As video game fans wait to see what exactly Microsoft and Sony have in store for the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4, people want to know exactly what these next-generation systems are capable of. Sony showed off a few demos of titles at its February PlayStation 4 event, but, needless to say, it wasn't enough for most enthusiasts. That's where Epic's Unreal Engine 4 comes in.
At the 2013 Game Developers Conference, the team behind the popular Unreal Engine 3 (which powered heavyweight titles such as Gears of War) revealed two demos, one running on actual PS4 hardware and another one that they expect will run on Sony's console without a hitch.
The first video was dubbed the "Elemental" demo (first video below), and was running on PS4 hardware. Though video game followers will recognize the demo from last year, this time it's running on Sony's console and not on a PC, establishing the fact that Epic can get its technology up and running on the PS4 (and presumably, the Xbox 720).
Meanwhile, Epic Vice President Mark Rein was asked point-blank if the new demo (called "Infiltrator" - second video below) would run on next-gen systems like Xbox 720 and PS4.
"Well, let's put it this way," he began, according to Eurogamer. "Last year we saw the Elemental demo running on the same piece of hardware and this year we saw the Elemental running on PS4, so I'd say draw your own conclusions... The feeling around Epic on Infiltrator is that this is the pipeline, this is the way we're going to work, making games that are going to have this kind of feel to them, this much detail, this many shadows and it'll just get better and better as we optimise the engine further and further."
That's a long way to basically say "yes," but if Epic can scale Infiltrator down like it did with Elemental, it's got a good shot at being the foundational engine for many next-gen PS4 and Xbox 720 games, just like it was for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Epic's Alan Willard detailed many new Unreal Engine 4 aspects, then showed off Infiltrator as an example of what the tech could do.
"A lot of the features that I showed you — thing like the reflections and the IES profiles — they're all here," he said. "As [the protagonist] steps through the cloaking field you actually see the boot reflected in the wet panelling below. And this is all throughout the demonstration. And some of them come across as somewhat subtle, but without them your eye would notice the difference."
No official Unreal Engine 4 games were revealed at GDC, but with the Xbox 720 reveal supposedly happening in April, it may not be too long before we find out more information.
