Unreal Engine 5 certainly is pretty, as The Coalition’s new UE5 tech demo shows.
The tech demo, from the developers of Gears of War, is relatively short but undeniably eye-catching, featuring a couple of scenery fly-throughs, a close-up of a face and a short where an explore waves a big chunk of crystal at the smog monster from Lost.
That said, while The Coalition are happy about the results (you can read an interview with tech director Kate Raynor here) we’re not sure we want to think about the meat men from Gears of War running around in Unreal Engine 5. Yes, Epic Games, you should be proud of what you’ve accomplished and what it’ll mean for next-generation gaming. But we don’t really need to see every drop of sweat on Marcus Feenix’s squat, sausage-meat face.
Unreal Engine 5 will also run on “last” gen consoles, though the more power you have the prettier UE5 games will look. There’s also the issue of frame rate – as impressive as the tech demo, dubbed “The Cavern” looks, it’s a cinematic tech demo so there’s relatively little else going on.
If, on the other hand, there were fighter jets soaring around the canyon or enemies dashing towards you, the engine would have a lot more to handle. If you want a more representative take on what Unreal Engine 5 can do in-game, take look at The Matrix Awakens interactive demo, available free for PS5 and Xbox One.
