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ActiveXbox.com: Halo 3 - Review | |
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| Time: 00:00 EST/05:00 GMT | News Source: ActiveXbox.com | Posted By: Robert Stein | ||
Brian has posted his 8-page review of Halo 3. Thank you to Microsoft for providing us a copy prior to release. Here is an excerpt of his review: The Xbox 360, arguably the most powerful next generation system, brings some extra resources to the series. The power of the Xbox 360 has given Bungie the ability to express themselves and their goal of the game even better. Throughout the campaign, you will find mind boggling attention to detail. Master Chief displays tattered armor, with dust speckled helmet. Every joint, movement, and accessory on Master Chief is visible, highly detailed, and completely operational. The draw distance is astounding, showing you snow capped mountain tops miles in the distance, as well as funnel clouds miles high in the sky. What does this have to do with game play you might ask? Everything. This detail and extra resources literally pull you into the game. This enhancement to the game play is very welcome, and shows what Bungie wanted with Halo 1 and 2 had the resources been available then. <%=GetPoll(115)%> | ||
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| #1 By 12071 (203.185.215.144) at 9/24/2007 11:22:14 PM |
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"Xbox 360, arguably the most powerful next generation system"
Really? Who, aside from Microsoft fanboys, have argued that it's more powerful than the PS3? |
| #2 By 32313 (208.131.186.18) at 9/25/2007 12:31:33 AM |
| Excellent review Brian! Looks like an awesome game. |
| #3 By 37 (76.210.78.134) at 9/25/2007 6:05:47 AM |
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"Really? Who, aside from Microsoft fanboys, have argued that it's more powerful than the PS3?"
Didn't take long for the SDF (Sony Defense Force) to arrive :-). For the record, there are a number of developers that have been creating games for both platforms that have stated numerous times that the Xbox 360's power is needed for certain games, while the PS3 is unable to perform. Ubisoft and Epic just to name two off of the top of my head. Mark Rein went on record to state that the PS3 is not capable of running Gears of War due to the PS3's split memory architecture (256x2). In order to process all of the textures in such a graphically complex game, the Xbox 360's unified 512mb of ram, built in free AA, an 10mb of cache was the power required to make the game. Ubisoft has also stated that the upcoming Splinter Cell was an Xbox 360 exclusive because of the PS3's specs, and it's inability to provide the smart/complex AI required for their new game. On the same token, the creators of Motorstorm, Lair, and GT5 all stated that the Xbox 360 wouldn't be capable of playing those games. The difference.....those are all first party titles owned/published by Sony. The Xbox 360 developers that stated the Xbox 360 is more powerful are 3rd party (less biased) developers Of note, I did say "arguably" ;-) |
| #4 By 37 (76.210.78.134) at 9/25/2007 6:07:35 AM |
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Thanks Andre. It was an awesome game. If you go to metacritic.com you will see I am not the only one who though so!
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/halo3 It received "8" perfect scores of 100. Simply amazing. Bungie did their homework. |
| #5 By 12071 (203.158.38.187) at 9/25/2007 7:21:06 AM |
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#3 Wow, you nailed it! SDF... that's me! Sure I don't own a single Sony game console (although I did have a PS1) or a single Sony product for that matter... but yeah, SDF... that's me all the way to the bone :) I couldn't care less about raw power, number of pixel shaders, lights and polygons that can be rendered per second, I care about gameplay which is why I own a Wii. But that doesn't change the standings of which console is the most powerful. The developers are fully aware of what is possible with the XBox360... they're only just starting to find that out with the PS3. That said, I do hope they put just as much effort into the gameplay and storyline as they do graphics for the owners of those consoles - pretty graphics will only entertain you for so long.
"Of note, I did say "arguably" ;-)" Which is why I argued :) |
| #6 By 65179 (221.128.147.219) at 9/25/2007 7:50:06 AM |
| Nice review! |
| #7 By 37 (76.210.78.134) at 9/25/2007 8:00:36 AM |
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I didn't say YOU were SDF....but if the shoe fits ;-) (and yes, I know you were the only one who posted).
Whether or not there is any untapped potential in the PS3 (many developers have stated that there is no mythical "untapped" potential in the PS3), the entire lifecycle of the PS3 is limited to it's available 256mb of RAM, no AA. It's a serious bottleneck. At no time will there ever be more memory or available AA in the PS3. Essentially, the PS3 put in a big block 454 motor, and permanently mounted a rochester 2 barrel carb, an intake manifold with pipes as small as a straw, and a single one inch exhaust pipe with a catalytic converter. And because people that bought the current batch of 3 million PS3's have to have the same experience as those people 10 years from now, those specs cannot be changed. The PS3 is a crippled bottleneck, which has been noted by multiple devs. The Xbox 360 gets a fine tuned 350 small block, but gets a Holley double pumper 4 barrel carb, dual exhaust (straight pipe, no cat converter). Couple that with a more familiar and easier platform to develop for (and an unprecedented Xbox Live platform), there is a reason the games on the Xbox 360 are better than the PS3 games (graphically and gameplay). If you follow games, you would have seen that the PS3 triple A titles have flopped. Motorstorm..didn't meet the CGI graphic hype of E3 2005, and it was a lag fest online. Heavenly Sword got pummeled by it's extremely short campaign (and where is all this blu-ray space to make the games longer?), Lair...HUGE failure.....check out the reviews. Warhawk, got crushed by it's horrible online, and no campaign. And finally, Formula 1 was supposed to raise the bar graphically for racers. Check out the reviews. FLOP. Even in Japan, where F1 is supposed to be gold, it still flopped. The only thing left that can save any of the announced "AAA" titles now is GT5, which isn't coming out until 2008. I do plan on getting GT5 though. That game looks like it's going to rock. |
| #8 By 23275 (71.12.191.230) at 9/25/2007 9:32:14 AM |
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#7 Is quite right and building as we do for gamers and the people who love them [and sometimes lovingly hate them] as a quarter of our business, I can say that Xbox - as much as I appreciate it for what it is and can do, is something I despise.
I wish, oh how I wish... that the "environment" that Xbox prvovides for, had been one of the goals for gaming on the PC. The P freaking C, dern it! We made it one of ours and succeeded, but the ramp for people is so steep. Still, NOTHING beats the right PC in the media room, or den/living room - not in any way. Try as I might to like the 360, I don't. I have two of the bloody things and we have quite a library of games, but I always come away wanting a PC in support of media and gaming. The market is small - not too small, but small. The number of families that can afford a media system from us are higher than one would think, but nowhere near the market size available to consoles. It's a bummer. One really can make a Vista PC an instant on/off media appliance. We've done it since December for media systems and the whole thing is just stunning compared to a console. I surely would have loved to see Halo - all three titles out as a PC exclusive where there never was an Xbox, or Xbox 360. I would have liked to see all those billions sent into the channel in research and kits for builders to make truly on/off PC's. All those billions... to do what... dilute the PC as a gaming platform. |
| #9 By 2960 (68.100.112.199) at 9/25/2007 12:05:26 PM |
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#1,
Power is relative, overall. :) TL |
| #10 By 11888 (67.71.155.61) at 9/25/2007 7:34:01 PM |
| #8, People generally hate their PC. They don't want another one in the living room that they have to figure out. They want a box with minimal interface that they turn on and it works. It also helps if like Xbox 360 there's minimal mention of Microsoft and no mention of Windows. |
| #11 By 23275 (71.12.191.230) at 9/25/2007 8:50:02 PM |
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#10, yeah, I know.
That is part of what I meant... that so much can be done to change that - and the main point, so much more should have been done. I know my customers love their PC's, but they are a different kind of hardware-as-a-service kind of deal and while not for everyone, people really like them and they tell us that all the time. I just wish a lot more effort was put into where the PC should be right now - instant on/off, dead on reliable and nearly silent. It's possible and worth it. |
| #12 By 37 (76.210.78.134) at 9/26/2007 6:58:43 AM |
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For me, the Xbox 360 has the small form factor to fit in the entertainment center, requires no upgrades, driver installs, and doesn't require me to install any games. I just stick in a DVD and play a game immediately. I stick in a movie DVD and watch it immediately. I click the media center button on the remote and it connects to the pc on the network immediately. I never have to unplug, plug, restart. It's just like a VCR, as it just sits there an works when I want it. I have no balloon popups for critical updates and all of the other troubles associated with a PC. I always know that every game made for the Xbox 360 will work on the Xbox 360. With the PC, there is no telling if my PC will handle a future game 3 or 4 years down the road. PC games are not designed with the lowest common denominator in mind, where as with the Xbox 360, there is only one. It's guaranteed to work throughout the life of the console.
THAT is why I prefer consoles over PC's. Not to mention I suck at keyboard/mouse gaming. |
| #13 By 23275 (71.12.191.230) at 9/26/2007 9:56:48 AM |
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#12, Entirely valid - and what you have stated is exactly what I assess the PC as a platform can easily be made to support.
This is especially true considering the power available and the access to HW/SW virtualization. A 360 environment would not be especially difficult to bake into the platform and the HW/SW kits to allow "ALL" builders - not just select/large OEMs, is what MS should place into the channel. This way, Games for Windows, or the 360 environment could be simultaneously supported and the network fully leveraged to extend the environment to areas where displays and desired controllers are located. As I see it, the 360 as it stands, did nothing to enhance the PC as a platform and everything to dilute it. A good example of what I mean is how the now dead, and short lived hand-held portable media center and its interface, was pretty quickly retooled to make the Zune - that interface, regardless of what else people have said bad about the Zune, has been assessed to be very good. Where I see it as being better, is in "how" the code and the platform were evolved so quickly and how the tools were applied. That's the interesting part and it demonstrates a great deal of innovation in that context. Similar think needs to be applied to the PC and if nothing else, the PC needs to be given the option to also serve as a 360 parallel to all else the PC does and that experience needs to be transportable across the NW. |
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