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Crytek demoes CryENGINE 3 for PC, XBox 360, and PS3

  • By SarjuS, GameSpot
  • Posted Mar 27, 2009 3:33 pm PT

Head here for the HD stream. Crytek came to GDC 2009 with a demo of CryENGINE 3. The new engine runs across the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, in a bid to make development cycles cheaper, better, and faster for themselves as well as their licensees. Additionally, the engine will run on future consoles by...

Head here for the HD stream.

Crytek came to GDC 2009 with a demo of CryENGINE 3. The new engine runs across the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, in a bid to make development cycles cheaper, better, and faster for themselves as well as their licensees. Additionally, the engine will run on future consoles by using simple internal updates, so developers only have to worry about making the game, not porting it. An updated what you see is what you play (WYSIWYP) toolset allows developers to edit in real time across all three supported platforms. CryENGINE 3 contains numerous updates that developers can take advantage of: destructible environments, cloth simulations, hundreds of light sources, a real time soft particle system, real time dynamic global illumination, motion blur, depth of field, natural lighting, soft shadows, and a whole host of additional features.

We came away quite surprised. The demo we saw was running on the Xbox 360, and honestly, the game looked roughly about as good as Crysis with high quality settings. The environments looked stunning with dynamic light sources coming from every single direction and advanced water effects that reacted to gun fire, explosions, and even incoming rain. We're looking forward to seeing what kinds of games developers build on the console with CryENGINE 3.

456 Comments

  • JamieeJoness

    Posted Jan 9, 2010 12:56 pm GMT

    omg!! the ps3 and xbox will be able to handle something as good as this, im surprised

  • Endofme

    Posted Oct 17, 2009 7:41 am GMT

    Stunning to see.

  • giuse92

    Posted Oct 16, 2009 4:49 am GMT

    my god!! this is an incredible game engine.. the only thing i hope, is that the future games that will come by using this engine dont EXCEED the requirements.. in other words buy a new cpu (Processor, Graphic Card, Memory, Motherboard).

  • supertegwyn

    Posted Oct 15, 2009 2:30 pm GMT

    .... To Awsome for Words...

  • mayceV

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 8:01 am GMT

    @pureskull123
    Gmae systems don't need as much cache because they don't multitask as much. Computers have to do hundereds of things at once. (you can literally play 2 turn based stragety games at once just minimize one.). and still then the computer would have to monitor loads of things. Game systems only need to worry abot 2 maybe 3 things at once - Playing the game while maybe downloading an update or demo and possibly playing music. thats not too hard compared to computers. Thats why you see console games working and very small amounts of RAM. they don't have to Run windows vista while playing a demanding game and waiting for 15 simotanious downloads. less things pop up on the screen on a console game so a console can play just as well as a omputer with a bit less texures or maybe less reflections but that doesn't ruin the game does it? I don't think i does so I'll stick with consoles. (with all due respect)

  • mayceV

    Posted Aug 11, 2009 7:52 am GMT

    Guys remeber that this is only a demo its not the actual game. This was put together in less than 2 months. now imagine 2 years of work with this engine.

  • frogfromarz

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 10:30 pm GMT

    I love the physics on the first one crush anything that looks breakable.

  • neto789

    Posted Jun 17, 2009 4:47 am GMT

    looks better on the 360, 360 ftw

  • beymod

    Posted Jun 6, 2009 5:34 am GMT

    thanks....

    http://www.beymod.com.tr

  • ilikesafc

    Posted Jun 3, 2009 9:29 am GMT

    The game is still better on pc but im sure it will still be a big hit

  • ilikesafc

    Posted Jun 3, 2009 9:28 am GMT

    I love the look of this i cant wait for the game to come out. All in all i think its slightly better looking on 360

  • shakensparco

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 11:14 am GMT

    Frame rate looks a little shotty still. Hope they fix that.

  • e1337prodigy

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 11:02 am GMT

    Looks jerky on consoles. Still very impressive. Didn't see any pc running cry engine 3.

  • giedrius1001

    Posted May 25, 2009 10:18 pm GMT

    we need to thanks guys who create farcry2 on consles, its realy obvious what without something like farcry2 we havent seen it this engine until now, conpetition is strong so crytek cant just sit down and loose for ubisoft

  • stratton_865

    Posted May 18, 2009 7:00 am GMT

    For all those people saying "OMG, CryEngine 2 looks way better than this piece of crap!":

    1. CryEngine 3 is scaled DOWN to be compatible with the PS3 and 360. We haven't even seen a PC demonstration yet.
    2. Like Crytek said themselves, the engine can also be scaled UP, 'by using simple internal updates'.

  • Gadeos

    Posted May 14, 2009 3:11 pm GMT

    Oh man!!!! This is way too awesome. For graphics to look this good on a PC you need a high end one, kind of expensive though. If current consoles can achieve this quality, man we shall have a great future and a long time to enjoy them before (next) nex-gen

  • neoand12

    Posted May 2, 2009 2:02 am GMT

    Thank god I didn't by Crysis for PC, and to think I was gonna update my PC to play Crysis not anymore thank you Crytec for making this engine it would be better on 360/PS3 due to my good friends over live/PSN. besides people PC lovers and System lover Crytec needs more money to make good games this is a good start to expand over PS3 and 360.

  • Moloch121

    Posted Apr 26, 2009 12:24 pm GMT

    Looks amazing, I prefer PC games and its nice to see my 360 and PS3 will get a game that looks this good sometime in the future it really is expensive playing Crysis at max settings but oh so good....then again I play mostly WoW so graphics mean nothing to me

  • ryan-man

    Posted Apr 24, 2009 12:07 pm GMT

    Screw unreal 3, CRYENGINE 3 is the way to go.
    Consoles can have 8 cores or massive cards in them. But it's the engine that really makes a difference in gaming.

  • alpetrides

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 5:06 pm GMT

    I dont really care what my x-box 360 is capable of doing (it`s good value ) nor do care if it sounds like a 747,nor if a ps3 has 8 cores,it doesnt really bother me that some p.c gamers diss the consoles,to be onest i like p.c, x-box and ps3 i aint a fan boy of any type,i`m just a guy who wants to see good games come to consoles and /graphics orfp2 arma 2,battlefields etc played at a reasnable frps,i prefer console gameing (personally) i like my xbox control pad,i enjoy playing with my mates,not everyone can afford a top of the range p.c,dont get me wrong hell yer i`d buy a £5000 system,(i wish),it`s just down to preference and circumstance,circumstance being can you afford a high spec p.c,and preference what ever floats your boat are you all going to carry on this pathetic argument of whatt is better! fanboy or hardcore p.c gamer i dont care.

  • the_greenzero

    Posted Apr 13, 2009 8:07 am GMT

    Looks like we have a substitute for the Unreal Engine.

  • Retro_Matt

    Posted Apr 12, 2009 4:48 pm GMT

    I've had my xbox premium since release and the only problem it has is a 'sticky dvd drive', RRoD is only an issue if you have no respect for your equipment. Put your console in a well ventilated area and take a 15 minute break every couple of hours like it recommends in the manual and the console will keep on running.

  • LinuxOS137

    Posted Apr 12, 2009 4:38 pm GMT

    I'm don't know. overall it looks awesome, but some things like the ocean (and some textures) did not look as good as the pc version.

    But who's complaining!

  • SpectreBoy6

    Posted Apr 12, 2009 7:28 am GMT

    awesome!

  • SuperGamer911

    Posted Apr 11, 2009 5:29 pm GMT

    All I can say is WOW.

  • instinctgamer54

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 3:38 am GMT

    wat games r they gonna use that engine for?

  • -SallaD-

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 1:08 am GMT

    @joevit
    The reason for RROD was a SH1T solder that MS used. When you played your 360 for an extended period, the solder cracked under the increased heat and vital connections were broken. It's easy to fix if you know what joins have broken (which MS would know by now) so they can fix it for a very small cost. The reason RROD is now not an issue is cause MS stopped making their 360s with the SH1T solder after they realized their mistake. Consoles can't change their hardware cause they're so finely tweaked that all older games would be incompatible. I'm not even sure if you can OC them without getting compatibility problems...still, you can't change the hardware otherwise it may as well be a PC. Which it isn't. I highly doubt your 360 is "running better than new" it seems more likely to be your imagination, lol. And Obama is doing a little better than bush i think...he hasn't even invaded anyone yet Oh, and new consoles come out to ok, PCs only need to be updated a little more frequently, generally about 8 years max for a new console to come out. If you can handle turning settings down, a new PC can play new games 10yrs+ into the future =)

  • joevit

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 4:18 pm GMT

    AlfaxD_Centauro. The RROD is over. Did you not hear. They have new hardware in the 360's. I have new hardware in my 360 and its faster and runs better than new. I dont play much online only becouse I hate running into kids that like to talk crap, cry, yell stupid things, and always gets the your mom talk in. I dont care for RTS's on any game system. I like my PC for that. When it comes to other types of games, I play 360. My PC is used more for video and I use it as my music studio. I pay the big cash for PC stuff or if I wanted to I could by a PS3 100x over but I dont like to wast my cash on junk. But, I do not play video games much becouse I have kids and I have a life of music and other things going on. The only time I play is at nite when my kids are in bed. But most nites I'm out with a paranormal team. Fun stuff.

  • AlfaxD_Centauro

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 1:08 pm GMT

    @joevit
    I just prefer Mouse and Keyboard, and I play with PS3 too. I don't play Online with X360 sometimes only Single Player. I can't even play more than 4 hours, because I do not want another console with RROD. I prefer more PC and PS3.

  • joevit

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 6:18 pm GMT

    @AlfaxD_Centauro. Maybe so but look at whats going on. People are with out jobs or at any givin time could be out of a job. We also have a stupid man in the white house "Obama and his buds" So Spend 800 on a computer or what ever it is to by a 360. Things are not getting any better. Also that 800 you drop on that computer will only be a big wast in 3-5 years becouse some one is always coming out with something new better and faster. So why would some one just getting by getting a PC or Mac when they can get a 360 and they know it will play games just as good as it did when it came out. before some butt head trys to even say anthing about the RROD. I have had my 360 in for a fix over 11 times and MS now had new hardware and are 360 runs even faster and no RROD. My friends that have 360s have noted the same. The RROD is over.

  • syler4815162342

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 2:38 pm GMT

    It is great but why that shadow of the tree is so unreal when it was falling?

  • finchused

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 10:15 am GMT

    Sorry for the double post, but more on topic this engine looks fantastic. I'll be waiting for a 360 game to play using this engine just to see how it compares to the usual Unreal. What Crytek is trying to do for developers is great, I'm glad someone is addressing this issue.

  • finchused

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 10:13 am GMT

    I'm sorry but all of you saying you need to spend thousands on a computer are mistaken. If you build the computer rather then getting a Dell/Alienware, which are of course going to be ridiculous, you can easily build a decent gaming machine for $1000. I spent a grand and I can play it on Very High settings even when there is a lot going on in game. I will admit that I get a slight frame rate drop but it is never even close to unplayable. I get the slow down because I'm a college student and I decided to go easy on the graphics card until I can afford an upgrade in a year or so.

  • AlfaxD_Centauro

    Posted Apr 5, 2009 8:53 pm GMT

    @joevit Just $800 for everything and is Better than Xbox 360 =).

  • Andy9Beans

    Posted Apr 4, 2009 6:43 am GMT

    shani_boy101, calm down mate, it's not the actual engine that's the same, there's a different engine for each platform, customised to make full use of that platforms capabilities, but each engine will have the same interface language making games development simultaneous for each platform. So to release a PS3 version they add the game to the PS3 version of the engine and put it on a blueray and to release a PC version they do the same but with the PC engine and onto a DVD.

  • shani_boy101

    Posted Apr 3, 2009 7:00 pm GMT

    Hopefully they won't dumb down the PC version of this aswell.

  • snokdruid

    Posted Apr 3, 2009 6:19 am GMT

    It's just the PC cryengine from 2007 finally making it to consoles however slightly dumb downed.

  • 10679

    Posted Apr 2, 2009 8:16 pm GMT

    the engine is still in beta mode and won't be finished till 2010. so far teh engine proves to be very powerful on consoles as the graphics shown for crysis on 360 and ps3 is very good. At least consoles gamers don't have to dish out thousands of dollars to get a computer to play Crysis on very high. Who knows by the year 2010 the graphics could be improved significantly . therefore only time will tell.

  • brendanhunt1

    Posted Apr 2, 2009 11:31 am GMT

    why cant they make a game server that allows xbox players and ps3 players to play online together, then only will this console war end

  • jbahari

    Posted Apr 2, 2009 10:38 am GMT

    I have wanted to play this game for a while...I just didnt want buy a new top of the line PC to do it. The engine demo looks fantastic. I look forward to games that utilize this engines lighting and physics capabilities. (Im tired of playing games on Xbox that are powered by the latest UnReal engine, It seems to make most games look consistently the same in regards to textures and lighting)

  • Delius

    Posted Apr 2, 2009 9:35 am GMT

    Too bad they had to dumb it down for the consoles, really doesn't look much better then the 2 engine.

  • racer360

    Posted Apr 2, 2009 9:27 am GMT

    crysis looks better on my pc but i guess it good for consoles

  • qskatermaniac

    Posted Apr 2, 2009 8:13 am GMT

    stagga99, I agree this really looks like it's just for the consoles. As far as consoles go the engine looks impressive, but I didn't see a lot the would make me think it was a big leap forward on the pc. Unless it ran a lot better than the cryengine 2 on weaker pcs.

  • stagga99

    Posted Apr 2, 2009 4:29 am GMT

    @amonamarthkid: I'm guessing that the PC specs aren't going to be radically different to those needed for Crysis. Seems to me that this is more like a console development (and a very good one at that) so Crytek can actually make a bit of money for all their hard work! What will be interesting is to see how the console fanboys who always derided PC Crysis as a 'tech demo with no gameplay' (very wrongly imo) will react when they get the game on their systems! I'm guessing their view will change considerably.

  • amonamarthkid

    Posted Apr 2, 2009 1:38 am GMT

    Holyyyy..... I cant imagine what kind of computer we need to run this game. is it gonna be crysis 3 or what ?

  • modem22

    Posted Apr 1, 2009 11:10 pm GMT

    OMG I had a little incident just watching this video. Crytek is amazing, gaining ground on Unreal engine. Hope it gets more usage for other games besides FPS.

  • crudmanIV

    Posted Apr 1, 2009 10:45 pm GMT

    Wow, truly destructible environments. Can't wait to see what they do with this. Those tree animations at 1:30 were beautiful. Thats what games need these days REAL PHYSICS.

  • wrekingkrew

    Posted Apr 1, 2009 10:18 pm GMT

    Just think if this is true that the new engine can run on all 3 systems (PC 360 PS3) equally with no major modifications, it turns the gaming industry on its head. No more exclusives. Any game made with this engine instantly comes out for all systems. (Unless MS throws a bunch of money the developers way to make it 360 only like they do now) Any little developer makes a game they no longer have to deside which platform to support the most just make the game, market it to everyone, all gamers enjoy. Its a win -win for all. The 360 fans out there get another game, PS3 fans get more games (biggest prob with the PS3 is lack of games) PC gamers get probably something different to play other than a WW2 shooter. I can't wait to see if this is gonna work. BTW I own all three platforms.

  • 24k_Solid_Gold

    Posted Apr 1, 2009 6:25 pm GMT

    ...SWEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!

  • Spidy2150

    Posted Apr 1, 2009 3:22 pm GMT

    The Cell processor has 8 SPE's, or cores as I called them. Each acts like a single standalone processor.

    Only 7 are operating at a time. 1 SPE is used by the system itself, 6 are available to be used in running the game, and 1 is redundant in case one of the other SPE's fail, it can take over.

    Excuse my faulty reference joevit and obviously that makes me stupid.....

    One can only hope Crysis runs on consoles so that they can stop complaining...which I don't understand why you do when console lovers call it such a horrible game.....that has yet to be understood.

    "the game looked roughly about as good as Crysis with high quality settings"

    hmmm which if anyone looks at comparison screenshots with ultra quality you will notice the huge difference in all aspects of the game as compared to high quality. I am curious to see where this leads, if they can optimize the engine enough to run on consoles, then PC's should be able to move into yet another generation of graphics and gameplay quality which Crysis did for this generation

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