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Gamesradar - We've played Crackdown 3's ridiculous, awe-inspiring Wrecking Zone multiplayer: "the results really are something to behold"

GoldenEye98

posts news as their odd job
https://www.gamesradar.com/crackdown-3-wrecking-zone-multiplayer-hands-on/

There’s a very real delight to be had in pulling a building down around a group of otherwise aggressive enemies in the Crackdown 3 Wrecking Zone multiplayer mode. Perched atop a towering skyscraper, it’s difficult not to get drawn into the sheer, incredible spectacle of it all; mouth agape, eyes blinded by the collapsing neon fixtures of the futuristic cityscape enveloping you.

The Agents begin to desperately scramble for cover through falling debris, crashing through walls and windows as they tumble to the ground with weapons drawn high, all in an effort to outmanoeuvre encroaching players before the bullets start flying.

We won’t bore you with the specifics as it is all extremely complicated, a technical accomplishment that Microsoft Game Studios admits it has only gotten working as intended in the last 12 months or so, but you should trust us when we tell you that it is pretty goddamned spectacular. By using its established cloud infrastructure – a bank of data-centres made up, effectively, of interlaced Xbox One units – Microsoft’s engineering team has been able to offload all of the advanced physics calculations necessary to power something as revolutionary as Crackdown 3’s awe-inspiring destruction. And it can do it without taking anything at all away from the game’s gorgeous graphics, silky smooth framerate or its heart- pounding moment-to-moment action – if anything it enhances it entirely.

That’s because Ruffian Games – the team responsible for both Crackdown 2 and the multiplayer side to Crackdown 3 – effectively has up to 12 times the processing power of the Xbox One X (or 30 times the original base Xbox One) to play with. The hard work is handled behind-the-scenes, up there in the cloud, so all you need to worry about is tracking Agents through the chaos and keeping your mind focused on the objective at hand as the world crumbles down around you.

What it means is that, regardless of the strength of your internet connection, you’ll be able to jump into Wrecking Zone and bask in the glory that is 100 per cent destruction without any noticeable impact to the core game experience. You’ll be able to stand alongside nine other players and literally tear an entire city apart piece by piece, grappling with your foes as you shred through environments with wild abandon. By utilising the Azure network, Crackdown 3 is able to render hundreds upon hundreds of individual pieces of debris in real- time, for every one of the players in any given game.

In effect it means that, were we to be running away from a gaggle of enemies, we could use an assault rifle to hastily carve a makeshift door into the façade of an approaching building in an effort to break line-of- sight, and that will synchronise for every player in the game without any delay. Perhaps you may see an enemy running along a bridge overhead – rather than leaping up to their level in an effort to engage them, you could whip out a rocket launcher and rip the floor right out from under their feet, catching them unawares and open to an easy kill. As you may imagine, this makes for some fairly interesting, if not totally awesome, gameplay scenarios and opportunities that – to put it simply – no other multiplayer game on the market can accurately capture or reproduce.
 

MDSLKTR

Member
So the power of the cloud is pulled off finally. I personally can't wait for this, perfect open world palate cleanser after RDR2.
 

Fake

Member
the game’s gorgeous graphics
e02e5ffb5f980cd8262cf7f0ae00a4a9_press-x-to-doubt-memes-memesuper-la-noire-doubt-meme_419-238.png
 

shark sandwich

tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
This article reads like an advertisement.

... but I admit it sounds cool. Everybody mocked “the infinite power of the cloud”, but if they get this working well it could be a huge game changer.
 
nice piece of advertisement. In all that huge article I have not read a single line about actual game features and why it should be a fun game. It reminds me of the old times when consoles were sold advertising how many colors or sound channels they could display.
 

GoldenEye98

posts news as their odd job
This article reads like an advertisement.

... but I admit it sounds cool. Everybody mocked “the infinite power of the cloud”, but if they get this working well it could be a huge game changer.

While most of the article is about the destruction and core gameplay elements of the game...which they praise....they actually do talk about having concerns with the amount of content and overall longevity of the game:

Of the two maps and two game modes that we experienced in our time with Wrecking Zone, it was undeniably exhilarating – but it was also unquestionably content-light. Microsoft wasn’t quite ready to give us any insight into the progression systems running behind the action, but we do still have concerns over the longevity of it all. As impressive as the physics-based destruction is – the core underlying technology powering it all – the mechanics and systems layered on top of it are easily mastered. It wasn’t long before we were taking the fight to the developers and testers who were responsible for building and streamlining the damned thing.
 
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Codes 208

Member
I was super hyped for this at reveal. But they dragged its development out for so long and each time it hardly looks better than the last that I’m having such a hard time getting hyped for this. If it wasn’t for gamepass, I probably wouldn’t even bother at this point. And I friggin loved the first game.
 

Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
I have little faith this game will be any good, but if they have this cloud tech finally working, I am excited to see what other games can do with it.
 

iconmaster

Banned
Does this game still not have a specific release date, one month from its announced release month?

Edit: Kagey K Kagey K informs me it's February 15th.
 
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Calibos

Member
Here we are again...Everything Microsoft related "is an advertisment" or "reads like an advertisment" bullshit.


I cannot wait to check this game out...Thank you gamepass!
 

joe_zazen

Member
30 times 1x, so everyone is going to have a 180 TF console....the age of Sony is done.

Edit, misread 72 TF console. At least we might not need to build new coal fired power plants to run these cloud games.
 
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Here we are again...Everything Microsoft related "is an advertisment" or "reads like an advertisment" bullshit.


I cannot wait to check this game out...Thank you gamepass!


No, not everything Microsoft's related. Everything that sounds like PR trying to sell how Microsoft is posed to "win next gen" as Forbes, Engadget and other publictations are doing. That's shilling at large. They are not being subtle at all, it's the same repetition of 2013, with the same bullshit predictions and glorifying of whatever Microsoft is cooking. Very soon we will read that Sony is going bankrupt, again.

As for this particular article, they are using a million words to describe the powerful techniques going on in making this game but they are not talking about the game itself, and THAT is advertisement.
 
Tell me about the E X P E R I E N C E:messenger_weary::messenger_ok:

Too many buzzwords.

We won’t bore you with the specifics as it is all extremely complicated, a technical accomplishment that Microsoft Game Studios admits it has only gotten working as intended in the last 12 months or so,
It'd be nice if the PR reps journalists would include these details for the readers so that we can evaluate for ourselves whether the awe-inspiring claims have the numbers to back it up.

but you should trust us when we tell you that it is pretty goddamned spectacular.
Trust you? I politely decline.
 
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Here we are again...Everything Microsoft related "is an advertisment" or "reads like an advertisment" bullshit.


I cannot wait to check this game out...Thank you gamepass!
Yeah I don't get this stuff. Take Microsoft out of the equation and it would just be a game. People would just look at it and decide if it mattered to them or move on and ignore it. But because it's a Microsoft game, some people feel like they have some kind of duty to come into the thread and apply heaping amounts of doubt and hate at the title. If it came out and was a trainwreck then sure, hate on it. But all this is is an opinion. How many threads have been praised here each time Naughty Dog has something to say about the Last of Us sequel? How are those posts not just advertisements?
 
Yeah I don't get this stuff. Take Microsoft out of the equation and it would just be a game. People would just look at it and decide if it mattered to them or move on and ignore it. But because it's a Microsoft game, some people feel like they have some kind of duty to come into the thread and apply heaping amounts of doubt and hate at the title. If it came out and was a trainwreck then sure, hate on it. But all this is is an opinion. How many threads have been praised here each time Naughty Dog has something to say about the Last of Us sequel? How are those posts not just advertisements?
Naughty Dog was caught bribing YouTubers and flooding game forums (even this one) with astroturfers?

There are actual reasons why some people distrust Microsoft. This title has been limping along since being revealed five years ago. Does that not deserve a critical eye?
 

Dunki

Member
This article reads like an advertisement.

... but I admit it sounds cool. Everybody mocked “the infinite power of the cloud”, but if they get this working well it could be a huge game changer.
We will see if more than 100 people actually try to access this cloud. Depending how successful this game is.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
This article reads like an advertisement.

... but I admit it sounds cool. Everybody mocked “the infinite power of the cloud”, but if they get this working well it could be a huge game changer.

Good, so I wasn't the only one that thought this.
 

joe_zazen

Member
I wonder if dist computing is on the agenda.

Back pre switch announcement, people were wondering if distributed compiring was going to part of the push. Like if ypu left your console on so other people could use its computing power and your electricity for their games; you’d get Nintenbucks or something in return. So like seti or folding at home but for rending Mario’s arm hair and shrinking testes in cold weather instead contacting aliens or curing cancer.
 
I won't believe any pre-release hype generation about the game until I see it running in front of me. So far anything they've shown looks bad. Animation is stiff, gameplay looks dated, and the visuals themselves looked just as dated as Crackdown 2 looked when it released. I liked 1 and 2 (minus the awful flying) as they were fun to play, so hopefully this one works in the gameplay department.
 
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Naughty Dog was caught bribing YouTubers and flooding game forums (even this one) with astroturfers?

There are actual reasons why some people distrust Microsoft. This title has been limping along since being revealed five years ago. Does that not deserve a critical eye?
You say youtubers like it was multiple channels. It was just Machinema and those videos were marked as advertisements. Also Sony isn’t innocent of bribing youtubers. They got caught two years ago paying for reviews.
 
You say youtubers like it was multiple channels. It was just Machinema and those videos were marked as advertisements. Also Sony isn’t innocent of bribing youtubers. They got caught two years ago paying for reviews.
"Just Machinima" makes it sound like it was only one channel, when it reality it was a full range of influencers under the brand's umbrella.

The FTC ruled on it as well, so there is no ambiguity as to the scope of that particular situation.

What does Sony have to do with Microsoft? Your original post feigned disgust that people didn't trust Microsoft.

Now I see it was just some strange insecurity with "Sony Too" as the punchline.
 

ROMhack

Member
Here we are again...Everything Microsoft related "is an advertisment" or "reads like an advertisment" bullshit.

I cannot wait to check this game out...Thank you gamepass!

I actually can't tell if this is like a super attempt at irony or not...

More on-topic, I forgot the game existed. It's nice news for Xbox One owners :)
 
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"Just Machinima" makes it sound like it was only one channel, when it reality it was a full range of influencers under the brand's umbrella.

The FTC ruled on it as well, so there is no ambiguity as to the scope of that particular situation.

What does Sony have to do with Microsoft? Your original post feigned disgust that people didn't trust Microsoft.

Now I see it was just some strange insecurity with "Sony Too" as the punchline.
I only mention Sony because it's the umbrella that Naughty Dog releases it's Last of Us games under. There have been multiple threads on GAF where it's a discussion over a comment praising their coming game.

Sumo Digital is making Crackdown 3 which is being released by Microsoft, but this article, which is a lot like those Last of Us discussions, somehow is marked by negative and meandering comments. You don't see the similarities and hypocrisy?
 
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If Crackdown 3 gets an 88 or above on MC it'll be a good volley for Gears 5 to strike later in the year which will make this a quality heavy year for Microsoft Exclusives. After CrackDown 3 and other the other assured 85+ MC titles ending with Gears 5 it'll be a great year.
 
"Just Machinima" makes it sound like it was only one channel, when it reality it was a full range of influencers under the brand's umbrella.

The FTC ruled on it as well, so there is no ambiguity as to the scope of that particular situation.

What does Sony have to do with Microsoft? Your original post feigned disgust that people didn't trust Microsoft.

Now I see it was just some strange insecurity with "Sony Too" as the punchline.
Look forward to you criticizing in the opposite direction in Sony threads when certain people are constantly "MS too!". Will hold breath.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
4k HDR 60fps
full hd HDR 120FPS vfr first ever
xbox one x supports 120FPS vfr

BEAST
E
A
S
T

Make it happen <3
 
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I’ll definitely check it out since it will be on GamePass. It should be a fun quick distraction, but I personally have not been impressed with what we have seen so far, especially graphically. But as long as its fun, I’m in.
 

Pallas

Member
Still not completely sold on it but if it comes with Gamepass I’ll definitely give it a shot and if I like it enough, I’ll buy it.

I’m intrigued by the cloud, it seems like we’ve heard about it for a while and maybe now we can finally see it’s potential.

the agents should have custom skins they all look the same.

That would be a good addition, maybe it’ll be available in the release build because it seems like a no brainer thing to add considering all of the other popular multiplayer games have some form of it.
 
Sadly this game could be the most amazing game in the world...but it’s probably gonna be used for list war console warrior bait

If ms have really pulled off the cloud dream then expect people to really take a second look at cloud based and stream gaming
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
No, not everything Microsoft's related. Everything that sounds like PR trying to sell how Microsoft is posed to "win next gen" as Forbes, Engadget and other publictations are doing. That's shilling at large. They are not being subtle at all, it's the same repetition of 2013, with the same bullshit predictions and glorifying of whatever Microsoft is cooking. Very soon we will read that Sony is going bankrupt, again.

As for this particular article, they are using a million words to describe the powerful techniques going on in making this game but they are not talking about the game itself, and THAT is advertisement.

Yup...
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
What it means is that, regardless of the strength of your internet connection
Uhm... not sure this is accurate... high latency low bandwidth connection when you are computing in game elements on a remote server? Maybe they talk about the offline fallback, but no way they can maintain the same level of destruction in that case (either this or they are over hyping what they actually offload to cloud systems).
 
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Sadly this game could be the most amazing game in the world...but it’s probably gonna be used for list war console warrior bait

If ms have really pulled off the cloud dream then expect people to really take a second look at cloud based and stream gaming

I mean we already have had graphical and A.I. examples of cloud power with Forza so I think people just don't understand it yet. As for CrackDown, it's been delayed so long just glad it's finally coming out.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
I remember years ago when they started advertising ‘the cloud power’ and it was laughing stock territory.

Practical applications starting to trickle out sound amazing, once they get a taste of this I expect they will start going batshit with really heavy physics games.

Will make the business interesting I wonder if Azure can leverage a competitive advantage against AWS this way.

What does Sony use for their servers?
 
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