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[Metalmurphy]

Was referring to PS3 exclusives, the core SCE stuff. People expect SOE stuff to be on PC, and it usually is.

Usually? More like always



*edit* Oh wait, I forgot Untold Legends was made by them... Well, there's always the exception to the rule.

 

[nib95]

Having played through much of this now, I have to say, the visuals are nothing short of astounding. I have found that some of the lighting is not actually dynamic, but this does not bother me. Point is, artistically and visually it looks gorgeous and that's what counts. The art, architectural design/complexity, general look and feel etc are all beautiful to behold.

It looks cleaner than past Halo's, and above all, I think the biggest difference is in the lighting and post processing. I said earlier based on vids and screens its adopted some Killzone esque appeal and I still stand by that. The flares, iluminosity of lights and bulbs, smoke, sparks, effects etc. Only the art style is different, it's like a mix of Halo, Mass Effect, Rage and God of War. More smooth with a hint of a painterly like aesthetic.

Only things this game is really missing visually that would have closed the deal are motion blur and SSAO, which I do feel is missed, since at times the lack of those little snippets of edge shadowing or contrast can make certain scenes look a bit garish and samey. SSAO would have just given it that slight extra pop and made cluttered architectural elements stand out more realistically.

Other that that though, this is most definitely one of the best looking games this gen. In the top 5 for sure.

 

[Waaghals]

I agree with essentially everything you are saying.

I would like to point out that there actually are a lot of dynamic lights in the game, (We had a debate about this earlier) they are just well hidden. Makes you wonder why they bother when its so hard to spot.

Unless you are talking about the entire world lightning (the sun etc.) then you are right. As essentially all games without day/night cycles prebake that.

 

[nib95]

I agree with essentially everything you are saying.

I would like to point out that there actually are a lot of dynamic lights in the game, (We had a debate about this earlier) they are just well hidden. Makes you wonder why they bother when its so hard to spot.

Unless you are talking about the entire world lightning (the sun etc.) then you are right. As essentially all games without day/night cycles prebake that.

Agreed. Certain things appear to be dynamic, others not so. Mainly as you mentioned, sun casts and other world or environment lighting. But this should not really even be a point of contention. There's no point wasting resources on making things dynamic if a cheaper less taxing alternative can give the same or similar illusion.

 

[GrizzNKev]

This game is simply top notch quality status.

*pictures of corridors and narrow pathways*

No thanks.

edit: woah. I have no idea how I ended up in this thread... Apologies for the bump.

Wait, I was following a quote path from the Destiny thread and thought I was still in that thread, assuming people were making graphics comparisons again. Whoops.

 

[mrgreen]

Yeah right how did it take this long to finally get Halo in 720p to match games that came out years ago? The game looks great but the comments in this thread so far are amazing and seem to ignore the fact that it's taken this long for MS to finally deliver a top tier 1st party game technically.

I know Halo just launched so enthusiasm is at a high but please - read the article and note the comments like this:

"Remember that feeling you had when playing the first 20 minutes of God of War 3 for the first time? The sensation that the developers had somehow extracted next-gen visuals from current gen hardware? While Halo 4 doesn't quite engender that feeling of hushed awe, it gets very, very close"

"In an era where the likes of Naughty Dog and Sony Santa Monica have defined the graphical state-of-the-art with Uncharted and God of War, Xbox 360 finally has its own shot at the title - and it's a genuinely worthwhile, lavish and occasionally even breathtaking experience"

I'm a happy dual console owner but there's no doubt that until the release of Halo 4 the 360 was lacking a title that was optimized to the hilt and pushed the hardware - the PS3 meanwhile sporting many such titles.

It's great 343i have done such a great job, but put it in perspective - this is MS first party catching up not automatically outperforming.

Gears 3 is just as technically amazing as Halo 4 imo, from what I've seen of Halo 4, that is. Gears 3 was even more impressive to me than the first GOW when I first saw that running. That is amazing to me seeing as GOW3 is running on the same hardware as the first game.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

No thanks.

Speaking of that, I was really impressed with Halo 4's corridors. For the first time a Halo game has interiors just as impressive as the exteriors, if not more so. They've done an amazing job all around.

 

[thuway]

Having played through much of this now, I have to say, the visuals are nothing short of astounding. I have found that some of the lighting is not actually dynamic, but this does not bother me. Point is, artistically and visually it looks gorgeous and that's what counts. The art, architectural design/complexity, general look and feel etc are all beautiful to behold.

It looks cleaner than past Halo's, and above all, I think the biggest difference is in the lighting and post processing. I said earlier based on vids and screens its adopted some Killzone esque appeal and I still stand by that. The flares, iluminosity of lights and bulbs, smoke, sparks, effects etc. Only the art style is different, it's like a mix of Halo, Mass Effect, Rage and God of War. More smooth with a hint of a painterly like aesthetic.

Only things this game is really missing visually that would have closed the deal are motion blur and SSAO, which I do feel is missed, since at times the lack of those little snippets of edge shadowing or contrast can make certain scenes look a bit garish and samey. SSAO would have just given it that slight extra pop and made cluttered architectural elements stand out more realistically.

Other that that though, this is most definitely one of the best looking games this gen. In the top 5 for sure.

Agreed. Nothing tops of the blur in Killzone 2/Uncharted 2. Other than that, Halo 4 is a masterpiece.