I'm going to have to try and get my hands on a PS3 and this game, looking at the screen shots and videos on-line hasn't quite blown me away.
I was really on the fence between this game and the new
Ratchet & Clank. I opted for this one only because I wanted a more mature story line, and I'm very glad that I did.
At first I thought the whole thing was a bit too low poly, but I was only looking at the video's on you tube. After looking at the screen shots I can see they've concentrated all the detail onto the texture maps which look really, really good, if a little on the shiny side.
In the interviews with the designers, they made it clear that they wanted a game that looked very vibrant and not in the current trend of muted colours. The texture maps are
insane, and this game is all about the water. Go into water up to your ankles, and your shoes are wet, go in to the water up to your waste and just your pants are wet, go up to your head, and your shoulders down are wet ... shadows move in real time, and leaves sway in the breeze.
The animations and story is where I think this game is going to really come into it's own, the story seems interesting even at first glance and all the animations I've seen so far are very natural, though they did use a lot of Motion Capture, so it's expected!
Motion Capture is now standard on any major game release, and I'm glad to see this movie staple make it into game production. As far as production design is concerned, games are
it.
I don't see this being 'the' game to beat in the Action genre in 2008 but I see it being at least in the top 3, though it probably will be the best story led game in 2008.
Same here; that's why I said it's the title to beat in Q1 of '08, not the whole year. It's going to be a long year, with lots of twists and turns, and hopefully Sony will fully come into its own this year.
There's so much emphasis on multi-player games these days that the games like this have kind of been left in the dark as far as I see.
I wouldn't say that; MGS, Heavenly Sword, Lair, Ratchet & Clank, and Assassin's Creed are not multi-player.
Music based games, like Rock Band and fps titles, however? Those I see becoming solely multiplayer experiences in the future. I also see MMOs coming into their own over the next 2-3 years once our concept of 'bandwidth' is done away with. :)
What is the AI like? any hilarious retarded moments yet?
The AI is
verrrry smooth. Enemies don't stand around and wait to be shot; they move forward, duck, and generally provide a great challenge.
