I don't think that we should just talk about what game is great, but what made them truly great. You talked about the AI and it's a very great point.
Halo 3 & Gears of War both have a very great Co-op game in Campaign. Halo 3 & Gears of War multiplayer are simple crap. Halo 3 got the same problem than Halo 2 with a bad strike system & Gears of War is way too laggy, simple & buggy. The biggest thing is, they were both made first exclusively for the 360, it also affects the max possible quality of the game.
Call of Duty 4 got a solid linear Campaign, but his multiplayer is stunning in matter of content. Even if a few perks and stuff aren't perfectly balanced, fair or well designed... the game offers so much possibilities for the players that it is a game "made for them".
- CoD4 Game of the year 110%
If Epic Games truly want to sell games with UT3, better do more than just making an Engine (build and used for GoW), some maps, some cool AI, make a few gametypes (less than in the previous UT2k4???), make a Campaign that is bsically using everything from the Multiplayer assets... so it's basically the same thing, a few cool customization & characters (seriously, they are very cool), but basically... UT3 is a multiplayer game like Shadowrun. We aren't going to say "Oh thx Epic, you gave us the UT3 tools to build the old gametypes ourselves and new gametypes that you didn't do in this new UT Game, including new maps and customizable features in the HUD?"
Gears of War on PC ... think about it.
Jump in the game... kill everything... finish the level. 10 000 other shooter games are using that game structure. It's way too old without any fresh touch. The COG tags were great, but the game would need soemthing deeper than that. GoW has a so great Game Universe, there is a lot of stuff to be done with that. The Coop was a great feature, but not enough. The GoW multiplayer is something between Halo 2 [control the power weapons] & R6 Vegas [cover system] and something lower than Counter-Strike in term of strategies and complexity. It doesn't help... even with more hours of gameplay.
Gears of War 2 from the E3 2008 previews and vidz seems to aim in the right direction with the old school formula (game structure, new enemies with very cool gameplays, etc) and a better use of the Game Universe (story, dialogues, etc).
Halo 3 & Gears of War both have a very great Co-op game in Campaign. Halo 3 & Gears of War multiplayer are simple crap. Halo 3 got the same problem than Halo 2 with a bad strike system & Gears of War is way too laggy, simple & buggy. The biggest thing is, they were both made first exclusively for the 360, it also affects the max possible quality of the game.
Call of Duty 4 got a solid linear Campaign, but his multiplayer is stunning in matter of content. Even if a few perks and stuff aren't perfectly balanced, fair or well designed... the game offers so much possibilities for the players that it is a game "made for them".
- CoD4 Game of the year 110%
If Epic Games truly want to sell games with UT3, better do more than just making an Engine (build and used for GoW), some maps, some cool AI, make a few gametypes (less than in the previous UT2k4???), make a Campaign that is bsically using everything from the Multiplayer assets... so it's basically the same thing, a few cool customization & characters (seriously, they are very cool), but basically... UT3 is a multiplayer game like Shadowrun. We aren't going to say "Oh thx Epic, you gave us the UT3 tools to build the old gametypes ourselves and new gametypes that you didn't do in this new UT Game, including new maps and customizable features in the HUD?"
Gears of War on PC ... think about it.
Jump in the game... kill everything... finish the level. 10 000 other shooter games are using that game structure. It's way too old without any fresh touch. The COG tags were great, but the game would need soemthing deeper than that. GoW has a so great Game Universe, there is a lot of stuff to be done with that. The Coop was a great feature, but not enough. The GoW multiplayer is something between Halo 2 [control the power weapons] & R6 Vegas [cover system] and something lower than Counter-Strike in term of strategies and complexity. It doesn't help... even with more hours of gameplay.
Gears of War 2 from the E3 2008 previews and vidz seems to aim in the right direction with the old school formula (game structure, new enemies with very cool gameplays, etc) and a better use of the Game Universe (story, dialogues, etc).