News: Death is No Excuse Full Length Trailer - Page 19

LZachariah · 2012-07-26, 12:16 AM

Hrmm... I'm actually surprised at how disappointed I am at this trailer; to me, it's basically a complete miss. Yes, it's beautiful, and portrays CGI renditions of the Planetside 2 art very well, however, it does a number of things that, to me, are so damaging, they outweigh any benefit from the legitimate beauty and detail of the trailer's images.

1. The trailer focuses almost exclusively on one single Light Assault NC soldier. If some hacker had gotten their hands on the file of this video, and the ONLY hack that they performed was changing the game's title at the end from "Planetside 2" to "Planetside 2: Jetpack Trooper," it would have absolutely looked like the trailer was advertising a single player game where you played the SPECIFIC person being showcased in the video.

2. There was HEAVY misrepresentation and under-representation in the trailer. The TR were literally portrayed as the faceless enemies whom you mow down on your way to a boss battle. The Vanu were only shown at the end, and to someone who didn't know anything about the game, the Vanu would probably appear to be the "big bad guys" who were more dangerous (or who outranked) the cannon-fodder Terrans. Little to no effort was put in to show the amazing variety of classes and weapons that this groundbreakingly-awesome game has to offer. The trailer was 3.5 minutes long; it only takes THREE SECONDS to show a Heavy Assault Vanu level his Lancer cannon at a prowler and annihilate it with an energy bolt. Snapshots like that would have been MORE than enough to show the breadth of diversity in this game.

I worry that the level of this trailer's misrepresentation will actually hurt how the game is perceived or received. Will it be a defining factor? I highly doubt it; this game is going to change MMO's and FPS's forever. However, it was SUCH a powerful chance to IGNITE the powderkeg of hype that has been building since E3, and it was sorely missed. And even after all of my concerns and grievances, in the end, this issue is small. The game itself will prove to everyone how amazing it is, and I believe that it will skyrocket into wild approval just like WoW did around a decade ago. I am sorry that I believe this trailer will obstruct that journey toward fame and recognition, rather than hasten it.

Ah well. In the end, I'm not too worried. And I can't wait to get in there :-)

~Zachariah

Ratstomper · 2012-07-26, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by LZachariah

I worry that the level of this trailer's misrepresentation will actually hurt how the game is perceived or received. Will it be a defining factor? I highly doubt it; this game is going to change MMO's and FPS's forever. However, it was SUCH a powerful chance to IGNITE the powderkeg of hype that has been building since E3, and it was sorely missed.

That is EXACTLY how I feel about it.

DirtyBird · 2012-07-26, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by Burnzblood

So lots of blood spatter screens, blood caked Galaxies (ouch TR inside that gal), and blood blood everywhere...

but the question must be asked...

Blood in the game??? I recall Higby saying there won't be blood/gore at all. But this trailer clearly focuses on the blood/gore of war....why can't we have that in OUR game???

Would love a SOE response eventually on that aspect??

That actually wasnt blood in the trailer, its all hydraulic fluid splash back from the destroyed vehicles.
At the end its the VS blade accidentally cutting some oil lines used on his jet pack.
The infiltrator actually just punched him Houdini styles which is why he is passing out.
The viscosity is a dead give away, definitely not blood.

LZachariah · 2012-07-26, 12:30 AM

THIS is an excellent example of a balanced, action-packed trailer that equally showcases all factions in tiny, exciting snapshots. In this trailer (which was for Dawn of War II) it doesn't matter who you're rooting for or what your favorite unit is; every person watching gets a moment of awesomeness.

~Zachariah

fvdham · 2012-07-26, 12:33 AM

The NC stormtroopers are overpowered.

Ratstomper · 2012-07-26, 12:38 AM

Originally Posted by LZachariah

THIS is an excellent example of a balanced, action-packed trailer that equally showcases all factions in tiny, exciting snapshots. In this trailer (which was for Dawn of War II) it doesn't matter who you're rooting for or what your favorite unit is; every person watching gets a moment of awesomeness.

Good example. I'm also fond of the Warhammer Online opening cinematic for this reason...

You've got a basic overview of the premise of the game and a spread of classes and characters that gives a good feel of what the game is all about and what you can expect: All in under 5 mins. They wouldn't have to be as explicit with a narration of what is going on. They could have just made it more clear that it's, more or less, an even 3-way war on a planet where death isn't permanent. I still fail to see how "Death is No Excuse" makes any sense when everyone in the trailer who dies, seemingly stays dead....

fvdham · 2012-07-26, 12:53 AM

According to TR High Command, this battle never took place.

duomaxwl · 2012-07-26, 12:56 AM

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned (because I don't feel like reading all these comments) but it made front page of IGN/Game Informer/PCGamer. For hype, I think it did pretty well.

Er. It was first on IGN, but Dead Space 3 pushed it back one, still up on the top bar though!

TheDrone · 2012-07-26, 01:02 AM

This trailer was disappointing for the simple reason that it wasn't quintessentially about PS2. Dramatic licence is a given for a cinematic trailer as the story is more important than giving a true representation of the game, but this was ridiculous.

The factions are the essence of PS2. Only showing two of them is doing a large disservice to all the work that has been done to promote faction loyalty.
The negligence in this field hurts even more than the shortage of classes shown, which isn't all that important IMHO.

Also, it was blatantly obvious this was a pretty "budget" trailer. Very few assets, quite a limited set of animations and few large effects.

I hope there will be a better trailer before launch.

Xenostalker · 2012-07-26, 01:07 AM

Well... it was fun to watch.

All I have read so far though is a bunch of gamers being gamers: whiny and complaining about the dumbest things (misrepresenting factions? - who cares in the first place, is it really changing your opinion over your own faction; if it is, something is wrong).

I read someone's comment about this trailer hurting Planetside 2? Are you kidding me? If anything, this will attract more action junkies... the trailer was brilliant.

Planetside 2 will not disappoint. Stop complaining about misrepresentation this and that.

Shogun · 2012-07-26, 01:08 AM

the trailer may not represent actual gameplay very well, but it´s a really good eyecatcher!
lots of cool action, beautiful optics and most important: NO cheesy cheap voiceacting!

OnexBigxHebrew · 2012-07-26, 01:09 AM

Originally Posted by Ratstomper

You've got a basic overview of the premise of the game and a spread of classes and characters that gives a good feel of what the game is all about and what you can expect: All in under 5 mins. They wouldn't have to be as explicit with a narration of what is going on. They could have just made it more clear that it's, more or less, an even 3-way war on a planet where death isn't permanent. I still fail to see how "Death is No Excuse" makes any sense when everyone in the trailer who dies, seemingly stays dead....

You seem to be reading waaaay too far into this.

Here's the deal. Massive games like PS2 have kind of wonky, funny looking dated animations to make the whole thing possible. The trailer is intended to generate interest without turning anyone off through gameplay videos that may not look as crisp as other, single-player shooters.

If you don't believe me, look at the factions trailer. The animations are dated. This is especially evident when they show animations from a non-first person perspective. As someone who has been playing newer games lately, I noticed it right of the bat, even after watching all of the alpha footage. I'm okay with this, though, because I love the concept of the game, and I know it'll deliver. Those who haven't looked too far into the concept of the game, however, may be very intrigued by this cgi trailer.

Remember, PS2 already had the attention of EVERYONE here. The trailer is meant to get NEW people, not make all of the PSU community feel validated in their gaming choices.

All of that was unnecessary for me to say though, because the trailer is so totally fucking awesome and full of faction hype that it validated itself.

GameCobra · 2012-07-26, 01:12 AM

I'm really happy and optimistic that this trailer will bring in a crowd

Also: NC for life!

Sifer2 · 2012-07-26, 01:12 AM

I agree it could have done a better job of showing how its a 3 way war. Instead it mostly just follows the one guy. I guess the idea is to just make people want to learn more. But you almost can't tell its for a multiplayer game. Seen people comment on some forums it just looks like Gear of Halo. Which is hilariously wrong but that's the ignorant opinion some are getting from it.

MGP · 2012-07-26, 01:13 AM

It's kinda funny how TR's getting their asses handed to them in every trailer and game footage. Really shows up who's the "editor's choice".