The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 demo has arrived on the PS Store today, which can mean only one thing – it’s time for a comparison.
Some had expressed concern that the PS3 version may lag significantly behind its 360 counterpart graphically. But on the evidence of the demo, the differences are comparatively small, and certainly nothing out of the ordinary.
Where the two versions differ the most is in their shading and texture definition. In the case of the former, you’ll see from our shots that the 360 version appears significantly darker - as seen here. The PS3 version, on the other hand, appears slightly more washed out - although this actually ensures objects and detail are more visible in darker situations.
For that though, the textures on the 360 version are all the sharper. Regardless of whether you’re looking at an object close up or at a distance, so long as the lighting is favourable, it’s much easier to make out specific details on objects in the 360 version.
Nor is this simply a matter of mere contrast. When the contrast levels are artificially adjusted in Photoshop to near-identical levels, more detail is still evident in the 360 shots.
That this is the case shouldn’t be at all surprising, given that these are the same differences that have been seen in Assassin’s Creed 2, among other games. And interestingly both share similar issues as well. These include noticeable aliasing at close range, such as here.
As for which is better, it’s really a matter of preference. Given how frequently you move from light to dark areas, we found the slightly brighter PS3 version to be more to our liking – but the differences really aren’t that great when you see it in motion.
But don’t just take our word for it – check out the screens below for yourself. We wish we had more, but alas, trying to line up precise shots on a live battlefield with real-time battle damage isn’t the easiest of things. We may try and take some more later, however.
USER COMMENTS
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Posts: 50
Making the PS3 version's contrast darker, actually obscures more scenery and just shows how advanced the shading and colours are in the Xbox 360 version.
My verdict: 360 version is looking better at this demo stage.
Posts: 1
Posts: 1
Sharper textures?
better lighting?
download the screens and bump the contrast up a bit,they look identical except for the crappy trees on 360.