History 101: Destructible Environments in Videogames
Creating non-scripted destructible environments that are both fun and realistic, yet limited enough so that the player can’t break the game has been a serious challenge in the past. But many games have gotten them right, and thus have been a blast to play.
Since gaming started to take off in the ’80s, through the transition from 2D to 3D in the mid-’90s, and into today’s high definition, online multiplayer epics, developers have been able to utilize increasingly powerful hardware to create destructible environments. Brace yourself for some of the best videogame titles in the last couple decades to offer gamers the ultimate in the art of destroying, pulverizing, annihilating and exploding polygons.
This arcade classic was one of the earliest to feature actual destructible buildings. The simple premise of selecting one of the three huge monsters and climbing on and knocking down buildings, eating people, and destroying vehicles was immense fun and ahead of the curve for its time.
Rampage was later ported over to home consoles like the NES and Sega Master System, and also received sequels on the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and most recently, the Nintendo Wii.
