Capcom's New Panta Rhei Engine Will Work Wonders in PS4 Exclusive Deep Down

Capcom's free-to-play dungeon crawler Deep Down has us utterly conflicted. On the one hand, the game's random dungeon generator and next-gen idiosyncrasies have us giddy with excitement. On the other, we've yet to learn just how the title will be monetised, which ultimately could make or break the entire experience. What can't be denied, though, is that the role-playing adventure has absolutely stunning visuals. And if you don't believe us, take a look at this recent screenshot that demonstrates the game's ability to render terrifyingly detailed giant spider monsters. Eugh.

If you're dying to know where to point the finger for that horrific arachnid, look no further than Capcom's brand new graphics engine, Panta Rhei. The absurdly attractive engine was developed with next-gen firmly in mind, and a new post on the company's official site has revealed just what to expect from the fledgling system. “The amount of work involved in making games for next-gen consoles is eight to ten times greater than what is required for the current generation of consoles,” senior manager Masaru Ijuin noted. "If we create games the same way as before, we won’t be able to give our fans what they want, and that’s games unlike any that they have ever played. We think that we should view this new hardware as an opportunity to tackle new challenges.”

And Panta Rhei seems to be that challenge, with Ijuin outlining the power and speed that the new engine can provide his team."Panta Rhei is designed to unlock the full potential of hardware and maximize the rendering power of next-gen consoles," he continued. "It also reduces the iterations in developing games for next-gen consoles." To demonstrate this, the manager described a T-junction in Deep Down that features fire billowing realistically around its corners. He asserts that this sort of fluid fire effect would not have been possible on last-gen engines. While it certainly isn't as exciting or immediate as yesterday's humongous spider, it's little touches like this that will undoubtedly create a fuller and richer graphical palette going forward.

Are you getting excited for Deep Down, or are you too busy having petrifying nightmares about giant killer spiders? Hack 'n' slash in the comments section below.