THQ: Metro 2033 To Support 3D Vision, PhysX, DX11

The PC version of 4A Games' upcoming shooter Metro 2033 will support Nvidia's 3D Vision technology, PhysX, and DirectX 11 video cards when it launches next month, publisher THQ confirmed today. Set in post-apocalyptic Moscow, Metro 2033 is the first game from Kiev-based 4A Games, founded by former members of the team from GSC Game World's STALKER: Shadow of Chernoble, which has thematic similarities to Metro -- and which was also published by THQ. Although none of the features announced today are required for the game, THQ says 4A has worked to natively support all of them in the game. 3D Vision is a stereoscopic 3D technology that makes use of polarized glasses and 120Hz monitors, and PhysX is a real-time physics solution that makes use of Nvidia graphics cards for physics hardware acceleration in games. DirectX 11 is the latest version of Microsoft's long-running Windows graphics API, with hardware manufacturers releasing the first wave of supported video cards late last year. Only a few released games support it so far -- notable examples include DIRT 2, Aliens vs. Predator, and the latest in the STALKER series, Call of Pripyat -- but numerous upcoming DirectX 11 games have been announced. "The 4A Engine is one of the most advanced game engines we’ve ever worked with, and with DX11 enabled, Metro 2033 is undoubtedly one of the best looking PC games of 2010," said Tony Tamasi, an SVP at NVIDIA, which develops both 3D Vision and PhysX. "Our engineers have been working closely with 4A Games to ensure that Metro 2033 takes full advantage of some of the spectacular effects made possible with the next generation of DX11 hardware." Metro 2033 is set to ship for PC and Xbox 360 on March 16.