Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list.
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list.
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list.
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Need for Speed: Undercover 
Rise of the Argonauts Silent Hill: Homecoming Skate 2 Sonic: Unleashed Tom Clancy’s EndWar Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Street Fighter IV Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This is the latest update while the full list is here.
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Golden Axe: Beast Rider
Legendary LEGO Batman Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe Prince of Persia Saints Row 2 SCORE International Baja 1000 Shaun White Snowboarding 
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon The Lord of the Rings: Conquest Tomb Raider: Underworld Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Far Cry 2 Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Baja: Edge of Control Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway FIFA 09 Fracture Guitar Hero: World Tour Mirror’s Edge Quantum of Solace Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This is the latest update while the full list is here.
Call of Duty: World at War I’ve moved this Head-to-Head list to a more permanent location. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Codemasters supplied one of the few multi-platform games that performed better on the PS3 than it did on the 360 with Colin McRae: DiRT. An extra six months coding the PS3 version was clearly the critical factor in that but with Racedriver: Grid going day and date on both consoles will the PS3 keep it’s lead?
Short answer: no.
The demos are identical in gameplay and content but the 360 feels a teensy bit smoother and a teensy bit sharper graphically. Remarkably, the 360 loads everything in about half the time of the PS3. During loading sequences, Codemasters throw up achievement information. On the 360, loading the Grid World Jarama race gives us time to see three pieces of information where the PS3 has time for six pieces of information. Remember both demos are run from hard disk and so the relative speed of the 360 DVD / PS3 Blu-ray drive is not a factor.
However, both systems suffer from ugly black flashes during replays and the music is why custom soundtracks were invented.
The 360 version is about £6 cheaper at launch (360, PS3 at uk.gamestracker.com).
Slimm Says
While the 360 is the winner, it’s only by a graphical hair and the PS3’s free online multiplayer could easily tip the balance in its favour.
Comparison Results
360 (5): Conflict: Denied Ops, Iron Man, MX vs ATV: Untamed, Racedriver: Grid, Turok
PS3 (4): Burnout: Paradise, Colin McRae: DiRT, Devil May Cry 4, GripShift
The Conflict series hits the five game milestone by following up Desert Storm, Desert Storm II, Vietnam and Global Storm with Conflict: Denied Ops.
A demo has been released for the three target platforms: PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. How do they compare and which will be the one to buy?
Things start badly for the PC. It took a ridiculously long time to install, nearly ten minutes. Then, for some reason, they have managed to use a video format that probably won’t work on your XP PC. Helpfully they supply a Windows Media 11 patch to fix this. It doesn’t. Thanks.
Anyway, an iffy video codec won’t affect the gameplay, will it? Well, it might stop you even bothering to get to the gameplay. You have to skip the treacle-slow movie by hammering the Escape key until the planets align and the key-press is recognised. If you can’t be bothered, you’ll never even see the game. Brilliantly, the outro video doesn’t allow you to skip but the demo is fully Windows-friendly and behaves itself if you press Ctrl-Alt-Del for bring up Task Manager and that handy End Process option.
Once I got into the game itself I was a little perturbed to see that my system simply couldn’t handle it. My PC can play Bioshock smoothly with just a single option turned off. Disappointed, I went into the graphics options are starting turning things off to get a usable frame rate. After a couple of different items made little discernible difference in frame rate, I decided to turn everything off. While marginally better, it was still virtually unplayable. The engine used here clearly has no innate performance (that fact will be borne out by the badly compromised PS3 version). On top of that, it looked horrible even with everything turned on.
Perhaps the consoles will be better.
The PS3 at least runs at a consistent frame rate. Nice, smooth and eminently playable. I had an enjoyable time playing the mission supplied in split-screen Co-op. However, it looks horrid and doesn’t feel like it is running in a true HD resolution (it’s feels almost as ugly as the PS3 version of Fear). Perhaps the low resolution, jaggies and blurry textures would be eliminated in single player. Nope, the PS3 version of this demo is staggeringly ugly.
Now on 360 we get something unique. Uniquely rubbish, unfortunately. The developers are so inept and / or careless that the demo isn’t actually called “Conflict: Denied Ops Demo”, oh no. It’s called “Single Player and 2 player Co-op Demo.”
However, once you’ve found the demo, this is easily the best looking of the bunch as it runs smoothly and looks okay. The explosion where the wall gets dropped on the tank at the beginning is smaller than on the PC but the remainder of the combustible landscape looks cool. The textures are sharp though aliased and the games runs very smoothly.
Slimm Says
Xbox 360, no question. What’s more disappointing about the technical and design shortcomings and overall carelessness is that there is definitely reasonably entertaining gameplay. The gameplay does shine through on the ugly PS3 version if you can keep your eyes open long enough while the PC version is virtually unplayable. The 360 version looks and plays fine.
Capcom’s hack ‘n’ slash series leaps, guns blazing and sword-waving, onto Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with sparkly demos. The great news is that both versions are essentially identical. Both versions look, sound and play superbly.
The PS3 has a weensy edge in graphics thanks to some noticeable texture tizzing on the 360.
The 360 benefits from controller vibration (we don’t have DualShock 3 in the UK yet) and, disagreeably, a significantly lower price tag. As of 9 Feburary 2008, Games Tracker listed the 360 version at £28.99 and the PS3 at £34.99. (The price links in the previous sentence will take you to the current best UK price for Devil May Cry 4.)
Slimm Says
Difficult to call. For some intangible reason the PS3 version feels better but, at this time, it is £6 more expensive. I’m going to ignore the price and go with my gut (and when you’ve got a gut the size of mine, you listen to it) and say that, while there’s essentially nothing in it, the PS3 version is better.
This is one where you’d only see the difference if you played one right after the other but you’d always be dissatisfied with the audio on one. This is a comparison of the two Turok demos recently released on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Which comes out best?
The first thing that strikes you about this demo is that it is much better than the preview and developer walk-through videos made it appear. It plays very nicely and feels like significant thought and polish have gone into the product. There was never a moment in the demo where I thought the game cheated me and frequently appreciated the little touches that guide you through. (For example, if you walk in the wrong direction for a few seconds, a normally-absent objective marker discreetly appears on the screen.)
In content and gameplay, the two demos are identical.
In graphics, well, the 360 comes out on top though it doesn’t get off to a good start. The logos on the 360 version look worse than the logos on the PlayStation 3. Unfortunately for the PS3, that’s the only time it triumphs.
Once into the game, the 360 is helped by it’s naturally brighter HDMI image and that makes navigating the dark and dingy caves a breeze. In fact, on 360, they’re not really dark at all. On the PS3 on the same TV and HDMI connection, you can hardly see where you are going and are navigating by the lights of fallen soldiers and previous cave visitors which is much more atmospheric. Once outside the caves you can get a better handle on the quality of the graphics and I felt that the 360 version was definitely more detailed. For instance, I looked at the grass as you come out of the cave and the 360 looked better. Same with cave walls, dinosaur skin and the various dudes.
A PS3 owner won’t feel that the graphics are bad, though. Both versions run nice and smoothly with no stuttering or frame-rate problems of any kind.
An area where the PS3 owner will feel distinctly underwhelmed is the audio. The guns and dinosaurs have absolutely no oomph on the PS3. My first thought was that perhaps the demo was only in stereo or ProLogic II but there were sound effects coming from all the surround speakers. It’s so poor that you can’t really hear if your shotgun has fired or not! The same sound effects on 360 made clear use of the subwoofer and, though the audio for the guns is still only average, they have much more punch and are nice and distinct.
Slimm Says
While both demos are better than expected, the Xbox 360 version clearly comes out on top.
What? Twice in one week? First GripShift, now Burnout: Paradise both give PlayStation 3 owners something to brag about. Burnout: Paradise is fast, smooth, crisp and delivers a sensational sense of speed on PlayStation 3. It doesn’t quite manage any of those things on Xbox 360.
Just released this week on Xbox Live Arcade is GripShift, a 3D nearly-great puzzle driving racing game which first saw life on Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) and then as a rather good downloadable game on the PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Network.
In a major surprise, the Xbox 360 version looks significantly worse, the cars feel a lot slower and less fun and the handling (the most significant bone of contention in the PS3 version I purchased) has been tweaked and made even worse. Now, the graphical dumbing down is due to the Xbox Live Arcade insisting on smaller downloads (GripShift is just under 150Mb while the PSN version comes in at just over twice that). That said, the 360 does feature anti-aliasing which the PSN version does not.
The smaller size does not explain why the feel of the game has become so dull. There’s no sense of speed and it’s not just that the two cars in the demo are slow. I tried PSN GripShift with the same car and flew around. Now what should be good news is that the handling has been tweaked. GripShift is a game that really requires considerable accuracy, much more so than a traditional racing game, but it’s controls kept taking you by surprise. Unfortunately, the tweaked 360 controls feel even more unpredictable.
GripShift’s creators Sidhe Interactive should take a lesson from the similarly themed and considerably better TrackMania franchise from Nadeo. Nadeo provided consistent, convincing handling after their original game and it makes playing TrackMania Sunrise onwards so much more fun.
However, as far as Xbox 360 versus PlayStation 3 goes, the PS3 version is much better.
versus
MX vs ATV: Untamed continues a nine-year heritage of offroad racing games from Rainbow Studios that started with Motocross Madness, continued into ATV Off-Road Fury and into MX Unleashed and MX vs ATV Unleashed. Now we have the next instalment MX vs ATV: Untamed.
Despite being very much a B-class franchise and never given the marketing push of the big racing titles, all the previous games made by Rainbow Studios have featured extremely responsive and consistent driving (or riding, as appropriate) controls, decent rider animation and plenty to do. They have also frequently featured fiddly-at-best stunt controls.
While MX vs ATV: Untamed will be released on Nintendo DS (NDS), Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Portable (PSP) and PlayStation 2 (PS2), we have a playable demo for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 available for download.
Things start really, really well with a superb opening movie that is just the right length and sees our offroad vehicles emerging or being birthed from the ground that they will make their own in the game. The look of the video is highly reminiscent of playing PlayStation 3’s flagship off-road racer Motorstorm.
Half Empty
When you initiate one of the four demo events available, the game places you in a freestyle stadium with your selected vehicle so you can play around while you wait for the game to load. It is here that the absolute horror of the graphics strikes you. This is a Nintendo Wii or PlayStation 2 game that happens to run on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. On PlayStation 3 it doesn’t even appear to run at an HD resolution. Perhaps it’s just a low memory environment because, after all, it’s loading the real graphics now? No.
This is one of the ugliest games to be publicly released since F.E.A.R. on the PlayStation 3.
This is one of the ugliest games to be publicly released since F.E.A.R. on the PlayStation 3. I’m coming to this game while playing Colin McRae: Dirt (PS3). I’ve played and completed Motorstorm (PS3). You wouldn’t believe that this game is running on the same system. On Xbox 360 it looks bland, featureless and badly textured but it does appear to run in 720p. On PS3, it also appears to be running in a significantly lower resolution and without anti-aliasing, to boot. This is reflected in a download size that is 200MB smaller than the 360 demo despite identical gameplay content.
Yes, the thumbnail looks good but look at the full-size version and note the bland, lifeless textures and lack of grass, roadside objects or convincing shrubbery. This is the most scenery packed screenshot I could find. The game proves to be largely empty.
While I’m moaning, the PlayStation 3 demo doesn’t even feature multi-channel surround sound.
Half Full
However, both versions run smoothly (though not Gran Turismo 5 Prologue or Forza Motorsport 2 smooth) and quickly and there are some nice details. Both spectators will dodge out of the way if you drive toward them. Trees shower you with leaves if you smash into them. The water looks great (though your interaction with it is, as is the case in all racing videogames to date, completely unconvincing and the car simply throws up white translucent dust; haven’t any game developers ever seen a rally car go through a ford?). The vehicles are quite nicely modelled and look good in the pre-race flyby. The American Eagle and Serpent monster trucks look brilliant (from a design viewpoint, not graphically). The draw distance is forever. But then, it doesn’t appear to be drawing that many things.
may just rescue itself with game modes and controls
Fortunately, MX vs ATV: Untamed may just rescue itself with game modes and controls.The controls continue the tradition of being extremely responsive, accurate and consistent. However, they also continue the tradition of being highly awkward for executing stunts.
When will game developers realise that pressing both right (or left) shoulder buttons at the same time (on either 360 or PS3) is essentially impossible as we tend to use our ‘trigger’ finger for the lower button. Formula 1 Championship Edition also had the same design error where the same finger was used to both look back and accelerate. Now, if only we could grow a fifth finger between the thumb and ‘trigger’ finger! We could call it a bumper finger.
There is also a preview of a significant career mode that looks just like the ones in the brilliant Rallisport Challenge 2 (which, incidentally, looks better graphically than this). There are also the multiple vehicle types and race types inherent to the series. Four of them are available to play in the demo but there are several more.
It is impossible to say from the demo how well the AI will stack up as it provides no competition at all on the Easy setting that most of the events seem to be locked to.
Slimm Says
This is notably ugly, especially on PlayStation 3, but the game controls well, runs fast and smooth and offers plenty to do. I think the lack of competition is the problem here. THQ clearly don’t see (or, perhaps more accurately, want to pay for) this franchise as taking on the big boys of Colin McRae and Motorstorm and, with that unambitious and defeatist outlook, the series will never get the spit and polish and love that would take it to the premier league. It might sell well enough but it will never have a place in our hearts.
Codemasters have released a PlayStation 3 demo for their off-road racing game DiRT.
The first thing that hits you is the size:
Either Codies techies have recently learned how to zip files or the PS3 has significantly lower quality something somewhere. The question is: does it make any serious difference?
For me, the PS3 didn’t feel quite as sharp visually as either Xbox 360 or PC but it does feel much smoother and more consistent.
Where this really factors in is in control. For me, the PC demo simply could not be setup satisfactorily with a gamepad. No matter what setup options I used, the gamepad was always far too sensitive.
Both the 360 and PS3 demos instantly feel fine. The 360 gets plus marks for rumble and terrific triggers but the PS3’s much lighter controller and no rumble makes for a far less fatiguing experience (this applies to all 360 / PS3 control comparisons). The general smoothness of the PS3 demo also means that you feel more in control and that minute adjustments can be consistently applied with effects that can be consistently anticipated.
The accuracy of the PS3 controls does highlight what is probably the biggest problem with DiRT as a game: the apparent simplicity of the driving model. DiRT is not as satisfying to drive around in as Forza Motorsport 2 on the 360 or Motorstorm or Gran Turismo HD Concept 2.0 on the PS3. Those games feel like you’re driving the vehicle depicted while DiRT feels a little more like you’re moving the camera. Well, that’s being a bit harsher than I meant. While it’s certainly not as satisfying a driving experience, it is consistent and eminently playable.
Slimm Says
For me, the PS3 demo just comes out on top thanks to its smoother feel and accurate and consistent controls.
On all the demos, I really miss Nicky Grist.
