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

Forums - Microsoft - Halo Reach Tech Analysis by Digital Foundry

Haven't seen it posted. Pretty interesting (and long) read. Here's their summary.

"From a technical perspective, Halo: Reach is undoubtedly a colossal improvement over the previous games in the series: higher resolution without sacrificing HDR, tangibly improved poly counts, insane use of particles and alpha, far higher levels of dynamic lighting, four times the draw distance, four times the amount of enemy units... the list is seemingly never-ending. But for all its technical achievements, it's clearly still a Halo game. It looks like one, it plays like one - and that's all by design.

What it does mean for some though is that there is a layer of "familiarity breeds contempt" style cynicism to break down before you appreciate Reach for what it is: the best Halo yet, and probably the very best shooter available on 360. The first level does a pretty good job of setting out the stall in terms of the many technical improvements, but the bottom line is that they do not come at the cost of any of the established Bungie standards: multiplayer is still brilliant, split-screen hasn't been jettisoned, and the entire campaign is still co-op friendly both online and off.

Evolutionary in many respects, sure, but where it counts Halo: Reach is the revolution we've been waiting for: a genuinely superb game with a combined feature set that pushes Xbox 360 performance to the bleeding edge"

Pretty much what all of us wanted and expected from Reach. :)

Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-halo-reach-tech-analysis-article



Around the Network

Shows that Microsoft need to invest in more 1st parties if they want any more graphical games like Reach.



I don't care what anyone says, Reach is absolutely beautiful and the sheer scale of the environments and battles is incredible.



Nsanity said:

Shows that Microsoft need to invest in more 1st parties if they want any more graphical games like Reach.


I think getting exclusives from Epic and Crytek does the trick too...



All I know is that I am actually enjoying reach, which says alot as I've really disliked every previous halo, plus the ludicrous scope of the visuals makes it really impressive,



I HAVE A DOUBLE DRAGON CAB IN MY KITCHEN!!!!!!

NOW A PUNISHER CAB!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Around the Network
Nsanity said:

Shows that Microsoft need to invest in more 1st parties if they want any more graphical games like Reach.


I love Reach but Bungie has never been the best at graphics, This looks much better than H3 and has a huge scale but this still doesn't touch Gears 2.



Jadedx said:
Nsanity said:

Shows that Microsoft need to invest in more 1st parties if they want any more graphical games like Reach.


I love Reach but Bungie has never been the best at graphics, This looks much better than H3 and has a huge scale but this still doesn't touch Gears 2.


Of course it's all subjective when it come to which game looks better, but Digital Foundry analysis proves that the tech behind Reach is something else..



masschamber said:

All I know is that I am actually enjoying reach, which says alot as I've really disliked every previous halo, plus the ludicrous scope of the visuals makes it really impressive,


Reach uses full 3D skybox's not 3D mixed with 2D back drops that games use nowadays.



Jadedx said:
Nsanity said:

Shows that Microsoft need to invest in more 1st parties if they want any more graphical games like Reach.


I love Reach but Bungie has never been the best at graphics, This looks much better than H3 and has a huge scale but this still doesn't touch Gears 2.


Play Firefight on the map Overlook and come back and tell me it doesn't touch Gears 2. I think you'll change your mind. Overall this game is one of the best looking out there outside of forge world and the forge maps.



tuscaniman said:
Jadedx said:
Nsanity said:

Shows that Microsoft need to invest in more 1st parties if they want any more graphical games like Reach.


I love Reach but Bungie has never been the best at graphics, This looks much better than H3 and has a huge scale but this still doesn't touch Gears 2.


Play Firefight on the map Overlook and come back and tell me it doesn't touch Gears 2. I think you'll change your mind. Overall this game is one of the best looking out there outside of forge world and the forge maps.

Also swordbase, when its completely destroyed on the second last chapter looks absolutely phenomental.