I never finished it, the game is weebit to hard for me currently on normal
But I'll go back and give it another go, before the beta ends.
Dead Nation PSN game by Housemarque
- Thread starter whome0
- Start date
I never finished it, the game is weebit to hard for me currently on normal
But I'll go back and give it another go, before the beta ends.
I know co-op is pretty important to people, but trust me when I say the game stands on it's own two feet as a single player title and doesn't rely on co-op to be "fun".
L4D was amazing, but by yourself it was embarrassing (to me). This game has a particular feel that many zombie games simply don't have. It does a fantastic job building tension and making you feel 'scared'. Similar to how the Witches made you feel in L4D, nearly each and every encounter in this game feels that way.
Also, let's not call the game "demo" since that's misleading. It's still a month or two away, and it's pretty obvious this is an old build. It's a beta, and folks should treat it as such. Giving details impressions on what you did and didn't like is a bit premature at this point, especially with regards to difficulty.
Lastly, I wouldn't put a lot of stock into the visuals "not being special". It is a fixed camera isometric shooter afterall, not a full blown 3rd person shooter. It looks good enough for what it is, and the shadows and fog are pretty stunning.
Viewpoint doesn't denote whether a game 'looks' special or not. There are lots of techniques that could be employed (without knowing the intricacies of the engine to know what resources are available) to give DN a classy veneer. Lighting, shadowing, AO, AA, etc. would all fit nicely into the viewpoint.
Well, I've been playing it quite a bit, and the lighting and shadowing are phenomenal.
That said, the viewpoint does dictate quite a bit, IMO. If you're pulled back that far from the action, then you don't see a lot of those little details. Also, considering the majority of this game takes place at night w/only street lights or your flashlight illuminating your way, there is a ton of detail you don't see. I mean, during gameplay it looks just as good as say, the new Tomb Raider title w/an isometric view.
I totally get your point, but I think adding all those effects to a game where you won't particularly notice them is a waste of resources. I'd much rather see things like increased enemy count which will add to the gameplay mechanics, rather than fancy effects.
I need to see it myself. The original trailers looked phenominal, the lighting first-class, but the latest gameplay I've seen has come across as a marked come-down.
That game was awesome. Its probably even better than today's similar offerings
That does look similar to the feel I got frmo the trailers. One thing I noticed in gameplay was a lack fo shadopwing, with only 1/2 dynamic shadow-casting lights. When an explosion goes off, there are no shadows, which looked pretty jarring. However, reviewing the trailers that's how they looked too! Just didn't notice it. I do like the torch-focussed lighting and shadowing, and the overall mood. If it manages 60 fps at all times, that'll be a big plus.
It's always 30fps. Also, the explosions not casting shadows is hardly jarring, they're done in an extremely "b-movie" fashion.
The gameplay is fantastic. I've spent extensive time with it, and the game makes amazing use of the different weapons and gives you tons of approaches to how you do everything. For those who played R;FOM and remember going through the game on Super Human, it feels like that. The Single player is really challenging and has a TON of great variety. Sometimes you'll be in a narrow corridor with tons of enemies coming from both sides, others you'll be surrounded by cars in an open area (and cars blow up if you shoot them too much) and at other times it's just a huge open arena.
It has a few elements from SSHD in there as well (plus a cool SSHD billbaord, lol).
I really enjoy the sounds the most though. Hearing zombies kicking around cans on the ground (which all have their own physics) is really amazing. It's great when you toss down a grenade and trash, debris, and zombie chunks just go flying everywhere.
The gameplay is fantastic. I've spent extensive time with it, and the game makes amazing use of the different weapons and gives you tons of approaches to how you do everything. For those who played R;FOM and remember going through the game on Super Human, it feels like that. The Single player is really challenging and has a TON of great variety. Sometimes you'll be in a narrow corridor with tons of enemies coming from both sides, others you'll be surrounded by cars in an open area (and cars blow up if you shoot them too much) and at other times it's just a huge open arena.
It has a few elements from SSHD in there as well (plus a cool SSHD billbaord, lol).
I really enjoy the sounds the most though. Hearing zombies kicking around cans on the ground (which all have their own physics) is really amazing. It's great when you toss down a grenade and trash, debris, and zombie chunks just go flying everywhere.
No offence, but I think I happen to know what's jarring to me better than you do. Explosion lights don't cast shadows, which contrasts with the other shadowing in the game and breaks the composition. I find that jarring. Telling me it's not jarring isn't going to change the perception centres of my brain so I don't notice the breaking of the illusion.
I think Gitaroo's hit the nail on the head somewhat with House Marque's heritage. They were producing very impressive, clean visuals back on the Amiga, and this seems a drop from their usual higher-than-most standards. I'd be interested in a tech interview to understand what the engine is doing and where the limits are.
Well, no offence, but I think enjoying a game is far more important than nitpicking things that you (in my opinion) shouldn't really place on any kind of priority list, at least not before game play. For the type of game it is (isometric shooter) it looks comparable, if not better, than other similar titles on the market.
The game is doing a lot more in the way of visuals than SSHD did. SSHD didn't manage nearly as many textures, and the lighting was flat (IIRC it didn't have any shadows cast by the objects on the screen). It also didn't have to process nearly as many sounds as this does. The sound in this game is really really well done, and you don't really realize it until you have it running in 5.1 surround.
When a zombie is quiet, but walking up behind you (and you can't see him because of the fog and it's dark) then you really appreciate hearing him kicking cans as he drags his feet, and you can hear it behind you. Tons of little touches like that really bring the game to life.
In this, every single object casts a shadow from your flashlight, and they all respond to physics. Cans, cars, debris, as well as limbs and guts. These elements all mean far more to me then "wait a minute, that didn't cast a shadow! *turns off game*". Maybe it's a difference in preference (well, obviously it is) but I always, without a doubt, think that a good game will stand head and shoulders above one that wastes resources on things like AA, SSAO, or shadows from multiple light sources.
SSHD may have ran @ 1080p/60fps, but it was hardly as demanding as Dead Nation is.
The game is doing a lot more in the way of visuals than SSHD did. SSHD didn't manage nearly as many textures, and the lighting was flat (IIRC it didn't have any shadows cast by the objects on the screen). It also didn't have to process nearly as many sounds as this does. The sound in this game is really really well done, and you don't really realize it until you have it running in 5.1 surround.
When a zombie is quiet, but walking up behind you (and you can't see him because of the fog and it's dark) then you really appreciate hearing him kicking cans as he drags his feet, and you can hear it behind you. Tons of little touches like that really bring the game to life.
In this, every single object casts a shadow from your flashlight, and they all respond to physics. Cans, cars, debris, as well as limbs and guts. These elements all mean far more to me then "wait a minute, that didn't cast a shadow! *turns off game*". Maybe it's a difference in preference (well, obviously it is) but I always, without a doubt, think that a good game will stand head and shoulders above one that wastes resources on things like AA, SSAO, or shadows from multiple light sources.
SSHD may have ran @ 1080p/60fps, but it was hardly as demanding as Dead Nation is.
Did I establish a priority list? Did I at any point say, or imply, that DN wasn't worth getting because of the visuals? Nope. I just talked about the visuals as a game feature without making any such judgement calls.
That sounds very cool.
Again, noticing the absence of shadows doesn't destroy the game experience. It's just something I would (and do) notice, in any game. Like aliasing or chunky shadowmaps or blurry textures or slideshow framerates or massive tearing; the components of the visuals that developers try to make the best of in order to give the best experience, and which when done poorly can be a distraction.
That's not in any way a statement on appreciation of the game, any more than saying you dislike a person's tie or dress or haircut is a declaration that you don't value them as a person and want nothing to do with them. You seem to have a very negative reaction to criticism wherever it appears on this board!
The genre is becoming competitive this year. There's Alien Breed: Evolution coming out this week with a demo at least, and late september the PS3 and PC is also getting the Lara Croft isometric game, which looks much nicer than the former title though the 360 demo for me was perhaps a little too straightforward, but the co-op puzzles are apparently quite good.
Mr. Domino
Regular
Online co-op at launch confirmed:
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2010/10/07/dead-nation-online-co-op-confirmed/
And a new trailer: http://www.viddler.com/explore/sceablog/videos/1289/
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2010/10/07/dead-nation-online-co-op-confirmed/
And a new trailer: http://www.viddler.com/explore/sceablog/videos/1289/
