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As soon as school is out i rush to EB, pick up my preorder, and go home. First thing that struck me is the cheapness of the case. I got the LE, and damn if this thing didnt just have two disks in one single slot. Cheapest damn thing ive ever seen. Worse the UT2003 disk sleeves.
Anyway, the game:
Single Player -
SP is what i tried first and what left the first taste in my mouth. It tasted bad. The game seemed very different to me and i wasnt sure why. the combat and all is the same, but for some reason i had to get used to it all over again. The view or timing is a little different. Anyway, the first couple levels are horrendous. After that however the game sets into a very more Halo esqe game, and im thouroughly enjoying the Single Player where i am now (level 7 i believe). Its calmed down, and started doing what it does best.
The graphics are just absolutely terrible in some spots, and the reason is simple - filtering. The cutscenes are simply awful. This is well beyond not polishing, this is almost simply not giving a damn. The filtering used is horrible. People will simply "pop-up" in the middle of cutscenes. Things willa ctually focus as the scene goes on. For example, a lower deck area of the ship is in a cutscene. For the first 1/2 second of viewing it is a blurry mess. Then it focuses, and becomes much more defined with proper textures, THEN it focuses once more and applies bump-mapping. All of this takes a solid second, is very noticeable, and simply looks horrid. In one vieo Master Cheif was actually a block of green blobs before he turned into himself. Yes, the Chief was a "thing" of green polygons (couldnt have been more then 200) v\before the game focused him into view. In another cutscene, the screen is completely white. Then dialouge starts. Then a florr appears. Then the floor focuses. Then people appear. All this happening while its actually playing and the group of people is supposed to be seen from the beggining. Its simply awful to look at.
Other then that, the graphics are fantastic. Bloom is used rather extensively, however to such great effect its the best implementation ive seen yet. Shaders are applied everywhere, and are not to overdone. My only gripe is they are going for realism in their depiction of earths cities, yet the game has a VERY cartoonish look by default. You end up getting wildy crazy cartoon like covenant in a gritty and architecturaly limited city. It just doesnt feel right to me. Its very solid looking while playing the game, just dont expect pretty story telling sections.
All in all its fun, and very quickly getting to a level in which it will surpass its older brother. It deff takes some getting used to however. Also, the story does indeed suck. I can confirm that. Jumps around all over the damn place, and seems to assume you have read the books. Not good.
Mulitplayer -
Aw hell yeah, now this i like. Xbox Live is simply beautiful on this thing. I havent experienced a touch of lag yet, and thats sayi8ng something. You shoot a bullet, it hits its target immediatly. Very, very nice. the maps are fine, and overall the gametypes are satisfying. The game really is up there with the best on any paltform, period.
Having said that, there are a few problems. Bungies Optimatch simply doesnt work, and leaves you waiting for opponents for over 15 minutes on occasion. I have actually already seen bungie is working to correct this issue, which is a very good thing. This multiplayer, simply put, will go down in history. Its that damn good from the little ive played. Keep in mind however - ive played little, and fealt the same about UT2004 after only playing it a few hours, well have to see how this turns out. The limited stature of the game being static may hurt it in the long run, well ahve to see.
Graphically online is fantastic. Its like Halo, but a little better looking. Not a bad thing considering with over 8 people on screen shooting ive yet to feel slowdown.
Its way to early for me to give the game a rating, but i like what i have overall. Single Player is very shaky at the moment however. Im not sure how it will turn out.
Anyway, the game:
Single Player -
SP is what i tried first and what left the first taste in my mouth. It tasted bad. The game seemed very different to me and i wasnt sure why. the combat and all is the same, but for some reason i had to get used to it all over again. The view or timing is a little different. Anyway, the first couple levels are horrendous. After that however the game sets into a very more Halo esqe game, and im thouroughly enjoying the Single Player where i am now (level 7 i believe). Its calmed down, and started doing what it does best.
The graphics are just absolutely terrible in some spots, and the reason is simple - filtering. The cutscenes are simply awful. This is well beyond not polishing, this is almost simply not giving a damn. The filtering used is horrible. People will simply "pop-up" in the middle of cutscenes. Things willa ctually focus as the scene goes on. For example, a lower deck area of the ship is in a cutscene. For the first 1/2 second of viewing it is a blurry mess. Then it focuses, and becomes much more defined with proper textures, THEN it focuses once more and applies bump-mapping. All of this takes a solid second, is very noticeable, and simply looks horrid. In one vieo Master Cheif was actually a block of green blobs before he turned into himself. Yes, the Chief was a "thing" of green polygons (couldnt have been more then 200) v\before the game focused him into view. In another cutscene, the screen is completely white. Then dialouge starts. Then a florr appears. Then the floor focuses. Then people appear. All this happening while its actually playing and the group of people is supposed to be seen from the beggining. Its simply awful to look at.
Other then that, the graphics are fantastic. Bloom is used rather extensively, however to such great effect its the best implementation ive seen yet. Shaders are applied everywhere, and are not to overdone. My only gripe is they are going for realism in their depiction of earths cities, yet the game has a VERY cartoonish look by default. You end up getting wildy crazy cartoon like covenant in a gritty and architecturaly limited city. It just doesnt feel right to me. Its very solid looking while playing the game, just dont expect pretty story telling sections.
All in all its fun, and very quickly getting to a level in which it will surpass its older brother. It deff takes some getting used to however. Also, the story does indeed suck. I can confirm that. Jumps around all over the damn place, and seems to assume you have read the books. Not good.
Mulitplayer -
Aw hell yeah, now this i like. Xbox Live is simply beautiful on this thing. I havent experienced a touch of lag yet, and thats sayi8ng something. You shoot a bullet, it hits its target immediatly. Very, very nice. the maps are fine, and overall the gametypes are satisfying. The game really is up there with the best on any paltform, period.
Having said that, there are a few problems. Bungies Optimatch simply doesnt work, and leaves you waiting for opponents for over 15 minutes on occasion. I have actually already seen bungie is working to correct this issue, which is a very good thing. This multiplayer, simply put, will go down in history. Its that damn good from the little ive played. Keep in mind however - ive played little, and fealt the same about UT2004 after only playing it a few hours, well have to see how this turns out. The limited stature of the game being static may hurt it in the long run, well ahve to see.
Graphically online is fantastic. Its like Halo, but a little better looking. Not a bad thing considering with over 8 people on screen shooting ive yet to feel slowdown.
Its way to early for me to give the game a rating, but i like what i have overall. Single Player is very shaky at the moment however. Im not sure how it will turn out.
