Halo 3 graphics looking improved and "amazing"
via cvg
Graphically what we've seen so far of Halo 3 hasn't exactly blown our socks off, but according to Bungie's latest community update the more-complete version of the game has improved leaps and bounds visually, and is looking "amazing".
"The exteriors still needed some polish, but sweet crimeny Christmas. It looked amazing," the update reads, describing a more complete Halo 3 campaign stage, which apparently has "lit, shader effects, proper detail, atmospherics" and "audio" up and running.
"Last week I talked about how we were adding all this hyper realistic stuff, while still trying to keep it true to the look and feel of Halo," the post continues. "The evolution of those ideas is that some of the test screenshots we took for an internal presentation, looked exactly like their concept paintings. Not just in terms of scale or detail, but the actual color palette. It's rich and vivid and full of life."
"As a matter of fact, we ran the screens back to back with concept paintings, and sometimes you had to blink to distinguish," Bungie claims.
The update goes on to admit that there's still plenty of optimization to be done, and while there's realistic-looking scenery the 360 sequel still has the Halo look
"The graphics have a painterly quality, sure, but this is more to do with the impression they leave you than the details," the update reads. "A game's a game's a game. We're not going cel shaded or oil painting-y."
