Brothers in Arms: Double Time

[seanraaron]

Okay, nobody likes the graphics, but is the control scheme good? I'm a Call of Duty fan (and I don't feel like it's a one-many army game -- that was Medal of Honour, I believe), but what I've read about CoD3 isn't encouraging in the Wii-controls department.

 

I really don't get the focus on graphics with you guys, you're playing on a goddam TV for crying out loud, not a 2048x1024 monitor! I suppose if you've all got HDTVs (I've still got my 6+ y.o. 80cm Sanyo widescreen CRT) then fine, but why aren't you playing with your PS3/X-box 360, then?

[DCK]

I really don't get the focus on graphics with you guys, you're playing on a goddam TV for crying out loud, not a 2048x1024 monitor! I suppose if you've all got HDTVs (I've still got my 6+ y.o. 80cm Sanyo widescreen CRT) then fine, but why aren't you playing with your PS3/X-box 360, then?

The point that this was a great looking game (actually, two great looking games) on Xbox, and the Wii is more than capable of at least recreating an Xbox experience. I don't mind game's graphics all too much, as long as they don't suck; and looking at the screenshots, they absolutely do. They show that they have made zero effort in doing so and even on TVs this game looks shitty. I play these games on a 72 cm widescreen TV, and I don't have high standards, but PSP crap like this unacceptable for the Wii and shows no respect to the Wii's userbase.

 

Like pedro said, we don't need HD quality, but the least we can expect from developers is effort right? Effort meaning we get games that are worth looking at, at least GameCube-level visuals. Not this Dreamcast/PSP shovelware - even on PS2 this wouldn't have been acceptable. I'm really pissed with these guys now , they ruined a potential 'AAA' title...

 

Also, CoD3's controls were supposedly rather good. Haven't played it myself though.

[Haden]

Oh ffs sieorusly what a load of shit. I was going to say once the PS2 dies eventually no more shit like this but I forgot its a PSP project. Jesus Christ the wii is crippled by this bullshit.

[seanraaron]

Well, in defense of the developers, when porting to a console with a control scheme like the Wii's, isn't getting the control down first more important? I mean they can finess the character models and that later right?

 

And to my eyes, the shots don't look that bad, of course the last time I gamed on a tv was with a Playstation, so anything two years old in the graphics dept. will go unnoticed by myself.

 

We aren't suggesting this is a straight PSP-port are we? I would agree that would be an unacceptable level of laziness. How close to release is this, actually?

 

With regard to CoD3 controls, the Gamespot review section on this really put me off (shooting and looking seems to be done well, but the rest...):

 

The game opens with a brief training mission. Here, you'll learn how to fire weapons and throw grenades, as well as how to move around. The training mission is sufficient in other versions of the game where you just have to learn how the buttons are mapped on a standard controller, but here you're learning a whole new control scheme, and the training doesn't get the job done. You'll have to learn on the fly, which initially means a lot of frustrating deaths as you fumble with the controls. Movement is controlled by the analog stick on the Wii's Nunchuk. You look around and aim by pointing the Wii Remote at the screen and moving it. Moving your reticle around the inside portion of the screen affects your aim, while moving it near the edges makes you look up and down or turn left and right. You can fire your weapon by pressing the B button, but this doesn't allow for much accuracy. For precision aiming, you'll want to press and hold A, which raises your gun to eye level and lets you use the weapon's sight. The basic mechanics work quite well and are the easiest aspect of the controls to learn, though it will be quite a while before you're a crack shot.

 

There are a couple of alternate control schemes, but each one is limited in some way by the physical position of the buttons on the Wii Remote--specifically, any move mapped to the D pad. Any time you need to hit the D pad you've got to adjust your grip slightly, and this causes the remote to move, which in turn alters where you're looking or aiming. This makes it extremely difficult to throw smoke or frag grenades with any accuracy. An alternate control scheme lets you toss grenades by making a throwing motion with the Nunchuk. This feels neat when it works, but you still have to press the D pad to select the grenade, and sometimes the game doesn't recognize your throwing motion. You can perform a melee attack by pressing down on the remote or by moving the remote forward. Once again, this almost always screws up your onscreen view.

[DCK]

That's not really a defense as the developers should've taken more time to finish. Even so, the graphics don't have to look as bad as they do when ported had the developers learned the Wii hardware properly. The graphics look exactly like a PSP game to me. The IGN interview mentions that development is to finished 'really soon', so there's not much hope there.

 

Also, CoD 3 got different responses. IGN, for example, didn't really complain about the controls and said they were the best FPS controls so far although not perfect.

[pedrocasilva]

CoD3 didn't invest in graphics since it was a launch game, now it's been a year, anything that is being done for the PSP spec is spitting upon us.

 

Graphics equal or even, worse than CoD3 are not acceptable, they were barely acceptable at launch.

[Haden]

CoD3 didn't invest in graphics since it was a launch game, now it's been a year, anything that is being done for the PSP spec is spitting upon us.

 

Graphics equal or even, worse than CoD3 are not acceptable, they were barely acceptable at launch.

 

Quoted for the truth I also wish online was standard. This Wii is for mainstream bullshit doesnt mean we should get screwed every single time.

[Ten10]

Is it fair to say brothers in arms ds looks better than this?

[pedrocasilva]

Is it fair to say brothers in arms ds looks to have more effort than this?

Corrected, and yes.

[seanraaron]

Also, CoD 3 got different responses. IGN, for example, didn't really complain about the controls and said they were the best FPS controls so far although not perfect.

 

Okay, I'll check out that review and see if I can get a broader spectrum view on it. Maybe I'll pick up the game eventually after all. I'll not derail this thread further!

[system_error]

Well as long as a developer or what is much more important the publisher of a obviously neglected game gets more money than he spends nothing will change. Time and money is what developers need to make a good game idea into a great game. I am not a fan of the BiA concept but with decent technical quality I would have tried it.

 

Especially nowadays shooters improve a lot with atmosphere which implies a higher technical standard eg. graphics, sound, physics - story might be the same horror story everyone already knows but as long as you feel the fear nothing is wrong with that.

 

 

BiA needs smoke, sharp textures where you can see bullet holes, crackling walls, fear in the faces of other soldiers, burning tanks and so on. The problem is BiA for Wii was nearly completed in a year. So it is obviously:

 

Developers had to reuse a lot of existing material and since architectures are different they just tone down the quality to make it run instead of spending time to adjust it to the Wii and make it look XBOX like or better.

 

Call me a pessimist but I believe 80% of the third party Wii games will still be generic ports or other low effort games (which is a shame because certain games would be soooo good on the Wii) which leads to the Gamecube situation:

 

Wii first/second party games rule the market and developers again shift to other consoles ...

[triforcemario]

Some more screenies:

 

 

 

 

Source.

[seanraaron]

Call me a pessimist but I believe 80% of the third party Wii games will still be generic ports or other low effort games (which is a shame because certain games would be soooo good on the Wii) which leads to the Gamecube situation:

 

Wii first/second party games rule the market and developers again shift to other consoles ...

 

That's only going to happen if the games sell on other platforms to begin with. If the Wii's momentum continues to a degree that the X-box 360 and PS3 become niche platforms relative to the Wii, and more importantly, their software sales are exceedingly small compared to Wii, than I cannot see how it would make any sense to first develop on X-box or PS3 and then port it over (is it not the case that the Wii is an easier platform to develop for than the other two?).

[Noku]

Ah c'mon people, that doesn't look THAT bad, now does it? Sure, it ain't no MP3 beater, but what'd you expect from outsourced projects? At the very least, it has better graphics than Far Cry: Vengeance... :p

[system_error]

@IMAGES:

 

 

But..but...but FAKE. I am sorry those new screenshots are not from the Wii version.

 

http://www.demiurgestudios.com/doubletime.htm

 

 

Now check out the top of your browser - what does it read? Also check out which screenshots they used for BiA: Road to Hill 30, the much older but superior XBOX version. Must be really a dedicated developer if he puts so much effort into a Wii game.

[Retro_Link]

http://www.cubed3.com/news/8528/1/Demiurge_Studios_Talks_Brothers_in_Arms_Wii

 

Nintendo News | Demiurge Studios Talks Brothers in Arms Wii

 

Demiurge Studios, working with Gearbox, recently discussed the Wii version of Brothers in Arms, building a game for the machine, graphical issues, and more.

 

The Wii's selling point, of course, is the wireless remote controller. Since Brothers in Arms was not specifically developed from the ground up for the Wii, how are you going to avoid the feeling that the Wiimote control is being "tacked on" to the prior games?

 

We picked BiA as a title because it was well-suited to the controller but we also gave the team here free-reign to make whatever changes they needed to in order to leverage the Wii Remote. We tossed out the interface for sniper scopes, ironsights, crouch, grenades, melee, squad commands and stationary weapons and never looked back.

 

If you haven't played BiA before, you'd never know that the game is based on a prior release - the game feels like it was built for the platform.

 

What sort of unique actions will the Wiimote control allow players to perform?

 

Just about everything you do takes advantage of the Wii Remote. For the most part, we stayed away from replacing buttons with gestures unless it was a really good fit – as you said it ends up feeling "tacked on." Ordering your squad, melee and movement and aiming all leverage the controller.

 

Grenades are a great example. The temptation when given motion-sensing is to just have the player throw, but that motion doesn't end up being precise enough for BiA. Instead we have the player aim where they want the grenade to go and switch up the movement scheme so they can then duck behind cover and throw with their arm without making the camera get whipped around on them. It fuses the tactical BiA gameplay with the benefits of the Wii Remote beautifully.

 

Have you been able to get the same level of graphical detail that you were able to reach in the Xbox game with the Wii, or is it closer to the PS2 version?

 

Closer to the Xbox for sure - The Wii version actually utilizes higher resolution textures than the original Xbox version. As a result, the fidelity of the world is actually quite a bit improved – it's really noticeable in 480p.

Up to Xbox standards, Really?? I await video confirmation then, because so far it doesn't look like it!!

[mcj metroid]

I don't get it why was thgis created for the psp first and then ported to wii. the psp is selling like crap compared to wii.. Should it NOT be the pther way round.

 

Why aren't they downgrading a wii game to psp instead of trying to upgrade a psp game?

[harribo]

I don't get it why was thgis created for the psp first and then ported to wii. the psp is selling like crap compared to wii.. Should it NOT be the pther way round.

 

Why aren't they downgrading a wii game to psp instead of trying to upgrade a psp game?

 

Aren't you thinking of Medal of Honour?

[mcj metroid]

this game has a psp version as well right or am i actually thinking of medal of honour?

[Noku]

Think you're thinking of Heroes of Medal of Honour 2. Or something.

[Retro_Link]

Ubisoft [probably nervously and in an attempt to show Wii owners they have a mature title in the works, lol] have released some new screens of BiA:

 

 

Impressive huh!

[triforcemario]

Did those supposed "high resolution textures" go and commit suicide or something?

[darkjak]

The question here is if the game will be a brand new story, if they'll start over or if they might even jump straight into the story without at all introducing us to what's happened in the previous games.

 

I must also say that it feels like you're whyning about the graphics too much. The game looks OK, especially considering how early in development the game seems to be.

[D_prOdigy]

I think that 3rd screen down looks OK, to be honest. There's definately worse visuals elsewhere on Wii, but the main thing I'm worried about is that this is yet another WW2 FPS.

[Tellyn]

How did they manage to get this so wrong when BiA DS was so right? :/ It looked amazing on the DS and was pretty damn good.