tranCendenZ
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Was at Digitallife in NYC today and I got to see two XBOX 360 games being played in person (by lucky people in the crowd) on an HDTV display, plus a ton of other games on a high definition demo reel.
LIVE GAMEPLAY
Project Gotham Racing 3
--
This game has the most amazing graphics I have ever seen on any racer ever. While that is not surprising since this is XBOX 360, I didn't expect one thing - the dashboard view. PGR3 adds a new camera where you see the steering wheel and dash, and I have never seen any game ever execute such a realistic looking dash. Combine that with the ultra-realistic tracks and crowds (that even react to onscreen events) and its pretty crazy. You even see scratches on the windshield when in dashboard view. IMO, this game will be the #1 piece of "eye candy" for the XBOX360, and looks to be a spectacular racer. Pretty much everyone in the crowd was ooohing and ahhing at the site of it. Put bluntly, it looks almost like real-life. Pretty amazing stuff.
Kameo
--
Rare put out a gem here and really utilized a ton of the XBOX 360's power. In the gameplay segment I saw, there were hundreds of giant dragons flying through the air as you played. It was incredible to see such massive amounts of creatures swarming through the air, something that can only be done with geometry instancing. While I was watching it, I pretty much thought "wow, the ingame graphics are better than prerendered movies in most games." This game looks like it will be a fantastic platformer and the sheer variety in gameplay that was displayed makes it look like a platformer to be reckoned with. Move over Mario, I think we have a new champ here.
Now, on the non-interactive demo reel I saw:
--
Perfect Dark Zero
Though it had some eye-popping effects, not an over-the-top graphical stunner like PGR3 or Kameo. That being said, it still looked amazing and much better than you'd think with some of the criticism of this title. Framerates looked very smooth. The latest trailer made the game look really fun by showcasing some of the things you can do in it. It appears that this will be more of a tactical, objective based game such as the original Perfect Dark. From what I saw, this game could probably make launch but if its pushed back until XMAS I would not be surprised. IMO this will be a must-buy for FPS fans, but as stated earlier its NOT a run-and-gun game like Halo. It is more of a tactical objective-based FPS.
--
Condemned: Criminal Origins
This now looks totally different than it did at E3 in a good way. Much more graphical detail. The build shown did not seemed fully optimized and suffered from slowdown. It looked like this will not make it until early 2006.
--
Call of Duty 2
Some impressive footage was shown, with incredible smoke effects. The key to this game will be how well devs implement the controller.
--
Final Fantasy XI
This game looked very out of place and "last gen" compared to the other titles with its simple polygonal characters. IMO this one is going to get lost in the shuffle.
--
Chrome Hounds
Looked cool. Not much else to say.
--
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
The footage shown was fantastic and head and shoulders above Morrowind. Truly incredible graphics with excellent combat was displayed. This will be a must buy.
--
Dead Rising
Only a brief clip of this was shown but its looking much improved over the E3 showing. From what I saw it looks like it could be a blast to play.
--
Gears of War
Looking impressive as usual running mostly at 60fps, a few instances of slowdown. This will be a real stunner when released.
--
King Kong
I basically saw King Kong start eating some guy. Not even sure WTF this game is about as the footage was brief. Graphics were pretty cool.
--
Dead or Alive 4
Fantastic graphics. More eye candy for XBOX360. The environments looked much more interactive than any prior DOA game, and the realism level appears to have been jacked up. Must buy for those who likes fighting games.
--
Quake 4
Looking excellent, though the build shown had some slowdown. I'm thinking this may be an XMAS release unless it was simply old footage that was shown. And, hey, its Quake, so it rules.
--
Test Drive Unlimited
This looked decent but Project Gotham Racing 3 stole the show and this game looked rather tame in comparison.
--
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
From what I saw, it looked like an XBOX1 game. Disappointing, but then again Tony Hawk games have always been graphically disappointing.
--
Top Spin 2
Excellent graphics, looks like a solid continuation of the first. Still, even more could have been done graphically if more time was spent on it.
--
NBA 2K6
Amazingly realistic graphics, looked incredible in motion. A must-buy!
Overall I was very impressed by the XBOX 360 showing. I think most will be blown away come Nov 22!
P.S. -- ATI had an XBOX 360 running the new Ruby demo at their booth
LIVE GAMEPLAY
Project Gotham Racing 3
--
This game has the most amazing graphics I have ever seen on any racer ever. While that is not surprising since this is XBOX 360, I didn't expect one thing - the dashboard view. PGR3 adds a new camera where you see the steering wheel and dash, and I have never seen any game ever execute such a realistic looking dash. Combine that with the ultra-realistic tracks and crowds (that even react to onscreen events) and its pretty crazy. You even see scratches on the windshield when in dashboard view. IMO, this game will be the #1 piece of "eye candy" for the XBOX360, and looks to be a spectacular racer. Pretty much everyone in the crowd was ooohing and ahhing at the site of it. Put bluntly, it looks almost like real-life. Pretty amazing stuff.
Kameo
--
Rare put out a gem here and really utilized a ton of the XBOX 360's power. In the gameplay segment I saw, there were hundreds of giant dragons flying through the air as you played. It was incredible to see such massive amounts of creatures swarming through the air, something that can only be done with geometry instancing. While I was watching it, I pretty much thought "wow, the ingame graphics are better than prerendered movies in most games." This game looks like it will be a fantastic platformer and the sheer variety in gameplay that was displayed makes it look like a platformer to be reckoned with. Move over Mario, I think we have a new champ here.
Now, on the non-interactive demo reel I saw:
--
Perfect Dark Zero
Though it had some eye-popping effects, not an over-the-top graphical stunner like PGR3 or Kameo. That being said, it still looked amazing and much better than you'd think with some of the criticism of this title. Framerates looked very smooth. The latest trailer made the game look really fun by showcasing some of the things you can do in it. It appears that this will be more of a tactical, objective based game such as the original Perfect Dark. From what I saw, this game could probably make launch but if its pushed back until XMAS I would not be surprised. IMO this will be a must-buy for FPS fans, but as stated earlier its NOT a run-and-gun game like Halo. It is more of a tactical objective-based FPS.
--
Condemned: Criminal Origins
This now looks totally different than it did at E3 in a good way. Much more graphical detail. The build shown did not seemed fully optimized and suffered from slowdown. It looked like this will not make it until early 2006.
--
Call of Duty 2
Some impressive footage was shown, with incredible smoke effects. The key to this game will be how well devs implement the controller.
--
Final Fantasy XI
This game looked very out of place and "last gen" compared to the other titles with its simple polygonal characters. IMO this one is going to get lost in the shuffle.
--
Chrome Hounds
Looked cool. Not much else to say.
--
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
The footage shown was fantastic and head and shoulders above Morrowind. Truly incredible graphics with excellent combat was displayed. This will be a must buy.
--
Dead Rising
Only a brief clip of this was shown but its looking much improved over the E3 showing. From what I saw it looks like it could be a blast to play.
--
Gears of War
Looking impressive as usual running mostly at 60fps, a few instances of slowdown. This will be a real stunner when released.
--
King Kong
I basically saw King Kong start eating some guy. Not even sure WTF this game is about as the footage was brief. Graphics were pretty cool.
--
Dead or Alive 4
Fantastic graphics. More eye candy for XBOX360. The environments looked much more interactive than any prior DOA game, and the realism level appears to have been jacked up. Must buy for those who likes fighting games.
--
Quake 4
Looking excellent, though the build shown had some slowdown. I'm thinking this may be an XMAS release unless it was simply old footage that was shown. And, hey, its Quake, so it rules.
--
Test Drive Unlimited
This looked decent but Project Gotham Racing 3 stole the show and this game looked rather tame in comparison.
--
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
From what I saw, it looked like an XBOX1 game. Disappointing, but then again Tony Hawk games have always been graphically disappointing.
--
Top Spin 2
Excellent graphics, looks like a solid continuation of the first. Still, even more could have been done graphically if more time was spent on it.
--
NBA 2K6
Amazingly realistic graphics, looked incredible in motion. A must-buy!
Overall I was very impressed by the XBOX 360 showing. I think most will be blown away come Nov 22!
P.S. -- ATI had an XBOX 360 running the new Ruby demo at their booth
