Looking for accurate physics in games?
With more and more games trying to be as close to real life as possible, physics engines are getting ever more accurate, allowing for all manner of realistic interactions.
From rag-doll physics to projectile accuracy, we’ve taken a look at some of the best games that make use of accurate physics engines. The Source engine is, of course, here, but there’s much more to discover.
Games with accurate physics engines can offer a more immersive, engaging experience, and help to breathe life into games. Physics-based games can also enhance gameplay, whether that’s through hilarious rag-doll physics, or the construction of complex physics-based puzzles, so we’ve put together a list of the best games with accurate physics, including some of the most popular PC games.
Here are the most accurate physics engines in games:
Valve, Half-Life series
It’s not just physics that Valve excels at, but there’s no denying that the game-changing Gravity Gun from the original Half-Life is a game-changer. The physics-based weapon allows the player to pick up objects and people, and fling them across the map in whatever direction they choose.
While the series is more about shooting rather than puzzles, the Gravity Gun does come into play with plenty of game-based physics puzzles, and it’s still being used to this day in the multiplayer game, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs and Amnesia: The Dark Descent
The Amnesia games aren’t all about physics (well, not if you don’t count the physics of the power of terror), but there are some neat physics-based puzzles here and there. The first game in the series, A Machine For Pigs and The Dark Descent, put a lot of emphasis on building structures and traversing the landscape, and that often relies on understanding and utilising physics.
In The Dark Descent, for example, you’ll often have to move heavy objects to create bridges or ramps, or find a way to move objects through complicated passages. It’s all very simple, but it requires an understanding of basic physics, and it helps you to feel like you’re really manipulating the world around you.
Valve, Half-Life 2
While the original Half-Life focused on gravity and physics, Half-Life 2 introduces much more realistic physics-based combat. Rather than just shooting a few bullets and causing a body to slump to the ground, each shot from the pistol or crowbar causes a violent, somewhat comical rag doll animation, with the enemy’s body flying through the air, landing on the ground, and sliding along the surface.
The physics of combat are taken to the next level in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, where every shot fired, whether it’s from your gun or your grenades, has to be accounted for. Each gun has a specific rate of fire and each grenade has a specific velocity, and with all these variables, each combat round can go very differently, with your enemy awkwardly rolling around on the ground, or flying through the air and landing somewhere completely unexpected.
Bossa Studios, Human Fall Flat
Human Fall Flat is all about rag-doll physics, but not just for comedic effect. In fact, it’s rather the opposite; you’ll need to use rag doll physics to solve some of the game’s physics-based puzzles. Most of the game’s puzzles are physics-based obstacle courses, and you’ll need to use the environment to create ramps, slides, and all manner of contraptions in order to get your character to the goal.
It’s certainly a bit weird at first, but you’ll quickly get the hang of it, and it’s truly hilarious when you have to use your character’s rag doll physics in creative ways.
Monolith, Condemned: Criminal Origins
Condemned: Criminal Origins is all about using objects in the environment to create brutally realistic combat. Rather than just shooting a bunch of bad guys and moving on, you’ll need to go through a trial-and-error process of learning how to use the world around you to fight back.
It’s a surprisingly deep combat system, and a lot of it relies on the physics engine to create a realistic experience. Whether you’re throwing a rock or a piece of wood at your enemy, knocking them down with a car, or chucking a table at them, every attack causes a realistic reaction from your enemy, so you’ll have to learn how to use that to your advantage.
Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto series
When it comes to driving, physics is a key part of the experience. You’re not just looking to get from A to B, you’re aiming to get there in the most stylish way possible, with the fastest route, avoiding obstacles, and making the most of your car’s unique abilities.
