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

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

yo_john117 on 14 December 2009
JaggedSac 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.

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.

I really hope so man!  Having epic outdoor battles with hundreds of enemies at one time has always been one of my dreams for Halo.  And just imagine if they have 6 player co-op, 2 on each screen!  That would be just nuts!



Around the Network
Slimebeast on 14 December 2009

















Clearly we can see who is the chief here.



JaggedSac on 14 December 2009
yo_john117 said:
JaggedSac 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.

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.

I really hope so man!  Having epic outdoor battles with hundreds of enemies at one time has always been one of my dreams for Halo.  And just imagine if they have 6 player co-op, 2 on each screen!  That would be just nuts!

They almost have to with 6 Spartans running around.



Scoobes on 14 December 2009
CGI-Quality said:
Slimebeast said:

















Clearly we can see who is the chief here.

Actually, from those screens, Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 still look better. I'd suggest we not go down this road though, it won't end well.

The only thing I could tell from that was that comparing a game which has yet to come out and is likely not in-game screenshots to 2 of the PS3s current top graphical beasts is rather pointless, lol. Also, the art-styles are relatively different in the case of Uncharted. Nice graphical showcase though.

 

Anyway... Cryengine3 will ruin everything on both sides of the argument... *runs*




Get your Portable ID!

Slimebeast on 14 December 2009

^It's not pointless. It's very important that we can rightfully claim that we're on the same level graphically as the PS3 now.



Around the Network
Scoobes on 14 December 2009

^ *Runs back*

Hehehe, was wondering how long it'd take before you mentioned Heavy Rain




Get your Portable ID!

JaggedSac on 14 December 2009
CGI-Quality said:
Slimebeast said:
^It's not pointless. It's very important that we can rightfully claim that we're on the same level graphically as the PS3 now.

lol.....we? We who.....?

OT:

A - The screen shots you are showing of Reach are in-engine, not in-game.

B - Truth be told, the shots of Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 still, in most cases, looked better.

C - You can't expect Reach to compete with them graphically given that it has split-screen co-op/multiplayer.

D - HEAVY RAIN & God of War III both look better, though they are not in comparable genres, but you said graphical masterpieces, which those both will be.

C is only part of the reason.  Even the battles in Halo 3 are more epic in scale than both Killzone 2 and Uncharted.  I expect Reach to be even more massive in scale.



WereKitten on 14 December 2009
Slimebeast said:
^It's not pointless. It's very important that we can rightfully claim that we're on the same level graphically as the PS3 now.

Your comparison is a mess, though, as you're comparing a trailer/cutscene - by which we can't really infer the effective gameplay performance - to what is mostly gameplay screenshots or in-engine, real-time cutscenes.

The trailer looks promising, but there simply isn't enough data for the time being. In time we'll get more material and we'll be able to form an informed opinion. Until then it's mostly PR, and we went along that sad road many times in the past (Forza or more dramatically Risen come to mind).



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

"..." - Gordon Freeman

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

C is only part of the reason.  Even the battles in Halo 3 are more epic in scale than both Killzone 2 and Uncharted.  I expect Reach to be even more massive in scale.

I guess to each his own in this sense. To me, there is no FPS that felt as much like war as Killzone 2 did. And from a TPS perspective, again IMO, no game has done it quite like Gears of War.

 

That isn't scale.  By scale I mean, environment size + AI enemies(vehicles and foot) + AI allies(vehicles and foot).  Give me an example of an epic battle from KZ 2 and Uncharted 2.



BenVTrigger on 14 December 2009

I keep seeing people say that from a technical standpoint Reach's engine won't be a spectacle. Honestly KZ2 and Uncharted 2 are still far behing the Halo 3 engine in certain aspects while being far ahead in others. Yes Reach won't be the greatest "looking" game ever in terms of textures and just overall graphical appearance. However it will still be FAR ahead of almost any engine to date on consoles in terms of raw processing power for onscreen action and enemy numbers. There are more enemies and vehicles displayed in one chapter of Halo 3 than the entire Kz2 and UC2 campaigns combined. Litteraly.