Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are obvious picks. Both use physics really well in puzzle solving and manipulating the environment. Especially Tears of the Kingdom, where you can rewind time on objects, basically reversing physics.
Another pick I’d choose is Human Fall Flat, because it’s all about controlling ragdoll physics.
What would you pick as games that use physics creatively?
From a historical perspective, Half-Life 2 with the gravity gun was a big step forward.
Zola said:
From a historical perspective, Half-Life 2 with the gravity gun was a big step forward.
Yeah, not just the gravity gun, there were also physics puzzles with things like seesaws. Portal 2 really took Valve’s physics to the next level.
Valve really set a new standard for physics in games when they were still making them.
Zola said:
From a historical perspective, Half-Life 2 with the gravity gun was a big step forward.
I’m not sure if Half-Life 2 was the first to do that kind of physics, but it’s crazy how most other games after it didn’t do physics as well. I wish more games focused on fun physics instead of just realism. Ragdolls are hilarious.
@Jai
I think the first Hitman game actually had ragdoll physics first.
@Jai
The issue with making great physics is that you need a ground-up approach. It’s especially hard to get anything that isn’t completely solid interacting right.
That’s why Portal gets away with it, since the cubes are simple with basic physics, and the turrets are mostly just shapes. The gels might look cool, but they’re actually a bit of a trick with separate systems controlling different aspects. It’s ironic because while the game feels super ‘physics-y’, it’s really doing a lot of simplification under the hood.
Valve just does it all so well because they take their time and design things on paper first before starting development.
Zola said:
From a historical perspective, Half-Life 2 with the gravity gun was a big step forward.
Yeah, not just the gravity gun but the ragdolls too.
Zola said:
From a historical perspective, Half-Life 2 with the gravity gun was a big step forward.
Yeah, not just the gravity gun but the ragdolls too.
They’ve been innovating that since Half-Life 1. The sound of the ragdolls glitching is still iconic. Don’t forget the healthpack wall too!
Zola said:
From a historical perspective, Half-Life 2 with the gravity gun was a big step forward.
Also, I don’t see many games that use buoyancy as well as Half-Life 2 did, especially with that air boat ramp puzzle.
Zola said:
From a historical perspective, Half-Life 2 with the gravity gun was a big step forward.
What is HL?
Zola said:
From a historical perspective, Half-Life 2 with the gravity gun was a big step forward.
What is HL?
Bruh…
I’m thinking of those games where boobs and butts jiggle.
Oakley said:
I’m thinking of those games where boobs and butts jiggle.
Left for Dead: Beach Volleyball. I just played it because I like volleyball…
Oakley said:
I’m thinking of those games where boobs and butts jiggle.
Left for Dead: Beach Volleyball. I just played it because I like volleyball…
You’re thinking of Dead or Alive, not Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead is the zombie co-op shooter.
@Ridley
Now I wanna see Coach play against a Smoker and dunk on that fool.
In Flatout 2, there’s a challenge where you need to hit a wall and launch the driver as high as possible. Pretty fun.
Conley said:
In Flatout 2, there’s a challenge where you need to hit a wall and launch the driver as high as possible. Pretty fun.
Oh yeah, I remember that one! It was definitely a cool challenge!
BeamNG Drive has the most realistic physics I’ve seen. It’s mind-blowing. I feel lucky to be playing it in a time when vehicles move so realistically. Before that, Portal was amazing. Heck, even the physics in San Francisco Rush were incredible back in the 90’s!
Portal
Superliminal. No question.