Unreal 2 Impressions

The awfulness of this is shocking. Has time passed Epic by? Three years ago the level of character design would have been acceptable; but today compared even to, say, the forthcoming Russian game Firestarter, it won't wash. This, in particular,

http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/unreal2p4.jpg

represents a level of sophistication that is beaten on free model/skin sites every day. And this

http://www.shacknews.com/screens.x/unreal2/Unreal+2/1/110802/110702_unreal2_10.jpg

looks like it belongs in a Nintendo 64 game. This is simply bad work.

shackers need a demo!

Penis envy at its finest:
http://www.shacknews.com/screens.x/unreal2/Unreal+2/2/110802/110702_unreal2_6.jpg

RE:
The preview mentions that no multiplayer assets from the game will be released, despite the fact that Legend worked on some before going single-player only. A multiplayer expansion might happen though.

Is there anything Epic/Legend won't shamelessly copy from Id?

WHERE IS THE BUMPMAPPING?

WHERE IS THE PIXELSHADING AND SHADOWS?
I saw so much impressive things on the unreal engine page, but will they add it for real? "NOOOO!". Thumbs down!
Now I am pissed... :(

This is no where near the caliber of the doom3 engine. This is barely a step above the ut2k3 engine from what i can see. Don't think its fair to compare it to the d3 engine? That's dumb, of course it's okay to compare. Doom3 is taking the graphics to a new level, U2 is just trying to make a quick last dollar off of technology that is becoming increasingly outdated. I am really shocked that by now, no one has tried to do something other than outdo eachother with graphics, and by this I mean making levels more interactive. Being able to shoot through walls or shoot through the floor and end up in the sewers. Or i liked an old q3 idea of being able to shoot nails into the walls and then using them as steps or a handy perch to evade bad guys. I want to see a gaming company with a really gutsy and creative side to them that are willing to take chances from the solid dm type gameplay.

http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/unreal2p4.jpg

hahahahaha are they serious?

Even if this game and Doom 3 were to come out within the same quarter you'd still want them both, I assure you. :-)

Cliff

This game will run worse than Doom 3. I guaran-fucking-tee it.

Why, oh why, does every major reviewing website have to kiss so much poopy-cheeks when it comes to reviewing the major upcoming titles?

I have to go to ShackReviews for real, hard hitting commentary, otherwise, every game according to those other websites is "a graphical marvel" and "amazing!".

Many people are saying that graphics don't matter as much to them as other factors. From an individual perspective, that's fine. However, the gaming industry perspective needs to be a bit different. If you're comparing a purely online game (UT2003) with a purely solo game (Doom3), it's acceptable that different aspects of the games are accentuated. It's fine for the online game to have lesser graphical detail and effects since not only does this keep framerates higher, but the game's emphasis is primarily on gameplay (which, despite a certain prominent proclamation, has NOTHING to do with graphics). Individual tastes aside, online players want a game that's fun and challenging to play, with solid netcode, minimal cheating, and high framerates. A solo game has different requirements: storyline, characters, mission objectives, crafty AI, and an immersive environment. The key to an immersive environment (along with sound, 'atmosphere,' and interactivity) is detailed, accurate, fascinating graphics. The technology for producing this is in the UT2 engine. Unfortunately, it's not in these screenshots. Stalker, Doom, and even Halo demonstrate the standards today's solo games are held up to, and rightly so. If U2 doesn't live up to that, it's in trouble. It can't rely on its legacy for high sales, especially considering that legacy is merely one unit type that is now just a goofy semblance of what came before (that would be the Skaarj, btw). Sure, it will sell decently due to its name, but with competition from the other games above, U2 won't sell nearly as well as it would with more detailed, immersive environments and better models.

Hopefully these are just old shots that someone goofed on posting. If they're what the final game is supposed to look like, oh well. It looks more like Serious Sam than Unreal. Where are the shadows? Why don't the monsters look remotely threatening? Where's the foliage? FPS don't matter nearly as much in a solo game, so why not give us a kickass world like those other games do? We'll turn stuff off if we need to.

With the gaming industry becoming more competitive, U2 looking like this just won't stack up. I hope it offers more of what we've seen before and way less of this.

Doesnt look good at all. Low texture quality and the models dont look right to my eye. The lighting, or lack thereof, is really quite strange. With all settings on high, quake3 looks alot better than that.

The game may be alot of fun to play, graphics aside, but for me at least it takes a certain visual quality to really pull off the complex (for a FPS) game they are trying to turn out. Take counter-strike for example. The graphics are really quite dated, but they are more than adequit for that really pretty simple (although still a hell of a lot of fun) game.

Have any of you whiners read the articles in question? Have you even mentioned gameplay? Of course not, you're all eye candy whores.

Doom 3 looks good, so it must be a good game.

Unreal 2 looks bad, so it must be a bad game.

Yay for logic!

Think I know why this game was really delayed.

Can SOMEONE tell me what the fuck happened betweed

http://www.shacknews.com/screens.x/unreal2//2/thumbs/CourtyardNow.jpg

and

http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/unreal2p10.jpg

????

CliffyB? ANYONE?

to conclude my thesis for my PhD, atleast I wont need to buy a new computer to play this game >:(

I can't believe I'm saying this...

This game is just plain UGLY. (I'm willing to concede that these are just exceedingly poor screenshots though.)

Ugh. Just....ugh. What the hell happened?

I think game developers should release finished assets, that they don't use, on the game CD. I remember being pissed at id back when I made maps, when they would code some cool ass thing like Duke Nukem style trains, then not use them in SP, and subsequently cut them out of the final release. That happened in Quake 2. The same goes for Unreal 2 MP assets.
That stuff would be a great springboard for mod makers. I don't see what the problem is if there is an understanding that model importer, for example, is unsupported. An unsupported model importer is better than nothing *cough* Blizzard *cough*.

"While some may still dispute the decision to eliminate Unreal 2's plans for multiplayer, the truth is that based on our hands-on time with the game the single player experience will be rich and active, with cool weapons, exotic locales, excellent AI and sweet looking graphics." For me to poop on!

I've never solved a single player game more than once. I've solved multiplayer games more than once because its just more fun and different with friends each time. Not having multiplayer really kills the games replayability in my opinion. Multiplayer adds alot more value to a game. Also the whine about "oh are scripts are too complex to add multiplayer" is just a cop out. Anyways who likes to watch the same script sequences over an over again each time you die? Doing that beach landing in Medal of Honor i got to see that trooper give his speech about 5 times. That wasn't very fun after the 3rd time.

I will get Unreal 2 if it has coop mode so I can play through the single-player along side my buddies, like I did with Unreal1. If it doesn't have coop, I'm not buying it.

That is all.

Its just a different world now that many have seen Doom3. Poor lighting models just are going to do it any more..... It really removes the immersiveness.

I think it looks fine :(

ok forget doom3, compare how this looks to stalker. this game looks like poo compared to stalker.

Seeing this after Doom 3 is like Going back to a moped after driving a ferrari.

Looks naff and too cartoony.

Theres probably gonna be some stupid gameplay flaws as well, like there always is in games that try too hard. Its not gonna be Halo, no matter how hard they try.

This isn't going to do it against Doom III, but seeing that DNF will never happen there's always room for a number two.

Smart of them not to include multiplayer. The original large Quake "community" has been splintered into so many games that it's sad.

This has "run like ass on all computers" written all over it.

Comparing this to Doom3 is unfair. I think it all boils down to opinion. Alot of people like open spaces with lush scenery. Which is wonderful, but I personally dig the cramped, gothic, "unknown scary stuff around every corner" feeling.

Both games look beautiful and both are probably getting my moneys.

Holy shit this looks great.

I know it's Legend, but under Epic's eye.

Is there a story to this game? and by story I mean more than 'omg evil things are attacking/here its up to you to kill them all'.. I've decided not to play new single player games anymore if they don't have story lines.. it doesn't cost that much to get a REAL writer sheesh

I loved the original Unreal.. never finished it...but I loved it. Damn PC Gamer ruined the end for me in one of their 'spreads' and the game just drug on and on.

I'm looking forward to Unreal 2... but HL will forever own me for a Single Player w/ Story experience. Hopefully HL2 (if it exists) will dethrown it.

I dunno, these screenshots are supposed to look amazing, but after seeing the Doom 3 demo everything else is just "last generation"... It's hard to tell UT2 from a Quake3 engine game after you've seen Doom 3 in action.

I know I know, it's all about gameplay, blah blah blah...

Hmm, I'm not really impressed by these shots, it looks just like UT2K3. Guess the foliage won't be moving either, just like UT2K3. I'm missing shadow & lighting or something. Looks cartoony, models are so-so. Hmm...maybe I'll check out the demo, hopefully gameplay is fun.

This is what I hate about PC and console games in general: you don't find out how good it is until you play it. Aside from buying the license to play the game or playing someone else's licensed installation, there's no way you can tell for sure whether it's any good. Reviews can be deceptive depending on the reviewer's disposition (fanboy, anti-fanboy, recipient of monetary funds from the game publisher), and demos can never show the true quality of a game since they're hand-picked levels. And of course the publisher's and developer's sales pitches are wholly subjective.

How come Maarteen or Steve or Jason never goes on these junkets.

Ok I can understand Maarteen not going

I hope they retain the "wow" factor from unreal, particularly in the vastness of some of the levels. I really like big wide open areas with lots of stuff to do, for some reason.

goddamn it sounds like it's gonna be good.