Transformers.. RETRO

[Ug Lee]

I was grossly underwhelmed by the demo of Transformers. Run-of-the-mill gameplay backed by sub-par visuals. I've seen and played far better on the PS2.

 

[thop]

What i've been saying, without the TRANSFORMER name this'd be a 75% game for the PS2.

 

[Farid]

I was grossly underwhelmed by the demo of Transformers. Run-of-the-mill gameplay backed by sub-par visuals. I've seen and played far better on the PS2.

The gameplay is indeed (i've only played the level 1 so far) nothing interesting, on the other hand, personaly i found the visuals impressives technicaly speaking.

 

[marconelly!]

I'm not sure about the 60fps, it looks like 30fps + motion blur (trails) + slowdowns.

I've heard it's 60FPS with some framedrops covered by motion blur. I don't think it's possible to have a field rendered game running at 30FPS at all times and not induce seisures in majority of the population

 

[VNZ]

It's 60fps with frequent slowdowns when things get intense. I'm most impressed with the extreme amount of grass and foliage coupled with the great drawing distance. The sun streaks are also nice and quite unique.

 

[AbbA]

It's 60fps with frequent slowdowns when things get intense. I'm most impressed with the extreme amount of grass and foliage coupled with the great drawing distance. The sun streaks are also nice and quite unique.

I've not seen particular slowdown, sometimes when the screen is full of "moving" pixel the action slow down, but nothing serious.
Quote, the amazon stage is very impressive with enormous amount of grass, trees, a great drawing distance ad a very good use of lighting.

With a use of full buffer rendering the impact of graphic would be much better, in this sense it seems to be a first generation title.


ciao.

 

[-tkf-]

Interview

I'm not sure why developers moan today about PS2. It's a hard platform to get started on, but only because it is unique and requires special approaches compared to other platforms. But that pays off later and actually, although industry hype might argue with this, no other console, even Xbox, can match PS2's flexibility, Vector Unit power or polygon drawing speed. We design everything to exploit those strengths.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=55421

Preview (bit old)

The end of the Antarctica level, for example, just has to go down as one of the most impressive moments in gaming history and had the entire Eurogamer office transfixed and making peculiarly endearing noises at the spectacle.

Reviews may have appeared elsewhere, but be aware that this was not finished code. Movie interludes lacked sound, and a few technical glitches and bugs were apparent in our preview build as you'd expec

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=54880

Looking forward to the final review

 

[overclocked]

Wow I NEED this game, looking forward too it sooooo much...

 

[Mendel]

I got it. Bought ps2 for it, and its a good game. Graphics aren't on par with far cry but it's as close as you can get without the power of shaders.

I was impressed with the AI of the enemies. In groups they spread to battle formation, lead you to traps, jump to evade missiles, generally act more "realistically" than in any other mech/robot game i've seen so far... The ragdoll physics is a nice feature too. Shadow of a dropship overhead is a nice experience

edit: It's great as long as it's outdoors. Indoors sequences bring us back to pre half-lifeanic age.

 

[London Geezer]

So, how does it compare to ZOE2?

 

[Deepak]

I am also interested, after playing ZOE2 I am addicted to robotic games, may get it this weekend.

 

[Farid]

So, how does it compare to ZOE2?

Well, they're very different, Transformer Armada is a TPS, with the classical combo stick right for the move and stick left for the view...

Actually the game worth to be bought just because it's a damn impressive tech demo.
The jungle levels are astonishing you can see miles away, without annoying LOD pop-ups, the ground is covered by dense grass, there's HDR-like effects, etc...

And about the game itself, then let's say it's a OK game.

 

[Mendel]

I'm testing zoe2 next monday and will post about the differences later

 

[marconelly!]

So, how does it compare to ZOE2?

I was playing Transformers demo, and to me, there's no doubt that I'd rather look at ZOE2 visuals than TF. It's just that TF for all it's insane amounts of polygons and draw distance (and trust me, they do get insane at times), looks quite raw, it's art direction plain and uninspired, and it's image quality kinda shaky. Unpolished would be the word, I'm looking for. For example, when camera zooms into some vegetation, you can see all the blurry zig-zags of textures and alpha transparency (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) To me, it's visuals pass for a nice tech demo, but I think the same of many games with 'high end' visuals on PC, for example.

 

[London Geezer]

So, how does it compare to ZOE2?

I was playing Transformers demo, and to me, there's no doubt that I'd rather look at ZOE2 visuals than TF. It's just that TF for all it's insane amounts of polygons and draw distance (and trust me, they do get insane at times), looks quite raw, it's art direction plain and uninspired, and it's image quality kinda shaky. Unpolished would be the word, I'm looking for. For example, when camera zooms into some vegetation, you can see all the blurry zig-zags of textures and alpha transparency (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) To me, it's visuals pass for a nice tech demo, but I think the same of many games with 'high end' visuals on PC, for example.

FarCry with robots then. Ok i'll pass.
I guess the only thing that could beat ZOE2 in terms of experience is ZOE3.

 

[Phil]

I guess the only thing that could beat ZOE2 in terms of experience is ZOE3...

...on PlayStation 3 8)

 

[London Geezer]

^^ Drool......

 

[ChryZ]

Bring it on! ZOE2 is sensory overload deluxe, ZOE3+PS3? *brainmelts*