8 Genius Ideas Wasted On Bad Video Games
2. Cloud-Based Destruction - Crackdown 3
Oh, Crackdown 3. You never really stood a chance, did you?
When Microsoft's open-world shooter sequel was first announced, its multiplayer mode was revealed to be employing innovative cloud computing technology to augment its city-wide destruction mechanics.
This would allow for an unprecedented level of detail compared to any game being rendered on a single home system.
Microsoft even boldly claimed that this real-time cloud-driven rendering would provide 20x the power of a single Xbox One.
But with the game's extensive delays came increasing skepticism about the viability of the cloud tech, especially with Microsoft being suspiciously quiet about it in the lead up to Crackdown 3's release.
And indeed, while the concept of farming out intensive environmental destruction certainly seemed interesting, the final game's destruction capabilities were scaled way back compared to the stunning early gameplay footage.
To compound the disappointment, Crackdown 3 suffered from a snoozily generic gameplay loop and boring open world, enough that even the presence of Terry Crews couldn't liven it up.
Cloud-based destruction quickly died a death as a concept, and it's probably because Crackdown 3 showed the industry how challenging it was to implement.