we need a serious video comparison:
- same time of the day
- pc ultra settings
- both video at 1080p
btw the downgrade seem to be real but not tragic
That's my take on it too, but it does mean the game is missing a lot of the touches that set it off from the previous gen. The time of day is the biggest change (and honestly I don't know if the game resets the time of day when you start that mission, like GTA occasionally does, so maybe that too is intentional on Ubisoft's part) but there are others too.
It's little details like the leaves and dust blowing by at the beginning of the first clip, as Aiden walks past the alleyway, or the leaves on the sidewalk that appear to reflect light differently and have a third dimension, as opposed to the flat, muddy texture in the actual game. The trees are clearly different and react less to the wind (though the fact they respond at all is, I think, still an improvement over last-gen). At night, the rain is much more subtle, a drizzle instead of a downpour. Details like the fast drip by Aiden's head that marks an overflowing gutter or overhang are completely missing in the actual game, as is the moving light source from the train passing overhead that casts realistic, moving shadows through the train tracks above you.
And then there are the NPCs, which are a clear downgrade. The couple that hug each other at the beginning, with the woman looking back and saying "I'll be waiting for your call!" is gone. The TV reporter and cameraperson outside the theatre and the crowd waiting to get in are also gone. In both cases, they've been replaced with the same, largely mindless NPCs you've seen in every other open-world game. It's an obvious place to cut detail, since most people won't really notice and the animations are probably relatively expensive for a one-time effect, but the cuts are there nonetheless.
Anyways, still excited, even if it's not the 2012 E3 build.
