Unreal II - Judge the game for YOURSELF!

If I was going to name some games that were great back when Unreal 1 came out, it wouldnt even be on the list. I played through the game but I thought it was crap. I dont even play Unreal Tournament even though I like it much better than regular Unreal.

And yea olefarte, I've played almost all FPS games myself including most other games ever made. Been playing them for about 10 years now.. before that I was gaming on Atari/Nintendo/etc. What's your point though?

Unreal II blew the first one out of the water because the first game just wasn't that great, and Unreal II wasnt just a run and shoot game. It had SOME tactics to it, and if you just "run and shoot" you won't get far in this game so I have to assume you cheated through the game if you used the "run and shoot" method cause in the game it just won't cut it.

I didn't cheat. My point is, you liked it, I didn't. You said none of us had played the game, I did. No flaming, just my opinion.

Edit: "I've played most all first person shooters", no point at all, just through that in.

Not flaming, just trying to get the point across to everyone to consider the saying "dont judge a book by its cover".

I don't understand why people expect a game to be written to their spec's or expectations depending on the prequel. Half Life 2 is coming out this year and I don't really expect it to be much like the first Half Life although I do expect it to be multiplayer because I think Valve wants to go that route and needs to at the same time. Having a game developer "mentality" I kind of see their side of the situation, as I do everyone's when it comes to game developers. I don't expect a sequel to be better or a lot like the prequel. In my opinion it wouldnt make sense to be a lot alike because you want to improve on things and go a different route in lots of aspects. A game developer has constant visions in his/her head of what he would like to do with the next game. He/she isn't there for the purpose of pleasing anyone, but instead only pleasing himself while pleasing his employer just enough so that he can keep his/her job and use those visions.

I am a songwriter myself and I'll never do anything to please another person with my writing. I have lots of visions as far as what I want to do with my music and will never let someone else influence my work. I am good at what I do and could probably make a lot of money doing it and get a record deal, especially with the contacts I have in the recording industry at Sony, etc., but the fact is I create my work based on the desire to put those visions into physical form. When a developer is creating a game they are doing exactly the same. They thrive constantly to put those ideas somewhere that they can be used. Obviously they push to make them enjoyable by others too though.

I dont know. I guess I am a little peeved at how people judge games by the previous game or their expectations. I personally think games should be judged in a bit of a different way. Not shyed upon just because all the game was, was a "run and shoot" game. For example some things that I praise Unreal II for is that the graphics are pretty amazing in some areas and the new physics and reality of the game such as being able to actually shoot some insignifcant creature flying high above you as you would be able to do in real life and then some native creature grabbing that flying "thingy" as a meal. The game made me go "ooo" and "ahh!". I'm not going to complain that it doesnt have multiplayer capabilitys. No developer is required to implement that for any reason.

Not flamin anyone Just a bit "peturbed" by recent Unreal II flaming just due to rumours and the fact that it was a shoot'em up game and no multiplayer. Those shouldn't be criteria for a "good game".

Tried the demo last week, sucks big time. sorry Acidosmosis.

Tarkus, what did I just say? The first 2 levels DO suck, play the REAL game. Did you not listen? The rest of the game has amazing graphics and MUCH better gameplay. They did a crap job on the first 2 levels. This is why everyone is saying Unreal II sucks because of the demo.

The reason I didnt buy the game is beause I played the demo first. So I just used someone elses.... anyway by the 2nd and 3rd level I was saying wow and now I could see myself actually paying for the game to play it.

I played about 4 - 5 levels before changing motherboards and formatting. I have my save games on another HD but I'm really not that fussed about carrying on. I'm really not sure what tactics are involved in this game as I didn't do badly at all with the "run and shoot" technique. I wouldn't say that I thought the game sucked. I was very impressed with how a lot of it was done. The level inside the giant living planet was pretty impressive graphically but it really didn't offer me all that much in comparison to other fps games. Star Trek Elite force was about as fun in terms of "tactics". I much preferred the stealth tactics of Splinter Cell to this game. I do agree that the level of detail that the game developers went into was amazing and that game engine should be a great platform for some awesome games in the future.

Ummmm - take a look here
https://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4173
There's an old thread showing that some of us HAVE played this - and still were not terribly impressed. It's an okay game - looks pretty. That's about what I give it.

btw - I loved Unreal 1 - except how inefficient the engine was on anything but glide.

LNCPapa

I'm not saying I loved the game , I was just far more impressed with it then I thought I would be and the game was enjoyable for me in a lot of ways. I am a hard critic when it comes to games and aren't impressed easily. Some of the graphics in this game just made me OOOO AAHHH WWOOOW.. especially the flamethrower's flames and flames in general in the game. Much better than any in-game flames I've ever seem, and they WAY blew away Return to Castle Wolfenstein's flame graphics.

They had some pretty cool ideas for weapons too -- the floating orb that shoots at any projectiles coming towards you, and the other orb that you fire at someone that circles them and shoots. That was pretty cool. Although I think it just pissed off the really big guys .

Different people like different things, that's to be expected. Unfortunately, most of us are spoiled by the games we have played in the past, so making it more difficult for games developers to come up with something fresh.

The games industry is becoming more and more like the film industry, where most films these days are actually very bad, and don't have a good enough script to keep more intellectually minded folk happy.

The typical 'action' films (e.g. Gone in Sixty Seconds, The Rock, etc.) are pretty lame, especially when you look at some of the older movies of a couple decades back, and probably sell to those that have home cinema kit and who wish to impress their friends with the sound effects (ps: I'm not talking about you olefarte, as I know you're more sensible than that ).

Its the same with games, being increasing influenced by publishers, and which are put together without any form of creativity, just following a 'recipie sheet' in the vain hope that if all the basic ingredients are there, then the game will be good and sell by the truck load.

Despite all this apparent gloom, there are some real gems that turn up every once in a while (Half Life, System Shock 2, Grim Fandango, etc.), though these games are often followed by other less creative talents ripping all the good things from those games, in the hope that they too can be successful.

Unreal 2 was apparantly one of those games (so I read) that ripped off others, hence those that had played those other games found Unreal 2 dissappointing. No one wants a game that is predictable, because then it turns into an 'excercise' instead of an 'adventure'. Unfortunately, game publishers too often forget this, and have no concept of what makes games fun.

I have a copy of Unreal 2, but as yet I've still to play it. Maybe I'll leave that until all the hype and debates have dissappeared first.

oh btw, I posted this not because of techspot members but because of everyone in other forums mostly. I read many many posts saying "I dont want to play unreal 2 because of rumors", which is just pathetic in my opinion.

Nic said;

........those that have home cinema kit and who wish to impress their friends with the sound effects (ps: I'm not talking about you olefarte, as I know you're more sensible than that ).

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Ah Nic, but I do. HeHe.

Originally posted by acidosmosis
I read many many posts saying "I dont want to play unreal 2 because of rumors", which is just pathetic in my opinion.

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I agree Acid - that is pathetic. I usually won't accept (too easily) someone else's opinion about much of anything. I have to try most things for myself. I agree, people should try things for themselves - especially before they give any advice about something. Some of us here (not mentioning any names) have given advice about which they like better when they haven't even tried both of the things they are talking about. That's just not cool.

LNCPapa

"Opinions are like *******s, everybody has one" - Clint Eastwood.

I personally don't mind others providing 'hear say' on things they have no direct experience of, but only if they make it clear that that is the case. They should however refrain from contesting other peoples opinions, in such cases.

Nic: I agree

To sum up all that swe said, it's very easy.

People's opinion just depends on what people expect.

When I will go tomorrow to see the Matrix, I will expect killer effects and sound, like when I'm playing some script-poor games with lots of gfx killer stuff.

When I played Thief 1 ( 8 bit textures )and 2 (16 bit) one year ago I was really impressed by the story and the gameplay. As I played it a lot later compared to when it did come out, I wasnt expecting killer gfx and stuff. But I still was really impressed by other things.

Same for HL / UT / etc ... If you just know what you will get, no reason to be disapointed !!

Well there are some games that offer you both ... Thinking of HL (at its time for the gfx), Neverwinter Nights, NOLF1 (the second had a really crappy script, IMHO)

only my opinion anyway ...

You're right - I didn't clarify that. If you're going by hear say - just let people know.

LNCPapa

Originally posted by LNCPapa
If you're going by hear say - just let people know.

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my english if not as good as I wish so maybe you could explain what this sentence means ?

It means if you are posting based on rumors let people know, rather than playing them off as facts or personal expierence.

oh ok i got it thx dave

I have finally went back and finished this game, and looking back at my first reaction to the game in this thread, I have to say that it's maybe not as bad as I first make it to be. I still don't think it's a classic, but the graphics make up for a lot of other shortcomings. I kind of like the level where you had to set up perimiter defenses and defend the scientist, but the best was the Drakk Hive level where it was so dark and kind of scary. Still seems to me like a run, dodge and gun game.

On another issue, I think it should have been a little, or maybe a lot longer. It seems like games are getting more expensive but shorter all the time. I'm sure looking forward to Half-Life 2 as I understand it's going to be pretty long.

Edit; Forgot to mention the MAIN problem I have with this game, the longest load time I think I have ever seen in a game. It detracts a LOT from the game, even a 30 sec. cut scene takes forever and then you wait for another load for the level to start. And the action seems very short, before the next load. Click fast reload when you get killed, what a joke that is.

Slow load times? When I played the game the levels would load in about 5 seconds. Cutscenes, etc were about the same.
I was suprised at how fast they loaded. And yea your right the game isn't a classic. Definately not. I wasn't even a fan of Unreal. Though the graphics and some of the suprises and physics of the game really made me go "ooo!".

I wonder what would make me have such slow load times. I didn't time it, but I would guess a minute to a minute and a half. Even "fast load".