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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Halo: Reach Graphics Engine - Is it all that it's cracked up to be?

scat398 on 14 December 2009
Reasonable said:
Kreshnik said:

a little comparison:

 

Halo Reach realtime ingame engine:

 

Halo 3 cut scene: (the halo 3 sceen is fake though, because Halo 3s resolution is way lower! it may be CGI)

 

anyway, Halo Reachs ingame engine looks like cgi in comparison to Halo 3. the good thing is, its confirmed to be realtime!

Do you have link for confirmation that was real time in-game?  I've just finished reading Digital Foundry who suspect (as do I) that that is a cut-scence rendered in the new engine and not likely to be real time.

OT - well, I think the hints in the trailer, as explored in the Digital Foundry analysis, indicate the new engine should be pretty nice.  However, assuming Bungie remain commited to supporting 4 player coop split screen, then the engine will I'm sure (like Halo 3 and ODST engine) sacrifice certain levels of resolution and detail for frame rate and coop, probably meaning that, in-game, Reach won't quite look as good as something like Killzone 2.

On the other hand, to get the graphics in Killzone 2 the developers had to sacrifice split screen coop and arguably accepted higher responsiveness lag.

I think Reach will look better than Halo 3, but will retain the same focus on gameplay and on-screen action over graphics.

well let's face it, that top screen shot is beautiful but will have to wait and see how the actual game looks in firstperson mode before callling this the best looking FPS to date.



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Boneitis on 14 December 2009

Perhaps there may be a focus on graphics simply to show the 360 is capable of pumping out similar visuals as the PS3. But we can't come to a conclusion looking at a few pictures.



DirtyP2002 on 14 December 2009

I highly recommend EVERYBODY to download the trailer on Xbox Live in HD and watch it on your big screen. This is night and day.

At least download the HD version on Bungie.net but do NOT judge graphics because of a youtube trailer. Just don't.



Imagine not having GamePass on your console...

almcchesney on 14 December 2009

halo reach looks much better than anything else on the 360 for sure but idk if it can best the opening scene in kz2



Slimebeast on 14 December 2009

The graphics in the Halo: Reach trailer looks far above anything released on consoles so far, the problem is that while it's made in-engine, it's probably not in real-time.



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Sweep on 14 December 2009
Slimebeast said:
The graphics in the Halo: Reach trailer looks far above anything released on consoles so far, the problem is that while it's made in-engine, it's probably not in real-time.

Huhh !!! No they don't look far above anything released on consoles.

Honestly, at the moment they don't even match in-game UC2 graphs, and I'm willing to bet that they will not surpass the graphs delivered by the KZ2 engine.

IMHO KZ3 will set the new standard, if it releases at the end of 2010 - early 2011, as rumours seem to indicate   

Bungie are gameplay masters, not graphics masters

 



tuscaniman on 14 December 2009
stewroids said:

Now before starting, I just wanna say that unlike many of you, I really liked the Reach trailer and I might just buy a 360 for it. But as far as I can remember, Bungie has been hyping up Halo: Reach's graphics, by making bold statements such as the game will look equal to or better than Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2 (see source: http://shabz666.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/aaron-greenberg-on-halo-reach/ ). But from what I saw, the trailer (which was shot with the Reach engine) looked great and might just be the best looking 360 game since GoW2, however, it pales in comparison to Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2. Anyone agree with me, or am I just plain wrong here?

We can't make a comparison yet until we get some actual gameplay. Going by Halo experience I don't think it will be the best looking game on the 360 because Bungie focuses on gameplay then graphics. I think Reach will be a beautiful game but not that best. And what about Mass Effect 2 people? That game is looking amazing. Put it in the graphics discussion.

Second by elimination is seems you are saying Gears of War 2 pales in comparison to KZ2 and Uncharted 2 so if thats the case yes you are plain wrong. Gears 2 is a beautiful game, KZ2 and U2 might be slightly ahead but thats it.



yo_john117 on 14 December 2009

Well I know its not gonna be any graphics king or anything like that but it will still have what counts...gameplay.



yo_john117 on 14 December 2009
CGI-Quality said:
yo_john117 said:

Well I know its not gonna be any graphics king or anything like that but it will still have what counts...gameplay.

And ultimately will look good enough for such a game in this generation.

Exactly



JaggedSac on 14 December 2009
yo_john117 said:

Well I know its not gonna be any graphics king or anything like that but it will still have what counts...gameplay.

Yep, and I got to thinking about something.  Reach was an epic battle.  MC was able to handle convenants pretty easily on his own in Halo 1/2/3.  They are going to have to really ratchet up the amount of enemies on screen in order for 6 SPARTANS to have a challenge.  I have a feeling there are going to be some epic outdoor set pieces in this game that will put the Halo 3 ones to shame.  There is more to graphics than making things look uber realistic.  There is also the idea that you should make things look as nice as they can be and still support some incredible stuff; ie, massive battles, large spaces, 4 player split screen co-op, etc.  Sure, looking at a close up of MC in Halo 3 will show the engine in a bad light.  Zoom out and show 3 Wraiths, 4 Brute choppers, a scorpion tank, 3 squads of Grunts led by Brutes, and a couple marines driving warthogs all while 4 people are playing online co-op, and you see the talent of Bungie show itself.