Warmonger, Operation: Downtown Destruction is the brownest next-gen game ever

11:46 AM on 03.21.2007   |   Niero

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If you liked EA's shooter BLACK, the upcoming PC game Warmonger, Operation: Downtown Destruction BETTERNAME: BROWN might be right up your alley. The new FPS promises large-scale fully-destructable environments facilitated by two solid technologies: Unreal 3 engine and a PC add-on PPU physics adapter from Aegia.  I've never actually seen a game deliver the kind of chaos that true "fully-destructable" would bring (Historically it's usually 20% of walls and trivial objects, to my chagrin) so the pew-pew-pew force might be strong in this one. Here's what IGN said two weeks ago about it before these new images hit.

The game takes place in the near future, 2029 to be exact. Corporations have become military powers, and two of the largest, PolyChem Oil and General Energy, are embroiled in hostilities than began with a dispute over some Iranian oil properties, then escalated into a deadly war on American soil. The play centers on a battle for a city that must be taken a block at a time, with each success triggering a tactical influence in one or more adjoining areas. Map instances will reportedly play differently each time since virtually everything in them will be destructible, thereby forcing players to adapt and to find new ways to attack and defend.

The title's intriguing premise is that creating environments in which everything can be demolished will allow and necessitate dynamic emergent gameplay. The destruction will be done in a procedural manner rather than via pre-made animations. As a result, it will be possible to blow away walls, ceilings and other parts of the terrain to create new routes through which play can flow.

Another option will be to modify the surroundings for defensive purposes; for example, an enemy can't follow you up a stairway if it's no longer there. The project employs the Unreal Engine 3 along with Ageia's PhysX technology, which team members have worked with previously on Auto Assault. A key difference this time is that the latter's dedicated physics card will be required.

Required!  Now we're talking. Even if nobody buys it, I love it when companies do their best to push the latest technologies. Can't wait to give BROWN a shot. There's an interview with the project head if you want to dig deeper.

In other news of games with similar names, where the f*ck is Wardevil?  Nowhere. Digi-Guys recently moved to a new building and promised to announced something later this year, but it's all hush-hush at the moment. So not fair, I want mah' robots.