[PS3] Killzone 3

[Sigfried1977]

Like I said it's not one particular game or necessarily a shooter from the first-person perspective, I'm just saying that there's other shooters with some interesting mechanics/options that make them standout on their own.

They may not have MP, they may not be the most popular shooters ever, but I know that those games have something about them that (in a good way) makes them stick out like sore thumbs. Killzone has it's antagonists, it's setting, and it's graphics, but what is it about it's gameplay that gives it it's sense of 'Wow'? What draws it's fanatics to the game?

Oh and I appreciate the input, I was just curious about everyone's point-of-view on the series, so I'm really glad for the current feedback.

I'm in the same boat. That's probably why I had so much fun with Dark Sector. Basically another cover based shooter presented in the ever fashionable color scheme ranging all the way from brown to vomit-green and blessed with a last minute effort of a story, but chopping up dudes with the Glaive was just so much fun.

The only part where the KZ2 experience really klicked with me was when they handed me the lightning gun.

 

[Billy Idol]

Here are some new(??) pics:

http://www.gamersmint.com/?p=5737

I like this one especially:

 

[patsu]

Why ? coz it looks "normal" to me.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

It looks bad to me
Post processing has cut off the dark areas into complete blacks, and the shading on the left hand is also compromised, highlights are clipped at 60% intensity... the lack of HDR hurts it badly.

 

[patsu]

v_v Yes, the polish and spit-shine are not in yet (Pre-alpha ftw). KZ3 has always look better in motion though (Those twirling smoke/fog, animation, and lighting made the game come alive).

 

[L. Scofield]

v_v Yes, the polish and spit-shine are not in yet (Pre-alpha ftw).

It doesn't seem like a matter of polish. It's their art design.

 

[djskribbles]

Well, art direction is all preference. It's not like every level will look like that either.

But I agree with patsu. KZ has always looked better in motion.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

I don't know what it is, might be a general preset on the color adjustments that they haven't properly tested yet - but the previous game had a bunch of such screenshots too, so they should know better by now.

But it's a technical issue, a consequence of a limited color space pushed too far.
I'd like to refer to this website again:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/histograms1.htm
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/photoshop-curves.htm

This helps to understand the issue behind the looks of that image.

 

[patsu]

Yeah, the colorspace limit is one of the contributing factors. Some more work can be done to make a dull place look beautiful and interesting. May be room lighting can be adjusted ?

I am more happy that they have the game running at this stage. Should play test it more, and then add party support. I am not too concerned about the graphics performance in this game. I'm more afraid of them overdoing it and compromise the gameplay.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

This issue is completely unrelated to the performance... it's purely artistic.
Might not be as disturbing to most people as it is to me, for example, though.

 

[patsu]

This issue is completely unrelated to the performance... it's purely artistic.
Might not be as disturbing to most people as it is to me, for example, though.

Mostly, polish can apply to art right ? Adding more enemy animation may be interesting to the player too. They are still using KZ2 assets in this demo.

In any case, I remember some complained about early KZ2 pictures too.

 

[ihamoitc2005]

Maybe temporal

It looks bad to me
Post processing has cut off the dark areas into complete blacks, and the shading on the left hand is also compromised, highlights are clipped at 60% intensity... the lack of HDR hurts it badly.

Doesn't seem to be a problem in motion so maybe they vary this frame-to-frame to create average HDRish effect although if they do that it might have a little bit flashing look.

BTW, this must be how older people see. Their eyes become LDR.

 

[Toaddio]

It looks bad to me

Shocking!

But it also looks to be at an odd resolution so I don't think this image is too meaningful.

 

[_phil_]

There also can be a lot of difference in gamma response between how you tweak your game on a ps3 connected to a real LCD tv and how it'will respond on a PC+monitor.

 

[Billy Idol]

Why ? coz it looks "normal" to me.

It looks bad to me
Post processing has cut off the dark areas into complete blacks, and the shading on the left hand is also compromised, highlights are clipped at 60% intensity... the lack of HDR hurts it badly.

Hm, I am astounded that the final judgment is that these pics look bad?!

What I liked, what I recognized first when I looked at the pic I linked: the texture of the ceiling (and the wall in the back)...giving IMO an ultra realistic impression of a concrete bunker...it happens that I just sat in a "modern" building while seeing and posting those pics which in fact had some walls made of concrete...and I thought/think that it is a good approximation to reality.

Now that Laa-Yosh has pointed me to the lightning issues, I understand your guys' dislike a little bit better...

 

[Laa-Yosh]

There also can be a lot of difference in gamma response between how you tweak your game on a ps3 connected to a real LCD tv and how it'will respond on a PC+monitor.

Generally you're right about this. But yesterday I've cut out the hand from the background and checked the histogram, there's almost nothing above 60% intensity, it's flattening out, highlights are crushed. LDR rendering + too much post, gamma can't really fix that IMHO.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Yep, the dynamic range is crushed beyond the possibilty to recover detail through gamma adjustment. To me, it looks like they've just gone with an extrme contrast look, which is more akin to artsy photos than realistic combat. I guess it'll divide people's tastes more than games typically do, although my personal opinion is it looks dramatic for a still, but it'd be a PITA to actually play.

 

[Sigfried1977]

It looks bad to me
Post processing has cut off the dark areas into complete blacks, and the shading on the left hand is also compromised, highlights are clipped at 60% intensity... the lack of HDR hurts it badly.

Doesn't bother me really. Looks pretty dramatic the way it is. About a gazillion movies do pretty much the exact same thing on purpose. Looks like something Janusz Kaminski would have done.

 

[ultragpu]

First thing is first, those shots are old as and compressed from Gamerthirst. Here's the proper 720p Gamersyde release. http://gamersyde.com/news_images_of_killzone_3-9610_en.html
How hard is it to add HDR in killzone engine anyway? Metro2033 did HDR with a deferred renderer so why can't GG do it?

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Doesn't bother me really. Looks pretty dramatic the way it is.

Good for you; for me, it hurts to look at it.
And yeah, the overdone grading in LOTR disturbs me as well in many scenes.

About a gazillion movies do pretty much the exact same thing on purpose. Looks like something Janusz Kaminski would have done.

No, the math behind, and thus the quality of the results, are pretty different.