Een berichtje wat laat zien dat EA de PS2 voortrekt en dat je de Xbox versie beter kan laten liggen. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Head-to-head: Which is the version for you? October 14, 2002 - Normally, the differences between the various console versions of a game are small details. Better textures here, a few more frames per second there, perhaps superior audio options on one or the other console. Nothing very special, in any event. Generally, games with the same title have a lot in common. This is not the case with Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. As best we can figure, Black Box games was originally contracted to design and build a PlayStation 2 game bearing that name, which they did. Somewhere along the line, Electronic Arts decided to add Xbox and Gamecube versions to the shopping list...but Black Box didn't make those. Instead, EA Canada's Phoenix team was tapped for those projects, and as a consequence made a substantially different game. While graphical and sound issues are debatable, the PS2 version of Hot Pursuit 2 somehow wound up possessing substantially different and generally superior features in comparison to its Xbox and Gamecube brethren. You can pick up any one of these games and get a satisfying arcade racer, but given a choice, the PS2 version looks like the best deal of the three. Game Modes The differences between the two developers' creations are apparent from the first menu screen. Here's a breakdown of what's laid out where: PlayStation 2 Hot Pursuit: Quick Race, You're The Cop, Challenge, and Ultimate Racer. World Racing: Quick Race, Challenge, and Championship. Hot Pursuit and World Racing are, respectively, the cop-chase challenges and the competitive racing challenges. In the former, the opposition is the police and AI racing opponents, while the latter pits the player only against a field of opposing racers. Quick Race is an immediate race mode, dropping you in a random car on a random track to beat the cops. You're The Cop, on PS2, is a challenge for one or two players. In one-player mode, you're trying to splash AI speeders, while the two-player mode is a versus competition where one player is the cop and the other is the speeder. Challenge is a customizable race for one or two players, with options for Single Race, Knockout, Lap Knockout, and Free Run competitions. Three levels of difficulty determine the skill of the cops or the opposing racers (depending whether you're playing in Hot Pursuit or World Racing), catch-up boost can be set on or off, four levels of traffic density are available, and visual car damage can also be set on or off. Quick Race, in all situations, is a simple race setup with random cars, tracks, and competition. Ultimate Racer and Championship are the event-tree challenges in both modes. In both cases, 30 challenges are available. Each challenge is tied to a particular reward, with secondary awards acquired by picking up Hot Pursuit points with certain achievements during a race (running roadblocks, clean laps, passing opponents, and so on). Xbox/Gamecube The Xbox and GCN games have nearly identical selections of game modes: Hot Pursuit Championship Single Challenge: Single Race, Be The Cop, Lap Knockout, Tournament, Free Run. Hot Pursuit and Championship are here analogous to the Ultimate Racer and Championship modes in the PS2 game. The former is the cop-chasing challenge tree, the latter is the competitive racing challenge tree. Single Challenge includes most of the racing options that are found in the Challenge sections of the PS2 game's Hot Pursuit and World Racing modes. Basic Knockout is not available, but the Tournament mode is added for customizable racing tournaments. The same number of difficulty levels is available, but traffic can only be set on/off -- there is no option for variable amounts of oncoming traffic. Be The Cop, on Xbox and GCN, is cooperative rather than competitive. In two-player mode, both players are cops attempting to take down AI speeders. There is no option for player-versus-player competition in this mode. The event trees in the Xbox and GCN games differ substantially from those in the PS2 game. 33 challenges are available on each tree, compared to 30 on PS2, but the trees include different, less complex challenges, and the tree progression is much more linear. The rewards in the challenges are not specific cars or tracks. Instead, points are awarded for different finishing places, and those points can in turn be used to unlock cars and tracks of the player's choice.
vervolg Options The selection of game options is also distinctly different. PlayStation 2 Audio: Volume sliders for menu music, racing music, ambient effects, tire effects, engine effects, menu effects, and speech. Mode select for mono, stereo, and Dolby Pro Logic II. There's also a Jukebox playlist editor to pick the songs you want to hear. Control: Four control setups are available, plus calibration options for steering wheels. Display: Four options for the style of the track map, rear-view mirror on/off, leaderboard on/off, jump and zone cams on/off. Xbox/GCN Audio: Volume sliders for menu music, racing music, engine noise, speech, and general effects. The Xbox version has an option to select the player's own music playlist, while the GCN version has an option for mono, stereo, or Dolby Surround (two-channel) sound. Neither the Xbox or the GCN version has an editor for the game's own music playlist. The Xbox version appears to automatically detect the sound options available, up to 5.1-channel Dolby Digital. HUD options: Entire HUD on/off, track map on/off, rear view mirror on/off. All versions can select MPH or KPH speed units. Game options: Jump and zone cams on/off, vertical or horizontal split-screen selectable (the PS2 version appears to have horizontal split only). Control: Both Xbox and GCN versions have three control setups available. The PS2 version has a few small edges in this category, including a music playlist editor, one extra control scheme, and a few more options for customizing the heads-up display. As will be mentioned later on, the PS2 version is the only one with multiple track map presentation options. Also, its credits section includes a Making of Hot Pursuit 2 video that is not available in the Xbox or Gamecube games. User Interface Thanks to various differences in options and game design, the three versions of Hot Pursuit 2 have different user interface displays. PlayStation 2 The PS2 version has the map on the center left part of the screen, the leaderboard on the upper left, time and completion data on the upper right, the rear view mirror and radar detector on the top center, and the speedometer/tachometer on the bottom or bottom right, depending on whether you're in third or first-person mode. Two differences are noteworthy. First, the PS2 version has the option for the "3D"road map, which shows much more of the road and makes it easier to see upcoming roadblocks. Second, it has a counter for the number of busts you've taken, up to three. The Xbox and GCN games have no such counter, because a bust is an automatic loss in those games. Xbox/Gamecube The Xbox and Gamecube versions have identical user interfaces. The flat map is on the left center part of the screen, the place indicator is on the upper left (there is no leaderboard as there is in the PS2 game), the rear view mirror and radar detector are on the top center, time information is on the upper right, and the speedometer/tachometer combination is again on either the bottom center or bottom right, depending on the view mode. The radar detector works differently, in accordance with the different gameplay style of the Xbox and Gamecube versions of the game. It consists of a star rating, which indicates the cops' level of interest in your car, and a blue/red meter that rises or falls depending on how close you are to being busted. It is possible to run the meter all the way down and completely elude the pursuing officer.
vervolg Gameplay You'd think that two games with the same name would play the same, but there are in fact substantial differences in game design between the two developers' products, mainly focusing on the Hot Pursuit mode. In Hot Pursuit the goal is (as always) to get to the finish line while eluding the cops. However, the PS2 game has several substantial differences. One, a bust is a hindrance, not the end of the game. In the Xbox and GCN games, a bust means the end of the race, while the PS2 game lets the player take up to three before being kicked out. Sure, a bust loses a lot of time and distance on the opposition, but it also wards off the cops for a short while, which can be an advantage in some situations. Working the police is a more significant element of strategy in competitive races. Two, as if to somehow compensate, the cops in the Xbox and GCN games are much less persistent. It is possible, and in fact not even that difficult, to outrun them and spend much of the race free of police pursuit. In comparison, once the PS2 version's cops are on the case, they will stay there regardless of how many cruisers they crash until the player is busted or the race concludes. They also bring out helicopters and roadblocks more quickly and with greater frequency. One peculiarity of AI seems to be particular to the Xbox version. On PS2, and seemingly on Gamecube as well, the cops are scrupulously fair when it comes to who they choose to chase. The AI racers will receive just as much attention as the player. The Xbox version, however, especially on the higher levels of difficulty, seems to tilt more attention towards the player. I raced one Single Challenge competition where I spent the entire race in last place, yet was the only racer to receive any kind of pursuit. Several other, smaller differences are apparent here and there. The track map, of course, differs on Xbox and Gamecube, showing less of the track. The track designs are also altered, with slightly different curves and shortcuts. The cop AI is more simplistically aggressive, using less complex teamwork and fewer dramatic attempts to cut off the player. The progression system also differs, as mentioned before, although that's a matter of taste more than anything else. The PS2 version has a more structured progression and more complex objectives, but the Xbox and Gamecube games present more flexibility when it comes to unlocking new cars and tracks -- it's easier to pick out particular new options. Finally, the two Matrix-esque effects in the PS2 version are its exclusive province. The 360 look and forward zoom features (which, respectively, show the area around the player and a preview of the road immediately ahead) are only available on PS2, as are the accompanying motion blur and perspective correction effects. These are somewhat useful gameplay devices, but they're still primarily eye candy. Graphics The Xbox and GCN games have a more obvious kinship to each other than to the PS2 game here. The PS2 version is very bright, crisp, and detailed, with more special effects and complex pieces of trackside detail, but trades some aliasing and framerate problems for those advantages. In comparison, both the Xbox and GCN versions have more blurred, obviously anti-aliased textures, but possess some slight advantages in lighting and framerate. The Gamecube game is the clear loser in the visual department. It has by far the weakest texture detail, particularly in its backgrounds, which frequently look very muddy and indistinct. It also has framerate problems, although somewhat different from those which afflict the PS2 game. The GCN version tends to skip nastily when it has to present a lot of action on screen -- it doesn't gradually slow, but presents distorting jumps from moment to moment. On the Xbox, some of the GCN version's problems are solved. It has a solid framerate, probably the best of the three, and somewhat sharper textures and lighting. However, it still has that same indistinct look, which has some disadvantages in comparison to the bright, clear PS2 game. It's less aliased, but it also lacks texture detail and the PS2 version's particle effects. Features like the forest fire in the national park level and other pieces of complex trackside detail are not present. The PS2 version is arguably the best of the lot, depending on your preferences. Pick your flaws, as it were. Its framerate is not quite as consistent as the Xbox game's, but when it does drop, it drops fairly smoothly, unlike the perplexing skips in the Gamecube version. It has the most crisp, bright, distinct textures and lighting, for both cars and backgrounds, as well as a clearer look at the interior detail on the cars. The backgrounds also include the most architecture, although those accents sometimes come at a cost in framerate.
vervolg What cannot be denied is that the PS2 has the best car damage options. Some gamers value this feature more than others, but from my perspective, it certainly is fun to completely smash a $250,000 Ferrari 360. The PS2 game includes scraped paint, crumpled body panels, dented bumpers, breakable windows with accompanying particle effects, and steam rising from broken radiators. In comparison, the Xbox game has only minor hood and trunk lid damage, and the Gamecube version appears to allow no car damage at all. Finally, although this is something of an ephemeral quality, I believe the PS2 game presents the best sense of speed by far. Playing the Xbox and Gamecube games, I just don't get the same feeling of acceleration and speed as I do on PS2, especially in the third-person view mode. My best frame of reference for driving a fast car is the one occasion when I had a chance to ride in a Lotus Elise -- this was through the kindness of one of the lead programmers at Pitbull Syndicate, to whom I again tip my hat. Compared to the fastest cars in Hot Pursuit 2, it's a dilettante's sportster. In real life, though, even at around 40-60mph, it feels dangerously quick, presenting the most powerful feeling of acceleration I've ever encountered. The only game here that comes close to that same feeling is the PS2 version -- call me a mystical crank, which I very well may be, but that's the impression I get. Sound As if the Gamecube needed another kicking, it has the weakest sound of the three as well. It presents two-channel Dolby Surround, while the PS2 version has Dolby Pro Logic II (despite EA's ostensible alliance with rival DTS) and the Xbox version includes full-blown 5.1-channel Dolby Digital. All three versions will crank out respectable thunder in an ordinary two-channel stereo setup. However, the Xbox version has the best separation effects coming out of a high-end home theater setup. The PS2's DPLII is very good, keeping the music pumping out of the front channels and using the back channels for surround effects. Crashes are distinctly locatable out of the right and left channels, and it's easy to peg the position of sirens at longer distance. The Xbox game's surround sound does all that with more precision, though, as well as better-modulated music volume -- sometimes the PS2 game lets the soundtrack overwhelm the effects. It's almost uncanny, how easy it is to locate the police sirens with the sound in the Xbox game. Both position and distance are very precisely conveyed, so I can hear them coming and then look up to see them exactly where I thought they'd be. Since no playlist is available, it's hard to say for certain, but I believe the Gamecube game has a more limited soundtrack to go along with its weaker surround-sound options. It doesn't seem to have as many music tracks as the other two games, and even if it does, the sound quality is distinctly inferior, likely due to the smaller amount of available disc space. The Xbox and Gamecube games also seem to have a more limited library of police voices and quips
vervolg Conclusion With only three competitors here, everyone gets a podium finish, but it has to be the PlayStation 2 version of Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 that takes home the top prize. I freely admit that some of my conclusions as far as graphics are concerned boil down to matters of taste, particularly when it comes to pitting the Xbox version against PS2, but when it comes to gameplay and variety of options, the PS2 game wins this one going away. While its sound options are weaker than the Xbox game's, that's not enough of a margin to shift the final judgment. All three platforms have gotten an entertaining arcade racer, to be sure, but it's unfortunate that EA had to play favorites here. Why no car damage on Gamecube? Why such comparatively weak police opposition? Why no head-to-head Be The Cop mode? Some differences in graphics and sound are inevitable, but basic game design shouldn't change so substantially. In this case, however, that's the way the cookie has crumbled. Or the patrolman's donut has gone stale. Or something like that. Succes mel lezen
Het is een EA spel...ik weet niet of het waar is maar EA schijnt een afspraak met Sony te hebben zodat hun de beste versie's krijgen. (daarom krijgt xbox ook geen xbox-live spellen van EA) p.s. Ik heb ook nog het MGS insider stuk. Iemand interesse ??
Ja, EA is duidelijk niet goed voor de Xbox bezig, ik wil deze niet eens voor m'n XboxMag abonnement. En of dit nog niet genoeg is gebeurt er ook vanalles met B:1942, ik las op dit forum dattie pas volgend jaar komt en dan zonder multiplayer! Ik weet niet of dat betekend dat er niet eens een splitscreen inzit, maar het voorspelt niet veel goeds...EA mag wel even een goede titel maken voor de box of ik laat alles van dat bedrijfje links liggen. Er zijn gelukkig genoeg betere games die alleen op de xbox zijn, en als het een poort is zoals timesplitters of CMR dan is de xbox-versie toch het best.
Ik ben alleen ge-interreseerd in Fifa 2003. Verder vind ik EA toch niet heel erg speciaal. Wel jammer van B1942, het is een aardige game op de PC.
ea komt nog wel met een heel erg lekkere game voor de xbox naar mijn smaak namelijk medal of honor frontline!!! dit wordt wel een lekker toppertje en vooral multiplayer dan
Wat een hufters daar bij EA!!! Dat ze de graphics voor de playstation beter maken dan de XBOX. Mischien moeten we ze maar een tijdje boycotten om ze dit slechte gedrag af te leren. Dus iedereen met een XBOX: Koop minimaal 3 maanden geen spellen meer van EA!!!!
Denk het wel hoor. Zou jij het niet erg vinden als je bijv. een supermarkt hebt en niemand meer spullen van je koopt omdat je korting geeft aan buitenlanders. Is maar een voorbeeld.
