By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Microsoft Discussion - Selnors Graphics prediction Alan Wake review thread.

WereKitten on 05 May 2010

@MikeB, Selnor, NightAntilli
I would not try to infer a technical evaluation on specific aspects such as lighting and shadows from poor, dark videos and a mesh of reviewers' opinions. That's the job for detailed video capture, image analysis and specialist forums.

Can't we just agree that the general subjective opinion is that though uneven in its presentation and not a complete visual powerhouse it ranks among the best visuals on the 360 when it plays to its strengths, such as in night forest scenes with the lighting-based combat and set-pieces? And that there are some visual and technical shortcomings and tradeoffs, not all of them of serious detriment to the overall result?

I'd consider the thread "done" and leave it at that, instead of dragging on through endless bickering on shadow resolution and postprocessing and animation layering for a game we haven't tried yet, nor seen in great detail... and everyone lives to game another day.

Plus Selnor has already made his act of contrition on having exaggerated expectations, kudos to him and a toast to everything good Remedy has brought to the screen.



"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure." - Mark Twain

"..." - Gordon Freeman

Around the Network
slowmo on 05 May 2010
MikeB said:
NightAntilli said:
MikeB said:

@ selnor

Lighting and environments are either classed as the best or up there as the best. It seems what is stopping Alan Wake getting overall Graphics king is character models and animation.


Not only that, sub-HD 540p rendering and lack of detail in textures are amongst the other issues which would prevent this by default. Also I read about bad lip sync and screen tearing.

The lighting is interesting, but not the best on consoles technically as pointed out earlier. Uncharted 2 and God of War 3 beats this game at this.

Ok now you're taking this too far.... AW definitely has the best lighting and shadows up until now. Period. And, only the geometry buffer is 540p. The frame buffer itself BEFORE going to the scaler is 720p native.

GOD3 and Uncharted 2 have better HDR. GOD3 and Killzone 2 have way more light sources. Of course Alan Wake is a darker experience in general to show off lighting, but the bright areas receive criticism.

The game is rendered in 540p, software scales this to fit in with the 720p HUD, the hardware scalers (in the 360 and maybe HDTV) scale this to the screen's native resolution. Please don't be upset, I didn't design the game.

Not that its relevant to the topic but the scaling on the 360 is software based MikeB, there is no hardware chip.  All HDTV's have a inbuilt scaler for obvious reasons.  Whether its best to have the 360 or your TV scale depends on the quality of the TV though which is probably what you were inferring I guess.



MikeB on 05 May 2010
NightAntilli said:
MikeB said:
NightAntilli said:
MikeB said:

@ selnor

Lighting and environments are either classed as the best or up there as the best. It seems what is stopping Alan Wake getting overall Graphics king is character models and animation.


Not only that, sub-HD 540p rendering and lack of detail in textures are amongst the other issues which would prevent this by default. Also I read about bad lip sync and screen tearing.

The lighting is interesting, but not the best on consoles technically as pointed out earlier. Uncharted 2 and God of War 3 beats this game at this.

Ok now you're taking this too far.... AW definitely has the best lighting and shadows up until now. Period. And, only the geometry buffer is 540p. The frame buffer itself BEFORE going to the scaler is 720p native.

GOD3 and Uncharted 2 have better HDR. GOD3 and Killzone 2 have way more light sources. Of course Alan Wake is a darker experience in general to show off lighting, but the bright areas receive criticism.

The game is rendered in 540p, software scales this to fit in with the 720p HUD, the hardware scalers (in the 360 and maybe HDTV) scale this to the screen's native resolution. Please don't be upset, I didn't design the game.

I'm upset because you're talking nonsense. You're obviously biased towards those games. AW HDR is superior..

Tell me the HDR precision in Alan Wake?

Look up the Uncharted 2 tech docs for example and look up what the 360 is capable of.



Naughty Dog: "At Naughty Dog, we're pretty sure we should be able to see leaps between games on the PS3 that are even bigger than they were on the PS2."

PS3 vs 360 sales

sad.man.loves.vgc on 05 May 2010

well, selnor the game is looking amazing yeah not what you hoped for but still great!
glad you are taking it like a man :)



GreenW on 05 May 2010

The Microsoft Magic lol



Around the Network
JerCotter7 on 05 May 2010

Wow Selnor admitted being wrong. +1 for him and -1 for the people still arguing. I will now actually read Selnor's posts without "thinking not this again". Not many people would admit it Selnor. As long as you enjoy the game who cares whether it beats GOW3 or not, which IMO didn't look that great.



NightAntilli on 05 May 2010
MikeB said:

 and look up what the 360 is capable of.

See.. I knew it.. 



Truth does not fear investigation

maximus22 on 05 May 2010
XxXProphecyXxX said:

IGN AU

8.5 Graphics
The world looks great, but other areas show their age, such as lackluster facial animations and the differences between cut scenes and in-game graphics.

 

1Up

If anything, Alan Wake reminds me of the first Uncharted. It is a great, but flawed work (hello ugly daylight, quirky animations, and a script that mocks the viewer even more than Lost or Twin Peaks) that lays the foundation for what could be an absolutely amazing follow-up. I just hope it doesn't take another five or six years.

 

Eurogamer

By comparison, Alan Wake is tired and derivative. Everything about it feels dated, from the linear level design to the red-green switch nonsense to the visual stylings (surely not even J Allard has attempted the hoodie-with-jacket combo since 2005). There are plenty of fancy cut-scenes, dramatic voiceovers and cinematic camera angles, but even when Alan Wake does a good job of pretending to be a film you just feel like you're watching a really bad film. That's particularly true when it comes to the ending - without spoiling anything, let's just say you're left thinking, "You mean I kick-started all those generators for that?"

All the same, there's a weekend's worth of fun here for action-adventure fans who aren't too bothered about innovative concepts and varied gameplay, and don't mind a lot of repetition. Alan Wake is an accessible, undemanding game with a neat combat mechanic and decent visuals. It's just not a very original game, it's certainly not an exceptional one, and it's a shame it wasn't ready a few years ago.

 

THE MICROSOFT MAGIC!!!!!!

 

 

Lol.  While funny, I don't think there is any need to rub it in. 



binary solo on 05 May 2010
selnor said:
rccsetzer said:

Well, Selnor. I will just remember you from some facts:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/a174198/uncharted-2-not-possible-on-xbox-360.html

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=230832

http://www.psu.com/news/7234

http://www.totalvideogames.com/KillZone-2/news/Killzone-2-Only-Possible-On-PS3-Say-Guerrilla-11555.html

You will have to buy a PS3 if you want best graphics on any console this generation. Stick with it. Oh, and where are any news claiming that Alan Wake is only possible on X360?

I deserve anything youve got. Seriously. LOL. ;)

I disagree with you on that point.

But you're taking it like a man so props to you for fronting up. Delivering the sucker punches is easy and petty. Standing up and taking them with a smile on your face shows character.

Better yet is denying the petty any opportunity to claim legitimacy for their cheap shots, aye?

 



“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” - Bertrand Russell

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

Jimi Hendrix

 

selnor on 05 May 2010
maximus22 said:
XxXProphecyXxX said:

IGN AU

8.5 Graphics
The world looks great, but other areas show their age, such as lackluster facial animations and the differences between cut scenes and in-game graphics.

 

1Up

If anything, Alan Wake reminds me of the first Uncharted. It is a great, but flawed work (hello ugly daylight, quirky animations, and a script that mocks the viewer even more than Lost or Twin Peaks) that lays the foundation for what could be an absolutely amazing follow-up. I just hope it doesn't take another five or six years.

 

Eurogamer

By comparison, Alan Wake is tired and derivative. Everything about it feels dated, from the linear level design to the red-green switch nonsense to the visual stylings (surely not even J Allard has attempted the hoodie-with-jacket combo since 2005). There are plenty of fancy cut-scenes, dramatic voiceovers and cinematic camera angles, but even when Alan Wake does a good job of pretending to be a film you just feel like you're watching a really bad film. That's particularly true when it comes to the ending - without spoiling anything, let's just say you're left thinking, "You mean I kick-started all those generators for that?"

All the same, there's a weekend's worth of fun here for action-adventure fans who aren't too bothered about innovative concepts and varied gameplay, and don't mind a lot of repetition. Alan Wake is an accessible, undemanding game with a neat combat mechanic and decent visuals. It's just not a very original game, it's certainly not an exceptional one, and it's a shame it wasn't ready a few years ago.

 

THE MICROSOFT MAGIC!!!!!!

 

 

Lol.  While funny, I don't think there is any need to rub it in. 

To be honest I laughed my arse off to.