14 DAY TRIAL // If someone came up to you and said: "Heh...! BioShock and Halo 3 are anything but next-gen games," you'd laugh in their face right? So would I, but it all comes down to what next-gen really stands for in everyone's opinion and David Braben's says otherwise. The boss of Frontier Developments, a studio working hard on an upcoming Xbox 360 and PS3 title called The Outsider, claims that their upcoming game is actually going to be one of the first true next-gen titles released.
"I loved the 1930s-1950s atmosphere of BioShock: the lovely Art Deco visuals and the audio that worked especially well," Braben told Eurogamer. "Overall the whole game was beautifully executed, but the gameplay itself was not 'next-gen'."
He went on explaining that he had "found Halo 3 great fun, too, but also a little disappointing - as although there were a few nice touches and improved graphical fidelity, it hadn't really moved on much from Halo 2 in terms of the gameplay."
Braben decides to just say it out loud: "So to answer your question, if anything I am reassured; I think Outsider more than stands up to them, and I still think Outsider will be one of the first 'next-gen' games."
Confidence is never something bad, and not having seen the Outsider E3 demo, we can't make any comments based on the statement above, but we don't have to agree either.
What we can all agree on is that Halo 3 is a much better Halo 2, graphically and in terms of overall gameplay experience, but why would it need to be more than that? Braben's impression regarding Bungie's FPS may very well be the right one, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing for the developer and the consumer. As for Halo 3 not being next-gen at all... We'll leave that to you to decide.
BioShock on the other hand, screams next-gen, from visuals, to sound, to concept and ultimately gameplay. The thing is, people's understanding of the next generation concept may vary and that's why Braben is so keen on proving that his Outsider will be "one of the first" true next-gen games. According to Eurogamer.biz, for Braben "a next-gen game means giving you the tools to change the outcome of a story much more dynamically than by choosing good or evil paths - something only the new consoles have the grunt to deliver."
That's what he and his team are trying to accomplish with The Outsider and hopefully they will. Who doesn't want to play what Frontier Developments is promising to deliver?