Crysis 2 has been on shelves for little more than a week, and the comparison wars are already in full swing. The latest round centers on lighting, with a set of side by side captures doing the rounds that claims the Xbox 360 version of Crytek’s shooter is missing self shadowing from certain light sources, and presents the images as proof that the 360 build cuts more corners than many players assumed.
Self shadowing describes an object casting shadows onto itself, such as the folds of a soldier’s gear or the ledges of a building darkening when a lamp or other light source hits them. In a game built around a dense, battle scarred New York, it is the kind of effect that helps sell depth and solidity, even if most players would never notice its absence in the middle of a firefight.
Why One Set Of Captures Is Not Proof
We want to be careful with this one. This is not an official breakdown, we have not seen any response from Crytek, and a single comparison can easily be thrown off by differences in camera position, game settings, loading order or simply the moment a capture was taken. It is also April 1, a day when any sensational claim deserves a second look. For now, treat it as a claim worth investigating rather than a settled verdict.
Settling the specific self shadowing question will take a more rigorous look under controlled conditions. Matching scenes frame by frame across versions is painstaking work, and lighting in particular can change depending on the time a scene is captured and how far the player has progressed.
What Launch Comparisons Have Already Found
What is already well established is that the console versions make compromises. Crytek built Crysis 2 on CryEngine 3 with consoles in mind from the outset, and the 360 version has drawn credit for how much it achieves on five year old hardware. Even so, one detailed Xbox 360 versus PC comparison found noticeably poorer textures, fewer objects in some scenes and fewer light sources on the console, along with missing advanced lighting effects such as bloom and HDR, and an upscaled image.
German magazine PC Games reached similar conclusions in a comparison of all three versions published at launch, pointing to softer detail on consoles, grainy water on the 360 and the absence of the sunbeam effects found on PC. Its overall verdict on the console port, though, was surprisingly positive.
Crysis 2 launched in late March on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, published by EA. The sequel swaps the jungle island of the original Crysis for a ruined Manhattan and puts players in the Nanosuit 2. If the lighting gap holds up under scrutiny, it will be one more entry on the list of 360 trade offs. Until a detailed technical analysis or Crytek itself weighs in, consider it unconfirmed.