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Let's Get PhysXcal

At Game Developers Conference almost a year ago, NetDevil's Scott Brown described Warmonger Operation: Downtown Destruction as a tentative step towards PhysX-hardware enabled combat in MMORPGs. Warmonger, a freeware multiplayer FPS title available only to players whose systems boast an Ageia PhysX card, truly offers exciting new possibilities for gaming. But does the promise of PhysX pan out?

It's in the tutorial that you'll get your first hint of PhysX's influence. One enemy will set himself in ambush behind a ragged cloth curtain. You can't see him, he can't see you, but he can sure shoot you if he has a general idea of where you are (or the magazine capacity to suppress your approach while his teammates close in). Fortunately, a hail of gunfire will reduce this hiding spot to shreds, and this might be a good preemptive strategy when you spot a curtain and you're unsure of who's owns the ground ahead. But hosing down the curtain may reveal your position and bring unwanted attention. It's this kind of back-and-forth that fires the imagination for what PhysX could bring to gaming if developers follow Netdevil's lead in giving this technology a chance.

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