Go Under the Hood of Unreal Engine 3 in a Jaw-Dropping Trailer

I don't know what half of these graphics terms mean, but they sure do look pretty.

We can probably all agree that the recent CryEngine 3 and Unreal Engine 3 trailers were both stunningly gorgeous, but they were obviously aimed at different markets. The CryEngine trailer was an obvious tech demo, boasting all of the engine's technological features to convince developers to use it for their game; the Unreal trailer was more like a cinematic from a videogame.

Well, it's Unreal's turn to give a tech-focused trailer, and Epic's engine doesn't disappoint. As an Epic employee informed us on the forums, the earlier trailer was indeed running in real time - but it's not until we see the engine like this that it's very easy to wrap our minds around.

This behind-the-scenes video debuted last week on Kotaku, and it is staggeringly gorgeous. This is the power of Unreal and DX 11, and it makes my computer's poor video card squeal in terror just watching it.

It's also surprisingly lush for an Unreal Engine video. What happened to my gunmetal gray and chest-high walls? Oh wait, there they are. Phew, I was getting worried for a moment.