You hit the nail right on the head. What some people fail to realize is that to achieve that 60 fps, Carmack had to make compromises in other areas.
RAGE running at 60 fps is not really that impressive, when you take into account the bells and whistles missing from the graphics. The game is poor in terms of effects, the environment shadows are nothing but static textures, etc.
That whole capsizing cruise ship is so well done, I almost forgot I was watching a game! Naughty Dog is doing things with physics and animation that no other developer dares to attempt.
Unfortunately, this year is flooded with top quality AAA games. I don't think Uncharted 3 is going to win GoTY but it's still going to be my favorite.
I hope they nail the humor of Sly series.
MLAA saved the day for the PS3 version!
This could be even more special than Portal 2. Another GOTY contender for sure.
The Xbox version lacks proper AA to my eyes.
It's totally obvious for those that have both games. KZ3 is technically more polished, end of.
I would say KZ3 looks better artistically, because the game changes locations and each location look very different from one another. There are industrial scenes, a war-torn city, winter scenes, alien jungles, a junkyard, all these stages use a whole different sets of textures.
The entire Crysis 2 takes place in New York, so there are no dramatic changes in scenery. Just urban scenes with some trees.
Thank you Insomniac, the move support is what I am most excited about. Can't wait to play your next masterpiece.
Fact: KZ3 most of KZ3 lightsources cast shadows while most of Crysis 2 do not.
What's the use of having real-time global illumination when 99% of the lights cast no shadows? It looks ridiculous.
Crysis 2 on console is a case of trade-offs.
We get semi sandbox gameplay at the cost of poor AI pathfinding.
We get global illumination at the cost of indoor lightsources lacking shadows.
We get a semi open world maps at the cost of framerates dipping below 25fps.
Because of this, Crysis 2 isn't as impressive as it should be.
Anyone else not so excited about the art direction? Those screenshots are some of the blandest graphics, ever. The modeling looks okay, the shadows are sharp, but where are the colors?
It is a fact that Crysis 2 on console is deficient in indoor lighting. I know it, you know it.
Lack of shadows in Crysis 2 indoor lighting:
http://www.flickr.com/photo...
This is just one example. Almost all indoor lightsources in Crysis 2 are fake, meaning they don't interact with nearby objects (casting shadows).
Notice all those ammo crates scattered about in Crysis 2? Most of the time you will see a neon lamp nearby. Look Ma! No shadows!
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While Crysis 2 on console has great lighting in the outdoor scenes during the daytime, the indoor lighting is terribly unrealistic. There are too many lightsources that don't produce shadows indoors. I see a lot of bright neon lamps, but no shadows from objects near the lamp.
The indoor lightsources in KZ3 produce shadows, especially in the Stahl Arms Factory in the single player campaign where there are tons of lightsources.
Both versions look great.
I hope devs will ditch UE3 engine and go for CryEngine3 from here on out.
Bubbles for you, Incipio.
I see missing shadows in the gameplay clips of console crysis 2.
If you have KZ3, load up the Stahl Arms Factory level. All those lights cast proper shadows unlike the fake ones in console crysis2.
The indoor parts of that clip reminds me of Fear2. The outdoor looks great, especially the foliage.
Actually, it's a lot like the MW3 developers using 60 fps to downplay the achievements of BF3 developer. I don't buy it.