Tech Analysis: Uncharted 2

By Richard Leadbetter Published 18 September, 2009

DF humbled by Naughty Dog's coding power.

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Flawed masterpiece it may well be, but Uncharted: Drake's Fortune remains one of the greatest games of this console generation. Even today, its technical prowess effortlessly outstrips the vast majority of games released on any next generation platform, but its superb appeal goes way beyond its expert utilisation of the PS3 architecture. Brilliant graphics, accomplished gameplay, interesting characters, excellent storyline... Naughty Dog's PS3 debut can be picked up for a song these days, and it's a game that deserves a retrospective purchase, if only to set you up for the magnificence to come. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves debuts in just a few weeks' time and already early reviews are hailing it a masterpiece. While the jury's still out on that until final release code is my hands, based on this week's demo release, I can well believe it.

This isn't the first time the Digital Foundry crew has taken a look at Naughty Dog's anticipated sequel. Our first taster of the game can in this single-player reveal, analysed by myself and DF contributor Alex Goh back in May. The generational leap in visuals over the first game was self-apparent but we had some issues in the form of mismatched textures, a couple of odd lighting effects and a "saw-tooth" edging to the shadows that looked pretty unattractive, taking the sheen off what was clearly an astonishing looking game.

The multiplayer demo released this week is truly something special. It's not often we say this, but every issue we had (along with many we didn't) appears to have been resolved. The level of polish in this demo code (presumably a subset of the full game, now that it has gone gold) is exemplary. It's this kind of work ethic and attention to detail that has made Uncharted 2: Among Thieves the most anticipated game of the year for Digital Foundry, so the chance to get our hands on the multiplayer demo opened up a range of opportunities for us in testing just how far Naughty Dog has come.

So what does the demo have to offer? The two competitive multiplayer maps from the original beta have been retained, joined by two more along with a comprehensive range of new playlist opportunities. The same co-op level (in itself based on the initial single-player reveal) is back, but this time even more refined.

Co-op gameplay from the new Uncharted 2 demo. The additional human element gives the formula a massive shot in the arm.

Uncharted was always a co-op style game, even in its original single-player guise. The inclusion of characters like Sully and Elena made sure of that. However, the co-op mode in the sequel, builds upon the great work in the original game, and the ability for three human players to get involved works brilliantly. The interaction between the characters is great too: check out the cheeky smack on the arse Chloe gives Nate during one of the co-op assist scenes.

It's here that we see the many changes made to the Nepal level since that first GDC reveal. Shadowing and motion blur have seen big, big improvements. HDR effects appear to be in. Lighting looks superb too. Take a look at the beginning of the co-op video, where Drake passes through a shadow – there's no simple flip between light and dark on the character, the effect is graduated as he passes in and out of the light. Just as it should be... Just as it isn't on a great many console games with rudimentary shadow models.

The screen space ambient occlusion effect (SSAO) is clearly in evidence and while most implementations on console are accompanied by some artifacting, it's very minimal in Naughty Dog's implementation. Character animation also appears to be hugely improved over the first Uncharted outing.

This is clearly Naughty Dog coming into its own on the PlayStation 3 hardware. In terms of the gameplay, there's little we can take issue with, and more than that, the competitive multiplayer modes are excellent too.

There are many different gameplay variations in the competitive multiplayer modes. Naughty Dog has even included CoD-style 'perks' too in addition to unlockable player skins.

As you can see in the videos, regardless of the load put on the engine, Uncharted 2 rarely misses a beat. Multiplayer maps usually stress the game engine more than the single-player equivalents, but in tests it appears that the competitive modes run marginally smoother than the co-op map (itself derived from the solo gamer mode).

Perhaps one of the coolest elements of the demo is the inclusion of the full game's Cinema Mode. Uncharted 2 records your multiplayer games automatically and dumps the data onto your hard disk. Every single happening, every single twitch of the controller, from every player: it's all there, and you have total control over replaying every single aspect of the gameplay. Here is where things start to get seriously impressive - not only can you switch from player to player at will, but you can also invoke a free camera. In terms of getting an overall view of the battlefield, nothing can touch it.

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Comments (91) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Miths #1 2 years ago

    First!

    Sorry, I've always wanted to say that :p.

  • penguin_overlord #2 2 years ago

    Sony is all set to own Christmas this year

  • dr_zoidthrob #3 2 years ago

    Terrible model swap about 2.36 in on the first movie - a section of wall is swapped out directly in front of the player. Great looking game though

  • poopmonster #4 2 years ago

    Looks great. Can't wait for release.

    But triple buffering is nothing new; he makes it sound like they invented it :p

  • Dizzy #5 2 years ago

    "Re Cinema mode : So, despite those additional challenges, the Naughty Dog tech once again comes out on top, effectively sustaining its 30FPS frame rate with no issues. Indeed, if anything, the game seems to be running smoother than ever. "

    Errr? Of course replay mode can do this. It doesn't run any game code. It is the same in Halo 3. The replay mode can display the full monty of effects because it is free of running anything else. I am not sure you can do any significant analyses on a Cinema mode... some games even do not use the same engine for that (usually racing games).

    It is a bit scary that you prefer input lag to visual quality. Most gamers would disagree there. Input lag drives me mad if it is bad...
    Edited by 3 at 19/09/09 @ 10:03

  • drumbaby #6 2 years ago

    I've wet 'em

  • Darren #7 2 years ago

    Looks like Naughty Dog weren't kidding when they said they could milk a lot more performance out of the PS3 for the Uncharted sequel. The game looks, quite frankly, AWESOME and, for me, it's my most wanted game this year on ANY format. The only thing wrong with the first game was the screen tearing but this sequel just looks like a massive improvement in every area from what I've seen of it.

    Even the multiplayer looks good and that's something I never expected to myself to admit as I'm not a big fan of online games. The co-op, especially, looks terrific and I prefer that over your typical Deathmatch/Capture the Flag dullfests any day.

  • Darren #8 2 years ago

    @poopmonster - Triple buffering isn't new to the PC, no, but until the PS3 came along it wasn't really ever used on the consoles due to memory limitations as RAM was always at a premium on that hardware. Triple buffering does introduce more input lag but I always force triple buffering on for all my PC games along with v-sync and I've never noticed any input lag whatsoever. I guess it's either not there or I just do not notice it.

  • Syrette #9 2 years ago

    Wah DF are Microsoft fanboys

  • Res #10 2 years ago

    "Errr? Of course replay mode can do this. It doesn't run any game code. It is the same in Halo 3. The replay mode can display the full monty of effects because it is free of running anything else."

    Replay mode still renders everything on the fly, it just saves inputs made by the players. That is why the files are so small, if it was recording video they would be eating up massive amounts of harddrive space. Halo 3 used exactly the same system I believe, which is why you wouldn't view replay files on the website (I may be wrong, only looked at the website a couple of times).

  • Dizzy #11 2 years ago

    "Replay mode still renders everything on the fly, it just saves inputs made by the players."

    Yes I know... and that was my point. It doesn't run anything else than the rendering engine (and that one is sometimes different).

  • Chufty #12 2 years ago

    I'm surprised the PS3 can do 1080p triple buffering. That's a pretty large framebuffer requirement! I've never been a big fan of the technique though - the latency hit just doesn't make up for the improved visual quality. This is despite some websites (and I mean you, AnandTech) claiming that it adds almost no latency at all.

    Console games are unresponsive anyway so I guess it wont matter for this game. Sounds like they've done well, I'll wait for the gameplay review though.

  • Mr_Gallows #13 2 years ago

    This shows just how inferiour the x360 is compared to the PS3. Eurogamer insist on comparing cross platform games, that most of the time is produced in favor of the 360 and with the 360 being the limit. It's retarded to compare cross platform games and EG should be clever enough to recognize this fact. Instead compare exclusive titles and see what machine has the best graphics, biggest scope of the games etc. The PS3 is in a whole other league with the graphics of uncharted 2, 256 players in MAG, MMOs comming etc. So digital foundry should stop their nonsense comparison of cross platform games and instead compare what the consoles can offer when something is written specifically for each console. Of course there would be no match, so I assume that's the reason for their silly joke of the PS3vs360

  • cianchristopher #14 2 years ago

    Now *this* is a prime example of top-class console graphics. Naughty Dog are in a league of their own when it comes to PS3 development, I can't believe I used to (mentally) lump them in together in the same group as Insomniac and Sucker Punch.

    There's no comparison!

    It always amuses me when die-hard PS3 fans name-check Resistance (and its lackluster sequel) as examples of the PS3's power, when it's actually a pretty shit-looking game! Same with inFamous!

    There's Killzone and Uncharted. And then there's everything else.......

  • klem578 #15 2 years ago

    @ Mr_Gallows : Leave EG never to return again, please...

    You do understand that Uncharted2 is an exclusive,right? That basically means that ND can invest as much time is needed to get the achieved results - something that isn't possible for multi platform titles since release dates have to be met...

    So yeah, it's pretty normal to assume that an exclusive title that is been worked for 2-3 years specifically for a platform (only) is going to look really good, you don't need captain obvious to tell you that...

    Jesus, just enjoy the games for what they are, no matter the platform they are on...
    I guess that's too much to ask for though, right?

    Regarding Uncharted2, it looks "yummy" , this is getting bought (alongside Ninja gaiden sigma 2 ).
    Edited by 1 at 19/09/09 @ 10:53

  • MightyMouse #16 2 years ago

    My anticipation for this game is reaching painful levels already.

  • Mr_Gallows #17 2 years ago

    @Klem

    No because the MS ass sucking on this sitye pisses me off. I think they should compare 360 exclusive titles to PS3 exclusive titles. The comparisons they have made between the consoles so far makes it look like they are very close and that the 360 is in fact better at times with is a blatant lie. If you compare 360 exclusives to PS3 exclusives it's easy to see that the 360 is outdated and inferiour on all fronts. The cross platform games look just as good as the exlusive titles on the 360, but on the PS3 the exclusives look far better. THAT is the truth they never tell in their 360vsPS3 comparison.
    Edited by 1 at 19/09/09 @ 11:03

  • klem578 #18 2 years ago

    So, we should believe this because you say so?Hmm...

    Why the fanaticism ? You do understand we're talking about plastic inanimate objects here, right?
    You like playing on your PS3?Good, nobody's saying anything, enjoy your games on the platform of your choice, this "wahhh, EG is teh bias" is getting out of hand though, not to mention that is extremely boring and juvenile...

    Remember, "plastic inanimate objects"...

  • junkie_with_a_monkey #19 2 years ago

    It's funny how DF took the time to remove tearing on the Uncharted 1 video and then my computer decides to add it back in because of it's inability to play HD flash.

  • NoKamiFujiwara #20 2 years ago

    I felt compelled to finally register on this site just to comment on Mr_Gallows' remark of the brilliant Face-offs as "silly jokes".

    Having at long last bought a PS3 this September and as a long time owner of an Xbox360, I couldn't disagree with you more. When you have both consoles of course you want to get the best version of a given multiplatform game. The Face-offs are an indisputable, towering testament to the regrettable fact that PS3 versions tend to be inferior to their XO counterparts. I might be mistaken but only Oblivion comes to mind as being better on the Playstation (no doubt thanks to a non-simultaneous release). Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma looks compelling as well, might just have to buy the game again.

    What I really like about Eurogamer is the lack of mindless console wars in the comment section in comparison to many other game sites. From the bottom of my heart, I hope it stays that way in spite of members like Mr_Gallows. For the love of God, go buy an Xbox360 right now and enjoy all the fantastic exclusives you've clearly missed out on. It's the games, not the hardware, that make or brake a console!

  • mattius30 #21 2 years ago

    I hope everything Naughty dog has learnt about developing for the PS3 will be passed on to other developers. Or they licence out the Uncharted engine. It would be awesome to see more games on the PS3 get this kind of graphical/technical care and attention.

  • zztopp #22 2 years ago

    Uncharted has always looked cartoony and Uncharted 2 is more of the same. It may have the best textures on the PS3 but I don't see the awe inspiring detail as iin Gears of war 2. The Inca levels especially in Uncharted 1 looked terrible. Lets hope there are no such stages in part deux.

  • Obiwanshinobi #23 2 years ago

    Wait, Naughty Dog make 30 fps games this gen?! I am very disappointed. Next gen 30 fps Burnout and Tekken will be something to celebrate, I'm tellin ya. For my money high framerate and responsive controls take priority over v-sync and antialiasing.

  • harzo #24 2 years ago

    Mr_Gallows, you are an ass. How can DF compare console exclusives? What would they compare? Ohhhhhhhhhhhh that game runs at 60fps on the 360 and this one runs at 30fps on the ps3 so it must be shitter? Wrong. Cross platform games are the only way of comparing the 2 systems power. Microsoft have got the better of these comparisons so far, that fact cannot be denied, but I buy a console for its exclusives.

    I am a 360 owner and a very happy one. There have been very few ps3 exclusives that have tempted me so far, but this might just be the game to change that. Kudos to ND, this game looks fantastic!

  • TheStatics #25 2 years ago

    Was playing the multi-player demo last night then put KZ2 in afterwards... Have to say that, although I appreciate that the 2 genres are different, from a technical perspective KZ2 looked far more impressive to me.

  • Oceans1999 #26 2 years ago

    Really looking forward to this now.

    Upbeat and happy article praising where praise was due.

    I am even happier that it didn't say, "Richard is on holiday" at the end.

  • George-Roper #27 2 years ago

    @Mr_Gallows

    This shows just how inferiour the x360 is compared to the PS3. Eurogamer insist on comparing cross platform games, that most of the time is produced in favor of the 360 and with the 360 being the limit. It's retarded to compare cross platform games and EG should be clever enough to recognize this fact. Instead compare exclusive titles and see what machine has the best graphics, biggest scope of the games etc. The PS3 is in a whole other league with the graphics of uncharted 2, 256 players in MAG, MMOs comming etc. So digital foundry should stop their nonsense comparison of cross platform games and instead compare what the consoles can offer when something is written specifically for each console. Of course there would be no match, so I assume that's the reason for their silly joke of the PS3vs360

    As Chev Chelios once said "You plum!".

    How are cross platform game comparisons not legitimate? I own a 360, two PS3s and a gaming PC. If I want the best version of a cross platform game, the comparison articles are more than worth their weight in gold.

    Sony fanboi cretin.

  • Brianstorm #28 2 years ago

    Been playing the MP beta/demo great fun and it looks amazing, SONY should cherish naughty dog, for me it's them and infinity ward that are leading the way this gen with the blockbuster style games.

  • Retroid #29 2 years ago

    @Mr_Gallows: Excellent point! I'll now compare a badger and a giant squid for their qualities as racing cars, shall I?

    Stop being such a blatant troll.

  • Widge #30 2 years ago

    I thought Infamous was rather nice looking, especially compared to something like Prototype. Its not on the level of GTA4 but its certainly doing a great job.

  • jimboton #31 2 years ago

    "Check out how Uncharted: Drake's Fortune would've looked if it were v-synced. The result is a massive improvement in image consistency, well worth the small bump in controller latency."

    Well I couldn't agree less. I think controller response is far more important than a bit of tearing. And your video showing the torn frames in slow motion is sort of cheating, it isn't half as noticeable at full speed.

    Uncharted 2 should give us the option to disable both triple buffering and vsync.

  • Beano #32 2 years ago

    "How are cross platform game comparisons not legitimate?"

    Cross platform game comparisons are only relevant for judging between different version of the same game, but not the abilites of each platform. Top games made specificly for a platform (like Uncharted, Killzone 2, etc.) is the way to properly judge the abilites.

  • Sharzam #33 2 years ago

    Havnt pc games been using triple buffers for years ? Personally no matter how technically advanced a game is if it doesnt have decent AA then i wont bite nothing annoys me more than jaggies as can totaly ruin immersion for me. It is good that there atleast trying on consoles these days to bring in AA but i dont quite no why its so hit and miss, pc games have had support for it for years even before the 360 and ps3 were being developed it was standard on pcs.

    The mind boggles. As for uncharted if i was to get a ps3 you can guarntee it would be one of my first games.

  • Collymilad #34 2 years ago

    ""How are cross platform game comparisons not legitimate?"

    Cross platform game comparisons are only relevant for judging between different version of the same game, but not the abilites of each platform. Top games made specificly for a platform (like Uncharted, Killzone 2, etc.) is the way to properly judge the abilites. "

    So you'd rather DF focused on the fanboy fueled task of seeing which system has better graphics, rather than the legitimate task of helping gamers who own both systems decide which version to get? Yeah, good idea.

    Remember last gen when the PS2 was the weakest system? Back when graphics "didn't make a game"? Funny how thats changed, eh?

    Oh P.S. Mr_gallows, you're talking **** mate, shoulda gone to specsavers.
    Edited by 1 at 19/09/09 @ 12:32

  • Mr_Gallows #35 2 years ago

    Cross platform comparison is not valid in terms of comparing the consoles because:

    1. The xbox media capacity and power will be the limiting factor.
    2. Cross platform games are generally written with the xbox in mind, especially when there is a PC version as well. The PS3 has a very different architecture and will not be able to run games written with the xbox in mind as well as games written for the PS3. The xbox is favored by all because it's easier to write for... but if it was the other way around the xbox couldn't even run the games written with the PS3 in mind.

    You can compare games even though it's not the same game.

    How many multiplayer titles will the xbox have with 256 simultaneous players? How many MMOs are comming to the xbox (AoC... maybe)? When you compare graphical quality of xbox exclusives with graphical quality of PS3 exclusives the PS3 is capable of much better graphics.

    But crossplatform games keep the PS3 down because the xbox is the limiting factor.

    That's the reason exclusives on the PS3 look and play much smoother than cross platform games, while on the xbox 360 the cross platform games are just as good as the exclusives. The xbox can't do better than the cross platform games, but the PS3 can.

    And yes I'd rather that DF put the myth to rest that the 360 equals the PS3 so developers could finally move away from the MS shotbox and produce better games on a more capable system.

    It's like the old VHS and BETAMAX issue... the xbox isn't favored because it's the best system.
    Edited by 4 at 19/09/09 @ 15:02

  • TRUTH #36 2 years ago

    Killzone 2 was nothing that great . I wish PS3 fans stop pretending it's the greatest thing on this planet - it's graphics are good, but not beyond anything like GoW 2, CoD 4, Far Cry 2 (360 vesrion - sorry!) etc.. Lost Planet 2 - this games looks just as Uncharted 2 good too (with bigger explosions);download on PS3

  • MrWonderstuff #37 2 years ago

    This is one game to inspire me to get a PS3. What I was interested in is the note about upscaling to 1080p and that the quality isnt as good as 720p (makes sense really). It just makes the decision to get either a 720p or 1080p set that much harder.
    Edited by 1 at 19/09/09 @ 12:43

  • Lord_Gremlin #38 2 years ago

    We could have more of such games, but outdated Xbox 360 ruins that dream...

  • mkreku #39 2 years ago

    God, this looks good! Can't they release it on PC too? Please?

  • Kenshin001 #40 2 years ago

    "you can't compare exclusives, they are not on both."

    Eh, people do this all time. You don't think the graphics of GT5 and Forza 3 aren't going to be compared? I don't see a problem with it, take the best exclusives in each genre (FPS, TPS, racing, open world, platformer etc.) and pit them against each other. Analyse tech being used, textures, AA, lighting, effects etc. Think it would make interesting reading.

  • VandelayIndustries #41 2 years ago

    Great article!

    What with this and all the reviews popping up now, It's going to make the next four weeks crawl along :(

    Also, anytime something good PS3 wise is posted up on this site we get this idiotic downturn of fanboy vs. counter fanboy in the comments thread. :(



    /Awaits the double bill of Donnie & Calgon.

  • soviet_ #42 2 years ago

    Brilliant article Mr. Leadbetter. The first video I saw of this game (some train gameplay) I thought looked awful and couldn't understand the hype.

    After playing Uncharted and being very surprised at how much I enjoyed the game now I can't wait for the second. It's a shame there aren't more truly great games on the PS3 with this much care and attention given to them although I think NG should let their technology do the talking in articles like this :)

  • JamieR #43 2 years ago

    I dont understand what the charts are on the videos :( im dumb

    when it comes to graphic i really like smooth sharp imagine with really good AA detail isnt quite as important to me like quality i hope the AA on this game is good this game will be alot of fun cant wait

    I wish they was just one console it be alot tidyer next to my tv then.

  • JasonB81 #44 2 years ago

    I think Uncharted 2 is going to be great.... It's just funny to me that DF forgot that Halo 3 was the originator of the replays and free cam.... They are raving about it like Uncharted 2 was the first game to have it.... That's my only gripe.....

    Other then that... I've been a fan of DF and Eurogamer.... I lke their comparisons the best, they are not flameworthy and they actually use real tech to do the evals..... Kudos to DF and Eurogamer....

    I need to get a PS3 slim, i was holding out for a 60gig PS3 but they are over-charging for them on Ebay, and the PS3 slim seems to be a vast improvement over the 60gig.... I don't need all those USB ports and memory connections.... I have a PC for that....

    Hopefully by the time i get one they either have a download-able God of War 2, so i can then buy God of War 3 when it comes out.... Uncharted 1, 2, and the God of War series are the only things i want so far, and maybe InFamous.

  • GreyBeard #45 2 years ago

    @Mr_Gallows

    The correct answer is that this shows how DIFFERENT the PS3 and 360 are.

    The 360 has the more capable GPU, so in a like-for-like situation it should always come out on top. In both K2 and U2 the engines offload part of the actual rendering pipeline onto the SPE's.

    In most ports, the SPE's are used solely to cull data dispatched to the GPU, reducing the scene complexity and thereby lightening the load. The problem is that for obvious reasons this doesn't work well when there is a lot going on at the "front" of the screen, you can't cull stuff that the player needs to see so in high-stress situations the poor RSX is fed a Xenos-sized chunk of data and chokes a little.

    In Killzone2 and Uncharted2 the engines are built from the ground up to do as much as possible on the SPE's, including parts of the actual rendering. This neccessitates major changes in the formatting and organization of graphic data because of the way the PS3's architecture divides memory between the GPU and CPU.

    Reading from/writing to GPU memory is far slower than reading from CPU memory, so they need to keep a virtual framebuffer in the CPU ram in order to allow the SPE's to run at their full speed acting as mini-GPU's. Naturally this imposes a major hit on the amount of available RAM the game code has to run in, which can be hugely problematic when the memory budget (in a cross-platform title) has been set for a system (360) that not only has additionally buffer space on the GPU, but has a unified memory architecture.

    This is why its been stressed time and again that leading on PS3 is far more effective than leading on 360.

    More pertinently, utilizing a RAM based framebuffer (effectively software rendering) is something that is completely alien to the 360 and PC architectures - they aren't built to need or support it.

    The upshot is that to get the most out of PS3 you need a totally different engine to that on the PC or 360, but what you can do is create an engine that works great on PC/360 and also works decently well on the PS3. As the latter choice is quicker to build and easier to maintain (i.e. cheaper) - an absolute priority in multi-platform development - that's what you'll see in 99% of titles.

    Edited by 1 at 19/09/09 @ 13:50

  • PrivateJoker #46 2 years ago

    GOTY right there.

  • Nephirion #47 2 years ago

    More platform exclusives are a good thing, uncharted demonstrates what can be done when a team is dedicated to producing a product for one platform. Multiplatform releases or ports if your a PC gamer ^_^ are often gimped by design, no matter the marginal graphical enhancements its essentially the same experience wether your on a 360 or a PS3, its only the PC that you can get a significantly better experience with higher resolution, greater draw distance, improved physics etc problem is that eventually the design limitation kicks in and your left with a marginally better looking port. I have never found a game that felt as good as Crysis does on my PC on a console, does that mean PC is better than console? does that mean PS3 is better than 360? who cares? we want more exclusives for each platform that makes the most of the hardware and isn't restricted by having to make everything look marginally equal or better on every platform.

  • dedalus05 #48 2 years ago

    Hey,

    Having immersed myself in the recent hype surrounding this game, I just want to take this opportunity to extend kudos to the writers here at EuroGamer. You guys have the best writing, and most considered articles by far. A lot of the technical concepts go over my head entirely, but I do appreciate the time and effort you put in to explain them in lay-terms.

    So again, Kudos to ye... and when are we going to see the full review of Uncharted 2?

    D.

  • Postumo #49 2 years ago

    emmmm this Army of Two or what?

    first Uncharted had some Tomb Raider elements, but this... this looks like Army of Two. Not liking it too much.

  • TopKatt #50 2 years ago

    Why does almost every thread on here have to have at least one troll? Is there like a rule or something?

  • duckncover #51 2 years ago

    @JasonB81

    I don't think they are saying that this was the first to do replays and free cam. What they are saying is that for a game that is pushing the latest and greatest in graphics, it is impressive that they have still managed to include such things as free cam and replays as well.

    Halo 3 was not a technical marvel by any means, graphically or otherwise. What it did was provide a great number of features in both breadth and depth that few FPS games had provided before outside of PC gaming.
    Edited by 1 at 19/09/09 @ 15:07

  • MikeJones #52 2 years ago

    Uncharted 2 has the best console graphics. Period. I'm sure Naughty Dog could also make the best looking game on the X360 also. The fact of the matters is the X360 is supposed to be easier to program for and it's been out longer so why don't they have a game comparable to UC2 or KZ2 graphics? The best looking games are not even from their best developers who should be able to get the most out of the console. Therefore I believe there is little headroom left in it.

  • KayJay #53 2 years ago

    "without a single torn frame in the whole game"

    This should keep our Darren Happy... :-)

  • GamesConnoisseur #54 2 years ago

    Signs at the CONSOLEWARZ PS3 is the KING etc kind of comments, BUT for sure PS3 owners are gonna be massively well served with the sequel Uncharted. This is the game I m most looking forward to and for sure X360 only owners are gonna be wishing this game would be available on the console.

    Which is why I m just so chuffed at being able to own PS3 for this game!

    Now more developers should achieve similar level of performance, including the busted exclusives such as Haze.

  • eiocreative #55 2 years ago

    I can't work out from these videos and one other train based one i have seen what makes it so amazing to you all. It might be doing lots of clever things all at once but as a complete visual package it doesn't do much for me. Killzone 2 looked better from what I saw of that.
    Edited by 1 at 19/09/09 @ 16:26

  • eiocreative #56 2 years ago

    I'll get my mate to stick the first one on his PS3 when I am next over. See what all this fuss is about...

  • Cappy #57 2 years ago

    I don't believe the claim that Ghost Busters lead on the PS3 was entirely truthful. They contradict this claim themselves in an earlier statement where they claimed that they could have had more objects in play if the game had lead on the PS3.

    Dead Space didn't lead on the PS3 either, unless you count one month towards the end of the development cycle, all the other months the 360 was the focus. The only game where anybody could be certain the PS3 got it's fair share of development time and resources was Burnout Paradise because they didn't concentrate specifically on one version.

    Otherwise the state of multi-platform games on the PS3 directly reflects the time and resources put into them, if they had similar attention to that given to the 360 versions it would be a different story.

  • Alkeno #58 2 years ago

    Woh, so much to say, so little time...

    1. The game looks awesome, a good team, time and budget can make great looking PS3 games, period. I don't think I could choose between Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2 as one being best (I have things to like in both and things to dislike in both as well).

    2. I wish Microsoft had a great team such as Naughty Dog as first party... game comparisons would be priceless.

    3. Increasing controlled lag seems a weird decision. Sure, it makes the game look better but the price in gameplay is huge. Why not making triple buffering an option for gamers to decide?

    4. GreyBeard has made a great explanation. But my question is... What was Sony thinking when they designed the PS3 that way? Since 3dfx launched the Voodoo Graphics and impressed the world everybody was thrilled that graphics could be handled by the GPU, it made things so much easier... what is the point in sticking a sub-par GPU in the PS3 with a huge CPU and just ask programmers to do things the harder way? It forces devs to develops engines exclusively for their system from the ground up, ignoring their previous know-how. That made Valve and many others say that is a waste of time.
    Edited by 2 at 20/09/09 @ 01:50

  • VandelayIndustries #59 2 years ago

    @eiocreative
    A lot of the fuss surrounding this game and its graphics comes from this E3 video,
    Gamtrailers

    @Donnie
    In all fairness to Insomniac, they are pumping out a full blockbuster style game a year. Which is a ridiculous amount of time.

    Edit: Damn tags :( and spelling :( and well just... :(

    Edited by 3 at 19/09/09 @ 17:22

  • wayneh #60 2 years ago

    133ms compared to 100ms lag, I very much doubt I will even notice, god knows how slow my responses are!

  • fjharps #61 2 years ago

    This game is going to be great and probably GOTY. Gamesradar has given it a 10 and IGN has rated it 9.5 so 2 top scores already and i think many more to come.

  • GreyBeard #62 2 years ago

    @Semitope

    Its the eDRAM mainly. Very useful for anti-aliasing and optimizing shader-paths. Brilliant design decision on MS' engineers part as it vastly improves memory access times giving effectively more fill-rate on multi-pass renders.

    The key thing is that its far easier to utilize this cache than incorporate the SPE's into the actual rendering pipeline. Especially given that the PS3 requires very careful memory/data management in the first place if you don't want to cripple performance.

  • SeesThroughAll #63 2 years ago

    @ GreyBeard:

    You've just written some of the best comments ever to show up next to articles here. You've explained and helped a lot of people like me understand better what's going on with developer decisions concerning multi-platform games, and why is there so often such a huge discrepancy between exclusives and multi-platform games on the PS3 (even though exclusives obviously look better than the standard stuff on the 360 as well).

    Are you somehow involved in games development?

  • shotgun44 #64 2 years ago

    This game is why everyone should own both consoles and stop bitching about the 4 pixel difference between the two versions of GI Joe: The Game of the Movie - Certified Dogshit...

  • shotgun44 #65 2 years ago

    I'd hate to see Halos epic scale suffer because of the limitations of having shinier graphics. I personally thought Halo 3 was a beautiful game. The chunky graphics gave it character.

  • hahayou #66 2 years ago

    The tear-free video certainly does look good, but wasn't anyone else bothered by the fact that the guy was going past the edges of the platforms and jumping off thin air? Just goes to show that one little thing is all it takes to break immersion.

  • jimboton #67 2 years ago

    Controller response is something most people would not notice as anything bad in this game. 133 seems pretty alright from this article http://ww w.eurogamer.net/articles/digita...

    On the other hand, many people believe that lack of vsync producing some moderate tearing doesn't have any real impact on graphical quality.

    133 is not at all alright when it can be 100 just by turning bloody triple buffering off.. as it's been said above it should be down to the gamer to decide if he wants 'tear-less' or more responsive gameplay.

  • eiocreative #68 2 years ago

    @VandelayIndustries ah yeah. That looks more impressive. Sure it's a good game but I hardly have time for the 360 I own and missed many a good game on that. I actually think as I getting older I enjoy games like Trials HD more. I can pick it up. Have a bash and switch it off.

    Certain looks like they pushing the technical limits..

  • MikeJones #69 2 years ago

    "Lets see what they do with Halo Reach, on the first truly custom built engine for the system (as Halo 3 was one evolved from the previous gen)."

    What about Rare and the Fable devs?

    "I'd hate to see Halos epic scale suffer because of the limitations of having shinier graphics. I personally thought Halo 3 was a beautiful game. The chunky graphics gave it character"

    Is that another way of getting around the fact that Halo 3 was sub HD and a jagfest and looks meh compared to many games?



  • rotmm #70 2 years ago

    Looks great. However, there are far too many repeating textures in my eyes. Almost every wall looks like it it contains a repeating pattern.

    Which, of course, it does.

    Also, not a big fan of the animation (nor in the first game). Characters lack weight.

  • RedSparrows #71 2 years ago

    MikeJones - that Halo 3 was sub HD didn't diminish from it, in my eyes. I didn't care, because the whole experience was pitch-perfect, most of the time. It hardly looked meh when superb art direction combined with interesting and visceral firefights and yummy bloomy lighting. But then again, it's not 1080i or p, so what do I know?

    Uncharted 2 looks great. I've never played the first so I'm not quite sure what makes the series so revered already, but that's simply my own ignorance. It's almost as if I could own a 360, BUT YET PRAISE A PS3 GAME?!!! Stranger things have happened.

    I would say, regardless of platform, I find DF's approach to games a tad....boring. Just cos I'm not techy, and more power to them for doing the work etc, but a game can be technically sublime and still rubbish. Uncharted 2 doesn't look like it'll suffer from that ;p
    Edited by 1 at 19/09/09 @ 20:27

  • septimus #72 2 years ago

    Game of the year for me... again. Loved Uncharted, so playable and great story. The tearing demonstration highlights more than you ever actually see in game.

  • ps3owner #73 2 years ago

    how convenient, he's got a cupboard everytime he needs to climb over something.

    looks. a.c.e

  • UberFrog #74 2 years ago

    FPS on consoles never really appealed to me, feels so chunky to aim and control compared to PC and mouse smoothness.

  • Zaltan #75 2 years ago

    Epic Wolf!

  • FogHeart #76 2 years ago

    From the controller lag article:

    "Citing GTAIV as an example, West suggests that a 166ms response is where gamers notice controller lag, which could also explain the Killzone 2 furore too."

    Round my brother's house, played Killzone 2 for he first time, and immediately felt that killer controller lag that everyone is referring to, and thought the game to be unplayable.

    Looking at the list in that article, there are a few games with 133ms lag which I haven't seen anyone complain about. Maybe this increase in lag over the first game might be acceptable?

  • deathdealer619 #77 2 years ago

    cant wait for this game the first was amazing!

  • man.the.king #78 2 years ago

    I wanted to say something but this quote of Richard Leadbetter's sums it up for me: humbled by Naughty Dog's coding power

  • smelly #79 2 years ago

    *sigh* what a rediculously pointless article.

    I personally *love* how "tech analysis" just refers to the graphics and framerate.

    As someone who used to work in the industry as a programmer.. i find this rather insulting and am personally glad after reading this that i'm no longer involved.

  • Spekingur #80 2 years ago

    @semitope: "Infamous is an open world, no loading game and its graphics are great for that, more will be done with a sequel but its still great to look at. Which other game lets you climb so much in the environment etc?"

    Err. Assassin's Creed? Prototype?

    You know, it seems to me that some people just follow one console blindly like its a religion or something. Nothing else exists outside their console and if someone says something otherwise they are prepared to gone a crusade or jihad or whatever you might want to call it. I thought we were all gamers here, finding fun where there are games. Am I wrong in that assumption?

    Next we'll probably see the idolizing of some certain few games in certain areas and the a sect hellbent on convincing other gamers to join search of Teh One True Game(tm). I guess we are just doomed... dooooooooooooomed.

  • gammonbanter #81 2 years ago

    Do you think there will be midnight openings for this? Postal strike means I can't trust play.com and will cry if i don't own this on release!

  • pinochet_cz #82 2 years ago

    Nice game. Shame that's exclusive.
    I don't see anything like "new level of graphics" in video, but interaction with environment is cool and coop must be fun.

  • Spekingur #83 2 years ago

    @semitope: You never mentioned explosions, just climbing everywhere :p
    Besides, I forgot the game that came before all three - Crackdown. That one had explosions. And jumping. And water didn't kill you (I hate that kind of limitation in an open world game).

  • des #84 2 years ago

    Not too impressive,Killzone 2 is still the most impressive PS3 game...
    Why is nobody talking about it?...lack of colors?Too many shades of gray ?

  • White_Westie #85 2 years ago

    To me it certainly looks better than kz2 and resistance 2.
    They where a let down for me (too boring and grey..)

    I think this looks brilliant. Gameplay looks fluid too
    Thank God I own a ps3 too.....

    Mainly use 360 for "stable online multiplayer" games and now... my ps3 is back in business!
    Thank you Naughty Dog !!
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 18:56

  • vegard #86 2 years ago

    power of the cell!

    i want a ps3 now

  • SL33PY #87 2 years ago

    Great analysis! Really looking forward to this game.

  • muscleblade #88 2 years ago

    This will probably become the best looking game so far this gen. I dont think it will be the best game this gen though.
    Looking forward to try it for my self. This is just what the PS3 owners need. A killer app for sure. It will be a nice comfort from all the multiplatform games that looks best on the 360.

  • muscleblade #89 2 years ago

    @semitope

    Too bad KZ2 wasnt a very good game in other important cathegories like gameplay.

  • plaztiksyke #90 2 years ago

    Can Eurogamer query Naughty Dog and ask if there will be a backport/patch of some of these engine enhancements to the original Uncharted?

    I'm disappointed to hear that it's still 720p native rendering, but I wonder if they use multi-sampling FSAA to compensate? Every little bit above 720p really helps, I wonder if they can squeeze it up to 840p.

  • captain_aftab #91 2 years ago

    Just go on to youtube, or any site with actual footage of Uncharted:Drake's Fortune to see how doctored the "original" footage is. The "V-Sync" version is actually the true footage, which they've pretended to improve by displaying next to footage that they've messed with.