Uncharted 4: A Thief's End [PS4]

[Egmon83]

Ditto. Reviews are generally pretty safe. Actually modern reviews are usually full of unnecessary exposition and references thet you can take very little from how a game is to play as they are all almost be universally useless.

I don't agree, I absolutely hate reviews, not because they are wrong almost all the time, but because they DO spoil a lot.

For example: (I just made this up so no spoilers)

"The first half has a lot of open areas, a feature which is never replicated again in the second half"
"Some scenes are really emotional, especially near the end when Drake has to part with a long time friend"
"When you see the first act you are amazed, but the end is absolutely visceral; it takes place near an erupting volcano"
"The ability to play as Elena in the campaign when Drake is immobilised is very welcome and also necessarily in this day of social justice and feminism"
"The epilogue takes place 20 years into the future"

And so on. These are things they put inside reviews, and a blog like Kotaku will have headlines like:

"WHY THE END OF UNCHARTED MADE ME (AND SCULLY) CRY"

or you see a screenshot of a dead elena
"DID UNCHARTED4 TAKE IT TOO FAR?"

So yeah I won't be reading any gaming blogs or reviews until I finish the game

 

[Sigfried1977]

^^Well, that basically means reviews are starting to become the thing they should have been all along: subjective and personal discussion pieces meant for people who finished the game already. Spoiler-free reviews are kinda stupid, especially when you wanna talk about the quality of story-telling or writing in general. Might as well just say "trust us, it's good" and leave it at that then.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

^^Well, that basically means reviews are starting to become the thing they should have been all along: subjective and personal discussion pieces meant for people who finished the game already.

Not really. If you look at reviews for Uncharted 2 or 3 many don't even mention that it's a third person shooter. Of course you can discern this from video or screenshots but reviews are borderline useless these days without a frame of reference for fundamentals like core gameplay mechanics.

I grew up with reviews in magazines like CRASH! and Zzap64! where having read a review you undestood what to expect from a game. Modern reviews are really no help at all. They'll refer to a bnunch of other games or game genres and if you read those, you'll just end up in some extra-reference circle-jerk.

Modern reviews are really only useful if you are already familiar with the game/franchise/genre in question and have played other games like it. If not then fuck you, review reader!

 

[Egmon83]

Also: if you know the team/director and if you enjoyed their previous efforts, why should you waste your time on a review then?

I think Sony should cut off all press, and instead detail the development process more, have betas.
We have the technology (internet) to play the same previews the press plays, don't fly those tools to Barcelona to play your game for a few days, just release the previews for everyone; playable for 3 days and be done with it.

 

[Sigfried1977]

Not really. If you look at reviews for Uncharted 2 or 3 many don't even mention that it's a third person shooter. Of course you can discern this from video or screenshots but reviews are borderline useless these days without a frame of reference for fundamentals like core gameplay mechanics.

I grew up with reviews in magazines like CRASH! and Zzap64! where having read a review you undestood what to expect from a game. Modern reviews are really no help at all. They'll refer to a bnunch of other games or game genres and if you read those, you'll just end up in some extra-reference circle-jerk.

Modern reviews are really only useful if you are already familiar with the game/franchise/genre in question and have played other games like it. If not then fuck you, review reader!

All true, but technically that's what a review is kind of supposed to be (overabundance of referencing notwithstanding). And do you really need a review to tell you that Uncharted is a third person shooter? Or that it has nice textures? Or which button does what?
Honestly, I'm not really missing the days where pseudo-objectivity and nonsensical terms like "Fun Factor" ruled supreme in the realm of game "reviews".

 

[Clukos]

Very impressive looking real time global illumination: https://giant.gfycat.com/SolidEssentialIchneumonfly.gif

Looks like an evolutionary leap on the technology used in TLOU, but much better.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

We've had the topic of what reviews should be before. There are two takes, neither of which is fundamentally right. Just stick to sources that fit one's preference and everyone's good.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Very impressive looking real time global illumination: https://giant.gfycat.com/SolidEssentialIchneumonfly.gif

Looks like an evolutionary leap on the technology used in TLOU, but much better.

So a different/cranked up lighting solution inside versus out on the plains? That was pretty good with the strongly coloured secondary light.

 

[ultragpu]

Very impressive looking real time global illumination: https://giant.gfycat.com/SolidEssentialIchneumonfly.gif

Looks like an evolutionary leap on the technology used in TLOU, but much better.

So much for some people looking down on the lighting , this looks almost real.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

As I say, it's different lighting to that we've seen elsewhere. The GI isn't anything like that when riding around in the jeep. Not to mention the GI isn't shadowed, so the air tank is lit bright yellow when it shouldn't be.

 

[scf]

 

[milk]

They are not even trying anymore. Advertising ads? They should go deeper.

Advertise ads that advertise ads.

That is pretty common actually. Those are not ads for consumers, but for retailers. It assures them the game is gonna fucking sell, as to insentive them to stock up a lot of copies.

 

[Clukos]

Two more gifs in the same area that showcase similar lighting, complex geometry and some nice occlusion
https://giant.gfycat.com/IdenticalCircularAssassinbug.gif
https://giant.gfycat.com/SlightAdmiredAruanas.gif

That is pretty common actually. Those are not ads for consumers, but for retailers. It assures them the game is gonna fucking sell, as to insentive them to stock up a lot of copies.

Yeah, that's not an ad for consumers. Someone posted that picture on twitter i think.

 

[scf]

Damn amazing!

 

[Ike Turner]

Two more gifs in the same area that showcase similar lighting, complex geometry and some nice occlusion
https://giant.gfycat.com/IdenticalCircularAssassinbug.gif
https://giant.gfycat.com/SlightAdmiredAruanas.gif

Yeah, that's not an ad for consumers. Someone posted that picture on twitter i think.

I have the full video of this section if anyone's interested... poly count really isn't that high tho (COD: Ghost underwater level's fully tessellated coral reef is still the most impressive underwater environment IMO..) UC4 has some really nice normal mapping (and POM) and dynamic lighting from th flash light..and godly AA for a console game.

 

[Egmon83]

It implies that they buy magazine and thus, press coverage. Or am I reading it wrong? No sarcasm

 

[Egmon83]

I have the full video of this section if anyone's interested... poly count really isn't that high tho (COD: Ghost underwater level's fully tessellated coral reef is still the most impressive underwater environment IMO..) UC4 has some really nice normal mapping (and POM) and dynamic lighting from th flash light..and godly AA for a console game.

Was waiting for this, thank you.

I'm almost too hyped for UC4.. we need more people downplaying aspects or the graphics.

Godly AA? It's too clean for my taste. I mistook ik for prerendered.
Also the skin is too nice, soft. Drake should be full of scars. And Scully should look like my grandpa.

 

[London Geezer]

Of course they buy magazine space. Everybody does. Have you ever worked in a company with a marketing and advertising team?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It implies that they buy magazine and thus, press coverage. Or am I reading it wrong? No sarcasm

There's buying ad space in the magazines, and also sending material to the press in the hopes of getting coverage. This includes the copy of the game, of course, but also sometimes niceties like collectibles. That's not the same as buying coverage outright - the magazines can refuse to cover that game should they choose - but these magazines are a business so of course they're going to take favour coverage of comapnies that make it worth their while and enable them to stay in business.

As long as reviews are impartial (which is a matter of the magazine), it doesn't matter. A 4 page spread on the features of a game with lots of glossy promo shots isn't underhanded.

 

[Clukos]

underwater level's fully tessellated coral reef

Oh damn that looks really good, never played Ghosts, i do think lighting and shading is nowhere near the U4 underwater segment though. Some really nice, dense/detailed geometry on the other hand (not interactive at all though, which isn't the case with U4).