AMD: three more blockbuster games titles with Mantle support

by Mark Tyson on 26 June 2014, 12:46

Tags: AMD (NYSE:AMD), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), DICE+, PC

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AMD has announced another batch of games that will support Mantle, its "groundbreaking graphics API". These games are all EA titles, powered by DICE's Frostbite 3 graphics engine. The three games are; Battlefield Hardline, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. AMD also took the opportunity to boast that it is not just relying upon EA support, there are now over "50 active developers now supporting Mantle".

Battlefield Hardline was officially confirmed in the run up to the recent E3 show. EA's Battlefield 4 saw the launch of the AMD Mantle API in a game and it is also used in this cops 'n' robbers game spinoff based on Battlefield FPS mechanics. The game is said to follow detective "Nick Mendoza's journey on a cross-country vendetta against once-trusted colleagues of the force". This is a predictable addition to the roster of over 40 games so far launched supporting Mantle.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is a new game in the series from BioWare which is said to offer "an unparalleled story set in a vast, changeable landscape". The Guardian thinks this game might reach the heights that the previous games in the series merely aspired to. So if you are an RPG fan this might be one to watch out for. Supporting Mantle, it might also be eminently playable on lower end AMD powered machines.

While we weren't surprised to see an upcoming Battlefield game, based upon the Frostbite 3 engine, again supporting AMD's Mantle API - the Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare announcement caused a slightly raised eyebrow. However this game isn't the tower-defence style mobile/tablet game you might know that the series is famous for, it's a 3D first-person shooter. Actually this PC Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare title was formerly an Xbox exclusive. This PopCap produced game was reviewed by Joystiq and said to be a surprisingly good title with fun and depth with a cartoony aesthetic.



HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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Posted by scaryjim - Thu 26 Jun 2014 13:00
Hmmm, the plants v zombies announcement might actually be the biggest of these three, because it's the kind of game that is more likely to be picked up by casual gamers and for children - i.e. those with a lower hardware budget/specification. Perhaps this time we'll get some sensible mantle comparisons - I'd love to see the performance difference in, says, plants v. zombies on comparable priced Intel, Kabini, and Kabini + Mantle laptops… I know from experience that Intel's cheaper mobile Pentium chips are graphically hamstrung….
Posted by crossy - Thu 26 Jun 2014 13:52
Plants v's Zombies = “Halo: Gardeners World Edition” in my book. LOL

Then again SWMBO will probably ban me from getting it, since she's accusing me of being “obsessed” by PvZ2 because I play the daily challenge.
Posted by mtyson - Thu 26 Jun 2014 13:57
AMD just sent us a couple of PvZ performance charts:

Posted by Terbinator - Thu 26 Jun 2014 14:07
scaryjim
Hmmm, the plants v zombies announcement might actually be the biggest of these three, because it's the kind of game that is more likely to be picked up by casual gamers and for children - i.e. those with a lower hardware budget/specification….

The reason the three games are supported is because they're all Frostbite engine games. I'm not sure the requirements would be any lower for PvZ than they would be for BFH.
Posted by scaryjim - Thu 26 Jun 2014 14:32
Terbinator
The reason the three games are supported is because they're all Frostbite engine games. I'm not sure the requirements would be any lower for PvZ than they would be for BFH.

It wasn't that I thought the minimum specs for running the games would be different as much as the average spec of the machine the game is likely to be played on will be lower - Battlefield and DA franchises will appeal to more serious gamers who'll already have decent gaming rigs, while PvZ is more likely to be picked up by casual or young gamers who'll have a much more basic machine. So good performance on lower-spec machines is more important to PvZ. That said, I suspect the cartoony style will mean lower polygon models and less complex textures and shading, so I personally would expect PvZ to have lower minimum specs, tbh…. ;)