Hmm Halo 2 I will play just because I loved Halo. It was a well made game with a lot of replayability value

Of course it did. You replayed the same f*cking room over and over in single game.

But I don't think I will bother with it because it will most likely be packaged with that stupid Steam delivery system

It's being both boxed retail and put on Steam.

Hmm Halo 2 I will play just because I loved Halo. It was a well made game with a lot of replayability value, and it had CO-OP (which realy made the game for me)
Doom 3 I anticipate the Engine more then the game itself, I think John Carmack is a genious in his own right but I don't consider ID a good game developer. Although the E3 Build was pretty damn spanky.
HalfLife 2. I hated the First Half Life, cartoony graphics really not that spectacular gameplay (SOF was Much better imho) Stupid sounds, bad music composition etc.. The list goes on and On for me. I only had HL installed cause I enjoyed CS gameplay. Well until CS got high Jacked by Valve and it was buggered up. I prefered the Mod when it was just a Mod not a retail game, (more inovation imo). Now that HL 2 is coming out I was like wow Valve = Talentless Sacks of Crap actually developed something. I don't have a prob with HL2 because it maybe a great game and it can maybe be like the GOD of FPS games, But I don't think I will bother with it because it will most likely be packaged with that stupid Steam delivery system (I think this is the worst thing ever) So most likely you will have to pay extra money for this game somewhere because STEAM will be required. STEAM = +ing pile of Crap (sh17)/

doom 3, half life and halo 2 are undoubtedly the big ones in the coming year, but they are 3 totally different types of shooter... i mean, judging from hl and previews, hl2 will be a "situational" and gritty shooter. dont know about others, but i never felt like half life had any great continuous action. doom 3 is just meh... i mean, it looks like a heavily scripted game thats only fun the first time round. but, for anyone whos played halo, how can you beat the sheer coolness of master chief and the story and the action? just wait till e3 and see who comes out trumps

Midnight: "Craftmanship is critical, of course, to making a great game. But inovation is necessary if we are to see the gaming industry grow from infancy to maturity."

I agree, you need both to produce a great game. I was just pointing out that one without the other is not always good. I would say that the run of the mill "good game" is a product of craftsmanship, that innovation is that added ingredient that can take it up that level to "great".

Thanks Gog, I appreciate any kind of feedback on Poke646, even if it's far more than a year since we released. Speaking of urban settings I was quite a bit puzzled to see that most of HL2's action will take place in a european town... it's the only kind of setting I'm really good in mapping - and now they make it so much harder for us to create something unique in a probable Poke646 sequel

Speaking of Farcry, I wouldn't set my hopes too high on that one. It's a sad fact to admit, but there's hardly been anything remarkable produced in the FPS genre here in my homecountry Germany - developers over here lack the experience and don't seem to have the right feeling to produce a decent shooter I guess. But I agree with you on the engine, it looks fantastic. What most people don't know, there's been a tech demo of the early Crytek engine, very well worth trying out and still looking competitive (even tough it's 2 years old):

ftp://ftp.megagames.com/pub/files/xisledi.zip

Craftmanship is critical, of course, to making a great game. But inovation is necessary if we are to see the gaming industry grow from infancy to maturity. At the moment it is still early days for gaming, and I want to see greater emphasis on new genre-breaking ideas.

Most companies can't afford the luxury of experimentation, since it is a commercial enterprise after all. My wish is that those companies with cash to burn (like id) would take care of the innovation, allowing other companies to focus on stability. It's encouraging to see that Valve at least seems to be ding that.

Xombie: "How? I don't remember any previewed gameplay features being very innovative."

Innovative is not always good Xombie. To be indelicate, innovative cr@p is still just cr@p, even if it smells a bit different. Even the best new ideas can be screwed up by poor execution. Sometimes it's just how you put the pieces together, old or new. Craftsmanship counts for as much as innovation, maybe more IMO.

*edit* None of which should be construed as implying U2 had superior craftsmanship. It was definitely a journeyman's level effort. Decent but uninspired.

This comment was edited on May 9, 22:47.

Term, congrats on Poke 646, it was a really great mod. Some of the levels you had, such as the urban rooftop level and the level where you had to crawl along the buidling ledge were besides being very original had great atmosphere to them. As a matter of fact I think its one of the few mods I've played were I actually felt I was within an urban setting. If I recall correctly you as well had some excellent texture work in your mod.

Anyway as to other FPS that I'm looking forward to is, Cryotek's Farcry. If you've seen any of their screenshots you'd know what I'm talking about. Their jungle shots are what SOF2 should of been.

My hopes are high also for STALKER but I feel its going to be a modern day version of Morrowind where it'll be hard for the casual gamer to get into. Sometimes linear games work better for that reason.

Actually, we don't know this for sure. If the hype was to be believed, Unreal 2 would have made us forget about Doom 3, Deus Ex : IW, Stalker AND any possible Half Life 2.

How? I don't remember any previewed gameplay features being very innovative.

Of course we can't know for sure, but based on their (Valve) whole attitude toward the community that made the first game an ongoing success, I would be shocked and amazed if they blew it. I mean, it sounds like they took virtually every dollar they made (profit) on HL1 and put it into HL2. I remember the hype of Unreal 2 (for years), but i don't recall them talking about the community hardly at all. The crew at Valve know what is expected. The guys who made Unreal 2 knew, and it would seem they didn't much care. They took many of the elements that made Unreal a hit, and threw them out the window. I don't see that happening with HL.

I was pretty hard on Unreal 2 at first. My expectations were high. I went back and played it a second time a couple months later, and found it somewhat enjoyable. It surely didn't feel like "Unreal", but as your garden variety FPS gamem it's ok. God does the story suck though.

Thank GOD they care enough about their games to not pull an "Unreal 2".

Actually, we don't know this for sure. If the hype was to be believed, Unreal 2 would have made us forget about Doom 3, Deus Ex : IW, Stalker AND any possible Half Life 2. The truth was a little bit different.

Although, considering their 1 for 1 track record, I'm betting slightly higher on Valve actually being able to deliver what they promise, as opposed to Legend being able to do so.

Their creation system does look cool. Those orange levels kinda remind me of the QuickCrete commercials
I never really got back into map making once every engine turned into the brush / entity stuff. Having to paint 15.000 polygons just to make a room wasn't exactly my cup of tea. I'm hoping that it will be a different system in Half Life 2...

Creston

Do you people UNDERSTAND that this fall/winter is going to be the best time for FPS games in like 4-5 YEARS? The mind boggles at what will be available. Kicking it all off will be the sequel to (in my opinion) the best single player FPS of all time, Half Life. (You had to play it when it was brand new to understand).

Half Life 2, DOOM III, STALKER, DUES EX 2 and how many others?? My god, I will need a 2nd job to buy them all, then I will have to quite both jobs to play them all!

On Topic:

Finnally a game is going to come out that will INNOVATE again. Based on everything I have read (which is every article out as of this afternoon) Half Life 2 sounds like it will once again set the benchmark for FPS games. Thank GOD they care enough about their games to not pull an "Unreal 2". The are making the game longer (woohoo) and deeper, not just prettier.

Mappin and Mod Developers? Man I used to love building maps until current games turned it into joyless "work". It sounds like Valve is going to give us "dream features" (like materials) that will make map building fun again. I really am stoked.

Thank GOD, and I can't say this enough times, for the game companies WHO MAKE GAMES FOR GAMERS, and not just games for "Joe Average". There are only a few out there who have my respect. Id and Valve top the list. Both companies continue to make games that we can sink our teeth into. We LOVE all the detail, and we notice it. Play PlanetSide for any length of time and you will notice the lack of physics, player feedback, visual/audio cues. Thank god this year we will have games that move forward in development, not replacing detail for size.

The problem with System Shock is that the IP (Intellectual Properties) are scattered around a lot of people and firms. Each investors in the now defunct Looking Glass got 'parts and bits' of the System Shock world, and many employes does too. It would take a major achievement to gather them together to make System Shock 3 unfortunately =(

Anyway, we have Deus Ex 2 and Half-Life 2 instead, which is, I think, a pretty good deal =)

We need Warren "Big Daddy" Spector to come along with a wad of cash and liberate the SS series from it's current owners

You, sir, are a very smart man.


Btw, someone below said "If Doom3 is only Doom with high end graphics, count me out."
WTF?! It's DOOM!!!

Creston

Thanks, Kargath...

Now, if anyone wants a horror game with inteliigent AI (apparantly, they are going to be quite smart), I once again point you in the direction of the aforementioned Call of Cthulhu... :-)

For years now, all that has been posted is, "Valve Sucks".

I don't remember saying anything about Valve before the announcement of HL2. I remember most people simply believing that Valve wasn't actually doing anything but feeding off the profits from HL1 and its addons/mods/etc, which it seems is exactly what Valve wanted people to think.

Oh & the hype! D3 is going to be a kick ass game. It will be different from HL2, but in ways much better.

id has admitted that they are doing only bare-bones design tecniques for Doom 3. They're using the classic survival-horror style: poor AI, dark rooms, slow pace, etc. Please don't pretend that there is anything revolutionary about Doom 3 beyond the engine.

I'm glad that HL2 is getting all this fan fair than D3 is. Nothing against D3 but it seems like Id & Carmack was just trying to make that game the end-all be-all of PC games. HL2 is showing off amazing technology that will make game-play even more immersive, something that prettiest graphics in the world could never do. If D3 was released sooner then maybe I think that would be better for them but thats not going to happen I betcha.

Here's the announcement from Bethesda:

http://www.bethsoft.com/news/newsitem_363_1.html

Quite possibly. Could you give me a link? If you got one, I'd already be close to jumping up and down... :-)