Resistance 2

I saw no slowdowns, at least nothing noticeable. Make sure the video is buffered, it will stutter if not. Jump to about 40% (just before "Community Watch") mark to see tons of guys.

 

They started with gameplay first, so graphics development may lag. There is also no hit animation for the monsters yet. It looks like they have added more enemy variety. As long as they have more interesting moves and missions for Nathan to execute, I will be happy to try R2 out.

I was hoping they show us their social gaming community aspects soon, so people focus less on visual improvements (which will be there I believe but not KZ level)

 

I rewatched the same sequenze several times and I dont see how anyone can miss the low 10's framerate at that point uness one dont know really what framerate is. The video was downloaded both SD and HD by the way.

 

The shots that actually seemed to be new and from Resistance 2 looked quite promising and polished already, and very smooth. I think this game is going to be pretty decent. Some bits reminded me of a not-too-great Will Smith movie .

 

Where, at what point in the video? Apparently others missed it, you are the only one pointing it out. I don't know how 10-15 creatures in a alley could stress their engine, have you played the Manchester Cathedral level in R1?

 

Got no time to pinpoint it for you in the video but if you cant see it then there is no need either since I would waste my time. Dont see what R1 has to do with R2 unless your are telling me they have the same graphic detail level?

 

It's the first section where they show you the alley, later there is similar clips with loads of enemies in the same alley that do not slowdown, but the first one it does.

Maybe it's something wrong with the video as the part before it where he throws a grenade at the car also crawls along and there's hardly anything going on what so ever there.

 

still lots of time for Insomniac. i have no doubt that it will run at, or near a solid 30fps like the first. even R&C's framerate barely dipped.

as for the visuals, it looked really good. but i was also expecting a little better. definite improvement over the first.

i have no doubt the final product will look great though.

 

95% of that footage seems to be from R1.

 

They got 5-6 months, i guess "lots of time" is very relative

 

You must have played a different copy to me then

The cutscenes are all from resistance 1, the models and textures look far better in the new footage.

 

I took the time to review the footage after you made your claim, you should do the same (I actually think you did and came up empty).

BTW 5-6 months is kind of a long time when they are on a one game per year schedule.

 

Well...it's Insomniac. They put a game a year...so 5-6months could be called half their dev time

As always framerate will be solid from Insomniac. I have no doubts.

*edit-*beat

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the imprssion that developers working on games are fairly specialized beasts. I find it hard to believe that with fixed pool of developers with various strengths, shifting resources between gameplay and gfx is possible.

That said I like what they do with gameplay design and how they "sell it". 60 player multi is a nice marketing bullet point on the box. But what is really unique from the gameplay perspective is not "how many", but "what". Dynamic objectives are great addition and I hope they make it tight.

Also obvious stress on the variety of gameplay with such details as different types of enemies and weapons in changing environments is a very good decision IMO.

On the other hand: it's still looking like Resistance. I found the first one extremely uninspired in terms of art style and so far I haven't seen anything fresh in this limited footage of R2. Forest environments are cool but they make R2 look even more like WW2 shooter.

 

You don't have to mix graphics and gameplay resources (although they have to work together even more tightly).

It may mean they put together a few working levels end-to-end based on the prelim graphics engine and assets first. It gives them the advantage of tuning the game concept. The rest of the pieces can be added over time as and when they are ready.

I believe Nintendo takes this approach (It was mentioned in one of the Metroid Prime interviews). I remember Halo 3's 4-player co-op was confirmed pretty late in the game. Insomniac may be able to pre-announce their game features perhaps because they have an early idea of the entire 8 co-op player framework (plus also dedicated server set up). They may be able to do this because they overlap game development (R1 -> R&C -> R2). During the R&C period, someone may be using R1++ engine to implement R2 game concepts.

See above.

In any case, RFOM was never about #1 in graphics. It has an addictive gameplay and a well put together, dedicated server gaming framework.

 

Staggered development though. You can be working on two projects at a time with a two year development cycle, but offset releases by a year.

I don't doubt Insomniac will attain high targets regardless. And whether they do or don't, there's absolutely no point now trying to comment on the quality of the release title and second guess what they can/will achieve. Analysis of WIP builds has to remain firmly in the objective consideration of what's being achieved - 'I like the shadowing/lighting, good texture engine, etc.' 'I think the texturing needs work, what is that thing they do with the shadowing that makes it blocky? Why's it dithered? etc.'
(these comments are indivcative of the sort of discussion to be had with any WIP game, and aren't observations of RFoM2.)

 

That's why I said "could be called half their dev time" - I realise they most likely develop titles over 2 years. And I agree, comment on everything - but not the framerate, or tearing. That's the kind of stuff that is fixed towards the end of development.

 

They changed health system. They had the perfect balance between rechargeable health and health packs to restore segments for Rfom. And now you can only carry 2 weapons. Unless there are plenty different weapons lying around we won't be able to experiment as much as in Rfom. They maybe changing things to be more like CoD4, but they should not loose sight of what made Rfom so great in the first place. James Stevenson on gaf said we should have faith in them, but I like to try it before I believe it.

 

I think it depends on whether they allow us to drop weapons. If we can swap weapons with new ones, the mechanism is not that restricting but will force us to travel to various weapon spawn points.

For MP game, I noticed that most players don't use a large arsenal at the same time anyway (They may collect weapons but die before using > 1). In some ways, the 2 weapon limit might affect the top players more. They will run out of ammo and have to abandon their holed up positions to look for supplies. It is very difficult to dislodge an excellent player when (i) it's faster to switch weapons than to reload; and (ii) He can pull out a rocket launcher at the last minute (The good ones usually save it for rainy days).

The limit will probably encourage more collaboration, but somehow I doubt it. Insomniac will also need to adjust the spawn points and spawn frequencies since people's consumption pattern will change because of this limit.

That said, I am not sure how it will play out amongst the general public. The Insomniacs are probably all pros, so their regular testing will be skewed.

For SP games, I hope they keep it the same as R1. Then again, Halo 1 has 2 weapon limit but I enjoyed it regardless.

 

The thing is, it may never catch up as a result of gameplay first rule.
I suspect those levels will look similar in the end considering the amount of stuff and complexity of the city (and especially if those are mostly from coop campaign), but also there will be more than enough levels suitable for "best graphics" flame wars.

The limited weapon shit is so not Resistance, it really made me angry seeing the "triangle for carbine" notice on screen. :/
A game famous for its weapons shouldn't bother. I hope it's for co-op only which would be understandable. At least give me the weapon circle for the second playthrough.

I will also get mad if new Bullseye bullets are significantly faster than the original. Same goes for Auger.

Those said, the flood scene of the new Chimera does really show off one of the main reasons I like R1 single player. Awesome footage.