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Any Black Ops 2 Wii U Reviews or Impressions?

Huff

Banned
He said hey guyz none of the press is getting this til tomorrow.

thats it. yal went and acted like little shits for no reason
 

netBuff

Member
Polygon makes it very easy to hate with all of their arrogance and self-important talk.

Listen, I don't know about you, but I felt that "No one is getting code until tomorrow." was a bullshit response to a simple "Any impressions out there?" question. It's pretty much implying that the OP shouldn't look for impressions unless they come from a dedicated games site of the kind that would receive review code. It's also implying that no one in the games journalism world will (nor should) provide coverage for the game until they receive a free copy from the PR department. It's just ludicrous, especially when it comes from a site that claims they're going to shake things up in games journalism or whatever.

You are heavily inferring: What Arthur wrote implies that most reviewers won't provide impressions for a while, as review copies haven't been sent out pre-release.

But even if what you are claiming was his intention: Reading posts in this thread, it is very easy to see why Arthur Gies would think that only gaming journalist will be able to provide reasonable and thought out criticism.

The website took the WiiU gameplay from an user and the Ps3 version from other.
Not even the same capture conditions, bullshit.

People take and run with absurd comparison videos like this one - just think of all the people in the pre-release thread being convinced that the Wii U version of Black Ops 2 is going to feature "more colours" because some idiot YouTuber amateurishly edited together two videos and fucked up saturation in the process.

It's plain to see that both videos are filmed from consoles set to different HDMI reference levels. And let's not ignore other issues like possible compression, different video sizes, mashing together PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, etc.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
He said hey guyz none of the press is getting this til tomorrow.

thats it. yal went and acted like little shits for no reason

The thing is, the OP wasn't asking specifically for press reviews. The game is out in stores as of today. People have it. He was asking for any impressions. Telling us the situation of certain privileged members of the press is pretty damn pointless, wouldn't you say?

If he didn't want to leave it up for interpretation, he should have stated it more clearly. Something like, "We won't have any coverage at Polygon until we get codes from Activision PR. I've heard that other sites won't get anything from Activision PR until tomorrow, either." Even still, my response would have been "who is asking?" to such a statement, but it would have come off as slightly less arrogant.

You are heavily inferring: What Arthur wrote implies that most reviewers won't provide impressions for a while, as review copies haven't been sent out pre-release.

But even if what you are claiming was his intention: Reading posts in this thread, it is very easy to see why Arthur Gies would think that only gaming journalist will be able to provide reasonable and thought out criticism.

Classy.

Whatever. I'll just drop it for now--we're only going to keep disagreeing here. I think his statement was totally out of place and was answering a question that no one asked. I also think him and his site are pretty rubbish, so that obviously colors my opinion. I'll leave it at that and move on.
 

Realyn

Member
Videos seem to make it look great:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0ybjvwkKQs&feature=plcp

This is not split screen mode like the video mentioned further up in the thread.
Poster is on gaf so hopefully Hellish can give us a better idea of the FPS here.

Looks pretty matched to the 360 here.



Ofc it is! Video above is with pad. Pointer controls can be used. Pro controller too.



There is life beyond Polygon.

Clicking somewhere at 2:xx. First thing I see is him firing a RPG on people.

You gotta love console CoD idiots.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Dark10x's comments in the other thread mention the game runs pretty poorly (30 fps in the first level). And it's missing details and has worse lighting.

wiiu

6538a2023de787055862f51204e4e2ad47684061.JPG

360


pretty disappointing
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Just to add to this thread, I've played a couple of missions thus far and it's not good.

The Digital Foundry article featured the first area benchmarked on PS3 and 360. During some of the parts they show the framerate flucuates between 45-50 fps dropping as low as 40-ish on PS3 during the slowest point. On WiiU? Yeah, that same area (right before the chopper) sinks UNDER 30 fps. It's juddery and choppy. On average the framerate seems to spend a lot of time around 50 fps.

Now, it generally doesn't sink THAT low during gameplay but it spends way too much time under 60 fps. The 360 version is much smoother and even the PS3 version seems to have an edge. The image quality seems more in line with 360 at least, which is to say that it's jaggy as hell, but not blurry like 1.02 on PS3.

The shadows are also nasty. Until you stand right up on them, they appear at a very VERY low resolution and only resolve into higher detail when you press your face right up against them.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-black-ops-2-face-off

Regarding those two shots above...

When I returned to that area, the pillows DID appear on WiiU. I don't know why they were missing when I snapped that photo, but they were. Secondly, the shadows DO eventually become the resolution as you see on 360 *BUT* only when you are within VERY close proximity. From any normal distance they are a chunky mess.
 

netBuff

Member
Dark10x's comments in the other thread mention the game runs pretty poorly (30 fps in the first level). And it's missing details and has worse lighting.

pretty disappointing

Wow - not only is that disappointing, that's downright atrocious. I'll wait for a few more opinions (I'm getting the Wii U on the 30th - European launch), but if future impressions don't seem much better (I'm especially interested in multiplayer framerate) I'm going to buy the 360 edition.

Damn... I guess it's hard to say if this is a launch thing or a Wii U thing?

I'm very excited to get my hands on my Premium Pack Wii U: But I think at this point it's better to wait if you are getting the console for multiplatform games primarily - it might not be the right console to get for suchtitles.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Wow - not only is that disappointing, that's downright atrocious. I'll wait for a few more opinions (I'm getting the Wii U on the 30th - European launch), but if future impressions don't seem much better (I'm especially interested in multiplayer framerate) I'm going to buy the 360 edition.
Haven't played online, but the framerate was very smooth in botmatch. From the two maps I played it held a near perfect 60 fps. It's pretty neat being able to play the game on the gamepad, I have to admit. Looks fantastic there as it seems downsampled from 720p.
 
Haven't played online, but the framerate was very smooth in botmatch. From the two maps I played it held a near perfect 60 fps. It's pretty neat being able to play the game on the gamepad, I have to admit. Looks fantastic there as it seems downsampled from 720p.

Wait. What is the 30fps from and those images?
EDIT: Just the top image lighting looks very different from what we've seen in a straight forward multiplayer match.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Wait. What is the 30fps from and those images?
The sub-30 fps bit takes place during the first mission of the campaign. When you jump back on the large vehicle after the initial battle, the framerate dips to 30 fps or less. It's a scripted sequence, but it looked really choppy. Also the fire death right at the start was pretty choppy as was the framerate when looking out over the battlefield.

The framerate is very unstable, basically.

In multiplayer with bots, however, the game runs just fine from what I've played.

That top image was snapped with my iPhone 5. It shows that the dynamic shadows ARE in the game but, unless viewed from extremely close proximity, they are very pixelated (as you see). In splitscreen those shadows are not even present.
 

netBuff

Member
That top image was snapped with my iPhone 5. It shows that the dynamic shadows ARE in the game but, unless viewed from extremely close proximity, they are very pixelated (as you see). In splitscreen those shadows are not even present.

Did you take the picture above in regular online-multiplayer?
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
I just read the other thread (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=44472958&postcount=1115): Apparently, the picture above was taken in co-op (player on TV, another player on GamePad) mode and is therefore not representative of regular multiplayer performance and display quality (most games degrade graphics for performance reasons in co-op modes).
No, that's wrong. There was another shot that was taken from splitscreen, but the shot posted there is what you get in single screen mode. It has real shadows, but they are super pixelated from most distances.

Did you take the picture above in regular online-multiplayer?
I took it in single screen botmatch.
 

netBuff

Member
No, that's wrong. There was another shot that was taken from splitscreen, but the shot posted there is what you get in single screen mode. It has real shadows, but they are super pixelated from most distances.


I took it in single screen botmatch.

Yeah, I just noticed my error and stealth-edited my posting. Seems like you were faster on the (Submit) trigger ;)

Disappointing that this is, indeed, the regular multiplayer (bot) experience.
 
The sub-30 fps bit takes place during the first mission of the campaign. When you jump back on the large vehicle after the initial battle, the framerate dips to 30 fps or less. It's a scripted sequence, but it looked really choppy. Also the fire death right at the start was pretty choppy as was the framerate when looking out over the battlefield.

The framerate is very unstable, basically.

In multiplayer with bots, however, the game runs just fine from what I've played.

That top image was snapped with my iPhone 5. It shows that the dynamic shadows ARE in the game but, unless viewed from extremely close proximity, they are very pixelated (as you see). In splitscreen those shadows are not even present.

Okay thanks for the info. Weird that I think the shadows in proper multiplayer aren't like that. If you get a chance it'd be cool if you (or someone readin) could confirm than in online. Just the contrast looks off, but if its an iphone grab that makes a lot more sense; which was why I was originally asking.

Framerate unstable isn't great. :(
 

Donnie

Member
Dark10x's comments in the other thread mention the game runs pretty poorly (30 fps in the first level). And it's missing details and has worse lighting.

wiiu



360



pretty disappointing

What I'm seeing is a much sharper image overall for WiiU, better textures and better modeling in some cases, WiiU's shadows are certainly worse though (nothing to do with lighting).
 

dwu8991

Banned
What I'm seeing is a much sharper image overall for WiiU, better textures and better modeling in some cases, WiiU's shadows are worse though (nothing to do with lighting).

yeah, wii u has brighter colour

x360 lighter beige colours but more textures and art
 

Seik

Banned
I just tried the game, quite fun. Met BY2K online as well! ^^

The shadows are worse but the resolution seems to be better though. Videos have horrible compression, loaded with artifacs.
 

netBuff

Member
yeah, wii u has brighter colour

x360 lighter beige colours but more textures and art

Yep, comparing colours in an off-screen picture to (heavily compressed) direct-feed footage is certainly reasonable (but I guess you were being sarcastic).

What I'm seeing is a much sharper image overall for WiiU, better textures and better modeling in some cases, WiiU's shadows are certainly worse though (nothing to do with lighting).

What you think may be a "sharper" image is probably just the fact that it is an off-screen picture.

I don't know where you see better textures and better modelling (or how you would even be able to fairly judge both versions from the pictures presented).
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
What I'm seeing is a much sharper image overall for WiiU, better textures and better modeling in some cases, WiiU's shadows are certainly worse though (nothing to do with lighting).
Uhh, no. The image quality is about on par with 360 but the textures and models are exactly the same while the shadows are worse.
 

Donnie

Member
yeah, wii u has brighter colour

x360 lighter beige colours but more textures and art

Not just colour, texture clarity and resolution. Look at the floor texture in the 360 version, very aliased, look at the seat, dull texture and more aliasing, the WiiU version looks much sharper with less aliasing.

Also where do you see more textures in the 360 version?
 

Margalis

Banned
What I'm seeing is a much sharper image overall for WiiU, better textures and better modeling in some cases, WiiU's shadows are certainly worse though (nothing to do with lighting).

Yep.

The two images are not even at the same res so I'm not going to put much stock in them, but the Wii U version clearly looks better. Could just be compression or the way the images were captured, but from those screenshots someone claiming that the 360 version looks better is slightly crazy. (Minus the shadow res)

Edit: The floor in the Wii U version appears to have decent aniso filtering and the 360 version is a blurry mess, indicating trilinear at best.

some guy said:
What you think may be a "sharper" image is probably just the fact that it is an off-screen picture.

Someone posted the two screens next to each other as evidence that the Wii U version looks worse but judging from those screens it looks better.

Maybe the two screens are not comparable but in that case why are we comparing them in the first place?
 

Donnie

Member
Uhh, no. The image quality is about on par with 360 but the textures and models are exactly the same while the shadows are worse.

But that's not what the pictures show, that's all I'm commenting on. If there's a problem with the pics then ok, but they don't show equal textures and detail.
 

alterno69

Banned
It looks good enoug for me, if i had the chance i't get it on wiiu, it's awesome to be able to play it ln the pad IMO, what is really important is a big community.
 

Synless

Member
Not that I'm saying some of you other posters are wrong, but Dark has a pretty damn good proven track record with calling out details, fps, ect... In a game. I will take stock in what he sees over most of you.
 

Donnie

Member
Not that I'm saying some of you other posters are wrong, but Dark has a pretty damn good proven track record with calling out details, fps, ect... In a game. I will take stock in what he sees over most of you.

I do put some stock in his opinion, which is why I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that the pictures he posted might not be representative of the true comparison, obviously he's seeing something different in game. But at the same time I'm not going to pretend that the pictures themselves make the 360 look better as some have said, because they patently don't.
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
Looks good enough for me, really. :/ Didn't even notice the framerate drops in the first mission.
 

netBuff

Member
Not just colour, texture clarity and resolution. Look at the floor texture in the 360 version, very aliased, look at the seat, dull texture and more aliasing, the WiiU version looks much sharper with less aliasing.

Also where do you see more textures in the 360 version?

You can barely make out the floor texture in the 360 screen due to the YouTube compression. I'd be hard pressed to be able to notice any differences in texture filtering.

Not just colour, texture clarity and resolution. Look at the floor texture in the 360 version, very aliased, look at the seat, dull texture and more aliasing, the WiiU version looks much sharper with less aliasing.

Also where do you see more textures in the 360 version?

This is really giving me flashbacks to the "Black Ops 2 Wii U: More colours" bizarreness. Similar absurd statements based on completely incomparable footage.

Not that I'm saying some of you other posters are wrong, but Dark has a pretty damn good proven track record with calling out details, fps, ect... In a game. I will take stock in what he sees over most of you.

You absolutely should put stock in dark10x's opinion over others, what some other people are claiming to see is ridiculous.
 

ElRenoRaven

Member
Looks good enough for me, really. :/ Didn't even notice the framerate drops in the first mission.

There are framerate drops? If there are I haven't noticed them.

I've gotten 3 missions in and played some team deathmatch. So far it's been great for me. I will say though the aiming has taken awhile to get used to. I miss having auto look centering. That's an option I tick in almost every shooter I play. There seems to be no option for it here sadly though. However after a good hour with it I was starting to get used to is. Overall it's kind of fun.
 

Margalis

Banned
Forgive me but I really don't see the logic in posting comparison screenshots, claiming the 360 version looks better, then when people point out that the Wii U version looks better claiming it's an unfair comparison.

Seems more like performance art than honest critical analysis.
 

netBuff

Member
Forgive me but I really don't see the logic in posting comparison screenshots, claiming the 360 version looks better, then when people point out that the Wii U version looks better claiming it's an unfair comparison.

Seems more like performance art than honest critical analysis.

If the criticism is based on a false premise, it's absolutely fair to point it out to the people claiming to notice better image quality in the Wii U screenshot. People seeing aliasing in the floor texture up above apparently have never seen the effects of video compression.

I'm not claiming the Wii U to be bad, I'm sure it's still worth buying. But so far, all indications clearly point to it being technically weaker in quite a few aspects.
 

vehn

Member
I have about 5 hours in the multiplayer so far. Currently #8 on the highest level leaderboard (lvl 27). It plays just fine with the Wii U pro controller and I often end up in #1-3 at the end of the round. I don't get any lag, and no frame drops, and graphics look just fine. I mean none of the platforms have like Crysis or Battlefield 3 graphics so no real need to compare it to 360 since it pretty much looks the same.
And it is just like playing it on any other console, and doesn't have any sense of a watered down port at all. If anything you get the additional Wii Mote support plus can play it on the Gamepad around the house. I just play on the Wii U pro controller since it's lighter (even lighter than the 360 controller) and I do just fine on it.

And I can hop into a game super quick as well and don't have any issues once I'm in the game. If you like CoD, you'll find the same experience here that you'll find anywhere else

edit: I haven't tried the SP, but really who cares if it even does dip in frames. The MP is why you buy this game (not the 5 hours campaign), and the MP does not have any frame rate dips, nor does it have any lag. And it is not a quick port job at all, its practically the same game across all platforms
 

Rezbit

Member
Honestly, we should all chip in a dollar or two for dark10x for saving us money and preventing activision from fucking us in the ass

Woaaaaaah.

Really, it's obvious it's a quick port job. For users who haven't got a 360 or PC it seems like a reasonable pick up, I mean it's not disgusting like some of the other ports. Shame there's a few dips in single player, all too common these days on all consoles (looking at you Assassin's Creed 3).
 

dwu8991

Banned
I have about 5 hours in the multiplayer so far. Currently #8 on the highest level leaderboard (lvl 27). It plays just fine with the Wii U pro controller and I often end up in #1-3 at the end of the round. I don't get any lag, and no frame drops, and graphics look just fine. I mean none of the platforms have like Crysis or Battlefield 3 graphics so no real need to compare it to 360 since it pretty much looks the same.

And it is just like playing it on any other console, and doesn't have any sense of a watered down port at all. If anything you get the additional Wii Mote support plus can play it on the Gamepad around the house. I just play on the Wii U pro controller since it's lighter (even lighter than the 360 controller) and I do just fine on it.

And I can hop into a game super quick as well and don't have any issues once I'm in the game. If you like CoD, you'll find the same experience here that you'll find anywhere else

the game engine does look rather tired

15 minutes into the GB demo and I was bored with the mp

Good thing the sp had way more production value
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
But that's not what the pictures show, that's all I'm commenting on. If there's a problem with the pics then ok, but they don't show equal textures and detail.
The second pic was taken from a very low res video feed on YouTube while the WiiU shot was taken from my iPhone camera. Big difference.
 

Sethos

Banned
Dark10x's comments in the other thread mention the game runs pretty poorly (30 fps in the first level). And it's missing details and has worse lighting.

wiiu



360



pretty disappointing

Holy shit at those Wii U shadows, what in the world. I've seen more attractive grenade wounds.
 
For voice chatting on the Wii U, can you use the Gamepad's internal microphone or do you have to buy an accessory? I've seen the option to mute, but have not heard any player chat.
 
Super bummed about the news of poor framerate, I could have lived with poorer visual effects but a worse framerate is real bad news.
 

Effect

Member
Game is running pretty well for me. I need to get used to Wiimote aiming again. For the past several months I've playing FPS on my PC. Tried with the game pay but just not comfortable as the PS3 controller. Then again it just might take time to get used to as I'm not used to my hands being that far apart on a regular controller.

Game looks and plays great in single player and multiplayer as far I can see. Haven't tried Zombies yet.

Online overall was okay. Need to get used to the maps. Some I like and others are bad I think. Some are clearly designed around certain style of peoples I think. People weren't kidding about the SMG being the weapon of choice. Lagged a bit but I figure that might be more host. Some games were really smooth. While others were kinda eh then I would check and see low bars. There is suppose to be an option to connection to those closer to you right?
 

vehn

Member
Dark10x's comments in the other thread mention the game runs pretty poorly (30 fps in the first level). And it's missing details and has worse lighting.

wiiu

6538a2023de787055862f51204e4e2ad47684061.JPG


pretty disappointing

Eh, this screenshot he took is sort of a bad example. For some reason, the shadows only look like that when far away. When up close they are a bit smoother, see below. Also two other pics for giggles. Again there is NO FRAME RATE drop in Multiplayer, which is where 99% of your game time should be in this game. And this game is no Crysis / BF3 on any of the consoles, so I don't know why you would be playing it for the graphics on any of the consoles. It looks and plays just fine, and is no bad port at all. I put in 5 hours so far and am top 10 in the leaderboard, ITS FINE.

 
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