cRPG Destructibility

By Destructibility, I mean the ability to reshape the landscape, impact the environment and alter the flow of cRPG battles with spells, grenades and high-powered weapons. Imagine being able to drill tunnels through rock with laser cannons and completely level buildings in order to get at the enemies holed up within them? Well, that's the province of only a few tactical games.

But what is so good about destructible environments as it pertains to cRPG Design?

Simply put, blasts can reshape battlefields and change the battle's dynamics. The cool thing is that we don't always need to find the front door: plant some TNT and blow a gaping bloody hole in the wall. There's your door.

In X-COM: UFO Defense, tiles representing terrain, structures and objects are destructible. That is, they can be destroyed by inflicting enough damage on them by way of firearms or explosives. Such tiles do not weaken or wear down by inflicting damage on them over time; instead, they are destroyed when the damage from a projectile or blast equals or exceeds their fixed armor rating, which varies depending on what material the tile is flagged as being made of. If the damage does not equal or exceed a tile's AR, it remains unimpacted.

In Jagged Alliance 2, explosive experts can plant shape charges, TNT and C4 in order to give enemy forces the surprise of a lifetime. Fuel tanks and other flammable objects can also be targeted by gunfire. We can set off chain reactions that blow holes in structures and incinerate the occupants holed up inside. We can also bring fragmentation grenades to the party.

In addition, bullets can pierce through glass panels: You are at the rear of a building. The enemy is at the front of the building. You see him through the window on your wall and the window on his, opposite wall. You snipe at him. Your bullet shatters the window at your end, travels through the building, shatters the window at the other end, and drops the enemy on the front lawn. 

Deus Ex 1 destructibility is limited in that we can only destroy enemies, some placeables and doors (not walls and buildings).

cf. 

• GEP Gun Deus Ex 1
• LAM Deus Ex 1
• Law Deus Ex 1

On the other hand, Silent Storm is famous for its demolitions and destructibility. Almost everything that can be seen can be destroyed. Wood, concrete, metal, glass; all are fair game. Unlike X-COM, destructibles have HPs and soak, not fixed armor ratings. That is, if we lack a Bazooka, we can wear them down over time with sustained fire from a machinegun.

The screencap below depicts a devastating laser-beam fired at an enemy standing in front of gas cylinders stacked on a forklift:

A massive explosion rips though an entire wing of a sprawling facility. Chunks of concrete rain down and choking dust fills the air:

Aftermath: It wiped out sections of the upper storeys and blew off part of the roof as well:

The destructibility in X-COM: Apocalypse carries through multiple levels as well. We can switch levels to watch the destructibles crash down through them. But it's not all about bricks and concrete: in one outdoor mission, the squad engaged in what amounts to deforestation. In terms of mass destruction and verticality, X-COM: Apoc gives even Silent Storm a run for its money.

Scripted Destructibility

On the other hand, destroying the barricade to gain access to the Mariposa military base in Fallout 2 is not an example of genuine destructibility as it is merely scripted: sprite explosion overlay and bitmap replacement.

Placeable Destructibility

While destructible placeables represent a limited form of destructibility in general cRPGs, they can be assigned hitpoint and damage reduction values, and can be useful in limiting avenue of approach:

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