I disagree. Having a familiar enemy type representing the game's introduction to produce a small sense of iconic feeling as opposed to force-feeding CHANGE, CHANGE EVERYWHERE seems perfectly reasonable to me. Don't get me wrong - change in the series is fantastic and what we've been presented with so far from 343 is great and a nice step up from Bungie's recent stuff, but none of this should be overused and abused for the sheer sake of it. I want my Halo to still be recognizable as, well, Halo, and placing the Covenant in at least the beginning stages of the Reclaimer trilogy is the perfect way to do that. It's not like they'll be playing a role as supposedly gargantuan as the new enemy type.
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New Halo 4 Screenshots (Grunt new design revealed)
- Thread starter Plywood
- Start date
I disagree. Having a familiar enemy type representing the game's introduction to produce a small sense of iconic feeling as opposed to force-feeding CHANGE, CHANGE EVERYWHERE seems perfectly reasonable to me. Don't get me wrong - change in the series is fantastic and what we've been presented with so far from 343 is great and a nice step up from Bungie's recent stuff, but none of this should be overused and abused for the sheer sake of it. I want my Halo to still be recognizable as, well, Halo, and placing the Covenant in at least the beginning stages of the Reclaimer trilogy is the perfect way to do that. It's not like they'll be playing a role as supposedly gargantuan as the new enemy type.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Gaming-Side AMIRITE
Buckethead
Banned
Sure if you want to look at art from the soulless, corporate, financially driven perspective.
NullPointer
Member
Shots are fucking gorgeous. Here's hoping the actual game looks very close to that on my TV. Been burned by theater mode shots too many times now.
But 720p and AA gives me hope.
But 720p and AA gives me hope.
Well I admit I was looking at the business side when making my post. However even when looking at it artistically, art is hardly really held back by technical limitations. So your original post still doesn't apply.
You can make a great looking game with great art using OK tech, but an ugly game with amazing tech rendering OK art.
Syphon Filter
Member
Hmm don't really like the reptile style skin but it's ok. Seems like they are changing things just for the sake of changing it.
NullPointer
Member
Don't like the new look of the grunts at all but I really have to see these guys in motion to be sure. That and the duck-bill elite looks gooby. And the default spartan helmet is crap.
Besides that I absolutely love everything I'm seeing.
Besides that I absolutely love everything I'm seeing.
Both correct and incorrect.
Perhaps to clarify my earlier comments I'm kind of a tech geek, I read siggraph papers and I carried on with Metroid Squadron about the merits of Battlefield 3 and Crysis 2's separate techniques and their advantages/disadvantages. Now, I don't think a Halo title has ever really held the title of the best looking 360 game. Not with 3, not with ODST and not with Reach and it doesn't seem like 343 is going to change that with 4 (feel free to disagree with me on any of these points). However when they launched 3 they actually had some very cool technical features which may or may not have been good ideas in terms of the visual presentation as a whole(the cost of IQ and other competing effects might not have been worth the benefit of cook torrance and hdr). With this title I don't see it setting any bars for either visual or technical excellence, I may yet be proved wrong but from the little we've seen I don't see anything that I find particularly impressive on the rendering side of things. I'm also a little disappointed that they're continuing to transition Cortana into pure sex object.
This is not to say that others cannot be impressed, perhaps they are using a different criteria or perhaps as long-time Halo players they have a vision in their heads of what it might actually be like to play this game. It doesn't matter why, they are free to be impressed but their ideas do not invalidate my own (or vice versa).
higherARC05
Banned
Ya Graphically Delicious
Their 40% speed increased FXAA sampling sure makes this game jaggy free. LOVE IT
Full clip shown at Conan
FunkyMunkey
Banned
The grunts look even more like the nasty little assholes they are described as in the books, so I'm OK with that.
And the HUD is giving me Metroid Prime feelings... which I am VERY VERY OK with
. Hopefully it moves/shifts slightly when running, jumping, etc.
Yeah, agreed with those.
And the HUD is giving me Metroid Prime feelings... which I am VERY VERY OK with
. Hopefully it moves/shifts slightly when running, jumping, etc.Yeah, agreed with those.
abacab driver
Banned
The game looks undeniably good.
Who knows what the campaign looks like come E3 (it very well could look better than anyone expected).
Detractors need to save some energy for when that time comes, they'll need it.
Who knows what the campaign looks like come E3 (it very well could look better than anyone expected).
Detractors need to save some energy for when that time comes, they'll need it.
Kibbles
Member
^@ The gif posted above, love the death animation
Those complaining about them being high-resolution bullshots with no aliasing, well here's an in-game capture, full size in motion. It even has jaggies for you. Mind you, it's also a 256 lossy gif. It still looks great to me. (edit: This is old footage before they had an AA solution)
Those complaining about them being high-resolution bullshots with no aliasing, well here's an in-game capture, full size in motion. It even has jaggies for you. Mind you, it's also a 256 lossy gif. It still looks great to me. (edit: This is old footage before they had an AA solution)
asclepio_gtr
Member
DAT HOVER ARMOR
ViewtifulJC
Banned
dem shoulder pads
Ya Graphically Delicious
Their 40% speed increased FXAA sampling sure makes this game jaggy free. LOVE IT
Full clip shown at Conan
hm... funny thing is that early Reach footage had self-shadows on the view weapon too...
Biggest-Geek-Ever
Member
I really like the shoulder pads. Gives protection while also offering mobility. In fact, that's why I like most of the armor heh.
This isn't early though, they've been showing more and more recent builds.
I hope they remove it the same, its really distracting. At least make it an option.
TUROK
Member
Do you have a link to that, by any chance?
NullPointer
Member
Please do not listen to this 343. Pretty please.
The Librarian
Banned
It is really distracting but I'd have to see a full match to be sure it isn't annoying.
Just wanted to comment on it already being in the engine before, and they removed it for some reason or other.
I believe it was in the vidocs, SP footage. I remember it being the first level just as you were dropped off the helicopter.
Might have been one reason to remove it in Reach... dunno. It does cost extra perf of course.
edit:
Here it was:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0_jiB2hqeQ#t=55s
You can see the shadowing a bit here and there throughout.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Anybody else think Reach's water doesn't quite measure up to HALO 3's? This always disappointed me. I was wondering where they could go from HALO 3, given how fucking awesome it looked. And it didn't measure up.
BigTnaples
Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
The water was much better in H3, but Reach was better in other areas.
Old consoles, its all about what to compromise.
Halo 4 will have aspects that look worse than Reach, but overall it will look much better.
TUROK
Member
I'd say it's more of an artistic thing (tweakable parameters to the water mesh)... There was the insanely wavey opening in the later level in Reach.
specialguy
Banned
Geez, I forgot how good Reach looked here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0_jiB2hqeQ#t=55s. 4 has the potential to be amazing.
I am excited. I was before sure but the confirmation that there is water? The water? I am down.
Really like Cortana's new look too. She looks crazy sad in one of those screens. It's also weird to think there is probably going to be a lot more dialog in the game overall, particularly from the Chief. I mean, he's never been a silent protagonist but I'm glad that there's going to be more of an engaging deal with him.
All I need now is Jennifer Hale and Nathan Fillion in my game and I'll be happy in the VA department.
Really like Cortana's new look too. She looks crazy sad in one of those screens. It's also weird to think there is probably going to be a lot more dialog in the game overall, particularly from the Chief. I mean, he's never been a silent protagonist but I'm glad that there's going to be more of an engaging deal with him.
All I need now is Jennifer Hale and Nathan Fillion in my game and I'll be happy in the VA department.
I loved Reach but I agree the water wasn't as...soupy (?) as H3 which was a bit of a disappointment.
specialguy
Banned
Halo 3 had perfect Heineken commercial ocean on high ground.
Sorry, but all the oft quoted cliches need to be used here to appropriately address how sexy this game is.
Fap
Jizz in my pants
Dat graphics
Dat cortana
All over my face
Gotf
Seriously, if the game can keep that look and not add too many jaggies in motion, then as far as I'm concerned, the mantle has moved. To think they can have the game lo like that while keeping the Halo feature set boggles the mind, and seriously makes you question what Bungie were doing all that time.
Clearly my friend and I joking about Bungie spending more time having LAN parties than working on Halo may have been more accurate than the joke led us to believe.
Fap
Jizz in my pants
Dat graphics
Dat cortana
All over my face
Gotf
Seriously, if the game can keep that look and not add too many jaggies in motion, then as far as I'm concerned, the mantle has moved. To think they can have the game lo like that while keeping the Halo feature set boggles the mind, and seriously makes you question what Bungie were doing all that time.
Clearly my friend and I joking about Bungie spending more time having LAN parties than working on Halo may have been more accurate than the joke led us to believe.
TUROK
Member
It should be more subtle. The contrast seems
too agressive so it's very distracting.
Yeah, they removed the physics in Reach. Valhalla's stream was amazing, I hope those kind of water physics return, but they might be too taxing for a game that looks like Halo 4 does.
higherARC05
Banned
343Industries FXAA isn't the normal one you seen on consoles. The engineers have made it 40% more better at sampling the jaggies and making a sharper, cleaner image. As you can see in the short gameplay clip there are barely any to be seen.
â Narayan
Member
How is this guy not badass?
Oh god. I remember running the fuck AWAY from this asshole on Legendary mode. Two Betrayals is so amazing on higher difficulties.
Kibbles
Member
Reach has more foliage and better looking AR now. Also, Nightfall looks much better in the final game. The only downgrade I can see from that video to the final product is no self-shadowing.
Zeouterlimits
Member
Kylej would loveknife Frankie.
les papillons sexuels
Banned
this looks pretty meh. They went from creating something that looked original to making it look like an unreal clone. I mean, why get rid off all the elites under-armor, and why keep the methane tank but get rid of the breathing apparatus. These character designs look like they belong in gears of war not halo.