -

where the hell is noughty dog engin

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pixelsword - 236 days 1 hour ago

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10.1 - Oh, snap, you're not the real El, are you?

lol nooo! If so; dude, your show is funny as all get out.

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TABSF - 236 days 6 hours ago

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11 -

lol

cryengine 2 at medium to high nevermind very high, mods or warhead owns Killzone 2 static light shafts lol
source engine owns cant believe how crazy some people are just look at left 4 dead and HL2 E2 but then again if your playing on console why do you expect anything more than sh!t.
UE3 just fails. only good game is bioshock
havok has nothing on cryengine 2, has anybody see the in game 5,000 barrels and hurricanes & Euphoria has the best human physics but nothing on environment imo to cryengine

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poeo - 236 days 6 hours ago

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12 -

i have a thing for Ubisoft's engines... the Scimitar engine used for Assassin's Creed was amazing. also the Dunia engine powering Far Cry 2... really impressive.

Ubisoft teams need to work on AI though, lol.

edit: KZ2's engine is the winner still, i think.

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astronautbread - 236 days 5 hours ago

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13 -

and still not a single mention of gamebryo?
oblivion, fallout... really?

to get such huge worlds to look that good, it's impressive tech.

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poeo - 236 days 5 hours ago

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13.1 -

i agree.

people just tend to nitpick.. Fallout 3 and Oblivion have some framerate issues here and there, glitchyness etc. so therefore Gamebryo is disqualified. unfairly.. because i dont know any other engine that creates such immersive, huge, detailed gameworlds.

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TABSF - 236 days 5 hours ago

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13.2 -

cryengine mmo and rgp or CE2 rgp.
fallout and oblivion on PC problem free for me

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GameScrubs - 236 days 5 hours ago

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14 - Meh

Not sure why people are adding engines that are not sold to third parties. What is the point on bringing the Killzone or Uncharted engines into the mix if they where originally made for one purpose and that is to serve THEIR needs.

Some people pointed out some interesting points about the current engines. But I don't understand the hate on the Unreal Engine. Tons of games use it because it's proven to be good.

If you remove your personal bias against EPIC, and look into the UE for what it has done and how it has helped developers you might get a better view.

BTW if a game fails in a certain engine doesn't mean the engine sucks. It is still up to the developers and designers to take full advantage of the system.

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Argento-Nox - 236 days 5 hours ago

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15 -

The cryengine is great for PC games, but I'll reserve judgment on it being a great engine for console games when it finally puts something out. Until then, the best engine is the KZ engine, that is, until GOW, Heavy Rain and Uncharted 2 arrive to challenge it for graphical supremacy.

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Digital Commando - 236 days 2 hours ago

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16 - I want to see id tech 5!

That engine looks promising to me, but it's not out yet

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pixelsword - 236 days ago

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17 - I only agree with one of the engines being up there myself

And that's the CRY engine;

- UT 3's engine isn't the best by far, seeing that every game that spawns from that engine is buggy. A lawsuit from Silicon Knights spawned from using that engine and buggy games like The Last Remnant are still being pumped-out from that engine. Pretty? Yes. BEST? No.
*REPLACEMENT ENGINE: Edge engine.
*GAME: Killzone 2

- Although the writer did mention the physics engine having "a different objective", physics engines aren't game engines. I can't take Havok and make a game entirely within Havok, so therefore Havok and NaturalMotion are not "true" game engines by definition and therefore off.
*REPLACEMENT ENGINE: Any engine from which games can be created in.
Game: Any game that derives from an actual game engine.

- The Source Engine *was* great, but *now* it's outdated, and outclassed by many engines out there. For the "Source is one of the few engines that is (as far as I know) the only used by the developer that created it" comment, off of the top of my head I can name a few that makes their own engines solely for themselves:

-Ninteno
-Factor 5
-Naughty Dog
-Sucker Punch
-Bungie
-Evolution
-Ninja Theory
-Konami (specifically, Kojima's crew)
-Tecmo (specifically, Itagaki's Ninja Gaiden engine)
-Square Enix's White Engine
-Sega
-Sony

There are obviously others, but this is just off of the top of my head. :)

*REPLACEMENT ENGINE: Many, but specifically The Naughty Dog Game Engine 2.0
GAME: Uncharted

I did enjoy the writing in the article, though.

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