New Gamespot HL2 Preview (big disapointment?)

You're thinking of "The Tripods" produced by the BBC. They, and the stryders are basically nicked wholesale from HG Wells "War Of The Worlds". They are his Martian War Machines.

 

Wow thanks! I've been thinking about that series a few times since i saw the stryders last year, because i really liked it when i was a kid. I searched on google but obviously it was hopeless because i didn't know the name nor did i remember what the story was really about.

 

Yea but graphically Painkiller is a step above Far Cry imo. I don't see why Far Cry performs worse than Painkiller when Painkiller looks so much better. Mebbe it's just a crappy engine. . Ah whatever. hehe.

 

remember you are seeing changes in small doses.

ON the consoles the changes are easy to spot because it happens once ever 5 years . So u get 5 years worth of speed increases all at once.

So i don't think your ever going to be wowed again . But that is how the pc is

 

Good point. However, there is a lot more than the technology that goes into the graphical quality of a game. The artists and developers use of the available technology is still a huge variable. I think there is still some room for a wow factor.

 

The same reason Far Cry is so CPU limited, it's AI.

I love Painkiller too but it's AI pretty much consists of what monsters attack what and which is the fastest path to get to the player and kill him along with a few zone cues, where Far Cry is trying to realistically simulate human reactions according to site, hearing, smell, and coordinating actions among the enemy.

AI is the big killer in Far Cry.

 

there's real time shadows / lightning / ps2.0 / HUUUUUUUUUUUUGe outdoor / niiiiice AI / the ... hmmm water everywhere / etc in Far Cry ... the Graphics are impressive in Painkiller yeh .. like in UT2004 .. but you cant do a comparison ..

RainZ

 

Yeh great ta.. "The Tripods" was a great TV show and book series...Lost the books

 

Half Life 2 has a very intriguing storyline, IMO. It's just a cool Sci-Fi plot. At least from the surface since I don't know anything in-depth about it.

I personally enjoy science fiction titles a lot more than realistic games. Far Cry was sort of ridiculous in that it tried to be all serious but had the lame-ass mutants (poorly executed evil mutants) in the middle and end of the game. I still enjoyed it up until the end however.....the end was pathetic.

From what I've seen of Half Life 2, it is a non-satirical sci-fi atmosphere which is appealing to me. It's also not "comic booky" really, in that it looks very realistic in both its graphics and gameplay.

It has some interesting ingredients to be sure. I really doubt it will be a failure as a game. I don't know what peoples' expectations really are. I'm just looking for the atmosphere and story that the game seems to have.

 

everybody over at HalfLife2.net refers to them as "striders" and not "stryders". I'm guessing it's either a name valve came up with or someone else did and the name just stuck.

 

Not to mention the men that constantly yelled out things like, "I'm going to make you cry!" and "Eat my ass!".

I agree about HL2, it has a very realistic atmosphere and design.

 

far cry sucked ass.

HL2 will own Far cry in graphics and gameplay.
________
Chris bangle

 

Thanks for your comment lol ...

Anyway far cry was fun and it was supposed to be funny, if you don't like things that are funny it is not surprising that you did not like it

 

I don't think the AI in FarCry was that good. In the 2nd demo Map I remember killing a few guys with the sniper rifle, Hiding from the copter behind a big rock with an indentation and taking out every one bar 1 guy with silenced gun and picked up assualt rifle one handed while eating. They didn't seem to see the mounting pile of bodies just in front of my positon. No grenade or flanking manouvere either Didn't seem to get any harder in the release either though I havn't go too far...sort of put it down for abit. That's on the hardest setting too.

 

Weren't there "Striders" that were really long legged travel beasts in The Dark Crystal?

I can't find a good pic of one quickly, but IIRC the way they looked, they could very well have been inspiration for the HL2 things...

 

You must remember these are just opinions, so others can be sure it won't and even after they see it go bleh it sucks

 

Not trying to take this thread further off topic, but comparing Painkiller to FarCry is like comparing a Monster Truck to a Rolls Royce. Driving a Monster truck is fun and it looks cool, but its not nearly as sophisticated and well crafted as the RR. And that's okay, because they're not meant to be in competition with one another, just like PK and FC.

Concerning FC's AI, sure its not perfect but its certainly amongs the best attempts yet (IMO its probably the best ina FPS right now). The human brain is very efficient at detecting the typical patterns of AI behaviour. Considering how damn hard FarCry is, you sometimes are almost forced to exploit AI weaknessess, or else get your ass handed to you on a blood stained silver platter. The AI search patterns and reactions are generally very good. There is certainly room for improvement, but that doesn't belittle what's there at all IMO.

As for graphics, I think HL2 still looks very promising in motion, the screens were pretty lame though. Doom 3 is going to be so different in style that it'll be hard to compare. The gritty, realistic eastern european look of HL2 is also hard to compare to the tropical island beaches of Far Cry. I guess Stalker might end up closest to HL2's style, lets wait and see how they each hold up when/if released later this year...

 

I agree with everything you said.

 

HL2 is surprisingly correct in the Eastern European settings. I only wish they'd also include buildings and architecture from the times before the Soviet occupation, there's some very nice work from the 19th century around here...