First PS2 Splinter Cell review

A

Ali-G

Banned
I don't know how many people have already seen this, but I didn't see it posted here so..

http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/reviews...=166&pagetype=2&searchstring=&articleid=65042

This was the bit that confused me:

None of these grumbles is enough to spoil a truly superb, amazingly detailed infiltration simulation, however, that is superior to the Xbox version in every way - but we should warn you that if you don't have patience of the Dalai Lama, it might be a bit of a pad-breaker.
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I'm sure the conversion is great 'n all, but it's obvious from the tone of the piece that the reviewer isn't exactly an Xbox fan. I'd disregard any comparisons between the two versions until somebody who at least looks slightly objective cares to comment.
 
Game Informer Reviewed it, they gave it an 8.5(in comparison they gave the Xbox version an 8.75).
they say the graphics are toned down, but it sports many new effects that make up for it(such as reflections in floor tiles and such), the Missions have been restructered, and they felt the changes were made for balancing issues rather than technical ones.
 
I wouldn't put too much expectations in a 3 month port (even if 3 non-stop month of work)+the inadequate Unreal engine ,concerning PS2. :LOL:
 
After looking at the IGN review it does seem like overall the PS2 game is pretty much right up there with the XBox version.

The PS2 version has slightly more aliasing and slightly less detailed textures then the XBox version. But the PS2 has new effects over the XBox version like realtime reflections and heat hazing.

The lighting is less extreme and pronounced on the PS2. But appart from that its the same lighting system.

Also there's no mention of reduced levels AFAICS.. unless I missed it?

Hopefully the GC version will be like the PS2 version but with less aliasing and more detailed textures.
 
if i correctly understood what knowledgeable people have said on this forum:

my main fear for the gamecube is the lighting that could be not up to par with the other versions.

someone more knowledgeable than me could confirm or infirm that GC is weaker for lighting than the two other consoles ?
 
Magnum PI said:
if i correctly understood what knowledgeable people have said on this forum:

my main fear for the gamecube is the lighting that could be not up to par with the other versions.

someone more knowledgeable than me could confirm or infirm that GC is weaker for lighting than the two other consoles ?
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from the videos and whats been shown, its looks better than the PS2 version by a long shot, graphically its closer to the Xbox version, but the Lighting isnt on par with the Xbox version, though is better than the PS2 version.
 
If each of these versions are being rendered to 640x480 and AA is not being used in any of them, how can aliasing be "slightly worse" in one of them?
 
randycat99 said:
If each of these versions are being rendered to 640x480 and AA is not being used in any of them, how can aliasing be "slightly worse" in one of them?
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Flicker filter quality.
 
C'mon, people routinely complain of blurry textures on the PS2, how can texture aliasing (something that happens to high contrast, sharply detailed textures) suddenly become a problem?

Flicker filter sounds more plausible, but c'mon, how much AA can you expect out of a flicker filter? Also considering how these filters can be set for different levels of blending and the more dominant blurring component in all of this is going to be the end-user's TV, I think it is splitting hairs.
 
randycat99 said:
C'mon, people routinely complain of blurry textures on the PS2, how can texture aliasing (something that happens to high contrast, sharply detailed textures) suddenly become a problem?
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Easy. Lack of MIP mapping.

Flicker filter sounds more plausible, but c'mon, how much AA can you expect out of a flicker filter? Also considering how these filters can be set for different levels of blending and the more dominant blurring component in all of this is going to be the end-user's TV, I think it is splitting hairs.
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I wasn't talking about AA. I was talking about perceived flicker. A good flicker filter vs. a poor flicker filter can make a tremendous difference, and a poorly filtered display can seem more aliased as well. I sure as hell CAN tell the difference between my GameCube's output and a friend's PS2's output on my TV... GC on Component cables (I'm comparing the 480i output though!) and PS2 on S-video.
 
C'mon, people routinely complain of blurry textures on the PS2, how can texture aliasing (something that happens to high contrast, sharply detailed textures) suddenly become a problem?
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It's always been a problem, on PS2 in particular.
And besides, people on the net also routinely complain about logically mutually exclusive things, and it doesn't bother them either, so let's not go there ;)

I can also mention that turning off mipmaps in our game makes IQ a hell of a lot worse then turning off FF.
 
Also there's no mention of reduced levels AFAICS.. unless I missed it?
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Not sure if they mentioned it, but from what I've seen the levels have been restructured or reduced in size, and a lot of the extra little details have been removed (extra objects lying around, etc..).
 
A good flicker filter vs. a poor flicker filter can make a tremendous difference, and a poorly filtered display can seem more aliased as well. I sure as hell CAN tell the difference between my GameCube's output and a friend's PS2's output on my TV...
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What games on PS2 have you tried? Tekken 4, for example, looks exactly as filtered as any GC game. I actually don't like the additional filtering in T4. Although it eliminates flicker completely, it makes everything a bit blurrier (much like GC flicker fixer seems to be doing)
 
The realtime reflections are just a replacement for using pixel shaders on floors to add "sheen" from light sources. Since they can't do that on Ps2 and GC, they are using a very simple reflection which is basically just rendering a model beneath the one you're controlling. Faking a reflection like that isn't hard to do.
 
Qroach said:
The realtime reflections are just a repplacement for using pixel shaders on floors to add "sheen" from light sources. Since they can't do that on Ps2 and GC, they are using a ver simply reflection which is basically just rendering a model beneath the one you're controlling. faking are reflection like that isn't hard to do.
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It's all "faking it", unless you are doing raytracing, isn't it?

When you say "sheen", are you referring to specularity, reflectivity, or mirroring?
 
The realtime reflections are just a repplacement for using pixel shaders on floors to add "sheen" from light sources. Since they can't do that on Ps2 and GC
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How do you know GC can't do that sheen effect with TEV? The floors in the vids I saw (GC version) looked shiny (I assume that's why you mean by sheen?) as well as reflective.

Although to be honest I think a fully reflective floor would be an improvment over just a shiny floor anyway.

they are using a ver simply reflection which is basically just rendering a model beneath the one you're controlling. faking are reflection like that isn't hard to do.
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Why would rendering upside down to produce reflections by any more of a fake then any other way of doing reflections?
 
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