![]() ![]() By comparison, Shadow of Mordor's engine has no existing template on last-gen from which it can quickly develop an open-world design. After seven releases in as many years, each one improving upon its core AnvilNext tech, the series is still resigned to sub-30fps frame-rates as the generation draws to a close. Even as a jewel in the generation's crown, the incredible Grand Theft Auto 5 still has trouble rendering complex inner-city areas, plagued as it is with pop-in and frame-rate lulls on last-gen.Īnother case in point is the Assassin's Creed series. Note: its sound stuttering issues start two minutes 45 seconds into the video - an issue with the game (verified on another console) rather than the video.īut can Shadow of Mordor's open-world design excuse this to any extent? After all, ambitious sandbox games have rarely proven a strong suit for the PS3 or 360. An extended frame-rate analysis focusing on the troubled PS3 build. Simply put, added to drops as low as 12fps, the game is demonstrably a poor fit for Sony's older hardware, and only just about scrapes by on Microsoft's. Our 40GB 'fat' PS3 is clearly bottlenecked with this choppy sound, but reinstalling the game afresh to a 320GB slim model produces the same stuttering playback at stress points. Even with a mandatory 4.4GB HDD install, the music cuts out on PS3 (but not 360) during boss battles, as if struggling to process over ten enemies and the audio data at once. However, the awful sound mix is the killer. Titles like Far Cry 4 understandably dial down textures, geometry and effects for last-gen editions - as is the case here - but it's clear that the last-gen versions could have benefited from a much more intensive QA parse. Texture and shadow maps pop in (and out) while stood perfectly still, banding artefacts manifest across strong lighting, and Uruk generals even glitch to mid-air positions during battle (notably after Talion performs a vaulting move over an enemy's shoulders). ![]() Frame-rates are better on Xbox 360 by a regular 5fps margin, but both suffer from horrendous screen-tear, operating at a Vita-esque resolution of 960x540 to boot.Įach suffers from newly added bugs too, to an extent unseen on other cross-gen projects. ![]() The crux of it is that entire passages of play unfold at 10-20fps, even while exploring Mordor's wastelands without a marauding Uruk in sight. Patched to version 1.01, the results on PS3 are particularly shocking, and the worst we've seen on the console in recent memory. ![]() Shadow of Mordor - Xbox One vs Xbox 360/PS3 frame-rate test.Current-gen consoles fly through at a consistent 30fps rate, but the PS3 stumbles to the 10-20fps range, with heavy tearing. A frame-rate analysis of the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions of Shadow of Mordor. Basic economics dictates that last-gen versions must exist to check these boxes, and in Shadow of Mordor's case, we're left with fundamentally disappointing ports. But for better or worse, the massive install bases on PS3 and 360 can't be ignored this upcoming holiday season, with many still preferring to squeeze value from their existing consoles. Meshing Assassin's Creed's open-world design with Tolkien's fiction, and built on a modified LithTech engine, the current-gen releases look stunning in motion. Shadow of Mordor is in the former, less favourable category. Meanwhile, Destiny gives the opposite view: its adaptable engine swiftly jumping from PS3's multi-SPU design to the many-core CPUs of current-gen consoles, with solid visuals and performance all round - though of course, the preference is still clear. The generational leap is vivid for Watch Dogs, for example, a decent sandbox title that causes Sony and Microsoft's older platforms to struggle to deliver the same experience. The obvious inference is that neither version is as good as the PS4 and Xbox One releases, but the gulf in quality seen here is, to put it frankly, absolutely colossal.įor the PS4 and Xbox One's first year, cross-gen titles like this at least give us a barometer of technical progress. Based on the blank Metacritic scores for both versions at present, it's clear that Warner's marketing efforts and review copy distribution have been focused elsewhere. Paying a total of £80 from our own pockets for Shadow of Mordor on PS3 and Xbox 360, expectations weren't soaring to begin with. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |