Certainly all video games have gotten way better in terms of physics, and the immersion and realism of pretty much all of them is up to a level many of us would’ve never imagined a decade ago, but some are crazy.
Hi folks, it’s Falcon, and today on “Gameranx”, 10 games with mind-blowing physics effects.
Starting off with number 10, “Hardspace: Shipbreaker”.
So the premise here, super simple.
You got ships, you gotta break ’em down piece by piece.
You’re a space salvager, which is just like being a normal salvager but there’s like a bigger chance of getting killed by flying debris.
But, hey, no pain no gain, right? Every ship you encounter in this game can be broken down completely.
You can cut through walls, you can trigger explosives and generally cause all kinds of havoc, if you want, but that’ll usually end up getting you killed.
This is a game where you wanna avoid out control destruction as much as possible, at least if you wanna win.
So, ideally, you want to avoid seeing the really impressive display of physics simulations.
This is a game where the main danger actually comes from the physics, one wrong move and you’ll get blasted out into space or get beamed by a piece of flying debris.
Even when things aren’t outta control, the physics simulation is still one of the most impressive out there, just for how complete and complex it is.
This game is mostly about subtle displays of physics technology, but when things get outta control that’s really when the simulation shows you what it can do.
At number nine is “SnowRunner”.
Now, in terms of explosive physics, “SnowRunner’s” probably the most subtle game on this list.
You’re not gonna be seeing cars explode in gnarly ways or vehicles smashing through buildings, or anything over the top like that.
Instead of crazy physics madness, “SnowRunners” is a game all about dealing with some of the most realistic terrain physics of all time.
Almost all you do in “SnowRunners” is drive a car from point A to point B, which sounds like boring as hell in every other game, but the gimmick here is that you have to navigate incredibly difficult terrain with an assortment of vehicles, all of which have real weight to them.
In most games, driving through snow and mud is no sweat, but here it’s the obstacle.
And, ooh, it can be a nightmare, snow, mud, it’s all slippery and it deforms around your tires, and it can get your vehicle sliding off cliff or stuck in the snow at a moment’s notice.
Every vehicle handles differently too, so what works with one vehicle may fail spectacularly with another.
It’s an overall slow-paced and methodical game, and maybe not something you would immediately think of when it comes to physics, but few games have terrain effects or car physics even close to as realistic as this.
There are plenty of flashy physics games out there, but this is probably one of the most low-key impressive on the list, just because if you’ve ever gotten a car stuck in the snow, you know how different it is from a video game, and this video game completely subverts that.
At number eight is “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”.
Really, it can’t be overstated how impressive the physics model is in “Breath of the Wild”.
It’s a little bit more limited than other stuff on this list, like you’re not seeing entire structures exploding or hyper realistic deformation.
What makes the physics so impressive isn’t really the scale but more the consistency.
Whether you’re grabbing something using a magnet or blasting it with a bomb, everything moves in a way that just feels 100% correct.
All the various physics interactions on their own are real impressive, but what makes “Breath of the Wild” mind blowing is the way it manages to be consistent even when players are doing things that would be impossible in most other games.
Like, how many games let you pull off tricks like using a mine cart to fly? Keep in mind, I didn’t say realistic, I said mind blowing.
There’s so many crazy tricks, players have figured out how to pull off in “Breath of the Wild”, and the thing makes it all possible with this really awesome consistent physics system, even when you’re doing stuff that’s clearly unintended by the developers.
At number seven is “Besiege”.
This physics based puzzle game basically “Angry Birds” crossed with “Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts”.
And if you’ve never played it, like, you would be surprised how accurate that description actually is.
Every level is a puzzle where you have to build some kind of contraption to deal with whatever’s in your way.
Sometimes a basic castle wall, other times it requires something completely off-kilter to solve whatever objective you’ve got set before you.
The physics of your makeshift vehicle, just as impressive as the destruction, and building more and more ridiculously impractical tools is half the fun.
Seriously, get on and just look up “Besiege” and name a weapon.
Somebody’s tried to make it, and whether it worked out or not, it’s awesome to watch.
At number six is “Red Faction: Guerrilla”.
Of course, the skin’s on this list, why would we not include this one? It’s a classic from 2009 and it’s, I mean, it’s showing its age but the open world physics mayhem really hasn’t been topped.
Yeah, some of the graphics here are bland, some of the story there is questionable, but what makes “Red Faction” stand out from every other paint by numbers open world shooter is the physics.
Every building, every building can be smashed, blown up and vaporized, and it’s all simulated in real-time and it totally rules, every second of it.
I mean, Mars looks the same pretty much everywhere.
There’s some minor variations and, I mean, it’s the story of “Grand Theft Auto 3” with maybe a dash “San Andreas” for like the gang turf stuff.
I mean it’s not gangs and turfs it’s the EDF versus the Rebels, but you get the point.
But watching the building tumble over after destroying all of its supports, is one of the most satisfying things in any game, period.
And even though it can get kind of silly with buildings somehow still standing when there’s like one or two little skinny supports left, for the most part, the physics still hold up.
The sequel “Red Faction: Armageddon” probably has a little bit more impressive destruction overall, but the game is set mostly in really linear corridors so it’s not really got as much fun stuff to destroy, but it’s been over a decade and we need like the “RDR 2” of “Red Faction: Guerrilla” already, it’s gotta be possible.
At number five is “Kerbal Space Program”.
Oldie, but a goodie.
This game’s all about simulating real-world rocket and space flight, and all of its dangers.
It’s a game where you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to play it, but legitimately it would probably make it a lot easier if you had all of that education banked.
This game, all about building spacecraft.
Oh, and also launching them and watching them explode.
It’s basically an exploding rocket simulator where sometimes the rocket actually gets into space, maybe, if you’re lucky.
Again, you’re not a rocket scientist and neither am I.
Every little thing has an effect on the Rocket’s performance, like how aerodynamic it is, how heavy it is, how much fuel it has, how it’s equilibrium works.
It’s all critical in terms of whether your rocket actually makes it out into space or not.
I could end there, because getting into space is hard enough but there’s an entire exploration element to the game as well.
You can land on the moon, explore distant planets, you got all the dangers of deep space and they’re about as accurately recreated in this game as possible.
“Kerbal Space Program 2” came out pretty recently and it may, in the long run, end up being a better game overall but it’s still pretty rough at the moment, so for now we’re sticking with the first game but there’s a lot of potential in its sequel.
The physics can be cool in your average everyday games, but combined with VR, good physics can make a game into the most mind-blowing immersion you’ve ever experienced.
Like, when VR hits right it hits right.
One of the best of all time has gotta be “Half-Life: Alyx” though, which took groundbreaking physics effects from “Halflife” and cranked it up to 11.
So it was made using “Source 2” with a new in-house physics engine called Rubicon, and Valve really got a chance to flex their physics-based gameplay prowess with this one, which is nice because they really haven’t been flexing a whole lot of that for a while.
Like, we still look at “Halflife 2” and go, “Wow, look at the physics in that game.
” But everything in “Half-Life: Alyx” is affected by physics.
If there’s an object, you can pick it up and throw it around.
It’s pointless but the way glasses and cups smash into pieces is just satisfying on such a high level, it’s hard not to just pick absolutely everything up and just see what it does when you throw it.
Now it’s not as flashy as a lot of other games, but what makes “Alyx” stand out is how physics affects everything, from the way you pull objects towards you to the reloading of your gun, it makes everything that much more immersive and it’s one of the best VR experiences of all time because of that.
Really, a benchmark in terms of what is still a burgeoning form of video game.
At number three is “Control”.
This game’s a few years old now but the amount of stuff you can destroy in the environment is incredibly impressive.
Now it’s not tear down levels of physics, but the way desks explode into wood chips, papers go flying all over the place and concrete walls crumble into dust, it still looks amazing.
“Control’s” developer, Remedy, was one of the original innovators of environmental destruction with the original “Max Payne”, and “Max Payne 2” was one of the first games to really show off what Havok physics engine could really do.
These guys know how to smash the level up and “Control’s” probably their finest work yet.
In terms of hardcore simulation there’s not a lot going on here, but the way the visuals work with the physics engine is some of the best destruction you can find in a AAA game.
At number two is “Instruments of Destruction”.
This isometric puzzle game is like “Besiege” on steroids.
The levels of destruction, they’re just something to behold.
Like “Besiege”, this is a puzzle gam where you have to build vehicles and cause as much destruction as you possibly can, and what really makes it stand out is just the level of destruction.
Instead of breaking it in simple chunks, every building explodes in 1,000s of little pieces, an amazing shower of cement.
The physics model used here, just frankly insane.
There’s just so many objects being simulated at once, and it can get so crazy that even some pretty powerful PCs might struggle to calculate everything that’s happening on screen.
It’s still in early access, so there’s not a huge amount of content yet, but what’s available shows just some of the most impressive destruction physics I’ve ever seen in a video game.
And finally at number one, “BeamNG.
drive”.
This game, with an unassuming name does one thing and it does it incredibly well, it has by far the most impressive car deformation physics in any game today.
In a world where most AAA driving games barely let you scratch the paint, “BeamNG.
drive”, breath of fresh air, seriously.
It’s a driving simulator/sandbox with real soft body physics for the cars, so every bump and scrape, they’re realistically rendered on the car.
Full-on crashes are just as devastating looking as in real life, and one of the great joys of the game is simply ramming a car into something at full speed and watching as the whole thing twists and contorts in slow motion.
It is all shockingly realistic, like, some seriously mind-blowing stuff I didn’t really think was possible, yet, in video games.
And “BeamNG.
drive” is just one of those games that has to be seen to be believed.
The driving model is very realistic, very physics-driven, but the crashes are really where the game flexes it’s muscles.
Couple of bonuses for you.
First, “Hydrophobia”.
A weird mostly forgotten little game that doesn’t have destruction physics or car physics, it’s got water physics.
Few games really ever bothered to try to create realistic fluids, and while this game still doesn’t exactly pull it off, it’s got some pretty amazing effects that would be interesting to see in a more modern, less jank game.
“Teardown”.
Now most heist games are all about stealth and subterfuge, but not “Teardown”.
Instead of slowly sneaking and cautious gameplay, “Teardown” is about smashing through an environment to steal as much stuff as humanly possible.
There’s basic loot that’s just lying around, but most of the objectives involve stealing things from safes that automatically trigger an alarm.
You can’t disable the alarms, so on most levels your goal isn’t just to access these things, you also need to create the perfect escape route so you can quickly get out before the timer runs out, and you’re busted by the cops.
To do that, you need to smash through walls, blow stuff up, and ram into things with construction equipment, and generally tear the whole area to shreds to make it easier for you to pull off a getaway.
Of course, there’s also a random job where you just smash a place up for money, but there’s always a puzzle element to these things because you don’t just get an infinite amount of bombs to make demolishing a place easy, and most vehicles tend to fall apart after smashing through one or two walls so even a simple smash job can be tricky.
The graphics are super basic but the destruction’s physics are just some of the best out there, especially for a first-person game.
It’s the only game that’s really come close to matching the greatness of “Red Faction”.
The actual destruction model is more realistic but, as a puzzle game, it doesn’t quite let you cut loose and destroy everything in the way that “Red faction” excels.
It’s a different thing, the Minecraft-like graphics might turn some people off but the destruction physics here are just top notch.
And, finally, “Abriss”, which is a little too close to “Instruments of Destruction” to appear on the main list, but it’s another physics-based puzzle game with some really impressive effects.
It’s another game in early access without a lot of content, but if you’re dying for more crazy physics destruction, “Abriss” is another solid pick.
It can be a little frustrating just because of how physics-based it all is, it’s one of those games where you can do the same thing twice and it’s different every single time, but that kinda makes the destruction model undeniably impressive.
And that’s all for today.
Leave us a comment, let us know what you think.
If you liked this video, click like.
If you’re not subscribed, now’s a great time to do so, we upload brand new videos every day of the week.
Best way to see them first is, of course, a subscription so click subscribe.
Don’t forget to enable notifications and, as always, we thank you very much for watching this video.
I’m Falcon, you can follow me on Twitter @FlaconTheHero.
10 games with mind-blowing physics effects
One of the wonders of modern gaming is physics.
Certainly all video games have gotten way better in terms of physics, and the immersion and realism of pretty much all of them is up to a level many of us would’ve never imagined a decade ago, but some are crazy.
Hi folks, it’s Falcon, and today on “Gameranx”, 10 games with mind-blowing physics effects.
Starting off with number 10, “Hardspace: Shipbreaker”.
So the premise here, super simple.
You got ships, you gotta break ’em down piece by piece.
You’re a space salvager, which is just like being a normal salvager but there’s like a bigger chance of getting killed by flying debris.
But, hey, no pain no gain, right? Every ship you encounter in this game can be broken down completely.
You can cut through walls, you can trigger explosives and generally cause all kinds of havoc, if you want, but that’ll usually end up getting you killed.
This is a game where you wanna avoid out control destruction as much as possible, at least if you wanna win.
So, ideally, you want to avoid seeing the really impressive display of physics simulations.
This is a game where the main danger actually comes from the physics, one wrong move and you’ll get blasted out into space or get beamed by a piece of flying debris.
Even when things aren’t outta control, the physics simulation is still one of the most impressive out there, just for how complete and complex it is.
This game is mostly about subtle displays of physics technology, but when things get outta control that’s really when the simulation shows you what it can do.
At number nine is “SnowRunner”.
Now, in terms of explosive physics, “SnowRunner’s” probably the most subtle game on this list.
You’re not gonna be seeing cars explode in gnarly ways or vehicles smashing through buildings, or anything over the top like that.
Instead of crazy physics madness, “SnowRunners” is a game all about dealing with some of the most realistic terrain physics of all time.
Almost all you do in “SnowRunners” is drive a car from point A to point B, which sounds like boring as hell in every other game, but the gimmick here is that you have to navigate incredibly difficult terrain with an assortment of vehicles, all of which have real weight to them.
In most games, driving through snow and mud is no sweat, but here it’s the obstacle.
And, ooh, it can be a nightmare, snow, mud, it’s all slippery and it deforms around your tires, and it can get your vehicle sliding off cliff or stuck in the snow at a moment’s notice.
Every vehicle handles differently too, so what works with one vehicle may fail spectacularly with another.
It’s an overall slow-paced and methodical game, and maybe not something you would immediately think of when it comes to physics, but few games have terrain effects or car physics even close to as realistic as this.
There are plenty of flashy physics games out there, but this is probably one of the most low-key impressive on the list, just because if you’ve ever gotten a car stuck in the snow, you know how different it is from a video game, and this video game completely subverts that.
At number eight is “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”.
Really, it can’t be overstated how impressive the physics model is in “Breath of the Wild”.
It’s a little bit more limited than other stuff on this list, like you’re not seeing entire structures exploding or hyper realistic deformation.
What makes the physics so impressive isn’t really the scale but more the consistency.
Whether you’re grabbing something using a magnet or blasting it with a bomb, everything moves in a way that just feels 100% correct.
All the various physics interactions on their own are real impressive, but what makes “Breath of the Wild” mind blowing is the way it manages to be consistent even when players are doing things that would be impossible in most other games.
Like, how many games let you pull off tricks like using a mine cart to fly? Keep in mind, I didn’t say realistic, I said mind blowing.
There’s so many crazy tricks, players have figured out how to pull off in “Breath of the Wild”, and the thing makes it all possible with this really awesome consistent physics system, even when you’re doing stuff that’s clearly unintended by the developers.
At number seven is “Besiege”.
This physics based puzzle game basically “Angry Birds” crossed with “Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts”.
And if you’ve never played it, like, you would be surprised how accurate that description actually is.
Every level is a puzzle where you have to build some kind of contraption to deal with whatever’s in your way.
Sometimes a basic castle wall, other times it requires something completely off-kilter to solve whatever objective you’ve got set before you.
The physics of your makeshift vehicle, just as impressive as the destruction, and building more and more ridiculously impractical tools is half the fun.
Seriously, get on and just look up “Besiege” and name a weapon.
Somebody’s tried to make it, and whether it worked out or not, it’s awesome to watch.
At number six is “Red Faction: Guerrilla”.
Of course, the skin’s on this list, why would we not include this one? It’s a classic from 2009 and it’s, I mean, it’s showing its age but the open world physics mayhem really hasn’t been topped.
Yeah, some of the graphics here are bland, some of the story there is questionable, but what makes “Red Faction” stand out from every other paint by numbers open world shooter is the physics.
Every building, every building can be smashed, blown up and vaporized, and it’s all simulated in real-time and it totally rules, every second of it.
I mean, Mars looks the same pretty much everywhere.
There’s some minor variations and, I mean, it’s the story of “Grand Theft Auto 3” with maybe a dash “San Andreas” for like the gang turf stuff.
I mean it’s not gangs and turfs it’s the EDF versus the Rebels, but you get the point.
But watching the building tumble over after destroying all of its supports, is one of the most satisfying things in any game, period.
And even though it can get kind of silly with buildings somehow still standing when there’s like one or two little skinny supports left, for the most part, the physics still hold up.
The sequel “Red Faction: Armageddon” probably has a little bit more impressive destruction overall, but the game is set mostly in really linear corridors so it’s not really got as much fun stuff to destroy, but it’s been over a decade and we need like the “RDR 2” of “Red Faction: Guerrilla” already, it’s gotta be possible.
At number five is “Kerbal Space Program”.
Oldie, but a goodie.
This game’s all about simulating real-world rocket and space flight, and all of its dangers.
It’s a game where you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to play it, but legitimately it would probably make it a lot easier if you had all of that education banked.
This game, all about building spacecraft.
Oh, and also launching them and watching them explode.
It’s basically an exploding rocket simulator where sometimes the rocket actually gets into space, maybe, if you’re lucky.
Again, you’re not a rocket scientist and neither am I.
Every little thing has an effect on the Rocket’s performance, like how aerodynamic it is, how heavy it is, how much fuel it has, how it’s equilibrium works.
It’s all critical in terms of whether your rocket actually makes it out into space or not.
I could end there, because getting into space is hard enough but there’s an entire exploration element to the game as well.
You can land on the moon, explore distant planets, you got all the dangers of deep space and they’re about as accurately recreated in this game as possible.
“Kerbal Space Program 2” came out pretty recently and it may, in the long run, end up being a better game overall but it’s still pretty rough at the moment, so for now we’re sticking with the first game but there’s a lot of potential in its sequel.
At number four is “Half-Life: Alyx”.
The physics can be cool in your average everyday games, but combined with VR, good physics can make a game into the most mind-blowing immersion you’ve ever experienced.
Like, when VR hits right it hits right.
One of the best of all time has gotta be “Half-Life: Alyx” though, which took groundbreaking physics effects from “Halflife” and cranked it up to 11.
So it was made using “Source 2” with a new in-house physics engine called Rubicon, and Valve really got a chance to flex their physics-based gameplay prowess with this one, which is nice because they really haven’t been flexing a whole lot of that for a while.
Like, we still look at “Halflife 2” and go, “Wow, look at the physics in that game.
” But everything in “Half-Life: Alyx” is affected by physics.
If there’s an object, you can pick it up and throw it around.
It’s pointless but the way glasses and cups smash into pieces is just satisfying on such a high level, it’s hard not to just pick absolutely everything up and just see what it does when you throw it.
Now it’s not as flashy as a lot of other games, but what makes “Alyx” stand out is how physics affects everything, from the way you pull objects towards you to the reloading of your gun, it makes everything that much more immersive and it’s one of the best VR experiences of all time because of that.
Really, a benchmark in terms of what is still a burgeoning form of video game.
At number three is “Control”.
This game’s a few years old now but the amount of stuff you can destroy in the environment is incredibly impressive.
Now it’s not tear down levels of physics, but the way desks explode into wood chips, papers go flying all over the place and concrete walls crumble into dust, it still looks amazing.
“Control’s” developer, Remedy, was one of the original innovators of environmental destruction with the original “Max Payne”, and “Max Payne 2” was one of the first games to really show off what Havok physics engine could really do.
These guys know how to smash the level up and “Control’s” probably their finest work yet.
In terms of hardcore simulation there’s not a lot going on here, but the way the visuals work with the physics engine is some of the best destruction you can find in a AAA game.
At number two is “Instruments of Destruction”.
This isometric puzzle game is like “Besiege” on steroids.
The levels of destruction, they’re just something to behold.
Like “Besiege”, this is a puzzle gam where you have to build vehicles and cause as much destruction as you possibly can, and what really makes it stand out is just the level of destruction.
Instead of breaking it in simple chunks, every building explodes in 1,000s of little pieces, an amazing shower of cement.
The physics model used here, just frankly insane.
There’s just so many objects being simulated at once, and it can get so crazy that even some pretty powerful PCs might struggle to calculate everything that’s happening on screen.
It’s still in early access, so there’s not a huge amount of content yet, but what’s available shows just some of the most impressive destruction physics I’ve ever seen in a video game.
And finally at number one, “BeamNG.
drive”.
This game, with an unassuming name does one thing and it does it incredibly well, it has by far the most impressive car deformation physics in any game today.
In a world where most AAA driving games barely let you scratch the paint, “BeamNG.
drive”, breath of fresh air, seriously.
It’s a driving simulator/sandbox with real soft body physics for the cars, so every bump and scrape, they’re realistically rendered on the car.
Full-on crashes are just as devastating looking as in real life, and one of the great joys of the game is simply ramming a car into something at full speed and watching as the whole thing twists and contorts in slow motion.
It is all shockingly realistic, like, some seriously mind-blowing stuff I didn’t really think was possible, yet, in video games.
And “BeamNG.
drive” is just one of those games that has to be seen to be believed.
The driving model is very realistic, very physics-driven, but the crashes are really where the game flexes it’s muscles.
Couple of bonuses for you.
First, “Hydrophobia”.
A weird mostly forgotten little game that doesn’t have destruction physics or car physics, it’s got water physics.
Few games really ever bothered to try to create realistic fluids, and while this game still doesn’t exactly pull it off, it’s got some pretty amazing effects that would be interesting to see in a more modern, less jank game.
“Teardown”.
Now most heist games are all about stealth and subterfuge, but not “Teardown”.
Instead of slowly sneaking and cautious gameplay, “Teardown” is about smashing through an environment to steal as much stuff as humanly possible.
There’s basic loot that’s just lying around, but most of the objectives involve stealing things from safes that automatically trigger an alarm.
You can’t disable the alarms, so on most levels your goal isn’t just to access these things, you also need to create the perfect escape route so you can quickly get out before the timer runs out, and you’re busted by the cops.
To do that, you need to smash through walls, blow stuff up, and ram into things with construction equipment, and generally tear the whole area to shreds to make it easier for you to pull off a getaway.
Of course, there’s also a random job where you just smash a place up for money, but there’s always a puzzle element to these things because you don’t just get an infinite amount of bombs to make demolishing a place easy, and most vehicles tend to fall apart after smashing through one or two walls so even a simple smash job can be tricky.
The graphics are super basic but the destruction’s physics are just some of the best out there, especially for a first-person game.
It’s the only game that’s really come close to matching the greatness of “Red Faction”.
The actual destruction model is more realistic but, as a puzzle game, it doesn’t quite let you cut loose and destroy everything in the way that “Red faction” excels.
It’s a different thing, the Minecraft-like graphics might turn some people off but the destruction physics here are just top notch.
And, finally, “Abriss”, which is a little too close to “Instruments of Destruction” to appear on the main list, but it’s another physics-based puzzle game with some really impressive effects.
It’s another game in early access without a lot of content, but if you’re dying for more crazy physics destruction, “Abriss” is another solid pick.
It can be a little frustrating just because of how physics-based it all is, it’s one of those games where you can do the same thing twice and it’s different every single time, but that kinda makes the destruction model undeniably impressive.
And that’s all for today.
Leave us a comment, let us know what you think.
If you liked this video, click like.
If you’re not subscribed, now’s a great time to do so, we upload brand new videos every day of the week.
Best way to see them first is, of course, a subscription so click subscribe.
Don’t forget to enable notifications and, as always, we thank you very much for watching this video.
I’m Falcon, you can follow me on Twitter @FlaconTheHero.
We’ll see you next time right here on “Gameranx”.
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