This is a rather intense game to play, regardless of mode. As I've said before, first person shooter games really shine in Surround Gaming and this one is no exception.
The thing that makes this one even more so is the "scare" factor. Having more peripheral vision makes the gameplay more intense, especially when you can see creatures coming towards you from the left and right.
Once again, the DirectX 7 limitation will come into play, so we're going to be limited to only 1920x480 for this game.
SETTINGS
Aliens vs Predator 2 was tested using the following settings:
Surround Gaming - 1920x480 resolution
Normal - 1024x768 resolution
Trilinear filtering forced via driver
16X FAA enabled where noted
In-game graphics settings at maximum quality
SCREENSHOTS
Here's a couple of comparison screenshots to take a look at.
Normal
Surround
PERFORMANCE
Again, I relied on FRAPS to obtain framerate data.
Lithtech powered games have had a bad reputation for delivering less than ideal performance, but it seems that the developers have done a much better job than in years past. Let's see where things stand.
Aliens vs Predator 2 Performance
Test Mode
Average Frame Rate
Normal
60
Surround Gaming
60
As surprising as this may sound, performance was smooth across the board. I say this mainly because of Lithtech's past reputation, not because I was expecting poor performance from the Parhelia. In any event, Surround Gaming was a real experience with this title.
For some reason, VSYNC is limiting the framerate, as the performance was locked at 60Hz. I hadn't experienced this in any other title, so I would gather that this is a game specific issue.
Overall, an excellent title for anybody thinking about Surround Gaming. The intensity is there regardless of which 3D graphics card you happen to be using, but it's heightened when you have all that screen real estate to play with. This should also give you a pretty warm feeling knowing that games based on the Lithtech engine work well with the Parhelia.
