Half Life 2 Video Card Review

Posted onOctober 27, 2011 - 5:44 am by Admin | 0 Comments

With those prices why not save and just get a 570?

In response though TOTALLY go for the 1gb version as it is clocked higher than the 2gb one, and the extra RAM will really not make any performance difference. Like. At. All.
I seriously reccommend getting a low end 570 however. It may have a slightly lower clock rating but the 96 extra shaders and 320-bit interface would make a world of difference for the sake of an extra 20 quid.
Ebuyer do a PNY 570 for about 245, and OCUK have them at 250ish

Bandwidth

560Ti 570
128256 MB/sec 152000 MB/sec

Nuclear Dawn is an ambitious project, seeking to combine a First Person Shooter with a Real Time Strategy. The game is the product of a new indie development studio, InterWave, and was originally a mod in 2006 for the Source engine. Since then, the game has matured much and makes a decent showing as their first title release.

Concept

Nuclear Dawn is set in the near future, amidst a global war between two factions: The Consortium of Free States, and the People’s Empire. The two sides vie for resources needed to rebuild their societies following a nuclear attack by Russia, conducting raids deep into each other’s territory.

The full story and timeline is on the Nuclear Dawn Homepage, along with some of the weapons and a detailed fact sheet, which contains information on the maps, gameplay features, and classes available in the game. Since there is no single player element at this time, the story is given only as background.

What does make this game unique is the blending of completely different game types, First Person Shooter and Real Time Strategy. At first, I feared this would be a catastrophe, but it seems to work out pretty well. I’ve played both styles of games, and enjoy them immensely, but never in the same game.

Graphics

Nuclear Dawn will not melt your graphics card. The game runs DirectX 9, and is on par with Half Life 2 or similar games. Certainly not the worst I have seen, but the graphics are not stunning either. This is not necessarily a bad thing though; awesome real life graphics mean hardware to match, so this game is a decent grab for those whose systems are a little slower. Every screenshot you see here was taken off of my various playthroughs, so you can see the quality is not all that bad.

Sound

There’s not a whole lot of voice acting except for the monotone prompt that one of your structures is under attack, or you just secured something. The in game effects are okay, but it’s hard for some of us who know how gunfire really sounds say that it is dead on. I keep comparing the game to Half Life 2, I would say there is a lot that reminds me of it, sounds included. Honestly the only complaint I had was the VOIP chat, which works well, it’s just the people using it were annoying.

Gameplay

There are four classes, each with unique weapons and abilities. Exo units are the heavy firepower, slow moving but carrying the deadliest weapons and more ammo than a battalion of troops. They move slower than a three-legged mule, but when they get there all hell breaks loose. These units can carry a minigun or a rocket launcher. Assault troops are your standard grunts, and carry either an assault rifle or optionally a sniper rifle to reach out and touch someone, and they have access to a tactical visor, which allows them to spot the cloaked Stealth units. The Stealth units come with a tactical carbine or sniper rifle, they can cloak themselves and move about, and take you out up close with retractable blades on their forearms or knives, and they move the fastest of all the units. Finally, there is support, which is sort of a combination of Engineer and Medic. They have access to flamethrowers, EMP grenades, and gas grenades. In all the kits, you are able to level up and unlock other items to further customize your character.

Since the game is a combination of FPS and RTS, one player gets to be the Team Commander; this person sits in the bunker and looks over the map. In the bunker, the Commander is able to produce and place structures on the map such as relay points and weapons platforms. You can eliminate the enemy commander directly by infiltrating to the other side, and killing him as he sits in the bunker. Maybe plant some mines in the box so that when he comes back…oh, I never did that. If you are the Commander, be sure to move your map view around and don’t get too fixated on one area. You can see the enemy ground troops as they move around, so if you get fragged in your own bunker there is no one to blame but you.

Right now, the game features only a multiplayer component featuring six maps, which pretty much revolves around capturing several key resource points, while attempting to eliminate the enemy’s command bunker. Best as I can tell, the way to that is to push the other team back to their spawn, and swarm in while building weapons platforms and using heavy troops to bring the structure down. Don’t worry too much about spawn killing, yes the base is where most troops will deploy to, but you can build other spawn points, so really it is your own team’s fault if you get stuck in your base.To do this however, your own team has to be up to the job. If your Team Commander flat out sucks, you can elect to start a mutiny and replace him, or if your team has no commander, you can apply for it in the spawn menu and then assume the seat. Probably the best feature is the dependence on teamwork. No single player is going to win this game for his team, no matter what. Kill/Death ratios don’t mean much, you have to capture those resources, you have to defend your bunker, and you have to push forward to the objective. You won’t get there yourself.

Replayability

This game is going to appeal to a certain type of audience, the same people who are still playing games such as Team Fortress 2, Left for Dead (1 and 2) or other similar games. There is plenty, such as continued development and the availability of modding, to keep the die-hard modder/gamer interested. There’s gold in them there hills, you just have to mine it. There is a bit of a learning curve, but you have the ability to spawn your own game, so practice is available.

Value

Again, this rating is very subjective. Price wise you can pick up the game for about $25 USD. It’s a little lean, having only the one game mode at the current time, but as the developers hopefully continue to support and update it, we will see even more features added. I’ve played MANY games that cost less, and sucked so bad as to make me ask myself what these people were thinking. Nuclear Dawn, while not the prettiest lady at the dance, won’t make you wake up in the morning and run out of the house. The thing I like most is the fact that it is simple. You pretty much control whether you want to play on a public server, or start your own. Valve Anti Cheat may not be everyone’s favorite, but neither does the game require you to sign on to a webpage, play peer to peer or have multiplayer lobbies and matchmaking. In that, there is a lot to like.

Final Intelligence Report

This game is not “The Giant Killer” that will put other titles to shame, but it is a strong effort by a company just getting started, and sits well among other similar titles. Nuclear Dawn is the sort of game that makes me wonder what InterWave has planned next. Could it be better? Yes, but it could have turned out worse too. Blending two radically different game types into one title is no small feat, and they seemed to have done okay. With some continued development and support, I can see this game doing well.

 



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