Crysis 2 does not hit shelves until Tuesday, but the console comparison war is already well underway. Side by side screenshots of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Crytek’s shooter are spreading across forums and gaming sites this weekend, and players on both sides are poring over every pixel for signs that one version comes out ahead.
Games Aktuell And GamingBolt Line Up The Shots
The latest set comes from the German site Games Aktuell, whose high resolution PS3 and 360 comparison has been doing the rounds on N4G. It follows a three way gallery that GamingBolt put together this week, which lines up PS3, Xbox 360 and PC shots at 1080p. The differences that jump out are subtle rather than dramatic. Viewers have pointed to small variations in color and lighting, with at least one blogger describing the PS3 shots as darker with nicer looking water and the 360 images as brighter, with a greener and browner palette.
We would treat all of this with care. Static screenshots tell you nothing about frame rate, and small differences in time of day, camera angle, image compression and capture equipment can easily make two identical versions look different. Where the images originally came from, and which build of the game they show, is not always clear either. A proper verdict will need careful technical analysis of the retail release, and that cannot happen until the game is actually out.
A Rough Week For Crysis 2 On PS3
The reason everyone is looking so hard is the week Crysis 2 has had on PS3. Sony’s console finally got its multiplayer demo earlier this week, weeks after Xbox 360 owners, and executive producer Nathan Camarillo used the occasion to challenge anyone to find a meaningful difference between the two console versions. Within a day, EA announced it was closing the PS3 demo early to fix server connection delays, leaving PS3 owners without a playable sample just as reports claiming the PS3 version runs at a lower resolution were picking up steam.
Crytek has been insisting on parity for a long time. Chief executive Cevat Yerli said back in 2009 that the two console versions would be hard to tell apart, and last year development lead Carl Jones went further, saying the team was getting slightly more performance from the PS3 than from the 360 at that stage of development.
Crysis 2 is the first game in the series built for consoles from the start, running on CryEngine 3 and moving the action from the jungle island of the original to a battered New York City, where players wear the upgraded Nanosuit 2. EA publishes the game on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, with the North American release set for March 22. Once retail copies are in players’ hands, the screenshot debate will finally have some solid ground to stand on.