Valve stake their entry for graphical achievement of 2003

[replicant]

Let hope they improve the gameplay, cos if its just Half-life with new amazing graphics there no point in playing it the worlds moved on and HL gameplay is super boring and dated today compared to the console efforts.

I love sarcasm Console FPS games on the whole are poor, with the exception of Halo which is extremely nice.

What beast of machine will we need to get this playing at good Frame-rate?

Radeon 9800 pro baby

[Fire]

Supposedly the graphics engine is very flexible and will scale the details up and down automatically to provide a decent framerate on all recent PCs. It's not going to be a complete spec monster like doom 3

[Magnakai]

As a PC owner since the CGA days, I'll assume youre taking the piss. Whether you think theyre as good as Doom3 or not, theyre a cut above anything seen before in a FPS.

PC starting to lead the way graphically, once again.

I've been playing games on PCs relentlessly since the mid-80's too. I've played hundreds more PC games than console games in my time, and I don't really see what that has to do with it anyway. I'm not taking the piss. Obviously it's nicer than what I've seen in most PC games up to this point, and up there with the best that any console's done. I'm certainly glad that PCs are taking the lead in graphics again
In some ways, they are bloody impressive, but they don't have the impact that some other games graphics have had to me on first sight. I guess I've been slightly disappointed by both Doom 3 and Half Life 2. I think I was expecting too much. They both still have a certain computery feel about them, which I've found some PC games to "suffer" from. To me, it feels like each object is seperate within the game engine. It's hard to describe...
I guess I was expecting computer graphics to have evolved to this level, and I was just slightly disappointed that they're not above my expectations, as they have been in the past. Or maybe I'm just too cynical these days.

[Super Stu]

Well, I assume you're a console gamer. These are a cut above anything (real time) you'll have seen on those platforms, and anything we've seen in PC games tbh.

This is the leap I've been waiting for. Finally, it seems like a high end PC is actually doing some work.

[bash]

Yeah man, I think Im gonna buy Halflife again. Seeing these screens makes me wanna rinse the 1st game as much as poss, coz whos gonna look back once this coems out? Unless you're a die hard counter strike fan

[Popo]

Hell, assuming that Valve weren't lying when they said HL2 was even easier to develop for than HL, I hope we'll be seeing mods even better and more exciting than Counterstrike.

And of course, a version of CS for HL2 wouldn't go amiss either 8)

[Kirby]

I think these shots are better than Doom III, they're outside for a start. That 3rd picture is awesome, the architecture looks superb. I was mildly excited about HL2 before, but that excitement has now been greatly raised to moistness levels

[replicant]

Mag

I think you are being slightly unfair. I really can't see how Doom 3, and Half Life 2 have set an exceptional standard for graphical detail. Doom 3 is absolutely amazing when up and running in real life. Ive never witnessed any game be it on a console, or pc with the detail and lighting like ids new title.

Half Life 2 is harder to see what has been achieved as Ive not seen it running on my PC yet. However, some of the architecture and environments are most impressive.

[Vaipon]

Well, I assume you're a console gamer. These are a cut above anything (real time) you'll have seen on those platforms, and anything we've seen in PC games tbh.

This is the leap I've been waiting for. Finally, it seems like a high end PC is actually doing some work.

I'll wait until I see it move. The PC is only winning in the polygons-on-screen department. Games like ICO, REZ, DMC1, ZOE2 and countless others have graphics more impressive than anything I've seen on the PC to this day. The PC is great for throwing millions of polys around in an FPS, but it's rubbish where innovation and effects programming is concerned (apart from the demoscene ). PC games have nice worlds and character models, but they always feel far more sloppy and rushed than console games, even graphically.

Doom3 looks great, so does HL2 (slightly less), but if ICO was released tomorrow instead of 2 years ago, I still think the graphics would hold a certain charm that the PC and it's FPS army can never match. They're always too "workmanlike".

[Super Stu]

We'll agree to disagree. I hold an utterly differing opinion, but this forum isn't the place for it.

[H-Man]

If you want realistic 3d environments then PCs do seem to be leading the way.

Personally I like the look of Wind Waker more than Doom3, just comes down to personal taste in the end.

It's a shame pc games don't seem to be as imaginative in their looks as many console games - they have far more power and are capable of blowing anything this generation of consoles can produce out of the water.

Half Life 2 does look very tasty the original is still one of my fave games (the thought of Counter Strike 2 just makes me dribble )

[PeteJ]

For the record, Stalker on the PC looks just as nice as HL2 or indeed anything. Unfortunately the art is very generic, but we are finally seeing an evolution in graphics that has been a long time coming.

I gave up with PC gaming about a year ago because I simply lost the will to download patches and suffer crash bugs. I really enjoyed the games, especially Operation Flashpoint, but it was just too much hassle in the end.

I feel a little gutted jumping out of the scene now, with these shots now impressing so much (my new laptop will never run this), but I'm happy to wait and hope that the Xbox will receive a port sometime in the future, even if the graphics take a hit.

Edit, Stalker:

http://stalker.redclaw-network.de/gallery/org/161.jpg

[Afterbirth]

Nicest FPS i've seen in some time. The problem with Doom3 is the most of its shots (i've seen) have been in darkness and confined spaces. Pic one (the most impressive to me) and the stalker pic, is more open.
As for some of the another games, your comparing style to grapical content. Style is okay - and works well.

ZOE2 does not have that impressive graphics.
The style is nice, as are the FX, but the levels are somewhat bland in colouring.
Take away the FX, and theres not as much as you might think.
People forget the PC could do all of the games the consoles can do, but games don't sell too much and the PC FPS (as dull as they now are are present) also seem to cater more for online rather then single player play.
(something which may hinder the progress on the console market in time as games are tailored for multiplayer rather then single player),

Many console teams don't program for the PC anyway, so the imagination is gone from the source. Thats the only reason the PC is hindered.

[bash]

I'll wait until I see it move. The PC is only winning in the polygons-on-screen department. Games like ICO, REZ, DMC1, ZOE2 and countless others have graphics more impressive than anything I've seen on the PC to this day. The PC is great for throwing millions of polys around in an FPS, but it's rubbish where innovation and effects programming is concerned (apart from the demoscene ). PC games have nice worlds and character models, but they always feel far more sloppy and rushed than console games, even graphically.

LOL!

WTF?!

ok ICO is nice but to compare the others to the best the PC can assemble? I'm definetly with Stu on this one, thats one whack quote.

[replicant]

As much as I love Rez, Ico, and Zelda I really don't see how exactly they offer a higher level of graphical detail than the upcoming generation of PC games.

Ive yet to play ANY console game which has a similar depth of experience through the environments alone than Doom 3. Alien Res is close on the PSOne. Also, remember the screens from D3 are only from the starting episode. We have yet to see Hell etc.

If we were to list the details, effects, texture sizes etc of the modern two games, and compare them to the specs of the ICO engine then I think we would see that the above statement definately isn't correct. ICO has a charm about it, and the enviroments are lovely but technically you can't compare.