I know it's not all breaking bits. We've had destructible boxes since way back when, I'm trying to describe all the bits integrated (including the smoke and cloth) which you now admit are awesome It was the same as watching the first HL2 videos personally - they've fixed the shittyness that we originally saw on the UT3 PhysX levels. I know it's not the end all but why so "meh" about technology and pretty things?? I was one of those who downloaded Far Cry 1.3 and replayed the whole thing on a 6800GT, fiddling with the HDR settings in the console. I even bought Lost Coast to see how that was different. Hrmmm.. I completely object to exclusivity with no chance of the other half of the market getting a look in. Crysis had medium and low settings, it's not like it went "**** you ATI owners". However I concede as I suppose it's no different than Final Fantasy being PS exclusive, or Gears/Halo on Xbox.
That's part of design, I agree that crysis shouldn't have a lower score because it has gorgeous graphics that obviously need a high powered machine to go with it, but with this you need a specific piece of hardware to unlock all it's potential. With Crysis and other games like it, it doesn't really matter if you had one brand of hardware or another. With PhysX integration into games, while I like extra nice physics, means if you're one of those people who has to play games at full settings then you're forced to buy from nVidia. That goes against one of the main things considered to make PCs "superior" to consoles, you're free to pick whatever hardware you like, this is one step towards conseolified PCs. Next thing you know, AMD will come out with their own PhysX type thing (have they already or announced it already? I haven't really paid any attention) and next thing you know you effectively have a console war on your hands, where you're forced to pick a graphics card not solely on it's merits but which games you like decided to use it's physics system. It's a slippery slope.
Very well put Veles. Have some rep. An ATI buyer is not getting the full experience but pays the same money for the game but then that's the curse of the PC gamer. The game is only as good as your hardware allows it to be.
I like the effects and always have - I just think it's stupid that Nvidia and Rocksteady, then you and others by extension, were so hung up on breakable tiles which don't actually look that great. There's ****ing awesome smoke movement in this game with Physx - why not pimp that instead?! It's not just a matter of settings though - you can still play the game on high with an ATI card, you just can't get the added PhysX yet. The same can be said for many other games and dozens of different hardware bits - like what supports what resoloutions and extra controllers. Just take a look at the games which say they support gamepads but in reality only recognise the Xbox 360 wired controller. When it comes down to it, it's ATI's fault a lot for not having programs like Nvidia's that they can incentivise developers and so on with. Nvidia provide a huge amount of developer support and testing through The Way It's Meant To Be Played, making the games in that program better in the process. If ATI aren't going to do the same thing then the onus is on them for that. And yes, that sucks for the consumer and it is an issue we'll highlight in the review, but ATI users can still play the game on high and can still enjoy the game just as much. They are missing extra effects, not extra content - and since the content is what matters when reviewing the game on it's own merits, it shouldn't affect the score at all. PC gaming, especially when it comes to things like PhysX, is all about being on the cutting edge and being better than consoles. There's a part of me that wants to praise Nvidia for making the PC version better on their hardware, potentially growing the platform and making the games more interesting on this platform. I also want to damn ATI for doing the opposite. Now, before this turns into a mod fight, I suggest we settle this in COD4 at lunchtime. Everything in this industry is about exclusivity. If you have a widescreen monitor then there are some games you can and can't play. If you have XP and not Vista then there are some things you can and can't play. If you have a PlayStation 3 and not an Xbox 360 then it's the same and some of the games you'll play will be better or worse depending on platform. Nobody has to play the game at full settings, this is optional stuff that doesn't affect the game. It's like having a card that supports SM 2 or 3 and unlocking extra options. If the game is good then the game is good. That's all that the score of a GAME review should reflect - the quality of the experience, not the issues surrounding the experience. Is the game fun? How fun is it? We're reviewing an experience, not the conduct of companies. If we alter the score on this basis then not only does that have to be permanently represented in ALL game reviews from there out. THAT is a slippery slope too - do we slate a game a couple of points because it appeared on Xbox, not PS3? Do we slip a game a few points because it is DX10 exclusive or because it uses DX10.1 content that other users can't access? That last question isn't brand-specific, but it's the same thing for consumers, forcing them to spend more money to unlock optional content. Equally, we could question whether we should dock the game points for supporting Nvision 3D on Nvidia hardware and how much that weighs in for people who lack the hardware. At the same time, it'd be unfair to drop the score for that reason without evaluating the quality of the PhysX stuff itself. If it's REALLY cool and good stuff then surely the quality of it should benefit the score somewhat? It'd be unfair to dock the game a few points based on the fact that ATI users can't access this if we didn't consider the flipside that it's good for Nvidia. Bad for some, good for others - it's a zero sum that should be reflected, surely? At the end of the day, we can't be expected to review the game based on the possibile configurations of people's hardware and nor should we. What matters is how fun the game is and how well designed and realised the world is. Is the story interesting, are the mechanics polished, how many bugs are there, how long is the game, what replay value is there and what value for money do you get - these are questions we ask when scoring a game, not how much does it suck for ATI users. I'm not saying that it isn't a pain in the arse. I'm not saying it isn't a big issue. It is. It's something we'll discuss in the review, along with a weighing of what exactly is added in for PhysX content and how good it is and whether it is worth it. It sucks for ATI users, but at the end of the day we can't hold the game responsible for not supporting PhysX on ATI cards and we can't blame Nvidia for incentivising their own products. We can arguably blame ATI for not doing these things, but none of these are things which directly and universally affect the QUALITY OF THE EXPERIENCE. The question for the score is 'On a scale of 1-10, how good is this game?', not 'On a scale of 1-10 how good is this game for different hardware corporations and bearing in mind my hardware choices?'. Of course, if we're going to analyse this deeply then really the whole scoring thing is totally flawed anyway and only exists here as a required evil. Ask any journalist and they'd much rather have the option of writing scoreless reviews where readers had the facts laid out before them and were encouraged to make their own judgements based on the discourse of the review - which is always what you should do - and not be overly focused or weighted by a review score. Now though, I'm dangerously close to slipping into an argument about scoring systems and percent vs whole numbers and accuracy and flaws of judgement and so on. So, I'll stop.
Physx still seems to run on the add in Physx PCI card I have, you can pick them up on ebay for a couple of quid as most people think they are useless, might be an option for non nvidia users who have a free PCI slot, perhaps bit-tech can do some tests. Batman and Mirrors Edge run fine with it leaving my 8800GTs to do graphics alone.
Not at all - you're more than welcome to come along to any event. I'll just have to slap you silly and prep you for PR hyperbole first
OMG I have 2 blobs But I agree with you though Joe, I also think that point score methods are useless, and I would only think a drop in points for this would be appropriate for something like Gamespot's 100 point scale in disguise. However I do think this is worse than using a widescreen monitor or being a DX10 only game, etc. because this is a brand specific limitation. As far as 3D technology goes, it's no-where near cheap enough for the average hardcore PC gamer to realistically afford on top of their normal upgrade spends. Whereas PhysX is something you either get if you buy a high end nVidia card or something you don't get if you choose to buy anything else, even if the card is more powerful. A high end card is something that is bought quite regularly by the regular hardcore PC gamer. As the number of games using PhysX increase, that becomes less of a choice and more of a given decision in disguise. Yes it's how the free market works, but it's treading on one of the laws of the Unwritten Constitution of PC Gaming which until now hasn't really been effected.
Well, Let me complicate that some more for you. OK, also, the market is moving toward the Phenom II/790FX/GX/X side of things. There IS an nVidia chipset for it, that's hotter, slower, lacks ACC and unlocking, and pretty much performs like a bag of slack assholes versus the 790FX. It even carries less PCI-E. So what you're telling me is that I should accept cheaper, lower quality boards in order to have a few more ripples in the fabric or break some tiles? Something that checking CPU utilization could have been done on my third core? nVidia is seeding the market towards a lower standard of quality in the board market, just for a few flashy "effects." I just finished the demo, and while I'd love some more options, let me tell you, for a guy who calls his office the Batcave, and can sling Dark Knight trivia with the best of them, I feel they did it justice. That's a big deal to me. It's not that they "made an effort," they did it RIGHT. Kudos to nVidia for going somewhere, **** them for going somewhere lower quality, and to Eidos and the rest of the dev crew, if my paycheck stretched that far, I'd buy the whole damn lot of you a round. Bindi, Joe, I agree with both of you and neither of you. I like the incentives to fundamentally change gameplay, sure, but I'm tied to boards that are scheisse for my multi-card functionality (I haven't built a single card rig for myself since the 6600GT days) if I want to implement it. The argument to me, who does more than game with their PC, is not compelling. I will stick with the better platform (for AMD anyway) and simply do without the PhysX. However, I'm gonna look into ambient occlusion. I do wanna try that.
aargh, I've one invisible preditor challenge left to complete and it's driving me crazy (fitting right) Spoiler Silent Knight (Extreme) I can get the breakthrough & Aerial Assault medals but the Three for Three one keeps eluding me
the one where you need to Spoiler take out 3 goons with 3 seperate explosions simultaneously followed by Spoiler ziplining through a window to knock down another goon edit: finally got it. that was a PITA, took a hell of a lot more time to get that one laid out right than the others
anyone tried the new missions in the mission pack? I liked the predator map, but I find the fighting missions a bit tedious (probably 'cos I'm not that good at building combos)
Nope, only got to play for an hour last night after spending too long having to download the physx patch via GFWL.
Been playing all day. And just wow, its amazing, i mean really amazing The scarecrow stuff is unbelievable (It puts the max payne dream sequences to shame) Must...beat...riddler...
This is an awesome game, I installed it yesterday then had to go to work, so I've only played a bit this morning but wow. The Riddler's riddles are amazing, real nice touch, the whole game is just excellent!
