[PS3] God of War III Pre-Release

[Npl]

Its looking good, but the ligthing/shadowing is really bad at alot points... from the screenshots you can even see that shadows are there but they dont seem to match the intensity on the models. ie. deep dark canyons on the skin implicating strong and directed light vs faint, often unnoticeable shadows for everything else.
Shouldnt be hard to piece this together convincingly until the release, but for me this is the most annoying thing in the trailer.

The scale and animation are impressive.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

You would write the exactly same description for Killzone 2 screenshots comparing it with Haze, wouldn't you?

No I wouldn't. Haze is pretty bad looking, whereas KZ2 is very nice and has come a long way from the first screenshots.

 

[patsu]

What's with all the commotion ? The game doesn't even have a release date yet.

The devs are in the middle of realizing and tuning their gameplay ideas. If the visual doesn't look good to some people, it's healthy/okay to point that out so that the devs will allocate enough resources to address them (if not already). If the trailers excite some people, then it's okay to gush about the specifics too so that the devs know whether (and for which part) they are on the right track.

I don't see what's wrong either way. It's a work in progress.

 

[specwarGP2]

Second, what i'm saying about the sales part is the following:

It's a very good intention to put gameplay in front of graphics.

But today's market is so competitive that if a game is too far behind in graphics then it will fail to get the attention of the general public.

I think it depends on the particular title. COD4's (console) visuals weren't anything special, but the overall visual style and gameplay more than made up for it.

 

[deepbrown]

Let's just not confuse things, OK?

First, the screenshots. These are the ones that just don't look that good to me:
http://www.hardcoregamer.com/components/com_magazine/IMG/jpg/PressAnnc12.jpg
http://www.hardcoregamer.com/components/com_magazine/IMG/jpg/PressAnnc09.jpg
http://www.hardcoregamer.com/components/com_magazine/IMG/jpg/PressAnnc10.jpg

Lacking both a lot of technical features and artistic polish (so, this may change until the release).
I mean, just compare it to Heavenly Sword, same platform, similar budget, and it's two years old. And GOW3 doesn't look any bit better than that game, I'd actually say it's even worse.


Second, what i'm saying about the sales part is the following:

It's a very good intention to put gameplay in front of graphics.

But today's market is so competitive that if a game is too far behind in graphics then it will fail to get the attention of the general public.

Thus the decision to concentrate resources on gameplay may end up creating a very good GOW3 that suffers in sales because of it.


This is in no way meant to attack the game, I'm merely pointing out the irony of today's game market, at least on the HD consoles.
(And let's not get into the Wii here, a GOW-type game is probably way beyond that audience anyway)

If any consumer watched that trailer, they'd think they've seen the best graphics ever created.

 

[BadTB25]

If any consumer watched that trailer, they'd think they've seen the best graphics ever created.

I can't agree as there is too much CG stuff out there being passed on as in game. Hell there is a lot of last generation games that have really incredible CG that didn't look anything like the game.

 

[tha_con]

So let me get this straight. There are folks who actually think that the way this game looks will make it sell FEWER copies?

*It already looks better than every other 3rd person action title on the market*

Leave your hyperbole and ridiculous comments at the door. Too much "I know what i'm talking about" and not enough logic. God of War 3 will floor gamers because it'll have dismemberment and blood. In fact, I'm willing to wager it does better than both DMC4 and NG2.

I can't agree as there is too much CG stuff out there being passed on as in game. Hell there is a lot of last generation games that have really incredible CG that didn't look anything like the game.

So then you didn't play the last 2 God of War Games? You couldn't have, either that or your eyes are broken.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

*It already looks better than every other 3rd person action title on the market*

vs.

Leave your hyperbole and ridiculous comments at the door.

No further comments.

 

[patsu]

I don't think focusing on gameplay is wrong. Products may sell poorly but not because the gameplay is too good ^_^

e.g., Many critics complained that MSG4 does not do anything special in the technical graphics department, but it sold extremely well due to other strengths and overall packaging.

 

[BadTB25]

So let me get this straight. There are folks who actually think that the way this game looks will make it sell FEWER copies?

So then you didn't play the last 2 God of War Games? You couldn't have, either that or your eyes are broken.

Please read carefully before you comment. I have played God of War I and II. I haven't played of God of War PSP Chains of Olympus.

My comment was regarding deep brown's comment of "If any consumer watched that trailer, they'd think they've seen the best graphics ever created".

A lot of consumer's have seen better "CG" that have been passed on as gameplay. They will not think that this is the best graphics ever. Even the CG in the previous God of War looks better than this trailer IMO.

Unfortunately we see false advertisement being passed on all the time. Can you really expect "any" consumer to not know any better?

 

[Neb]

If any consumer watched that trailer, they'd think they've seen the best graphics ever created.

You mean the non CGI trailer?

It kinda boggles my mind how simpler stuff get passed on as "unbelievable". If they think "seen the best graphics ever created" the ymost have come straight from xbox/PS2 era games jumping straight to GOW3.

 

[the ignoramus]

Does the average consumer care how well GOW III textures/shaders/lighting compares to everything else?
No, he cares about killing things in a brutal, vivid, cool and epic manner.
I think it's bullshit to claim GOW III supposedly lackluster visuals will restrict its sales to all but the loyal. How many units did Halo 3 move in a post-GeoW environment? More than its predecessor I think.

 

[BadTB25]

Does the average consumer care how well GOW III textures/shaders/lighting compares to everything else?
No, he cares about killing things in a brutal, vivid, cool and epic manner.
I think it's bullshit to claim GOW III supposedly lackluster visuals will restrict its sales to all but the loyal. How many units did Halo 3 move in a post-GeoW environment? More than its predecessor I think.

I agree 100%. I will certainly be one of the 1st to pick up GOWIII. The only reason I haven't played the PSP version is because I don't have one. If I did, it would be one of the first games to get on my list.

BTW, no one here is claiming that it's lackluster. Saying that they've seen somethings implemented better elsewhere doesn't take away from the game overall. If you looking for nitpicks, I'm sure every game can have flaws pointed out that were done better 6 months ago.

 

[Iron Tiger]

No I wouldn't. Haze is pretty bad looking, whereas KZ2 is very nice and has come a long way from the first screenshots.

I remember some site had a screenshot comparison of Haze and Crysis in similar settings and locations, and a lot of the commentors were convinced that Haze was pretty close to Crysis, and even exceded it in places. Yet we all knew better when we got to witness it for ourselves.

I feel GoW3 looks better than HS if only for its fluidity. HS had some impressive visuals, but it was a slideshow. It's a terrible shame that a character that moves so fast with such attention to animation is only drawn at slideshow pacing. Maybe if there was motion blurring, it would have been more aesthetically pleasing, but it didn't even have that to save it.

Comparing this screenshot from GoW3 to this one from HS, I don't see a great difference in detail, but Nariko's in the speed stance there, so you know in motion, you wouldn't see any of the details on her anyway. One thing that really impressed me about the GoW3 trailer was how they wanted you to see the little details. The high contrast (which some people take issue with) makes everything stand out sharply in motion, so you can make out those pores in Kratos' skin or the musculature of the undead warriors, even in motion.

Now, I expect some people will say GoW3 should not be compared to HS, but the similarities are undeniable, and GoW3's producers have made references to Kratos' weapon-switching as being similar to stance changes, HS' primary game mechanic.

And on a final note, just look at this pic and try to remain unimpressed. Kratos' shoulder armor has similar shader characteristics and polygonal detail as some of the artifacts in Drake's Fortune, and I thought those looked amazing on the screen, all by themselves with just a 2D HUD behind them.

 

[Kittonwy]

I remember some site had a screenshot comparison of Haze and Crysis in similar settings and locations, and a lot of the commentors were convinced that Haze was pretty close to Crysis, and even exceded it in places. Yet we all knew better when we got to witness it for ourselves.

I feel GoW3 looks better than HS if only for its fluidity. HS had some impressive visuals, but it was a slideshow. It's a terrible shame that a character that moves so fast with such attention to animation is only drawn at slideshow pacing. Maybe if there was motion blurring, it would have been more aesthetically pleasing, but it didn't even have that to save it.

Comparing this screenshot from GoW3 to this one from HS, I don't see a great difference in detail, but Nariko's in the speed stance there, so you know in motion, you wouldn't see any of the details on her anyway. One thing that really impressed me about the GoW3 trailer was how they wanted you to see the little details. The high contrast (which some people take issue with) makes everything stand out sharply in motion, so you can make out those pores in Kratos' skin or the musculature of the undead warriors, even in motion.

Now, I expect some people will say GoW3 should not be compared to HS, but the similarities are undeniable, and GoW3's producers have made references to Kratos' weapon-switching as being similar to stance changes, HS' primary game mechanic.

And on a final note, just look at this pic and try to remain unimpressed. Kratos' shoulder armor has similar shader characteristics and polygonal detail as some of the artifacts in Drake's Fortune, and I thought those looked amazing on the screen, all by themselves with just a 2D HUD behind them.

Heavenly Sword has extensive self-shadowing and top quality HDR lighting which God of War 3 doesn't seem to have yet, on the other hand Heavenly Sword is too linear, has no platforming and Nariko can't jump manually, seriously constraining the combat and gameplay possibilities. UNCHARTED!!!111!!!

is simply a complete package.

 

[Mr. Domino]

Some parts of the environment in the beginning of the trailer look quite amazing to me, like these two shots:

http://i41.tinypic.com/2w7oaro.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/o0uedx.png

 

[Shifty Geezer]

At the time of first watching, I doubted those were realtime. And TBH I still have my suspicions despite presenting that as a case for GoW3's achievements earlier. They claim it's all real, but the IQ in the tree pic really makes is stand out, and that's definitely made up. There won't be that twig detail drawn in game. I'm downloading the vid and will have another look, properly this time!

Edit : Well VLC isn't able to pause it properly, so I'll give it a go on PS3. The trailer wasn't available last night when I tried. Intial observations, the sky is a matte painting with a wobble effect, and thus nothing fancy in the rendering. The trees however... The same look is carried through into the 'realtime' parts of the trailer. The video is compressed to death so detail is hard to notice, but the terrain looks textures par excellence so far, as detailed as Uncharted. Indeed, ignore the characters for a moment and considerations of lighting and shadows, and just look at the scenery. Jaffe said they were going for a painting, and it looks like they've managed that with knobs on. The setting helps, for sure. Everything's low-key, aliasing is thus reduced, and you don't have to worry about discrepencies in colour affecting believability. Still, I really wish Laa-Yosh would come back with observations about the backgrounds!

 

[RenegadeRocks]

I remember some site had a screenshot comparison of Haze and Crysis in similar settings and locations, and a lot of the commentors were convinced that Haze was pretty close to Crysis, and even exceded it in places. Yet we all knew better when we got to witness it for ourselves.

I feel GoW3 looks better than HS if only for its fluidity. HS had some impressive visuals, but it was a slideshow. It's a terrible shame that a character that moves so fast with such attention to animation is only drawn at slideshow pacing. Maybe if there was motion blurring, it would have been more aesthetically pleasing, but it didn't even have that to save it.

Comparing this screenshot from GoW3 to this one from HS, I don't see a great difference in detail, but Nariko's in the speed stance there, so you know in motion, you wouldn't see any of the details on her anyway. One thing that really impressed me about the GoW3 trailer was how they wanted you to see the little details. The high contrast (which some people take issue with) makes everything stand out sharply in motion, so you can make out those pores in Kratos' skin or the musculature of the undead warriors, even in motion.

Now, I expect some people will say GoW3 should not be compared to HS, but the similarities are undeniable, and GoW3's producers have made references to Kratos' weapon-switching as being similar to stance changes, HS' primary game mechanic.

And on a final note, just look at this pic and try to remain unimpressed. Kratos' shoulder armor has similar shader characteristics and polygonal detail as some of the artifacts in Drake's Fortune, and I thought those looked amazing on the screen, all by themselves with just a 2D HUD behind them.

As I said earlier too, a great lighting system can make the environments of GOWIII to look great. The comparison pic with HS proves that the geometry and shaders are there, what is sorely missing is a good Lighting system. Lets hope they bring it in by launch. Look at HALO 3 , the lighting is so good that average graphics also look great in it.
I am just mentioning HALO3 coz it has a great HDR system, not because it is on the other console, so please........leave that out of discussions.


Also, this screen here

Looks just like the , what was that, the Caverns with the puzzles level in Uncharted where you see the Spaniards for the first time..... !

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I've just done a lot of frame-by-frame watching of the 720p trailer from the NA PSN store. I think technically it's not far removied from other similar titles like DMC. At 44 seconds we see a very flat, textured ground. When the skeletons bundle Kratos, there's no shadowing. Indeed, there's little shadowing overall. The foliage is something special though. Loads of it, highly detailed with loads of variety. There appears to be a 'Paint effect' post process, applied alongside motion/DOF blur. Detail is obscured at a distance, but is extremely clear in close-up. This gives a false idea of low-quality texture-work IMO. Remove the effect and I think you'd see something (in the scenery) that rivals anything out there. However it's inclusion is a welcome artistic choice. We want photo-surrealism, afterall Technically it looks like lots and lots of carefully crafted texture planes, most apparent when the cyclops is hanging from the tree. It's also dithered. the lightning flash at 55s drew this to my attention.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

(Posting from PS3 so serious limits . Will tidy up later) Alpha to to coverage? All in all, I wouldn't say there were any technical innovations here, but it's a bit unfair to keep expecting developers to invent brand new methods all the time. The lighting and shadowing isn't pushing the limits of what console games achieve. The scope of the 'level' though, and the attentnion to detail, looks on par with Uncharted when the paint effect isn't being applied, which is quite some achievement. Anyone expecting a complete realtime AO engine will be disappointed. Anyone wanting an action game probably has a lot to look forwards to, especially if we see the engine develop as many do.