OMG! This gaem looks outdated!

[MisterStone]

A twenty-something guy who looks like an MTV-presenter out hunting da evil terrorists and spouting cheesy lines. Yawn. I hate those dumb fucking b-grade series when I see them on TV and I sure as hell wouldn't want to act in one.

Take "24" instead. A haggard alcoholic man who'd slit your throat for the greater good. He's a guy who seriously consider blowing himself up and leaving his daughter to cry instead of dealing with his problems. That's fucking DRAMA. That's something I can watch without feeling I have to put on make-up and become metrosexual.

When I'm looking at the screen shot below I know what will happen. The guy will kill the terrorist and he'll get his cheerleader girlfriend to fuck him at prom night. No mystery, no thought. He's the hero of the 'Pink shirts really do accent the blue in my eyes'-generation.

Matt Damon is to blame for all of this.

 

[elander_]

The only thing those graphics need is a little bloom to look next-gen, that's all.

 

[-Pavlos-]

It's long known that unoriginal story isn't a problem anymore once you convince them with hawt, visceral action and clever usage of next-gen GPU features.

I don't think you should put an emphasis on the story being 'original', to be honest. Some of the greatest works of literature are entirely unoriginal; some don't even have plots... they're just character studies.

Everything, to me, is in the execution and the characters. Hamlet isn't interesting because it's a revenge tragedy, it's interesting because the protagonist is Hamlet. Similarly, System Shock 2 isn't thrilling to play because the idea of being alone on a ship filled with corpses and zombies is original. It probably pulls every haunted house trick in the book. It even has ghosts, for crying out loud. It's a thrill because of the excellent implementation of those aspects and because of the weird dominatrix that is SHODAN. Naturally, the idea of a god without the power is probably one of the oldest ideas out there but the implementation, the exploration of the psychology, and the themes raised by that idea are what makes it interesting.

Yes I did just use System Shock 2 and Hamlet in the same paragraph.

 

[spiwak]

Bloom is perhaps the dumbest graphical concept, anyway. What it's mimicking is photographic exposure limitations (i.e. if you expose for dark areas then the light areas will be totally white-washed).... but that's not how we see at all, since our eyes re-expose all the time. Just goes to show that the video game has its head up the cinema's ass, going for "photorealism" and scope in place of sheer fun and gameplay.

 

[obediah]

http://www.actiontrip.com/rei/comments_news.phtml?id=060208_5

Alpha Protocol, the company's upcoming spy-themed RPG. Visually, they could also make a better effort, because right now -- judging from the latest screenshots -- the game looks a wee bit outdated.

What the fuck is with this "dated" concept and how did it manage to crawl into the gaming industry and pretty much ruin it?

Maybe you are new to FPS games, but graphics escalation has been a big part of them since the beginnings ~15 years ago. Obsidian made a decision to move into that market, and they knew this was part of it.

 

[Texas Red]

Bloom is perhaps the dumbest graphical concept, anyway. What it's mimicking is photographic exposure limitations (i.e. if you expose for dark areas then the light areas will be totally white-washed).... but that's not how we see at all, since our eyes re-expose all the time. Just goes to show that the video game has its head up the cinema's ass, going for "photorealism" and scope in place of sheer fun and gameplay.

What the fuck are you guys always on about? When I take a photo it comes out the way I see it no matter what the conditions are. Are your camera 40 years old or something?

 

[Sir_Brennus]

bloom is often used to cover graphics issues and the lack of graphical quality. there's no other point in it - it even doesn't look realistic.
some devs take it to extremes - too bad you don't know what is Lada Racing Club.

f.e. disable bloom in Mass Effect through *.ini file and it will look even worse than AP.
the games use the same engine.

It actually has a point that makes sense from an artistic point of view - it provides a dreamlike-fairyworld atmosphere.

Look at Gods - Lands of Infinity.

Compare it with Zanzarah. This game would've needed bloom but was created before the effect got 3D standard.

IMHO this one of the few meaningful uses of bloom, though.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

And #1:

"1. World of Warcraft "

How the fuck has WoW been influential to RPGs?

It prints money, you know

And proves that a chat program with integrated E-penis waving is something people will pay money bi-monthly...

 

[Longshanks]

IMHO this one of the few meaningful uses of bloom, though.

I thought the howls of "dated" were a lot of whining about nothing, but looking at this screenshot, I can't help but agree with them, and it's not just the lack of bloom.
Also what's with the fantasy shit? I thought this was a modern-day spy RPG?

 

[Sir_Brennus]

Also what's with the fantasy shit? I thought this was a modern-day spy RPG?

FACEPALM

 

[Binary]

TBH I love 2d and couldn't care less about gfx... but bad 3D is usually painful for the eyes (read Descent to Undermountain etc)

I guess the posters thought the gfx were muddy and dark for the European market and they hoped for more colorful and cheerful American gfx ;-)

 

[Vault Dweller]

http://www.actiontrip.com/rei/comments_news.phtml?id=060208_5

Alpha Protocol, the company's upcoming spy-themed RPG. Visually, they could also make a better effort, because right now -- judging from the latest screenshots -- the game looks a wee bit outdated.

What the fuck is with this "dated" concept and how did it manage to crawl into the gaming industry and pretty much ruin it?

Maybe you are new to FPS games, but graphics escalation has been a big part of them since the beginnings ~15 years ago. Obsidian made a decision to move into that market, and they knew this was part of it.

I'm not talking about graphics escalation. I'm talking about rejecting games with last year's graphics. As for shooters, neither Doom 3 or Crysis did well. Serious Sam, on the other hand, featured dated graphics but was a blast to play.

 

[MetalCraze]

VD there's a reason for why it is called mainstream. it's like with the pop music scene - a tune which is 2 months old considered... old.

 

[gamefan]

The game looks fine

 

[Soulforged]

A twenty-something guy who looks like an MTV-presenter out hunting da evil terrorists and spouting cheesy lines. Yawn. I hate those dumb fucking b-grade series when I see them on TV and I sure as hell wouldn't want to act in one.

Take "24" instead. A haggard alcoholic man who'd slit your throat for the greater good. He's a guy who seriously consider blowing himself up and leaving his daughter to cry instead of dealing with his problems. That's fucking DRAMA. That's something I can watch without feeling I have to put on make-up and become metrosexual.

And that's why roleplaying was invented, so you could play that way if you so wished.

 

[Section8]

I can't really fault your rant, Mountain West. But:

Take "24" instead. A haggard alcoholic man who'd slit your throat for the greater good. He's a guy who seriously consider blowing himself up and leaving his daughter to cry instead of dealing with his problems.

Noah Bennett would fucking ruin Jack Bauer's shit in an instant.

 

[SimpleComplexity]

KOTOR Spoiler:

Spoiler

nah just joking, scans from the Game Informer article

meeped.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/1b/1b0e2da261f60c4f9ec064ce079308a242e9b134.jpg
meeped.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/d5/d5a341f4151fe0eda56663f37b196b48c255df37.jpg
kalleboo.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/26/26d4bd7f19b50ecc475aa1d279a39ab4341a42fe.jpg
meeped.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/fe/febc63e7645b6e6bc3e2f6a8c8a961a79964cb28.jpg
ft.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/65/650b7c0765282d85d4d5f8d031b2e7d7d7191d8b.jpg
meeped.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/e4/e4357226a12020afb17c2029be9dbb0754ede2e3.jpg

Also, AP quote

"We had a mana bar for a while" admits Chris Parker "We decided it was dumb."

No way we are going to hear that sentence from Bethesda.

 

[Fez]

What the fuck are you guys always on about? When I take a photo it comes out the way I see it no matter what the conditions are. Are your camera 40 years old or something?

You don't know what you are talking about.

 

[Surgey]

Game fucking looks like shit. See ya!

 

[Faceless]

 

[MisterStone]

meeped.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/e4/e4357226a12020afb17c2029be9dbb0754ede2e3.jpg

Oh Jeezus. Emo chicks.

 

[MetalCraze]

gotta bag them all

 

[MountainWest]

Noah Bennett would fucking ruin Jack Bauer's shit in an instant.

I'm still not sure if Bennets love for Claire is just, you know, fatherly love.

OMG It's leik a totally differnt gaem!!! All he needs is now a lit cigarett, or perhaps a badass pipe, dangling from the corner of his mouth and it'll be the best game EVAR.

 

[Faceless]

Nah resting behind his ear until he's done with the guy impersonating a Tuskan Raider from Star Wars would be much more badass.

Seriously though, wtf is either of them doing?

I'm pretty sure Tuskan has got the holding a gun bit wrong. Actually, upon closer inspection you can see that he isn't even holding it! I guess the pressure got to him and it slipped out of both of his hands... Then there's Metro who looks like he's about to stab that mofo with his pistol. Not what you traditionally do with a gun. They're also standing awfully close for two people holding projectile weapons.

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

That's dated? I don't even know what's progressed since Source came out because I haven't noticed any (positive) diffrence.