Mikey Jr.
Member
A picture is worth a thousand words.
In the second stage of the game when you go into a house, theres a chair. Zoom into the chair leg.
The chair leg has better textures on the PC than the PS4 version.
Come on bro
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Review Thread: Tomb Raider Definitive Edition
- Thread starter Larson Conway
- Start date
In the second stage of the game when you go into a house, theres a chair. Zoom into the chair leg.
The chair leg has better textures on the PC than the PS4 version.
Yeah, it's just trolling.
A few feet down the same path a ugly green moss texture is replaced by a really good looking hi-res stone, mud, and grass texture in the definitive version. Its like that in a lot of places.
There's bound to be areas where they messed it up, like the stretched texture above.
panda-zebra
Member
That code just gave me £5 off digipack version for £35.00, cheers.
I, too, was surprised that a remastered game with enhanced visuals had enhanced visuals when compared to the original version of the game that did not feature enhanced visuals. Enhanced visuals.
To be serious, I'm duly impressed that they were able to produce a version of the game that generally matches or exceeds the PC version on comparatively weaker hardware, but in general, this does not make for a particularly instructive comparison.
Green Yoshi
Member
I already see the whining if GTA V for PC/PS4/XBO is a fullprice-game...
dark_prinny
Banned
Thanks for the intel
. I'm not really that fussed about playing this so even £35 is too much. A part of me wants new a PS4 game but a part of me knows I already have enough games to play. Only really interested to check out the graphics.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
It is if you are going to stand and look at a tree all day. If not then it doesn't mean particularly much at all.
One year ago. Think about it. They are getting an optimized game that is NOT significantly superior to the PC version one whole year later. Don't feel like an idiot for that. You'll probably feel like an idiot if you brought it again (the definitive edition) at full price while you got the PC version.
As made clear from another thread, the definitive edition has features that are not in the original (the swaying trees is good) and at the same time, the PC version has features that are not in the definitive edition (tessellation, maxed out features, etc). So in the end, everything should be based on your playing condition, i.e. if you have an awesome PC rig with a solid sound system and monitor/screen then you shouldn't bother with this definitive edition, especially in consideration of the price. However, if your rig is so-so, and you're playing the game like a marginally better xbox360 game then perhaps you should consider the definitive edition.
Wait... I thought this was superior to the PC version.
Not if you don't like the wide-eyed, botox-injected fucked-up Lara face in the Definitive Edition.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
You want an objectively measurable "Definitive Edition" in tech and art? You lose. Neither is definitive. PC has tech (eg: tessellation, possibly more advanced SSAO, TressFX, DX11 effects) not present or diminished in the PS4/XONE build, and can exceed 1080p@60fps. In the same breath, the PS4/XONE build has denser environment assets (see: foliage), prop physics (see again: foliage), a subsurface light scattering shader on Lara's skin, improved particle effects, and who knows what else. PC build has tech and art not in the console build. Console build has tech and art not in the PC build. The pissing contest is ridiculous.
What is very impressive is that both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 build retain many of the effects present in the high/ultra PC build with the addition of more effects that would require further processing/rendering requirements, all the while running at native 1080p and, if you're on PS4, dancing close to 60fps.
That the teams (Nixxis and United Front) have accomplished impressive tech and art assets, based on a last generation game yet still visually impressive enough to surprise people, on launch systems only a smidge over two months old, is an accomplishment they should be proud of.
If there's going to be souped up last generation ports, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition at the very least sounds like the right way to do it.
What is very impressive is that both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 build retain many of the effects present in the high/ultra PC build with the addition of more effects that would require further processing/rendering requirements, all the while running at native 1080p and, if you're on PS4, dancing close to 60fps.
That the teams (Nixxis and United Front) have accomplished impressive tech and art assets, based on a last generation game yet still visually impressive enough to surprise people, on launch systems only a smidge over two months old, is an accomplishment they should be proud of.
If there's going to be souped up last generation ports, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition at the very least sounds like the right way to do it.
legacyzero
Banned
Kinda makes me pissed that I bought the PC version. What a shitty feeling this is.
It's nothing spectacular but it certainly works for the game. I didn't mind it at all, at the same time I didn't read much into it either. Only thing I cared about was getting Predator Lara to Mathias.
Agree with Jim Sterling on all points, Tomb Raider 2013 is the essence of a 3/5 game. The visuals are technically accomplished, but the rest of it is tolerable and not much else. I paid about $15 for the PC version and I'd have a hard time advocating anyone to buy it for much more than that.
It does fill a gap in the PS4/Xbone libraries, but that's kind of negated by the fact that it's SIXTY FUCKING DOLLARS.
It does fill a gap in the PS4/Xbone libraries, but that's kind of negated by the fact that it's SIXTY FUCKING DOLLARS.
Reviewers won't listen. Read every single Halo 3 ODST review. Almost every review mentioned price. After a time, after huge price drops, these reviews mean nothing. If a reviewer mixes the value into their score, I tend to ignore their conclusions.
vpance
Member
I think it says more about how PCs are so inefficiently utilized. But yeah, closed box efficiency is real despite the naysayers.
There's a benchmarking review somewhere that shows how much hotter some Southern Islands cards can get running Furmark vs Crysis 2 on max settings. That's all the CUs being stressed unlike your average DX11 game and shows how much headroom there really is. I think its fair to assume we could be seeing 30-50% more effective utilization out of these console GPUs.
DirgeExtinction
Member
But it's not.
And considering a lot of people were saying these new consoles couldn't match high end PCs in terms of graphics, this is indeed an amazing accomplishment.
Betta Lines
Member
I don't understand. My comment was aimed at Canis lupus, who said that he didn't expect to be able to say that the console version of something could look better than a PC version of something. I was pointing out that if the PC version was given the relevant updates, then that gif would look the same on both. (And naturally, with a decent PC you'd be able to run it at higher quality and a higher framerate).
This an enhanced PC version running on consoles which are based on PC architecture. They are not achieving anything amazing - they're just doing what you'd expect, which is running a PC game at fairly decent quality settings at 1080p.
There is nothing amazing about this.
SlowRevolution
Member
Are some people really complaining about 3/5 for Tomb Raider? Yeah it's prettier than the last-gen versions, but those were like the definition of a 3/5 game.
As if its not bad enough that people insist on pronouncing her name as Laura that they are writing it like it too. HER NAME IS LARA. Its not like its a new franchise or anything you have only had like 10 years to get it right
Pretty much.
Kamina
Golden Boy
But it should only influence it slightly, going from 5/5 (10/10 or 9/10) to 3/5 (6/10) for a noticeably better version just because the price is wrong is not ok in my eyes.
I agree completely, but it is fact that a lot of people immediately loose interest if a game was rated too low. Sometimes this even happens subconsciously.
No, the complaining is about price-points influencing game ratings, in this case lowering the score from 5/5 to 3/5 for a better version of a game mainly because it is priced like a new tile.
Word!
Horsemama1956
Member
Considering it looks like some missing effects and lower res textures, I would imagine that happens throughout the game world. Unless you need a 10 hour gif showing such?
VFX_Veteran
Banned
I wouldn't go that far..
The PC version uses tessellation - which is the hallmark of next-gen features. None of the next-gen console games have used tessellation because it's so taxing on the GPU. I believe they just used that extra horsepower to animate some trees, throw in some bloom and redo the models. Not something you can say that the PC can't do. I personally prefer the tessellation though.. as that's a much better brute force method showing the true power of a GPU.
Closer to 20 years, now. First game came out in 1996.
What did Killzone Shadow Fall do, because when I looked at tessellation on and off screenshots and videos for engine and then at Killzone, the results looked the same to me.
And then there is Gran Turismo 6 which alleges to use tessellation.
It's ok given how little the franchise is related to what's come before at this point, they might as well call her Laura now.
But... that's not the point Jim made. At all.
You agree with the score, then, but not his points?
I feel old.
Sword Of Doom
Member
Yes stunning is the right word. The audio is great too. Not sure if they improved the audio but it sounds phenomenal with a pair of good headsets
F0rneus
Tears in the rain
MHWilliams
Member
Review written. Scheduled for embargo like many others.
The embargo was dropped on Friday, according to Square Enix. I'd check your email. That's why my review went up yesterday.
You're giving tessellation too much credit, it's not the hallmark and tessellation on characters is sometimes problematic to animate properly, Tomb Raider used tessellation for Lara (not for other NPCs) and I am not sure if the environments were tessellated at all. They have added more geometry to the environment and Lara (when compared to the untessellated version) in the definite version.
Also COD Ghosts uses tessellation on consoles for environments and characters.
WordsintheWater
Member
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Isn't the PC screenshot from a direct feed picture of that version and the PS4 screenshot from that crappy quality IGN video? If it is that comparison isn't valid really.
perineumlick
Member
I'm playing through it now on PS4. You can keep the tessellated breasts; the extra particle/wind effects, animated foliage, better models, improved lighting, etc., have gone a long way towards enhancing the immersion. It just looks better overall; there's no denying it.
BigTnaples
Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Boom. I love tessellation, but in TR it did not make as much of a difference as all the Definitive Edition additions. In fact, it is not even close.
NullPointer
Member
Man, this has been confusing to get a handle on from the outside. So I guess nobody ever said that TR would be locked 60fps on PS4 but it sounded like it was going to 60fps the great majority of the time, but with dips. But now its described as 'dancing close to 60fps' which makes me think it only ever reaches 60fps on occasion.
Haha, which is it? And why is the Digital Foundry team the only one out there that seem to provide definitive answers on this stuff? Trying to glean it from previews and early impressions and reviews seems nearly impossible for this game.
And considering how many games we've had on the new consoles, many claiming to be 60fps, and many not actually holding to that promise very well, I figure we'll have even more disparate poetic descriptions for the games to come.
Relaxed Muscle
Member
The fight is lost, Ragnarok. We turn now to indies to get the formula right and understand quality gameplay
I have yet to see an indie game using the TR formula. It was a quite unique series, now is a (bad) Uncharted clone.
If you pay full price for any PC game youre doing it wrong.
People seem to neglect any sort of optimization that might have happened in order to get these things running. I mean, development did happen on a new version of the game that the pc didnt get.
But the development team never claimed 60fps. They actually said 30fps is the target. But unlocking the framerates on both versions have resulted in greater than 30fps even though 30fps was their target. We're getting more than most people expected when they announced that the unlocked framerates were above 30, especially on PS4 where it gets closer to 60. I really wouldn't go in expecting a 60fps game here.
brandonh83
Banned
I'm toward the end, and in my experience it seems to be locked at 60fps when you're in caverns and tight corridors and such; so generally within interiors. When you're outside it does drop, but it also largely depends on what the camera is seeing. You can be outside, face a rock wall and it will be 60fps for example, but then when you turn around and there's a lot of shrubbery and trees and other things it drops.
It's confusing to get a handle on because it is unlocked. It literally depends on where you are, what information the game is showing, etc.
dragonbane
Member
I think you need specific tools in order to do a proper framerate analysis for console games. That's why only DF mostly does it. Until then you will just hear a lot of personal impressions, which may vary a lot.