Metrospective: 4A Games vs. Digital Foundry

By Richard Leadbetter Published 20 February, 2010

Metro 2033's technical mastermind explains the game's post-S.T.A.L.K.E.R. technology.

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Unreal Engine has defined the technological standards of high-definition console shooters, but Gears of War apart it seems as if it is down to proprietary engines to exceed them: Infinity Ward, Bungie and Guerrilla Games have produced the most critically well-received FPS titles on console, and all of them are using their own in-house technology.

Coming from the technological architects of GSC's S.T.A.L.K.E.R., the new 4A engine powering Metro 2033 from THQ is another proprietary codebase that looks capable of producing pretty astonishing visuals. Thus far, most of THQ's marketing efforts have concentrated on the visually superb PC build, though Eurogamer got hands on with both versions last month. Digital Foundry has had extensive access to a preview Xbox 360 build, and what we've seen has been impressive.

To give you some idea of what has caught our eye, here's a video of the game running on the Microsoft console, captured and edited by us with a view to showcasing the unique visual look of this new technology, and how it translates into the gameplay.

Digital Foundry captures of the Xbox 360 build of Metro 2033, showcasing environments, effects and gunplay. The thumbnail above is an actual in-game shot, by the way.

We wanted to know more, so arranged an interview with 4A Games' chief technical officer Oles Shishkovtsov. Having previously worked with GSC as an instrumental guiding force behind the technologically impressive S.T.A.L.K.E.R., there has been controversy that the 4A engine is an offshoot of proprietary GSC IP, but Shishkovtsov disagrees, saying that the new tech was started as a pet project borne out of the frustrations in dealing with his older engine.

"The major obstacles to the future of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. engine was its inherent inability to be multi-threaded, the weak and error-prone networking model, and simply awful resource and memory management which prohibited any kind of streaming or simply keeping the working set small enough for 'next-gen' consoles," explains Shishkovtsov.

"Another thing which really worried me was the text-based scripting. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was purely LUA-scripted," he continues. "Working on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. it became clear that designers/scriptwriters want more and more control and when they got it, they were lost and needed to think like programmers, but they weren't programmers! That contributed a lot to the original delays with S.T.A.L.K.E.R."

It was these problems and issues that left Shishkovtsov looking for an entirely new direction for the next engine.

"I started a personal project to establish the future architecture and to explore the possibilities of the design," he says. "The project evolved quite well and although it wasn't functional as a game (not even as a demo: for example it didn't have any rendering engine back then) it provided me with clear vision on what to do next."

Shishkovstov and his colleague Aleksandr Maksimchuk left GSC a full year before S.T.A.L.K.E.R. eventually shipped, and the 4A engine, with its emphasis on a hugely efficient implementation of multi-threading good for both PC and console, took shape. Shishkovtsov claims that the 4A engine has no relationship with the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. X-Ray tech because a port would be "extremely difficult".

"A straight port will not fit into memory even without all the textures, all the sounds and all the geometry," he reckons. "And then it will work at around 1-3 frames per second. But that doesn't matter because without textures and geometry, you cannot see those frames! That's my personal opinion, but it would probably be wise for GSC to wait for another generation of consoles."

According to Shishkovtsov, the philosophy of parallelising the code is different to many games, but akin to the techniques employed by Criterion Games for Burnout Paradise: processing tasks are allocated to whatever processors are available at the time.

"We don't have dedicated threads for processing specific tasks in-game with the exception of a PhysX thread," explains Shishkovtsov. "All our threads are basic workers. We use task-model but without any pre-conditioning or pre/post-synchronising. Basically all tasks can execute in parallel without any locks from the point when they are spawned. There are no inter-dependencies for tasks.

It looks like a tree of tasks, which start from more heavyweight ones at the beginning of the frame (to make the system self-balanced). The last time I measured the statistics, we were running approximately 3,000 tasks per 30ms frame on Xbox 360 on CPU-intensive scenes with all hardware threads at 100 per cent load."

And again, similar to Criterion's multi-threading work, 4A Games has found that a similar implementation works on the Sony console too.

"The PS3 is not that different... We use 'fibres' to 'emulate' a six-thread CPU, and then each task can spawn a SPURS (SPU) job and switch to another fibre. This is a kind of PPU off-loading, which is transparent to the system. The end result of this beautiful (apart from somewhat restricting) model is that we have perfectly linear scaling up to the hardware deficiency limits."

While the engine is described as a complete cross-platform development environment, there is to be no PlayStation 3 SKU of Metro 2033. The game will launch on PC and Xbox 360 only. However, the Sony console played a big part in the development work for the core tech.

"From the start we selected the most 'difficult' platform to run on. A lot of decisions were made explicitly knowing the limits and quirks we'll face in the future," explains Shishkovtsov.

"For me personally, the PS3 GPU (they like to call it RSX for some reason) was the safe choice because I was involved in the early design stages of NV40 and it's like a homeland: RSX is a direct derivative of that architecture. Reading Sony's docs it was like, 'Ha! They don't understand where those cycles are lost! They coded sub-optimal code-path in GCM for that thing!' All of that kind of stuff..."

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Comments (65) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • matrim83 #1 2 years ago

    Very interesting read.Throughly enjoyed that.

  • oakie007 #2 2 years ago

    Pah...

  • Rodchenko #3 2 years ago

    "deferred rotated grid super-sampling"... I love nerds.

  • ukgamer #4 2 years ago

    He talks shit but it still doesn't come close to KZ2 and you surely won't be seeing 32 player multiplayer. STALKER tech is overrated, sorry guys.
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/10 @ 09:03

  • Aon #5 2 years ago

    This was a really good interview, despite me not understanding all of the concepts touched upon. More like this please :)

  • matrim83 #6 2 years ago

    @ukgamer are you retarded? That "Stalker tech" does better lighting and visuals than KZ2 does.

  • Bloodhunter #7 2 years ago

    ukgamer, its not STALKER tech, and no one really rates the xray engine that highly.

    also, KZ2 while looking good was only devloped for one platform, with the financial backing of sony, I'd say most of this game was developed solely by 4A, who I doubt are bigger than 80 people, so its a damn fine engine for so little people, compared to the 300 or so that worked on KZ2

    edit: 130 it is then Widge :)

    but anyway, productivity increases exponentially per person in the team I guess?
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/10 @ 16:02

  • Zappa #8 2 years ago

    sounded and looked alright until towards the end where it shows gameplay,all i can say is it looked mediocre and a dumb shooter.

  • sargulesh #9 2 years ago

    It looks impressive but it appears to be just another FPS. Why should we care? All the fancy sounding use of technology again sounded impressive but then when he talked about AI I was thinking haven't we had that kind of stuff since Half Life's marines in 1996 or whatever.

    I'd rather have the STALKER gameplay on console, please, than just another FPS.
    Edited by 2 at 20/02/10 @ 09:29

  • berelain #10 2 years ago

    I think Metro looks like a really interesting shooter, with a fairly original feel and theme (as they go for shooters, anyway). And those graphics just look incredible. The PC shots look possibly better than maxed-out Crysis, and make me glad that I have a DX11 card, but the 360 version looks surprisingly close. Impressive stuff.

  • Geordiemp #11 2 years ago

    Great for 360, having such an engine optimised for it. Hopefully devs will move away from Unreal if its cheaper to license, good for gamers.

    Sounds like the cosnole version would benefit from using HD, you think a game would ever come out which stipulates HD 1 GB required for streaming...
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/10 @ 09:42

  • Widge #12 2 years ago

    Don't forget there is CryEngine 3 too, another engine that appears to be tinkered to both consoles strength.

    Hard drive edit:

    I think the PS3 does require X amount of cache for streaming on some games, but thats the thing about having a base level console that has a HDD. You've got to think about the amount of 360 people who just have a bog standard mem card as their storage. There must still be a few, a guy on here donated me a 20GB HDD to pass onto a mate as he had been using a mem card up until now. I'm sure there will come a point where a dev will say "fair enough, we're cutting out a bit of the market, but you have to have an HDD for this game" though. Its getting that way with the likes of Capcom where they are going for disc/download voucher solutions to games that push past the size of a DVD.

    As I said in the article, hope they get round to doing something on the PS3 too, or if this game is a success, moving it to the PS3 as well. Its nice to see that they have done some decent coding towards the PS3 setup... and that they seem to be quite at home with the architecture.

    'Ha! They don't understand where those cycles are lost! They coded sub-optimal code-path in GCM for that thing!' is just the sort of stuff that goes through my mind when playing UE3 games on the PS3 too. I'm sure its the same for all of you out there too.
    Edited by 3 at 20/02/10 @ 10:58

  • Widge #13 2 years ago

    The Guerilla team is 130 people from what I just scanned through on Google for. Can't find anything on 4A games.

  • jag10 #14 2 years ago

    it's got a long way to go to look this good:

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=_-I99JdSmCM

  • kongzi #15 2 years ago

    the animation is pretty bad, or dull or whatever.. That's with most games, but here it stands out.




  • IneptPercy #16 2 years ago

    Good to see somebody pushing the PC more, as much as running console versions at 60ps v-synced 1080p is great I want to push it harder!

  • Keivz #17 2 years ago

    I really like these articles. Gives they layperson a better idea on how complicated game development really is. And that making generalizations in the cross platform development process should only be made by ppl who know exactly what they're talking about.

  • womble #18 2 years ago

    Good article DF!

    It's amazing they can pull off this level of detail, and lighting, at 40-50 fps @720p with AAA on the 360. That really is outstanding.

  • gafferuk1981 #19 2 years ago

    This game does look pretty good and I think the 360 is now hitting its full potential. It is still not as good as the best PS3 offerings but is a marked improvement over UE3 games. If what this guy says is true about the KillZone 2 engine this means that there is still far more scope for GG to make KillZone 3 even better than expected and will probably be one big nail in the 360 coffin and end any hopes of 360 graphics matching PS3 graphics.

  • ChaK #20 2 years ago

    Stop talking about killzone 2 engine.

    It has sub HD texture, and everything feels blurry.

    Even stalker's light rendering kicks its ass badly.

    Being in the wide open zone (and not tiny corridor), watching the next nuke cmoing is FAR more impressive than anything in KZ light-wise

    I'll get loads of disagree, but it had to be said :p
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/10 @ 11:36

  • gafferuk1981 #21 2 years ago

    ChaK - That's your opinion and you are entitled to it but it does seem that you are very much in the minority. There are some low res textures in KZ2 but no more than any other console game. It's still head and shoulders the best looking console FPS out there.

  • des #22 2 years ago

    "Our decision to architect for the 'more difficult' platform paid off almost immediately. The whole game was ported to 360 in 19 working days"

    I guess that PS3 is good for something after all...lol

  • ChaK #23 2 years ago

    @gafferuk1981 : I do not deny killzone 2 awesomeness for gameplay, immersion & all, but I DO think it's engine is absolutly overated, and saying it's the best lightning ever is wrong (to me, you made the point)

    watching a zone blowout 60fps@1080 is just so amazing... :)

    I didn't meant to say killzone 2 is a bad game, it's absolutly not

  • gafferuk1981 #24 2 years ago

    ChaK - I'm just talking console only, console wise KillZone 2 engine is the most advanced FPS engine. I do own KillZone 2 but I actually feel the graphics are better than the gameplay. Maybe it's hard to own Uncharted 2 and play anything else. This article was good for KillZone 2, this guy has spotted faults with the engine which mean there is room for improvement, of course there is always room for improvement but it's impressive knowing that the PS3 still has so much more to give.

  • Retroid #25 2 years ago

    Sounds like very impressive tech from the ground-up. We need more of this sort of thinking.

    Pity the publisher put the kybosh on a PS3 version as from what he says it would've worked very well on that system aswell.

  • lambtron #26 2 years ago

    Looks like this will be the response to anyone saying that the 360 does not have a game as good looking as KZ2.

  • Badassbab #27 2 years ago

    Reads like very impressive tech engine. Great to see another alternative to the Unreal engine.That and the new Cry Engine. Still....REACH!

  • lockload #28 2 years ago

    @jag10

    Dont you get embarrased when you are pointing out a game that actually has sub hd resolution and low res textures to give that vision?

  • NotSoSlim #29 2 years ago

    @ des

    Maybe if more devs did the same they may get more sales on the PS3 with certain games?

    Anyway game looks great

  • jag10 #30 2 years ago

    don't you get embarrased when a dev uses the PS3 for an Xbox exclusive? play the game yourself on a 40 inch HD TV and stop believing crap that gets spread around. MS are only improving there games now becasue of the likes of killzone 2 and uncharted 2. (the benefit of not having a leading company in the industry)

  • fix-cz #31 2 years ago

    Thanks for the article. Very good reading.

  • thubie #32 2 years ago

    Dam we can expect better looking games in the future because they aren't using all the available resources on 360.

  • mkreku #33 2 years ago

    Ok, so the Xbox 360 is getting a game that looks equally as good as Killzone 2 on the PS3 (since you brought it up), and yet all you guys do is talk shit about either Killzone 2 (Xbox fanboys) or Metro 2033 (PS3 fanboys), when everyone should be celebrating these fantastic looking games!

    Well done. /golfclap

  • Stop-gap #34 2 years ago

    I wonder why anybody involved with the development of STALKER would go anywhere near THQ again, each and every patch they grudgingly allowed created as many bugs as it fixed.

  • Anthony_UK #35 2 years ago

    Intresting read, dispite my knowledge of anything techical ending somewhere between 'Mode 7' and 'Bump mapping'!

    Still the game does look amazing, though the last preview mentioned bullet sponge enemies that lack any kind of hit animations when you shoot at them.

    Fancy graphics are great, but I for one won't be picking this up if that's the case in the final game!

  • Dizzy #36 2 years ago

    Good interview with an ace guy, he knows his stuff. I hope the game is just as good.

  • Zaiz #37 2 years ago

    @Stop Gap
    Until STALKER:Call of Pripyat, which is ridiculously stable. I've encountered extremely few bugs, one of which was Beard getting disengaged from his table, but he fixed himself. >.>

    Oh, yeah, and X-Ray engine does pump out lighting like crazy. It's ridiculously impressive, considering the god-rays it pumps out in CoP, and the game itself is well designed. Awkward animation, but fun as hell, with rather difficult enemies, all of which are a threat if the situation plays to their strengths and weaknesses.

  • Cider-X #38 2 years ago

    Interesting read but an engine doesn't make a game great by itself... Looking forward to the reviews of this.

  • harzo #39 2 years ago

    "I really enjoy three things: compute shaders, tessellation shaders and draw/create contexts separation," Shishkovtsov says.

    I bet this guy is a hit with the ladies!!

  • Raiten #40 2 years ago

    Retroid, my guess is that the reason they chose pc and xbox 360 as platforms for this release is simply because.. well, both platforms have hordes of shooters, so the likelyhood for testing the market for their new engine and fps game is better on these two platforms regarding possible sales in case the game turns out mediocre/desent.
    I wouldn't be at all suprised if that'd be the reasoning for skipping the PS3 release, afterall xbox360 is more or less a shooter platform so it's natural it'd have higher amount of fps fans.

  • Widge #41 2 years ago

    Yeah, it says in the article that it was a THQ decision. As I said, if it sells well, don't see why it wouldn't appear on the PS3.

  • Tallon4 #42 2 years ago

    Dazzling....but interesting.

  • Stop-gap #43 2 years ago

    @Zaiz
    It's taken until CoP to beat out the worst bugs, but yes, in 2 play throughs I don't think I've seen a single game breaking bug.
    I attribute this to a new anomaly which fixes code if you throw your game in it. :p

    My main problem with it now is AI behaviour such as when you're in cover and some friendly decides they want to be in that exact same cover. They proceed to shuffle into you until you're pushed into the open and they take your spot and you die.
    I also have been badly wounded dozens of times because one NPC wants to fight another one you're near, but not an enemy of. They think nothing of grenading you and the enemy NPC together.

    An impressive engine is one thing, but I'm not quite sold on the game itself yet. We'll see.

  • Drpwnage #44 2 years ago

    Ignoring the console bickering for a moment.......those PC DX11 shots are Awesome (especially the bottom right screen shot).

    DX11 does promise another shift change in graphic detail (if the new Nvidia Fermi tech lives up to potential) and, I think will show over the next 18 months the graphic quality we can expect from the next console generation (whenever they appear!).

  • Widge #45 2 years ago

    There shouldn't even be console bickering really. I mean why? This is a new engine of promise for all platforms, what is the problem here

  • ukgamer #46 2 years ago

    It might not be the exact STALKER engine but it's based on it. There's even some controversy that old employees are using pieces of it for the XRAY engine.

    Keep marking down my comments please. You're all 360/PC fanboys anyways. I have all three systems. You lose.
    Edited by 2 at 20/02/10 @ 22:40

  • Retroid #47 2 years ago

    People love to argue, even when there's no reason to. That's why.

    As for mention of Killzone 2: well, it's currently the most impressive FPS-targeted graphics engine on any console, so if someone else is gunning (oh-ho) to do as powerful an engine as possible on console, it only makes sense to mention it.

    I'd be pretty sure Gorilla would disagree with some ways the 4A engine does things just as 4A do with theirs: doubtless they've both taken decisions to do certain things very well for specific reasons.

    They've also both got products to sell :)

  • Distributor #48 2 years ago

    "or rendering multi-sampled shadowmaps, and then sampling correct sub-pixel values because we know exactly what pattern and what positions sub-samples have, etc."

    Didnt understand a word.

  • soviet_ #49 2 years ago

    I think when Shishkovtsov commented on the KZ2 engine and it's use of lighting he wasn't being negative about the end result, just the inefficient method it used to achieve it.

    Great read again, looking forward to seeing this tech first hand

  • Skinme #50 2 years ago

    @Tyrell - "Most importantly, is the game any good? Otherwise this technical talk means fuck all. "

    Although being good is an important factor, the fact that the tech is this good shows 2 things. 1) That both consoles still haven't released a game that takes full advantage of the hardware. 2) That (for the 360 at least) there is a better engine available for developers to use instead of Unreal.

    Therefore, irrespective of whether the game is any good, all this "technical talk" could eventually lead to some amazing looking games on 360/PS3.

    *There is of course a proviso! That they allow the engine to be licensed by other studios.

  • flanker22 #51 2 years ago

    kz2 = input latency issues, that alone makes the game much less impressive.

  • Badassbab #52 2 years ago

    Killzone is the FPS graphical king on console but it's not without it's flaws of which are numerous.

  • GamesConnoisseur #53 2 years ago

    KZ2 may be a graphical fps standard bearer on any console, but seem there are plenty of us who are frustrated with some flaws that sullen some shines.

    Main one for me, control lag.

    EG had done an interesting article on this and ehich illustrated how GG had decided to opts visual over control, and which was claimed as lending weighted feel. Right, handgun being pretty light weapon yet still at quick aiming within a short time is does not result in an easy time of aiming!

    You can try to practice hell out of it to get your brain wired to make up for the lag, sure but compared to other FPS.

    I would be very delighted if GG can overcome this for KZ3 and have much more shorter control lag, but won't dispute the tag of best VISUAL fps on console.

    Interesting article on new engine as I m not so keen on Unreal engine and having more competition raises the standard everywhere.

  • SaberEdge #54 2 years ago

    Looks amazing. I really enjoyed this article.

  • TessaTickle #55 2 years ago

    Great article, great comments ... including those moded to -60 and lower ! Is it perverse of me to click on "show" beside the comments that have been moded to hell ? :-)

  • FogHeart #56 2 years ago

    If I saw this game up and running on a PS3 I'd feel confident about making comparisons with KZ2. Not before.

    "In KZ2 there is intended weight to guns/aiming with input acceleration(not input latency)".

    No, latency. If you press fire you expect it to fire before you notice a delay. FPS is twitch gaming and needs twitch reactions. I don't mind it taking longer to turn, or move, but it should start to move when you ask it to. I don't like a game that does absolutely nothing about your input for a whole fifth of a second before moving/turning/opening fire.

    It's a graphical marvel, yes, as is this game, but it seems in both cases we're seeing great engines thrown at monochromatic environments (greenish grey for KZ2, brown for this one). IN KZ2 the pretty processing led to input latency that was unplayable for me - if this game is the same, it's just as pointlessly good looking.
    Edited by 1 at 21/02/10 @ 12:02

  • TRUTH #57 2 years ago

    KZ 2 was very liner, it was a simple form of corridors into box rooms and then back into corridors...The enemy Ai was set to prefixed positions (i've played it twice now and you see they are actually preset to certain positions) and all they do as in most fps is duck, hide, throw a grenade; there never free thinking or many characters onscreen - nothing compared to HL2, Halo, F.E.A.R, Crysis, COD MW2. The graphics are nice but I honestly thought they where on the same level as other games out which I felt are also doing more with physics, particle effects, AI, open areas etc.

    Every thing in KZ 2 generally looked great where actually set pieces - which you never actually interacted with until the set-piece ran it's course, the explosions where so sub standard, the respawning of characters (only upto 9 onscreen at once - if that), sub textures, the vehicles looked and played dreadful and not very interactive esp with explosions...I can't understand why KZ 2 is held as fps classic - infact it's so overrated in gameplay and actually graphics (nice but there's game already out that do just as good or better!)

    I also noticed in KZ2 how you can stay behind a certain point in the game - nothing will happen, the characters just drop of and respawn continuously until you reach that point - the game moves to the next section (but you can just sit back and nothing develops untill you reach that point and take action) - take example the 1st bridge section on opening level!...Also there only a few different variations of enemy - which looked almost the same!

    To me KZ 2 may look pretty, but it has taken shortcuts compared to the Ai and open spaces and freedom, onscreen characters, physics of Halo 3.

    KZ 2 is more like a HD Medal Of Honor - may have been good but the flaws start to show once experienced other Superior fps. If this was not a exclusive game a lot PS3 fanboys would not really bother with this game. I fell for the hype, but realized it's more hype then gameplay and was pleased but not convinced that this is great looking - thatnks to the fanboys .

    I hope Metro 2033 will come to PS3 as it was originally coded for PS3 - as it looks more exciting then the usual fps.


    Edited by 2 at 21/02/10 @ 20:16

  • FogHeart #58 2 years ago

    I should clarify: I've played KZ2 in fits and starts, a bit at a time, in single player. Fiits and starts because I end up throwing the controller at the couch after less than an hour and only going back weeks later. Haven't played online because if I can't manage to play it against bots with the least latency possible what hope is there. And since I play on a CRT there's no monitor delay (as explained in the DF article about input latency, primarily pointed at KZ2!).

    I certainly understand the concept about how the player should move - about gaining ground bit by bit, not breaking cover unless you are sure, and so on. That's the weighted movement you refer to, and I'm happy to adapt to that. But even if someone's carrying a gun that weights half a ton, when he pulls the trigger he shouldn't have time to blink twice before it fires. If he needs to turn, he shouldn't have to give it time enough to sniff sharply before moving at all.

    This is what I mean by input latency, and it must must must be lower than the threshold where it's noticeable, which DF estimated at 133ms. So for all the comparisons that 'Metro 2033's technical mastermind' makes with KZ2, if his engine has comparable input latency, it's not for me.
    Edited by 1 at 21/02/10 @ 19:44

  • messiahtj #59 2 years ago

    WOW!!! You guys are really some kind of angry nerds!!! Speaking like you know all that shit and all!!! Saying, this game is better than that other game because that and this, etc. Lol, you are boring and childish. I just ended playing KZ2, I'll turn off the PS3, turn on the 360 and play some GeOW 2, maybe later will go play Crysis on my PC. And you know what? I dont give a fuck about what game its better, those 3 games are fun!!! Now plz GTFO and STFU you little developer wanna-bes LMAO

  • TRUTH #60 2 years ago

    I actually ended up buying my own 2nd hand PS3(after returning the borrowed one) by part exchange for my old consoles PS2/Xbox/Gamecube...not that I really wanted it, just as I thought I got a fair offer and KZ2 was the game I thought would really outshine Halo, the Xbox 360 and graphically beyond what can be achieved on XB360 - But boy was I wrong, and do believe that KZ2 is graphically and gameplay overrated !...Still I don't regret getting the PS3, enjoyed the odd game (Demon's Souls (has taken a lot of my time), Uncharted 2)

    Yes! I do believe Halo 3 is superior fps in most ways then KZ2. The large battles, the AI of enemy , enemies, multiplayer, online, weapons, freedom the way you decide to battle with integrated option of proper use of vehicles, physics effects were better, weapon use and design etc etc...So I give the game credit as KZ2 was hyped PS3 Halo killer, KZ2 to me is actually fairly sub standard fps. Even graphically while very good - not spectacular in the way only PS3 fanboys keep going on about!

    Edited by 2 at 21/02/10 @ 23:22

  • ukgamer #61 2 years ago

    lol fanboys will be fanboys. There's a lot of input lag in all console games these days, not just KZ2. Practically all TPS running on UT3 have laggy cover systems. For all you know the 360 version of metro could have a shitload too.

  • Quint2020 #62 2 years ago

    This is the first Digital Foundry article I've enjoyed, while I didn't understand a fair chunk of the technical speak it was still a very interesting read, more like this please!

    The tech sounds incredibly impressive, hopefully the 4A Engine and the new Crysis engine will give developers more of a choice when selecting a development platform for their titles, it's a good thing that U3 is finally getting some real competition.
    Edited by 2 at 22/02/10 @ 09:17

  • FogHeart #63 2 years ago

    I'm sorry, I didn't realise that I needed to keep you abreast of developments. I bought a PS3 when Uncharted 2 was released. My brother lent me games he was done with at that point. I agreed to give Killzone 2 another go. I've invested a few hours on it, as described, certainly enough to come to the conclusions that I have. Now, are you done or do you want to know my credit history as well?

  • darleysam #64 2 years ago

    Could be a new Half-Life. I, for one, enjoyed reading this (great hearing the engineers talking about how their code works) and am looking forward to the reviews.

  • vilanova #65 2 years ago

    wow I hope to use these 100 MB to reduce the difference, this game and wonderful