GameCity Vienna - X1 first hand impressions (Ryse, DR3, Forza, KI,...)

You would hope that Sony would at least have not used a suspicious wooden box. NOTHING arouses suspicion like a sketchy looking wooden box with wires running into it. Nothing.


*Cancels PS4 preorder*
 
Just wondering, so the DR3 'demo' was just a prerecorded run through that ran every hour? or was what was playing not legitimately DR3 from X1 hardware?

Also, thanks for your impressions :) looking forward to part 2
 
Awesome review and also well balanced. Very appreciated.

Do you think you could somehow be able to see a game played on both consoles? Wondering if for instance they have BF4 running on the X1 and the PS4 at the event. I'm really dying to see how both consoles perform graphically.

I personally can't wait until I can head to a Best Buy or Game Stop and see both consoles performing.

It's almost like when you buy a TV you don't want to go by just online magazines reviews but actually see all the TV models playing movie at the store :D

Please let us know your impressions of both consoles playing the same game (If possible).
 
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You would hope that Sony would at least have not used a suspicious wooden box. NOTHING arouses suspicion like a sketchy looking wooden box with wires running into it. Nothing.


*Cancels PS4 preorder*

Soooo....how much for the box?
 
Very nice write up. Now you're gone and got me all excited! Part 2 soon please!
 
Part II.1 (sorry too tired to finish - but there's yet a lot to come tomorrow for Forza, DR3 and KI)

Two pictures from the XO and PS4 (including the devilish wooden box) demo stations.
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XO station (XDKs) - cordings visible and connected from actual hardware to TV

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PS4 station - cords not visible, computer actually running games in wooden box?

Ryse

At Gamecity the colosseum multiplayer part was playable (Gamescom-Build).
The bad message is: Unfortunately it really is a bug-fest and I personally think it's a very bad idea to show such an obviously unfinished software to the public. I've seen an enemy freezing for about 5 seconds after defeat, clipping errors, stutter in the animation and disorientated AI.
The good message however is: The "press X to win" part is a myth and people stating over and over again that Ryse's gameplay is pure garbage will be delighted to hear that actually what THEY proclaim is pure garbage. Ryse's is really challenging and indeed shares a lot of similarities with games such as Batman. And by that I mean that there arn't combos to chain (so any God of War comparisons just proof a lack of understanding) but observing your surroundings and quickly/adequately reacting to it. Funny thing is: In contrast to popular internet-belief button-smashing won't help at all. Actually quite the opposite is true. Although I'm sure the Demo was on easy-mode enemies quickly responded to my unchanging attack pattern. To break their guard (there was a lot of blocking involved) I had to learn to vary my attacks, counter their attacks, use the special magic ability or work in tandem with my partner. The time frame for the executions (pressing B) felt very short - I often tried to activate this mode but was too late. If i wanted to I could have avoided them altogether however the point is they felt so rewarding that I didn't want to miss them. Plus: Bad players really don't help with good impressions. Watched a lot of people that obviously didn't know what they were doing and trust me - the offerings on my screen after a couple of tries were as different as night and day.
What I didn't like: Colored outlines - hope that at a higher difficulty they disappear entirely with only the sound cues guiding your actions. Slow motion in a multiplayer game is just silly. I'm no fan of unnecessary gore however the absence of blood didn't help the game's immersion at all. Cutting off an arm IS bloody business, there's definitely something missing .
While the MP trails behind the SP the visuals were great. There were a lot of small details I hadn't noticed in all the videos I've seen before. From the hairy back of a gladiator to the knobby palisade walls the texture work was really good. Plus the water-part of the level looked outstanding. Just forget people that tried to prove otherwise.
I also thought that lightning and particle effects were nice. You can see some nice fire effects in the video below (warning: what you see is a player with his first try with the game, filmed with my smartphone so very low qual).



Bottom line: I had mixed feelings regarding Ryse. While I actually enjoyed the gameplay (and that's from a gamer that finished all the Ninja Gaiden's plus Dark Souls) I'm still worried regarding the myriads of small and big bugs that plague the multiplayer mode. Right now Ryse feels unfinished and rough. However if Crytek really manages to iron out these shortcomings (and I think that's possible) there's a foundation for a really entertaining new series.
Don't get me wrong: The MP mode is probably an afterthought - the real test will be in the SP (especially story, atmosphere, variety).
And whatever you say: This is a game that visually really screams next-gen.
 
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Great report. Thank you. Hopefully the bugs will be ironed out for Ryse by release as I'm looking forward to this game.
 
I think you're probably right, @TrueBlueHero, the MP is probably an afterthought, and more is going into the SP. However, I do hope they deal with the bugs you mentioned because I think the MP could definitely be a lot of fun.
 
Thanks for your writeups, Hopefully Ryse is polished up before launch, although that is coming quickly so who knows... maybe they are running the same build that was at other shows? I know Titanfall for example has been using the same PC build at all the shows it's been at, maybe Ryse has done the same, leaving devs to work on issues rather than getting a new build going everytime
 
If I'm not mistaken, the Gamescom build is before the CPU boost. Not sure if that's relevant.
 
Part II.2 (last part with Forza 5, KI and Sky + MS love later today)

Dead Rising 3
As already mentioned there was unfortunately no hands on but a "live demo" with a promoter "playing" and commenting on the on-screen mayhem. As it turns out the guy was just faking live-play (watched his thumbs and what the character was doing on screen) - he later explained to me that it would have been to hard to properly show the game AND comment in a meaningful way at the same time (only had a very short preparation phase). They played the same video over and over again (there was a presentation every hour). While I can forgive such an approach at a mini-event such as GamesCity I was disappointed that I couldn't give the game a run myself and that the video was basically the demo that is already on the net (didn't double check - probably it's the same).

You can see some two snippets of the presentation below. Filmed with my smartphone from a distance standing in a crowd of people so sry for the low-qual.
Important note: The promoter confirmed that the video was from an old bild. So frame rate is not fixed in this one.




As with Ryse I saw a lot of visual details that I hadn't noticed before on the big screen. There is so much going on: From the dozens and dozens of detailed zombies, the seamless huge world to the physics and dynamic lighting - you can't compare this one with much more confined games. Probably read/heard it before but I thought that the orders you can give the survivors ("defend position" etc.) are a great idea. The promoter explained that there are different endings in the game and that you probably won't see everything in your first run-through.

The game had a great resonance with the people watching the presentation. There were a lot of laughs and "F*** yeah!" so I'm sure it will find a lot of old and new fans alike.
Game looks like pure fun and aside from the framerate already looks very polished.
Will be interesting to see if the game offers enough variety for the whole campaign (thought that previous DR games got a little bit repetitive after a time).
 
Part II.3

Forza 5
I'm probably no simulation-expert but from what I could tell the game is in a very polished state. Loved the crisp fluid picture and the small details on the car (dirt, scratches, dents). However Laguna Seca is no race course that is visually pleasing. I made a video with my friend playing (racing noob too) so you can form your own opinion.
We activated some kind of rewind feature in the middle of the game by accident (we tried a lot of buttons). We also switched perspectives on purpose so that you can see the street-textures plus the reflections on the bonnet. I'm one of those strange persons that think that the sun glare-effects look good/realistic.

Aside from that the game controls perfectly as expected. If you skipped my rumble trigger impressions: Those felt awesome - really really loved the additional tactile feedback. Added to the immersion.

Killer Instinct
Had a blast playing this. The only fighting games I've touched before were from the Dead or Alive series but I'm far from a fighting game expert. However the game gave me the feeling that I did some awesome things - pretty sure there's a lot of depth for the pros too.
Was a little bit disappointed with the visuals. There are a lot of effects going on and the game was very fluid - however at a first glance I don't understand why this isn't 1080p.
I saw Glacius (blue / red skins) and Jago in action.

Sky + Microsoft = a new love affair?
I saw flyers with a special offer: Get a Sky subscription and get a Xbox 360 for free. With XO's media focus I can totally see some kind of collaboration for Europe too.

That's it from my side :) I'll try to answer your questions now - and if you want anything else to know don't mind asking!
 
Hey TBH! I would like to know if any news skins for the characters revealed for KI are shown. Thanks!

As I'm not up to date with the latest KI skins I wanted to make some pictures or a video however there were too many people and I couldn't get a good angle on the TV so sry!
I saw red/blue skins of Glacius and the "normal" Jago skin.

Is Ryse worth the buy? I'm really counting on you for this one!

On the basis of the GameCity MP build alone I would have to say no. Too buggy, too rough not enough polish.
It's not the combat that's the problem. And that's a good thing actually. As already said - I see an entertaining game underneath the rubble that was/is the demo.

The MP part could go either way: Total mess or nice distraction.
There's so much potential in this game. And it's a shame that Crytek obviously thinks that the demo is a good way to present it.

However the game could turn out to be a must have anyway: It's a techincal showcase judging from the recent SP-footage and despite Crytek not being considered a good story teller I'm positive that the SP-campaign will deliver.

The truth is: It's too early for a buy recommendation yet. I'm on the fence too. The only thing I can say for sure is that all the "press X to win" and "Ryse = QTE" is utter nonsense.

I've heard the gameplay [Ryse] can be compared to God of War. I really hope this is the case... I still want Microsoft to give us an answer for GoW anyhow.

It's not like God of War at all. Ryse has more in common with games like Batman and Dark Souls (heavy feeling, lot of blocking, counters).

Few questions for when you get there:
A) Does the combat in Ryse feel as fluid as some people and the devs say?
B) Does the mayhem in Dead Rising 3 get boring too quick?
C) How dem rumble triggers feel! :)
Also, if you get to play a multiplat, try asking the devs which console they prefer ;D

A) The combat would probably feel fluid if there wern't all those bugs. There were problems with animation-transition. Sometimes the camera struggled to keep up with the action. Another time the AI reacted in a strange way. The game felt a little bit disconnected because of it. However there was a nice "heavy" feel to the combat.
B) Already answered.
C) Already answered.

There were no devs at stage (at least I didn't see anyone).

Can you take a picture of the FRIENDS LIST on the Xbox Guide to see what it looks like?

There was no friends list. I tried to mess with the XDK-menu was nicely asked to stop it however :D

BTW, I haven't heard anything negative about the X1 controllers. What have you heard?

There are hands on impressions on the web that said something along the line:
* Pad actually too small (don't agree)
* Shoulder buttons not good at all (they need a little bit getting used to)
* The PS4 pad actually being better this time despite preferring the X360 pad before (played a little bit of Knack - thought the pad is a great improvement over the last version [couldn't stand the DS] however still thought the Xbox pad is the better one because of analog stick placement and rumble triggers)

Just wondering, so the DR3 'demo' was just a prerecorded run through that ran every hour? or was what was playing not legitimately DR3 from X1 hardware?

The former.

Thanks for your writeups, Hopefully Ryse is polished up before launch, although that is coming quickly so who knows... maybe they are running the same build that was at other shows? I know Titanfall for example has been using the same PC build at all the shows it's been at, maybe Ryse has done the same, leaving devs to work on issues rather than getting a new build going everytime

It was a (very) old build for sure. GameCity is a very small event so it's probably not worth updating just for that.

If I'm not mistaken, the Gamescom build is before the CPU boost. Not sure if that's relevant.

I think you're right.
 
Well, thanks anyway for trying the friends list :(
 
i think it is awesome to get some first hand info. It truly seems objective, and is a great way to get real world feedback!
 
i think it is awesome to get some first hand info. It truly seems objective, and is a great way to get real world feedback!
Are you going to attend one of the World Tour dates?
 
There are four of them close to me geographically... but due to RL conflicts, I don't know if i can make it.

Def gonna try though!
Dang real life! I want to try one of mine for sure. Not at a university though. Probably at a Walmart or Gamestop.
 
Dang real life! I want to try one of mine for sure. Not at a university though. Probably at a Walmart or Gamestop.


Sadly, we are hitting harvest time, lots of family oriented holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etc... all of which tie up my weekends in fall. Plus, half of these dates close to me are during the week and sorry, but I am not taking off work to go LOL