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[Enter the Dragon Punch]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-face-off

written by our very own dark10x, as always!

Rise of the Tomb Raider Xbox 360 vs Xbox One Graphics Comparison
Rise of the Tomb Raider Xbox 360 vs Xbox One Frame-Rate Test
The Cutting-Edge Tech of Rise of the Tomb Raider

First off, the most obvious difference comes from image quality. Xbox 360 renders the game at 1280x720 with a pass of FXAA producing results in line with the last game on the same console - a world apart from the most richly detailed 1080p Xbox One title. Beyond that, it would appear that the colour depth has been reduced resulting in noticeable color banding in numerous scenes. Also, outside of a few unique instances, we're looking at very low levels of texture filtering.

Curiously, while image quality is worse on the whole, there are some instances where component elements compare favourably against Xbox One. We mentioned previously that Xbox One exhibits some strange pixelated artefacts in a number of scenes along with plenty of shimmering. With less complex materials in play, the Xbox 360 version actually comes out ahead in these select instances. Don't mistake that for superiority though, as the 1080p presentation on Xbox One is a huge step up overall.

Cut-scenes on Xbox 360 will look familiar to anyone that has played the game on Xbox One - all of the main cinematics are now pre-recorded videos based on captures from the current-gen version, as opposed to the pristine real-time rendering we have on the full-fat version. With the Xbox 360 version weighing in at a mere 6.23GB in its entirety, this basically means that the video sequences have little bandwidth available, meaning that video quality is very murky, with visible artefacting. We would have been interested in seeing these scenes rendered in real-time on 360 just to see what could be achieved.

Shadows are pared back with a lower resolution implementation. Shadow maps are already relatively low resolution on Xbox One but on 360, we're often looking at shadow resolution reduced by upwards of 50 per cent. The sample distribution method used on Xbox One is also absent, resulting in more obvious transition points along the shadow cascade. Ambient occlusion is now replaced with a more basic SSAO effect instead of the broad temporal in-house solution used on Xbox One.

Ultimately, what we have here is one of the best down-ports we've seen in a while. Transitioning a game from a modern platform to less powerful hardware is not a trivial task. The sheer number of technical features included in the Xbox One version seems to suggest that Crystal Dynamics went all-in from a visual perspective during its creation - it does not feel as if its vision for the game was limited by the need to release the game on Xbox 360.

tl;dr
- native 720p
- fxaa
- 360 has less shimmering thanks to less materials
- shadow resolution is less than half of xbone
- no tessellation
- no tressfx
- pretty stable 30fps, a lot more drops than the xbone, but also occasionally performs slightly better thanks to a much lower load to deal with
- has a lower quality SSAO solution
- low quality texture filtering
- input lag on 360 is noticeably better than xbox one
- completely serviceable version of the game

It's a great port. Xbox One is better thanks to the 1080p and slightly more stable frame-rate, but the 360 version is more than serviceable.

I'm seriously impressed that this is a better technical achievement on the 360 than games developed with the 360 in mind from the get go.

Nixxes da gawd.

 

[Persona7]

I was thinking of getting this since I don't have an Xbox One. I guess I will now because it is a good effort.

 

[Timu]

I'll still get it for either X1, PS4 or PC but it's nice that the 360 version holds up pretty well which is awesome for a 10 year old console.

 

[Paz]

Need to highlight the X360 version being tons better on input latency, that is a legitimate reason to go 360 over X1 for this based on how bad it looked in the comparison videos.

I don't understand how developers can't feel this stuff with their own game, hope the X1 version is patched before I have to make a call on which version to get (Busy with Starcraft LOTV atm).

 

[dark10x]

It's an amazing ports, all things considered. It really feels like a native 360 game just like Tomb Raider 2013. Xbox One version is obviously much more impressive technically, but the game still looks fantastic for the ol' 360.

 

[Gen X]

Colour me surprised. I had no idea this was getting a 360 release and really thought MS would be pushing this to latecomers as a reason to get an Xbone. I wonder if it will get a PS3 release next year?

 

[Backfoggen]

Wow input lag better on 360? Glad I didn't get this on release.

 

[Biggzy]

The team at Nixxes Software did a really good job with the 360 port.

 

[flipswitch]

Did they drop PBR from the 360 version?

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

 

[dark10x]

Colour me surprised. I had no idea this was getting a 360 release and really thought MS would be pushing this to latecomers as a reason to get an Xbone. I wonder if it will get a PS3 release next year?

Well, Nixxes is probably going to port the game to PC and PS4 so it seems like it would be a bit of a waste to bother with PS3 in 2016. I suspect that it was made for 360 due, in part, to the exclusivity agreements. Basically helping to get the game into more hands.

TR2013 was great on PS3, though, so I bet this game would run similarly or better than the 360 version.

 

[nOoblet16]

Although I have to say that I can't believe a game released in 2015 has this much shader aliasing and shimmering. I was under the impression that by now most developers realised the strengths and weakness of post process AA (especially when you use a cheap variation like this game) and build their assets around it so as to avoid the issue in the first place. The trees in particular not only cause shimmering but they go out of their way to do it.

 

[leng jai]

I had a funny feeling the input lag would be better on 360. How unfortunate.

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

Well, Nixxes is probably going to port the game to PC and PS4 so it seems like it would be a bit of a waste to bother with PS3 in 2016. I suspect that it was made for 360 due, in part, to the exclusivity agreements. Basically helping to get the game into more hands.

TR2013 was great on PS3, though, so I bet this game would run similarly or better than the 360 version.

I have no doubt in my mind Nixxes will do the ports. They're Square's go-to guys... Wish more publishers would go for them, but it seems like they have some sort of deal with CD and Square?

 

[hawk2025]

The input lag being better seriously makes me want to buy this version.

The joy from the tight controls during combat of TR2013 is gone from the Xbox One version. On the situations where stealth isn't viable, combat is such a disappointment. Thankfully, combat really isn't very prevalent in the 60% of the game I've played so far.

 

[EBE]

huh, guess i got used to the input lag during my brief time with the game (been playing too much Halo 5 to get sucked into this)
then again i got used to Perfect Dark Zero and i knew from my first seconds with that game that it had garbage input lag

nice port. game looks great on Xbox One

 

[Shin-chan]

Well, Nixxes is probably going to port the game to PC and PS4 so it seems like it would be a bit of a waste to bother with PS3 in 2016. I suspect that it was made for 360 due, in part, to the exclusivity agreements. Basically helping to get the game into more hands.

TR2013 was great on PS3, though, so I bet this game would run similarly or better than the 360 version.

I hope it's Nixxes doing those ports because they're far better with CDs own code than CD themselves apparently.

 

[DieH@rd]

Nixxes strikes again.

 

[Iced Arcade]

that's a pretty decent port for sure considering how great looking the X1 version is.

 

[Percy]

I find myself considering giving this a rental on 360 next weekend. Shouldn't take too long to play through I'm guessing.

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

I find myself considering giving this a rental on 360 next weekend. Shouldn't take too long to play through I'm guessing.

Main story runs about 12 Hours

 

[dark10x]

Did they drop PBR from the 360 version?

Yeah. Materials definitely look worse for wear. Not bad, though.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Nixxes da based god.

If there was no Xbox One version to compare with, if this game had launched a few years ago last gen, you would not know that it was a downport.

 

[professor denim]

I'll be getting this until the ps4 version arrives. Love the 360

 

[Javin98]

Great article as usual, dark. Honestly, with the increasing number of sub HD titles for the last gen consoles by the end of the generation, I expected this to be sub HD too. Native 720p is a bit of a surprise and it still looks decent for a 360 game. Like you said, dark, Nixxes really paid attention to this downport. Also, from the video, it seems like specular textures from wetness are pared back too. The bit about AF being better for one scene on 360 is hilarious. So the XB1 has missing AF as well. XD

 

[Inuhanyou]

I hope it's Nixxes doing those ports because they're far better with CDs own code than CD themselves apparently.

That aint nothing new. They did a better job in general on a PS3 port of 2013 than CD did on their own version of the original game, which was the lead platform BTW.

PC and PS4 also are notably superior to the XB1 version respectively.

I don't want to throw shade at CD cause they obviously know how to make good games, but Nixxes is just better at optimization period, and i wish more devs had that kind of thing in mind when developing the games too

 

[23qwerty]

what? I've never seen any sort of input lag like either of those on any game. that's some bizarre shit

oh 25% speed, well that's misleading as hell when you ain't paying enough attention

 

[Mechazawa]

Nixxes.

Can't wait for them to do big shit with Mankind Divided PC.

 

[Shin-chan]

That aint nothing new. They did a better job in general on a PS3 port of 2013 than CD did on their own version of the original game, which was the lead platform BTW.

PC and PS4 also are notably superior to the XB1 version respectively.

I don't want to throw shade at CD cause they obviously know how to make good games, but Nixxes is just better at optimization period, and i wish more devs had that kind of thing in mind when developing the games too

True, but Nixxes basically only has to care about optimisation whereas CD (and other devs) have to actually build the game.

It would be nice if there was enough money and manpower in the world for every game to go through a Nixxes-like studio before releasing though. Imagine a world where nearly every game ran well...

 

[Inuhanyou]

True, but Nixxes basically only has to care about optimisation whereas CD (and other devs) have to actually build the game.

It would be nice if there was enough money and manpower in the world for every game to go through a Nixxes-like studio before releasing though. Imagine a world where nearly every game ran well...

Day one patches would be a thing of the past...(hopefully?)

Anyway, i hope it is true that they are working on the PS4 and PC ports.

 

[Kezen]

Anyway, i hope it is true that they are working on the PS4 and PC ports.

So do I.
But something tells me they are too busy with Deus Ex Mankind Divided. DX12 must not require much more ressources than DX11.

 

[dark10x]

Man, some people already taking this article to be a slight against Xbox One (not here). I do not understand.

 

[zsynqx]

Man, some people already taking this article to be a slight against Xbox One (not here). I do not understand.

Everything has to have a hidden agenda for some people.

Great article as usual btw.

 

[Asd202]

Wizards.

 

[Bornstellar]

Man, some people already taking this article to be a slight against Xbox One (not here). I do not understand.

"But you already knew that... I mean, how couldn't you?"

 

[TheYanger]

what? I've never seen any sort of input lag like either of those on any game. that's some bizarre shit

oh 25% speed, well that's misleading as hell when you ain't paying enough attention

You can definitely tell it's there, but yeah at real speeds it's not THAT noticeable. The notion some people have that the game is some unplayable mess is ridiculous, never had any trouble pulling off headshots at any point in the game.

 

[NeoRaider]

It's visible that they put so much effort in it, and it's very rare today when we have some easy cash grab old-gen ports of current-gen games.

Great job Nixxes! I really hope that they are working on PC version with CD.

 

[NBtoaster]

Might be one of the best looking 360 games. Shadows are a little chunky though.

 

[toddhunter]

Man, some people already taking this article to be a slight against Xbox One (not here). I do not understand.

I would have thought:

Don't mistake that for superiority though, as the 1080p presentation on Xbox One is a huge step up overall.

Would have been the little nugget causing the fun...

 

[VGA222]

It seems like a cross gen game done right. Black Ops 3 on the other hand...

 

[gogogow]

what? I've never seen any sort of input lag like either of those on any game. that's some bizarre shit

oh 25% speed, well that's misleading as hell when you ain't paying enough attention

GTAV on PS4.

 

[CyberChulo]

Finally someone highlights the input lag. I was wondering why everyone in the main thread wasn't talking about this and how great their experience was. Once combat begins, aiming was so horribly laggy that I almost stopped playing it and wanted to wait for the PC or PS4 version instead. But the story gripped me and that's what is pushing me forward through this lag infested game.

 

[RyudBoy]

There's one area late in the game that runs like poo on XB1, but there's a whole lot going on. I bet the 360 version runs better there, but of course with scaled back effects. Anyway, the input lag is really disappointing. I almost want to try the 360 version now. Anyone who doesn't own an XB1 and only have a 360 should definitely buy the game (or rent it). Looks like a fantastic port, all things considered.

I'll be playing this @ 1440p in a few months.

 

[leng jai]

Finally someone highlights the input lag. I was wondering why everyone in the main thread wasn't talking about this and how great their experience was. Once combat begins, aiming was so horribly laggy that I almost stopped playing it and wanted to wait for the PC or PS4 version instead. But the story gripped me and that's what is pushing me forward through this lag infested game.

It's been mentioned many times in the main thread.

 

[Conduit]

Man, some people already taking this article to be a slight against Xbox One (not here). I do not understand.

You're X360 biased. Hahahaha!

 

[Hero of Legend]

I'm blown by MS's dedication to 360 downports, with Forza Horizon 2 by Sumo being outstanding.

Arguably my biggest surprise from them nowadays.

 

[EvB]

So which is it?

it does not feel as if its vision for the game was limited by the need to release the game on Xbox 360.

despite the improved presentation, the gameplay still feels like something designed for the last-gen era

 

[TheYanger]

So which is it?

The first one is talking about the scope and graphical effects and stuff, the second one is talking about bullshit nonsense that doesn't make sense (or could be applied to every game that isn't VR or something).

 

[T.O.P]

I'm getting my game tomorrow from Amazon but i'm now tempted to see if a patch will be release to fix this

 

[trixx]

wow this is one of the best ports so far. Despite the long list downgrades it still looks really impressive, especially since in some other aspects it appears to be better.
less input lag is pretty big deal.