The 360 thread!

chub · Post by **chub** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:38 pm 0

I've just noticed that the Fatal Inertia demo is available to download, so it's not US and Japan only anymore.

The Captain · Post by **The Captain** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 7:56 pm 0

Fatal Inertia is the worst racing game I've played in some considerable time.

The Unreal Engine is soon going to outstay its welcome if it keeps powering loads of old tat like this.

chub · Post by **chub** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:04 pm 0

The Captain wrote:The Unreal Engine is soon going to outstay its welcome if it keeps powering loads of old tat like this.

And yet it powers Bioshock too. I don't think it's the engine at fault, rather what's done with it.

Bod · Post by **Bod** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:18 pm 0

The Captain wrote:Fatal Inertia is the worst racing game I've played in some considerable time.

Yep, totally agree there ... downloaded it, tried it & deleted it.

Flabio · Post by **Flabio** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 12:27 am 0

Is it worse than Quantum Redshift?

The Captain · Post by **The Captain** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 1:20 am 0

chub wrote:
The Captain wrote:The Unreal Engine is soon going to outstay its welcome if it keeps powering loads of old tat like this.
And yet it powers Bioshock too. I don't think it's the engine at fault, rather what's done with it.

Oh yes, I totally agree. But, rather than being some seal of quality, if a game begins with 'Powered by Unreal Technology', my heart sinks rather than soars as it should. It seems most are happy to pay out for the tech, not the talent. Hour Of Victory, anyone? No, thought not.

ravuya · Post by **ravuya** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:14 am 0

Flabio wrote:Is it worse than Quantum Redshift?

It's like Quantum Redshift, except the ships don't stay where you point them. It's sort of like driving a marble with a jet engine attached.

I hate to slag it off as casually, because it's quite pretty, but I actually can't play it. I can get to second or third spot and then I nudge the stick a millimeter too far and end up halfway across the map rolling the wrong direction into a checkpoint in last place.

Mat T · Post by **Mat T** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 3:45 pm 0

Flabio wrote:Is it worse than Quantum Redshift?

In 5 minutes of playing Fatal Inertia, I fell through the world twice and managed to get stuck behind a race barrier, upon which I discovered an entire mine complex for no apparent reason whatsoever.

It could do with some polish.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:31 pm 0

The Captain wrote:Fatal Inertia is the worst racing game I've played in some considerable time.

It's the laggy frame-rate that gets me. I won't play a racing game anymore unless it can lock in at 60fps non-stop. 30fps is do-able, but not ideal, and Inertia can't even get that. There's just no excuse for frame-rates lower than that anymore, given so many games that came out on last-generation consoles that had 60fps locked, and even a few on the PSOne and N64.

Racing games are all about last-second reaction, and if you don't get the resolution [sic] required to react, they become unplayable to me.

Hopefully the full version fixes this, but as we all know with demo's, the full version usually looks about the same as the demo in most cases. The should at least shut off the water reflections - it's unnecessary eye candy that tends to slow down games. Only leave that effect on if it doesn't hinder frame-rate (like BioShock).

The Captain wrote:The Unreal Engine is soon going to outstay its welcome if it keeps powering loads of old tat like this.

I was thinking just the same. Each engine kinda has this "feel" to it that makes the games running on it all kinda look the same.

But, BioShock looks so damn good, I think it comes down to artists more than anything towards giving the game a unique visual feel.

Gears of War, also, has a very unique visual feel to it.

There was one (or two) other demo's that had the Unreal engine. I can't remember the name, but you're some guy in Hong Kong in a 3rd person shooter with elements from Max Payne. While it looked good graphically, its art style was a tad bland when compared to Gears/BioShock.

The Captain · Post by **The Captain** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:42 pm 0

Dave wrote: It's the laggy frame-rate that gets me.

Yep. This is really more basic than a lot of racing games will countenance, and it really is intrinsic.

But, BioShock looks so damn good, I think it comes down to artists more than anything towards giving the game a unique visual feel.

Ha! Only the demo has been played so far, and yet Bioshock has already become a yardstick, and rightly so.

As far as the Unreal engine goes, in the right hands it works wonders, but too many developers seem to be expecting they can replace actual polish with just shine. Ugh.

PVB · Post by **PVB** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:57 pm 0

Missed these the other day:

F.E.A.R.: Bonus Map Pack

Content: Bonus Map Pack
Price: Free
Availability: Not available in Asia or Mexico
Dash Text: [ESRB: M (Mature) BLOOD AND GORE,INTENSE VIOLENCE,STRONG LANGUAGE] "With this FREE Bonus Map Pack youâ€™ll gain access to 3 never before available Multiplayer levels for your Xbox 360! Take advantage of the lush vegetation in Ecosphere to showcase your sniping skills or battle it out in a dilapidated building where enemies lurk behind every corner in Hotel. If dark spaces and close quarters combat are more to your liking, then prepare for some epic fire fights in the twisting tunnels of Sewers."

Lost Planet Multiplayer Maps #3 now free

This map pack was previously released at 400 points, but good news if you waited...as of today they are now free. Here are the details:

Content: LOST PLANET Multiplayer Maps #3!
Price: Free
Availability: All Xbox LIVE regions
Dash Text: Three unique maps, Lost Technology , Ruins , and Ice Drop , are now available as battlefields for LOST PLANET online!
Size: 232.50 MB

fog · Post by **fog** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 9:28 pm 0

Any word on bigger HDD's yet? 20Gb just isn't cutting it anymore.

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 9:36 pm 0

Next Friday.

Sir_LANs-a-lot · Post by **Sir_LANs-a-lot** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 9:36 pm 0

fog wrote:Any word on bigger HDD's yet? 20Gb just isn't cutting it anymore.

Supposedly released next week (same day as the Elite).

http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/34 ... chsource=0

Not cheap though... :/

fog · Post by **fog** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 9:43 pm 0

Cheers chaps. I didn't realise they were anywhere near coming out. The fact Microsoft haven't raised the memory limitation on XBLA titles means I might be able to hang on a little longer.....certainly at that price.