Categories
KudoReviews Mobile Review Flashbacks

[Review FlashBack] 삼성 갤럭시 탭 7 리뷰

* 리뷰 플래시백이란: 원래 다 써놓았는데, 시기적 이유로 시기 놓치고 썩히고 있다거나, iAppBox에 썼던 리뷰들 나중에 발굴해서 다시 내는 리뷰들. 어떤면에서는 재탕이다. ;;

* 이 리뷰에 사용된 갤럭시 탭은 @krazyeom_님이 제공해주셨다.

* 리뷰 플래시백의 법칙상, 애초에 썼던 글을 어떠한 업데이트 없이 그대로 두었다. 당시의 관점이 어떠했는지 봐도 재밌을듯. (순전히 니 생각이고) 이 글은 2011년 1월 중순에 쓰여졌다.

2011년은 안드로이드 태블릿의 해가 되려는 모양이다. 이번 CES에 나온 끝이 없는 안드로이드 태블릿의 수만 봐도 알수 있다. 작년 아이패드의 대성공 이후, 올해는 수많은 같은 폼 팩터의 모델들이 기어나올 예정이다. 하지만 작년엔 어땠을까? 구글도 안드로이드가 태블릿에는 준비가 안됐다고 하는 마당에, (뭐, 최소한 허니콤까지는) 애플 혼자 잘되는 꼴을 못보겠다 하던 삼성은 혼자서라도 이 게임에 뛰어들었다. 그렇게 해서 나온 제품이 바로 갤럭시 탭이다. 과연 이 삼성의 너무 일찍 당긴 방아쇠는 거대린 태풍 전야의 작은 태풍일까, 아니면 태풍 전야의 고요함일까?

 

하드웨어

갤럭시 탭의 폼 팩터는 7인치로, 아이패드의 9.7인치보다는 당연히 작다. 사실, 전체적인 크기만 따져도 갤럭시 탭은 아이패드의 약 반의 크기다. 이 크기가 가져오는 장점과 단점은 좀 이따가 얘기해보고, 일단 탭은 전체적으로 상당히 단단히 느껴진다. 뒷면을 쉽게 벗겨지는 배터리 커버로 써야 해서 상당히 얇은 플라스틱으로 만들어진 갤럭시 S와 달리, 내장형 배터리를 선택한 탭은 후면이 훨씬 더 단단해보인다. (사실 갤럭시 S의 싸보이는 모습은 이 얇은 배터리 커버가 상당한 기여를 했다고 본다.) 전면부에는 7인치 슈퍼 TFT LCD와 130만화소 전면 카메라, 그리고 안드로이드의 전형적 4버튼이 달려 있고, 오른쪽에는 파워 버튼과 볼륨, 위쪽에는 이어폰과 DMB 안테나, 아래쪽에는 스테레오로 보이는 스피커와 애플 휴대용 라인과 같아보여도 호환이 전혀 안되는 30핀 포트가 달려 있다. 스피커는 테스트한 파일들 문제인지는 모르겠으나 소리가 생각보다 상당히 작게 흘러나왔다. 소리가 기대 이상으로 빵빵했던 아이패드와 훨씬 더 비교되니 아쉬웠다.

후면에는 LED 플래시가 장착된 320만화소짜리 카메라가 달려있다. 카메라 성능은 320만화소짜리라는 것을 감안하면 준수했고, LED 플래시의 성능은 어떠한 빛도 없는 어두웠던 방안을 꽤 밝게 비출 정도로 밝았다. 또한, T와 갤럭시 탭, 그리고 삼성 로고가 차례대로 배열되어 있는데, 애니콜 로고 대신 갤럭시 탭이라는 이름을 직접 써놓으니 더 낫다라는 기분이 들었다. 아무래도 애니콜이라는 이름을 스마트폰/태블릿 라인업에 쓴다는 것에 대한 거부감이 있었나보다.

이제 갤럭시 탭의 7인치 폼 팩터에 대해 얘기해보자. 위에서 말했다시피 7인치 크기의 갤럭시 탭은 아이패드의 반 크기이다. 그러다보니 휴대성에서 상당한 우위를 차지했다. 크기도 작고, 무게도 아이패드의 반 (갤럭시 탭 380g, 아이패드 680g)이다 보니 한손에도 쉽게 들 수 있고, 무엇보다 가방을 따로 들고다닐 필요도 없어서 좋았다. 역으로, 화면이 작다보니 키보드의 크기가 상당히 작아졌다. 안그래도 물리적 키보드가 없어서 불편한 판에 아이패드같이 갤럭시 탭을 책상 등에 놓고 손가락 여러개를 이용해 빠르게 치는 것은 사실상 불가능하다. 들어서 세로상태에서 두 손가락으로 타이핑하는 것은 작은 크기 덕에 상당히 쉬워졌으나 이도 오랫동안 치기에는 상당히 힘들어진다. 장단점을 자세히 따져보면 갤럭시 탭이 작아지면서 예전부터 많은 주장이 있었던 컨텐츠 소비가 주인 태블릿의 용도가 분명해졌다고 볼 수도 있을것 같다.

7인치 슈퍼 TFT LCD는 생각보다 훨씬 좋았다. 밝기도 적당했고, 무엇보다 색조 등을 설정에서 직접 조정할 수 있어서 사용자의 눈맛(?)에 따라 조정이 가능하다. 채도도 슈퍼 AMOLED만큼 극으로 밀어붙이지 않아서 눈에는 더 편했다. 해상도는 600×1024 픽셀로, 9.7인치에 768×1024인 아이패드보다 픽셀 밀도가 더 높아 책을 읽기에 살짝 눈이 덜 피로했다.

 

소프트웨어

갤럭시 탭은 안드로이드 2.2에 삼성이 갤럭시 탭용으로 개조한 터치위즈 UI가 올라가 있다. 터치위즈를 통해 갤럭시 탭은 스마트폰용 OS에서 쓸만한 태블릿으로 많이 바뀌었지만, 구글이 공식 지원을 하지 않아서 뭔가 부족한 부분이 많은 것은 사실이다.

삼성 측에서는 갤럭시 탭의 크기에 맞게 기본 앱을 대부분 다 개조하는 수고를 했다. 전화 앱부터 시작해 캘린더 등의 어플리케이션까지 갤럭시 탭의 해상도에 맞게 새롭게 개조되었다. 이들중 대부분은 아이패드의 UI 디자인을 굳이 좋은 말로 하자면 ‘벤치마킹’한 것이 대부분이지만, 갤럭시 탭의 활용성을 많이 높인다. 특히, 달력과 해당일의 스케쥴을 동시에 보여주는 캘린더 앱은 넓은 화면을 상당히 극대화시킨 앱으로 꼽힌다고 할수 있다. 아쉬웠던 것은, 이러한 앱들의 UI가 삼성 자체의 개성보다는 아이패드의 UI를 벤치마킹(?)한 게 대부분이라는 점이었다. 그리고 아이패드의 경우에도 그러했지만, 앱을 개조하면서 새로운 기능들이 추가가 거의 안된 점 또한 아쉬웠다.

이러한 앱들 중에 빼먹을 수가 없는 것이 바로 리더스 허브다. 아이북스의 경쟁자로 갤럭시 탭에는 리더스 허브가 탑재됐는데, 걱정했던 것과 달리 국내에서 판매되는 이북을 읽을 때 리더스 허브도 꽤 나쁘지 않다. 어플리케이션 자체도 나름 책장 넘기는 효과 등의 책 읽는 느낌을 잘 살렸고, 여백 처리 등도 나쁘지 않았다. (폰트 선택이 좀 아쉽긴 했다.) 문제는 컨텐츠였다. 많은 분들이 걱정하듯이 이북컨텐츠가 많이 부족한 편이다. 이는 갤럭시탭, 아이패드만의 문제가 아닌, 이미 음악과 영화 관련 불법 다운로드 홍역을 치른 국내 컨텐츠 시장의 일명 ‘자라보고 놀란 가슴, 솥뚜껑 보고 놀란다’ 격의 일이다. 일단 삼성 측에서 기반은 마련해놓았으나, 아직 컨텐츠가 너무나도 미흡한게 아쉬웠다. 이북을 많이 좋아하는 사용자로서 어서 우리나라의 이북 시장이 재빨리 떠오르기를 바라본다. (그래서 정작 본인은 킨들 앱으로 책을 봤다.)

마켓에서 받을 수 있는 써드 파티 앱들의 경우, 대부분 잘 동작했다. 대부분 기존의 앱을 불려서 문제없이 작동을 했는데, 몇몇 앱 (엔가젯 등)은 아이패드에서 아이폰 앱을 1x로 돌리는 것마냥 주변에 검은색 테두리가 둘러진채 실행되기도 했다. 하지만, 테스트해본 앱들 중 실행이 아예 안되는 경우는 보지 못했다는 점에서, 나름 호환성 문제는 해결했다고 볼 수도 있겠다.

 

미래

갤럭시 탭은 자체로 본다면 나쁜 제품은 아니다. 7인치 크기는 상당히 안정이 있고, 소프트웨어도 삼성이 어떤 면에서는 갤럭시 S보다 신경을 더 많이 쓴 부분이 보였다. 하지만 문제라면, 갤럭시 탭의 미래에 있다.

아시다시피, 이번 CES에서 구글은 태블릿을 공식적으로 지원하기 위한 안드로이드 3.0, 일명 “허니콤”을 발표했다. 그와 함께 모토로라의 줌 Xoom, 그리고 LG의 G슬레이트등 몇십종의 안드로이드 태블릿이 말 그대로 “쏟아져 나왔다.” 서두에서 말했듯이, 삼성은 안드로이드 태블릿 시장 선점을 위해 구글이 태블릿용 안드로이드를 완성시키기도 전에 갤럭시 탭을 내놓았는데, 그로 인해 갤럭시 탭의 미래는 그닥 밝아보이지 않는다. 일단, 허니콤 태블릿의 해상도가 1280×800으로 맞춰져 있는데, 이는 갤럭시 탭보다 더 큰 것이다. 따라서, 허니콤의 UI가 갤럭시 탭의 화면에 제대로 표현되지 못할 가능성이 상당히 크다. 게다가, 대부분의 듀얼 코어의 중앙연산처리장치, 즉 CPU를 채택해, 겨우(?) 싱글 코어 1GHz의 허밍버드로 허니콤 OS 자체를 지원할 수 있을까라는 걱정거리도 있다. 과연 갤럭시 탭은 안드로이드 태블릿의 신호탄으로 남을 것인가, 아니면 소프트웨어 로드맵을 무시한 시대와 동떨어진 제품이 될 것인가? 그 답은 (다소 불안하지만) 삼성전자에게 달렸다.

 

Categories
Games KudoGames

Crysis 2 Review (English)

Title: Crysis 2
Developer: Crytek
Publisher: EA
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Metacritic: 85 (360) / 86 (PS3) / 87 (PC) (Data gathered at 4/7/2011)

(한국어 리뷰는 여기로)

To PC gamers or PC tuners, the name Crysis is a great value. Even three and a half years after its launch in November 2007, Crysis is still treated as a benchmark of how powerful a computer is. Many people still tout their computers by saying, “My computer can run Crysis in highest settings at XX fps!” (Though it should be noted that most graphics cards these days can run Crysis with no problem, if you give up the ‘highest settings’ part.)

One thing that was much desired in Crysis was that it felt like Crytek did not put much of their time into gameplay, compared to the insane presentation. Pacing in story was quite dreadful, from very slow and sometimes ‘boring’ start, to a sudden progressions in the end that makes you very difficult to comprehend. In addition, while controlling Nanosuit is not that difficult, but it is also not streamlined enough for you to quickly adapt to situations, which results in an instant death if your ‘plan’ goes horribly wrong. (At least in higher difficulties.) Oh, and multiplayer? I didn’t even know that it had it. (I actually had to revise the Korean version, since I wrote, “there’s no multiplayer.”)

Then there were some variations, such as Crysis: Warhead, a retelling of events in Crysis, and multiplayer-only Crysis: World, and finally, after three and a half years, the real sequel, Crysis 2, is upon us. Did it fix the problem? Or is it just another technical demo?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmGAfgv9uPo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

(Visit here for Mobile)

Crysis 2 is situated in 2023, three years after the story concludes in the first Crysis. An unforeseen epidemic of huge proportion starts to infect Manhattan. Soon, U.S Department of Defense declares martial law on the area, and makes a contract with CELL, an elite mercenary unit owned by Crynet, to be deployed. Meanwhile, U.S Marines are deployed to pick up Dr. Nathan Gould, who potentially has a solution to the outbreak, and they are immediately attacked by Cephalopods (Cephs for short), an alien race also present in Manhattan area. Only a marine by callsign Alcatraz survives, and is picked up by Prophet, the leader of Raptor Delta Force team in Crysis. Considering that he’s also infected with the virus, Prophet decides to hand over his Nanosuit to Alcatraz. Now, it’s up to Alcatraz to save New York.

In Crysis 2, it’s already apparent that Crytek is trying to push out Crysis as a series. (Crytek did say they intend to makes this story arc a trilogy.) Pacing is much better than the first game this time around, but still it has a lot of the important plot points in the back. I was hoping for a more even distribution of plot points, but still, it’s much better than the first Crysis.

The another problem with the story of the game was that it doesn’t tell you much. It doesn’t tell you much about the major factions (like CELL and the Cephs), about the major characters (especially Gould and Hargreave), and while it does not have too many throwbacks to the first game, but then where there is one, it’s totally impossible to understand. (Especially, if you have not played the first Crysis, you’d have no idea what Tara Strickland’s father did.) The game also does a very poor job at explaining what Prophet was doing for past three years after the events of the first game. Rather than poor, it does absolutely nothing. These facts all lead up to a reasoning that Crytek is intending to release some sort of prequel to Crysis 2, as something like what Warhead was to the original Crysis, but nothing is confirmed at this point, thus leaving players very confused.

Finally, ending is difficult to say it’s a straight-up cliffhanger. It is a good thing, since it does wrap things up quite nicely. This is quite a direct comparison to the first one, which ended in one of the worst cliffhangers in game industry. (With Halo 2 still topping it.) Funny thing is, none of the characters from Crysis with the exception of Prophet made a comeback in Crysis 2. One speculation is that they may be saving that for Crysis 3. It was even rumored that Alcatraz was actually Nomad, main character from the first Crysis, which turned out to be false.

Nanosuit makes up a huge portion of gameplay in Crysis series, and that’s no different in Crysis 2. As aforementioned, Nanosuit’s time efficiency in control was not great in the first Crysis, but Crytek managed to fix a lot of those issues in Crysis 2. Firstly, now Nanosuit has only three distinct suit modes: Armor, Cloak, and Power, which combines Strength and Speed from the first Crysis. Power mode is now automated. For example, when you run, speed mode automatically kicks in. When you need to use maximum strength, in situations such as when you kick a car, or throw an enemy (Yup, that’s still there.), strength mode automatically kicks in.

Also, now you can switch your suit mode with just a button, rather than having a select wheel a la weapon selection screen in Assassin’s Creed II and Brotherhood. (The only difference is, the suit mode selection screen in Crysis did not pause the game, while Assassin’s Creed does.) This is more like a move in order to make a smooth transition to console controllers, (Xbox 360 version uses two bumpers for mode keys) but it’s now much easier to quickly switch your tactics in the middle. For example, when you are busted while cloaked, you can quickly trigger the suit to go into Armor mode for an epic firefight, and quietly disappear again by quickly cloaking yourself again. Of course, you have to manage your suit energy carefully. Of course, there still is an option for PC users to use the wheel if you so desire.

To be honest, you have to just get out of there in that situation.

Another aspect that makes this game much more realistic is enemy AI. It’s pretty darn smart. It’s pretty much on par with AI in Halo: Reach, but in a different way. You see, there are some scenes where the player can take out each one of the enemies in a sandbox like predator gameplay in Batman: Arkham Asylum. (But then, unlike Batman, you can avoid them as a whole if you desire.) In this instance, enemies are much more actively engaged in finding you, and also reacting to a teammate’s disappearance is much more realistic. (Not to say that AI in Arkham Asylum was dumb.) In CELL’s case, they even call backups, so that makes taking them out one by one a lot more difficult. In my case, there was a part that took me 20 minutes to get through, thanks to CELL soldiers keep calling in backups, and I felt like I had to take them all out. On the next playthough though, I just sneaked past them and decreased that time to 5 minutes. But this AI also has a terrible bug where the soldier would just run around in circles, or helplessly watch as his teammate is taken out right in front of him. But this does not happen that often. For me, it was a lot more fun to play with CELL, since Cephs react much more quickly to my presence while cloaked, so I got annoyed and killed them all on Armor mode.

Overall, the AI and the choice that Nanosuit gives you make up to be a very satisfying experience with a lot of replay value. As I review the game, I’m on the third run, but it’s never boring. You can try different tactics each time. Actually, I even managed to find a secret passageway that I didn’t find in the last playthrough.

You can also upgrade the Nanosuit itself. You gather up something called Nano Catalyst when you kill a Ceph. This acts as a currency towards the upgrade of your suit. You have four categories with three perks in each category. Though you can unlock them all and make the ultimate Nanosuit, you may only choose one perk in each category, keeping the game in balance and adding variety to the gameplay, since you can change the perks on the fly. Also, since these upgrades are kept through the different playthroughs of the campaign, you can upgrade your suit in easier difficulty settings and tackle on more difficult playthrough with your suit maxed out. Some of the important suit upgrades include using much less energy while cloaked, and dramatically boosting charging speed of the suit energy.

 

Fox three!

Campaign aspect of the game can be cleared in about 12 hours, which is very respectable compared to mere 5 hours of Modern Warfare 2. While pacing is not top-notch, the set-pieces are evenly placed to keep you hooked to the game, and replay value, with all these upgrades and various collectibles, is pretty high, if you are an achievements nut.

 

Tight battle.

However, that is not all: there is also multiplayer to talk about. I personally don’t play multiplayer that much, but I played it anyway for the sake of this review. Basic premise is that marines and CELL fight in Nanosuits (much weaker than the kind that Alcatraz wears, I might add), but it’s a mixed bag when it comes to the differentiated experiences. You have kill streaks (though it’s differentiated by each map), perks, and level-up system, much more like Call of Duty and other shooters. While the utilization of Nanosuit does make the gameplay more interesting, it’s not enough to add a whole lot of difference from other shooters. But then, everything is pretty well-balanced, so you can have good fun through the multiplayer.

 

It’s just jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

Now let’s talk about the presentation, something that many are really looking forward to. To start with the conclusion, it is not a dramatic upgrade from the first game. In fact, some of the aspects has dropped back. For Crytek’s defense, they also had to think about the console versions now, so they have gone through a lot of optimization, which comes out in sacrifice of some of the textures as well. However, the optimization has worked: despite all the concerns, Crysis 2 runs quite well on consoles, while there are still some frame rate hiccups from time to time. It is one of the best graphics quality ever seen on (at least) 360, and I thought I’d never say this since Halo: Reach. (In some ways, it is much more optimized than Reach.)

Thanks to the optimizations that was very needed for consoles, while the overall graphics quality may not reach the pillar of the original Crysis in general, but there are some aspects that the successor excels over predecessor. Firstly, the light effects are truly great. Especially when there is a sunset, it’s almost like a photograph. Secondly, the facial animation and facial textures are greatly improved. You can see the improvements clearly even from the beginning of the game. Finally, physics is top-notch. Since the game is situated in New York in ruins, it tends to collapse everywhere, and those scene are pretty realistic. It’s one of the best physics engines I’ve ever seen since Star Wars: Force Unleashed. While I still recommend PC version for the true graphics prowess and optimization that Crysis 2 can offer, most of the hardcore PC gamers may be disappointed by lack of options, (There are only high, very high, and extreme. You can’t even dare to go medium) and some aspects that Crytek thought of console gamers way too much. But then, console versions are no slouch, either, and Crysis 2 still has top graphics even among both the console and PC games, daring other developers to follow their footsteps. (Or, use their CryEngine 3.)

The sound is also fantastic on Crysis 2. I was very impressed by the realistic sound effects in distance, especially in gunfires. Also, the music score, partially written by Hans Zimmer, is also pretty good. Although the characters were disorienting, the voice acting was not as bad as the characters themselves.

 

You’re on.

To sum things up, to the question “Is Crysis 2 another tech demo?”, I’d like to answer a firm no. The graphics departments may have dumbed down a little bit, Crysis 2 feels much more like a very well-made game. Sure, there are some plot holes that may confuse players, some unfortunate bugs, and multiplayer is pretty generic. But as in the overall package, Crysis 2 gives much better potential to the whole Crysis series, and is the chief reason that I personally can’t wait for Crysis 3. (Or some other expansions.)

 

Final Verdict: Crysis 2

Strengths

  • Vast tactical choices  thanks to Nanosuit and enemy AI
  • Nanosuit controls are much more streamlined
  • Still one of the best looking games ever, now with more optimizations as standard.
  • Long and exciting campaign with epic set pieces.

Weaknesses

  • Multiplayer is pretty generic
  • Story pacing and sometimes forgettable characters
  • Not much options towards PC users
  • AI bugs and framerate issues (I just put it in here to even things out)

Final Score – 9.0/10

(This review is largely based on retail version of Crysis 2 for Xbox 360. Cleared campaign twice on normal, currently going through the third run on Supersoldier, the second-most-difficult setting. Nanosuit is fully upgraded, and 29 out of 50 achievements unlocked. Multiplayer level at 13.)