400°

Whatever Happened to Destructible Environments?

There was a time, not too long ago, when destructibility was a major selling point in games.

Read Full Story >>
goombastomp.com
isarai422d ago

CPU limitations, from the ps3/360 era to the ps4/xb1 there really wasn't an improvement to the CPUs. This gen we got a massive upgrade, but it won't be till games completely abandon last gen that we can begin to see stuff like physics and destruction becomes a focus again.

IamTylerDurden1421d ago (Edited 421d ago )

I blame the companies that pushed native 4K and specs for stagnating innovation. Even with RTX the focus is all about visuals rather than how u interact with the world. Yes, the limited CPU evolution/GPU played into it but that was driven by the resolution/fidelity push which started with 1080. Then the native 4K movement circa Scorpio was particularly bad. It helped solidify a precedent and the ironic thing is that resolution alone still doesn't create beauty. The best looking games were not native 1080 or 4K resolution this gen or last. Ryse, The Order, GoW or Spiderman 2018, TLOU2, Demon's Souls, R&C, Horizon, etc.

Binarycode420d ago

I agree with both parts of the argument tbh.

But the Cell processor actually a very good processor for it's time and for the right dev could be made to sing.

But the 360/PS3 era was lacking because of GPU power.

Whereas the PS4 was lacking CPU power vs GPU. That's why many games now that still run on the PS4 still look decent. Although some games have dropped rez.

I always remember speaking to the DRIVECLUB DEV. and he told me that the game could not run at 60fps not all the time because of the PS4 CPU, he said the GPU was easily running the game at 1080p and they had headroom. the game unlocked was 40-60fps. But they decided to lock to 30fps.

Now with PS5 it has plenty of grunt in both cpu/gpu/ram/ssd etc. But other things come into play. RAYRACING BEING ONE. Which hurts CPU.

Finals Destruction looks fantastic and is server side. Coming to PC/PS5/SX
https://www.digitaltrends.c...

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

I do also agree 4k is great but can be a waste, As upscaling gets better and better lower rez will be used more often. as long as the final image looks like 4k and clear and smooth 60fps gameplay. it's all good.

I really wish that Battlefield 2042 had been smaller maps then they have now and just slightly bigger then BF4 but with more destruction and levolution 2.0. I loved maps turning to waterworlds etc. added something different to the game.

fr0sty420d ago

Remember when magic clouds were supposed to solve this problem for us? lol

isarai420d ago

Oh for sure, they definitely reached a point where something had to give, and devs chose to sacrifice physics and interaction for surface level visuals for those E3 showcases. Definitely a bummer but I feel like we could be seeing a bit of a resurgence in the near future, hopefully at least. The capability is there, they just have to use it.

blacktiger420d ago

To me I thought everything was going to be different by looking at killzone, but after killzone all games started looking like mario 64 with better graphic. Destructible on Bad Company 2 was amazing but not enough :(

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 420d ago
Evan_Beezy420d ago

But will true physics be a function of finally breaking the frontier of multicore processing in games

Bobertt420d ago

I disagree we had Battlefield with great destructible environments on ps3/360 and we don't even get at least that level of destructibility in more recent games. If it was the CPU we should of still have a minimum amount in games but the fact we have basically none show it's the developers who don't want to take the time to design the physics for it. Most developers don't even talk about the CPU being a bottleneck these days. They usually say it's the amount of RAM, decompression speed (XBOX/PC), or the GPU.

SonyStyled420d ago

Bad Company had the destructible environments that altered gameplay and made it fun. Battlefield 3 and 4 went more cod and maintained some destructibility, but it wasn’t the same.

Making a hole in a building wall for a quick exit/entry was a much easier thing to do in bad company, somehow… Can’t really explain it

P_Bomb421d ago

Anyone else remember Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction?

isarai421d ago

Would love for a new mercenaries. I feel like Avalanche would be perfect for the job honestly

P_Bomb421d ago

Nice! I only beat the first one, never got around to World in Flames. But yeah, I could see Avalanche in action too.

neutralgamer1992421d ago

Our best hope is a remake which does well so EA can maybe one day make a new one. I feel like remakes will be now used as a way to gauge interest

EazyC421d ago

One of my favourite games ever made. One of the very few open world games that were completely unshackled from the "GTA-vclone" label because it was so unique. It had an amazing overall vibe.

Would love to see a new one. RIP Pandemic Studios :(

generic-user-name420d ago

Loved the first, the sequel had troubled development and ended up disappointing though.

mkis007420d ago

It was amazing for its time. Red faction guerilla + mercenaries is the game i want to play.

TheColbertinator420d ago

Mercenaries was my bread and butter for years and this was true for both games

DafunkyRebel420d ago

Closes we'll ever get to another Mercenary game is Just Cause franchise

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 420d ago
GoodGuy09421d ago

God I miss bad company and BF3+4

frostypants420d ago

BFBC2 was the pinnacle of destructibility.

Yui_Suzumiya420d ago

I had a blast leveling houses in Bad Company. Also it was alot of fun to destroy and rebuild stuff in Red Faction: Armageddon. It was downright therapeutic.

IamTylerDurden1421d ago

Physics, ai, animation, combat, destruction have seen surprisingly little improvement since PS3 era bc the focus has been fidelity. Even game design has been stagnant. We largely play glossier versions of the same thing going on 10-20 years.

Evan_Beezy420d ago (Edited 420d ago )

I hope they got enough multicore potential from these current gen CPUs because they didn’t even unify the 8 cores into one CCD would be cool to see them get that feature from ZEN 3 or even maybe a little x3d cache if they actually create pro models eventually of this generation. Call it Zen 2.5 X3D chips lol mobile/APU’s

ChasterMies420d ago

Clearly gameplay has stagnated. Halo 3 has more realistic a.i. than any contemporary game. But I wouldn’t say that gameplay and ai have suffered because of a focus on fidelity. The graphics team is separate from the gameplay team. Maybe the problem is corporate consolidation of game studios. As long as games are making a profit, no reason to innovate. If you want to see a parallel, look at the auto industry.

IamTylerDurden1417d ago

But they allocate far more to the visual side. They create prettier versions of what already exists. If CPU is no longer a bottleneck then why aren't we seeing more from physics etc? Framerate and res are the focus. Unreal over proprietary. Nobody experiments anymore and when they do it's for fidelity.

sadraiden420d ago

Go back to the Xbox/PS2/Gamecube, tell me, aside from the inclusion of online multiplayer, what, gameplay-wise, has changed since that era? How the player character accepts a quest? This is a controversial question to most people who aren't paying attention.

When you say 10-20, I definitely feel it's closer to 20. Red Faction had destructible environments in the early 00s.

IamTylerDurden1417d ago

Agreed. Since PS2 era game design has been stagnant. Quest design, combat, AI.

Show all comments (64)
90°

15 Great Games Where Every Minute of the Experience Feels Earned

GB: "We take a look at 15 amazing games that had the perfect length."

Read Full Story >>
gamingbolt.com
6d ago
coolbeans5d ago

Pretty good list. Botany Manor would be the newest addition that encapsulates that title.

400°

Anyone else not blown away with graphics these days? Me neither

Talal writes: "I'm talking about having that rush of excitement - that feeling you get when you know you've just made a memory for a lifetime."

Read Full Story >>
videogamer.com
OptimusDK9d ago

There are different games. Some have gamplay at it highest priority, some have the story, some have the replay value and choices... There are a lot of different game experiences.

It is laughable that just now graphics does not have anything to do with that experiene. We have had many games of that type over time. This is just the one that have come closest to feel like playing an actual movie. Just look the the Digital foundry walkthrough it is a masterpiece in that perspective and hence wrth trying. But yes do not do it for the gameplay - but that was never the goal of this experience.

GamerRN8d ago

It's because it's on Xbox. When Xbox has amazing graphics, they don't matter. When PlayStation does, it's a game changer!

Lightning778d ago

Pretty much my thoughts. They were technical marvel's on PS and still are. The moment Xbox puts out a graphically intense game is doesn't matter suddenly.

4 years ago this month would the UE5 tech demo debut with the girl flying (tech demo said it was only possible on PS5 because of the SSD. Glad to finally see it in its glory.

fr0sty8d ago

FFS, gaming journalism has really gone downhill. At least hire people with a basic grasp of grammar... "Me neither" means the exact opposite of what the "author" is trying to say. That's like saying "I could care less"... lol.

S2Killinit8d ago

Maybe because the gameplay being dull allowed it to have the amazing graphics and people are not as impressed by graphics alone anymore? I mean there is a lot of sites saying the story and the gameplay are lackluster. So what are we supposed to enjoy then? Cgi graphics are beautiful but since they arent interactive, they dont impress me as much as they used to. Thats an extreme example, but you get my drift.

Terry_B8d ago

When Playstation (Sony) does it..its usually a great game and not a cinematic experience..or at least something new at the time..like Until Dawn back in 2015.

1Victor8d ago

@gamer:” It's because it's on Xbox. When Xbox has amazing graphics, they don't matter. When PlayStation does, it's a game changer!”

The game looks as good as any other PlayStation game in my eyes why can’t you and the other hardcore Xbox be happy about it and drag PlayStation into every conversation and force PlayStation hardcore to look into the game and find flaw that most games have in one way or another.
@light: “ 4 years ago this month would the UE5 tech demo debut with the girl flying (tech demo said it was only possible on PS5 because of the SSD. ”
Yes at that time it was only possible on PlayStation SSD how ignorant of you to think that after 4 years the technology wouldn’t evolved and move to a industry standard 🤦🏿I wish your mentality wasn’t so naive and narrow to post stuff like that 😩 in a year or 2 a new game will come out that might look better, it’s the nature of the industry.

Now that the distraction is gone I feel that is a good thing that the graphics in games are starting to hit the rooftop and hopefully the developers will put more thoughts into story and gameplay mechanics than just the next shiny oily skin of old.

Reaper22_8d ago

So true. Not surprised by all the negativity. It's a really good game and looks better than any game I've ever seen. GOTY nominee for sure. Like I said before, sony screwed up big time by not purchasing Ninja Theory.

Asplundh8d ago

Pretty much. It's like how the Switch and Steam controller using haptic feedback in their controllers wasn't a big deal but then Sony did it and it was then a "game changer".

fr0sty8d ago

The game runs at as low as 21fps... That isn't much to brag about no matter how good it looks.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 8d ago
MajorLazer8d ago (Edited 8d ago )

We've had graphical gamechangers before, such as Crysis but those games still had gameplay to compliment it. Hellblade pretty much has none, and only achieved such graphics through being incredibly linear and having very small, closed off environments where very little is happening.

Vx_8d ago (Edited 8d ago )

GFX does not mean anything if the game is boring. It is simple like that and these major companies need to understand this simple concept.

Games are like your lady, she may be beautiful to look at for a while but then it gets boring if her character isn't interesting and fun to be with.

9d ago Replies(7)
Kneetos8d ago

Mario kart 8 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Sonic18818d ago

Horizon forbidden West has great graphics and great gameplay

GamerRN8d ago

Yeah but graphics don't matter, remember?

anast8d ago

@RN

I've been pretty consistent in saying that we need both.

GamerRN6d ago

So until dawn, too human, or whatever those series of games were... Graphic masterpieces it garbage with no gameplay?

VincentVanBro8d ago

I agree and I actually think Forbidden West looks better than Hellblade 2. I easily prefer looking at it at least.

Sonic18818d ago

It does look better in my opinion as well. I don't know why it looks better but there's something about the Decima engine or that guerrilla games is using tricks that we don't know of

Abear217d ago

Can you fly a mount under water in Hellblade 2? I think not! One of the best moments this Gen

Show all comments (111)
90°

Two Decades Later, the Original Splinter Cell is Still a Masterpiece

They don't make games like this anymore.

Read Full Story >>
gamingbolt.com
vgvill17d ago

Too dated in my book. The AI is way too unpredictable to be acceptable today. It's definitely a game of its time.

Jingsing17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

Agreed with those sentiments. The quality of the CPU controlled characters make or break a stealth game and they are pretty poor in all the Splinter Cell games by today's standard. This is what led me to playing Spies vs Mercs all the time in later games just to get a better stealth experience from a real person. Arguably Sony are making better stealth games albeit not Tom Clancy stuff.

TheProfessional17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

You should stick with fortnite or one of the countless bloodborne style games then. What a joke.

rlow117d ago

I had a good time with the game. It is a product of its time. But when it came out it was a must have game for a lot of people. I wish Ubisoft would make another game in the series or at least a reboot.

vgvill17d ago

They are making a remake, I think. I loved the original game when it was released, but I tried to play it again in recent years and just couldn't get on with it. The same with the older Hitman games.

PrecursorOrb17d ago

Yeah chaos theory still holds up though I gotta say. If you’re a fan of the series I highly suggest you go back to that one. Ubi has said they are remaking sc for “modern audiences”. I don’t have a lot of faith for the future of that company

Chocoburger16d ago (Edited 16d ago )

Due to the lack of modern stealth games, and me constantly playing the MGS series, I've been looking for alternative stealth games to play, and went back and re-played the SC series recently. I wouldn't call SC1 or SC:PT masterpieces, there are AI issues, they're very much trial-and-error games, and that can lead to a lot of frustration. I also found the stories in this series to be boring, uninteresting, and just sloppily told. Cinematics are also of poor quality for both in-game scenes and CG cut-scenes, the soundtrack didn't leave any impression on me either.

Chaos Theory is better, but there was still a lot of room for improvement, and Double Agent (old gen ver.) was a sloppy mess that ended up a regression from CT. But still, at least they tried back then, these days Ubi-junk doesn't even try to make good games!

HvNzSoul8d ago

Everyone needs to quit with all of the unnessacery Ubi-hate. SC Conviction and Blacklist are both still good games.

HvNzSoul8d ago

Everyone needs to quit with all of the unnecessary Ubi-hate. SC Conviction and Blacklist are both still good games, they just weren't 100% focused on stealth with Conviction and they remedied that in Blacklist. The only thing they have released recently that I was disappointed with was Watch Dogs Legion, and Skull & Bones. Everyone seems to be salty about the misleading trailer for the original Watch Dogs and The Division. Which are also, both good games, and actually Watch Dogs seems like it was ahead of its time even with all the trailer drama (having gone back and played recently, can say the game didnt deserve all the flak). Yeah the misleading E3 trailer that had better graphics than release is understandable to a very small degree, when most Teaser Trailers, or Game Demo's only have that portion of the game developed so they use the highest quality assets of w/e they have being showed, or what they are showing was made purely for the showing, allowing for extra polish . As to the gripes about minor game design changes, or cut features upon a games release just goes to show how unknowledgeable most gamers are in terms of how game development works or to even understand what what the hell a WIP, let alone titles still in early development.

Good games from Ubi since 2014 (Year that SC Blacklist Released) include:

Watch Dogs 1 & 2
The Division 1 & 2 (Although I had a hard time getting into The Division 2 at first)
R6 Siege
Ghost Recon Wildlands & Breakpoint
Immortals Fenyx Rising
AC Origins, Odyssey, MIrage (Haven't finished Valhalla games too damn long)
Far Cry Primal, and 5 (6 also has a length issue)
Avatar Frontiers of Pandora
Prince Of Persia The Lost Crown

Haven't played a couple of titles those being For Honor (played at launch but didn't honestly give it an actual go), The Crew, R6 Extraction and at the time of writing this xDefiant.

Even if you absolutely hated any of the above titles, they aren't inherently bad games, they're just good, but not always top quality either.

I say give Ubi credit where credit is due, they at least fix games post launch if they start out rough, Breakpoint is an excellent example this and is such an enjoyable experience now compared to it's launch.