Graphics
The graphical quality in R6V left a lot to be desired when compared to other games that utilize the coveted Unreal Engine 3, such as Gears of War and BlackSite Area 51. Both of these titles were released after R6 Vegas, yet they still manage to outshine what we see in R6 Vegas 2. Two main concerns that come to mind are the game's textures and aliasing, both of which are fairly lackluster.
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The textures that are applied to objects in the game are fairly flat. The closer you get to an object, the more its appearance is reminiscent of those found in games released in the late 1990's. Even though the character models look great, seeing your character in an over-the-shoulder view is not nearly as pleasing to the eye. Jagged edges, or jaggies, are also very evident in the game and affect the majority of your surroundings. While this may be annoying early on, it is easy to ignore once you get sucked into the game. Although some anti-aliasing is present, additional smoothing of these jaggies would have made for a much richer visual experience. However, increased anti-aliasing comes with the cost of increased strain on the 360's GPU, which may have been a factor in the developers' choosing to use a low setting.
One area where the graphics show some real improvements is in the destructible environments. You also get the ability to shoot through most cover objects (with the appropriate weapon), which is a nice addition - no more hiding behind that wooden crate. In particular the levels with glass have some cool effects, and you can entertain yourself while waiting for opponents by shooting windows and watching the glass shatter and fall. As you can imagine, one of our favorite levels is the one with a large glass-walled building.
Despite the graphical capabilities of Unreal Engine 3, it seems overall that very little was done to enhance R6V2's visual experience beyond that of its predecessor. Apparently there is no accounting for time spent utilizing the engine. Still, the overall presentation of the game is by no means average. The developers have succeeded in creating lush environments with realistic lighting effects. Just don't expect any awards for graphic detail.
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For the most part, the game carries a steady and desirable frame rate throughout the campaign. However, at least one of the firefights that you'll engage in proves to be more than the Xbox 360 can handle. During this segment, the frame rate slowed to a crawl. Slow frame rates are usually attributed to a large amount of on-screen activity. In many games, large explosions lend themselves to this performance degradation due to their size and transparency effects. However, the one slow down period that was detected had no such explosions. Instead, it occurred inside a rock climbing center with an extremely high ceiling - four stories high to be exact. So there was a lot of info being processed during that portion of the game. Needless to say, more is expected from a 2007 blockbuster title; especially one from the highly regarded Tom Clancy series. Even so, the subpar graphics and the occasional drop in frame rates do not kill the game. Also, these issues appear to be nonexistent while playing online. This is a good thing since the multiplayer modes appear to be the main attraction for many players.
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Donkey2008 - Monday, April 7, 2008 - link
Maybe Anandtech wanted to review the game because they found it interesting. I personally like the concept and would love to battle it out in a Vegas casino. With a PC version forthcoming, I found it useful to hear that the console game had framerate issues.Complaining about their rating or the fact that it's a console game is simply complaining for the sake of complaining. Good for Anandtech for previewing a game soon to be available to us PC users.
EddieTurner - Saturday, April 5, 2008 - link
Hey all! Just thought I'd shed some light on a few of your concerns.This rating system is one that I devised after the good folks at AT explained that they wanted something new that would steer away from the traditional point scale. It is still evolving. But for now, I've created seven senarios that I believe people can indentify with. After all, if you were to ask a friend what he or she thought of a particular game, I doubt very seriously that you'd get a reply that included two numbers with a decimal in between. Not everyone will agree with my final words, and I don't expect that to be the case. I'd hate for any of you to miss out on something you were truly interested in because of something I said. I am hardly the authority on gaming. However, I do have a passion for games and I play a lot of them. So may be it'll help to think of me as your neighborhood fellow gamer. Because that's what I am indeed. AT saw that in me and here I am.
Yes, this review is of a console game. But a game nonetheless. Considering array of different articles here at AT, I see no reason that such a product should be exluded from the site. Consoles are very much part a of the gaming world today. Sales figures will tell you that. As for me, I don't limit myself to a single platform. I go where the games are. And they're very much on consoles, as well as PC. The Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii all have a fair offering in the tech-world today. So there's no reason they shouldn't have a presence here. Needless to say, you can expect a full review of Grand Theft Auto IV very soon. But I do have in mind a pretty intriguiing PC game to talk about next.
Oh, and I've never been repelling. Thanks for setting me straight!
ACasualObserver - Saturday, April 5, 2008 - link
While I might share some of the reservations expressed in other posts about console reviews at Anandtech, and there were enough caveats listed for the game to have me scratching my head at a "Sweet" rating, you've earned some serious points for taking the moral high ground and responding to criticism with a humble, enthusiastic and entirely positive outlook. Your forum post was in many ways more illuminating than your game review. There is a lesson there for all of us.Kudos sir, and welcome aboard.
simla - Saturday, April 5, 2008 - link
1) Much too long. I enjoy most of the in-depth hardware articles but still find myself skipping through the hyperbole in the middle sections. This much text on a game is beyond me though. Seriously.2) Ratings system, while trying to be 'cool' and unbiased is a little off the mark for me. 'Sweet' really doesn't mean shit for me - I'll still be using Metacritic for my games ratings...
3) Confused by the sudden move to console gaming coverage on what is self-labelled as 'the' PC enthusiast website. Stick to what you know and specialize. Personally, we don't need another all-in-one site that tries everything, yet knows ultimately ends up knowing nothing. I really hope this isn't a sign of a good website going the way of Toms...
dare2savefreedom - Saturday, April 5, 2008 - link
WTF,W
T
F
you guys don't review disney's princess enchanted journey pcdvd but u review a 360 game?
how much is m$ paying you guys, I'll double it.
I want to see the review for dpej with sli.
6bit macs and you guys never said a word.
Ever since anandy got married this places been going down.
poohbear - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
why on earth would you review an xbox 360 game on a PC enthusiast website?!?! are you guys really trying to insult us here?!? BLASPHEMERS THE LOT OF YOU!!!!!!jordanclock - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
It doesn't sound like the reviewer actually played through the game on co-op.I went through the game with my room mate on co-op and every non-character texture is downgraded to a blurry mess. Every single one. And the helicopter event at the end of the game brought the frame rate to what I would guess to be low teens, at best. This kind of problem came up in other parts of the game, to a lesser degree, many times. And it wasn't little things, it was 10-15 second spots that made it very difficult to play. What seems to be the culprit of this are the "physics." Whenever the frame rate dropped, it almost always occurred during firefights where there were lots of things that moved or broke.
Also, the lack of control of the NPCs by the second player is a pretty big issue. There were many times when I'd get stuck between the two or unable to get somewhere because they were in the way. Of course, being player two, I had no way to get them to move other than ask my room mate to stop what he was doing and tell them to move.
Playing on co-op is further hindered by the fact that whenever you receive a video message from the command, it covers up half of the second players view. It's a bit hard to aim properly when a giant Cisco logo is in your way.
I think the game lacked a lot of polish. I'm not even going to bother with the PC version unless a decent demo is released.
Hardin - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
Oh man don't even mention that helicopter. I was playing that level with my brother and we had to repeat that part several times because we died so much due to the terrible frame rates. The Cisco message was also very annoying because it blocked my view. And it was really hard getting used to the coop splitting the screen right down the middle.jordanclock - Monday, April 7, 2008 - link
The middle split wasn't too much of an issue for me since we were playing in widescreen. However, I could see major issues on a standard definition TV.All I know is that the game had a strong feeling of lack of polish. I can not see many reasons why a game should be released with any of the problems my room mate and I experienced, let alone all of them together. It completely turned me off from purchasing the PC version.
Blitzed Penguin - Friday, April 4, 2008 - link
I love AnandTech and there unbiased review of PC hardware such as graphics cards, CPU, power supplies, routers, and my other techy stuff. They also post the latest and greatest news of what is going on the the PC world and what we can expect in the future.Whats with the article about an XBOX video game? Did UBI pay you guys to advertise? It has nothing to do with hardware or PC. You have it labeled as "software" but there is no "software" tab at the top of the screen. There are several other sites dedicated to video games that gamers are more accustomed to.
I could understand an article about the PC version maybe. AnandTech did use the first R6 Vegas as a benchmark and they could do the same with Vegas 2 (its a port and has limited graphics settings so maybe not). It is your site so you can change it how you want just giving my opinion. I just love the site and would hate to see it change.