Last week, EA announced that a remastered version of the original Crysis will be hitting the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as a downloadable title. News of this both surprised and impressed many gamers, as Crysis has had a notorious reputation for bringing even the strongest of PCs to their knees.
Unlike this year’s Crysis 2, which was built on the console-friendly CryEngine 3, the original game was never meant to be played on consoles, which has led to much discussion about how such a graphically impressive game will run on half-decade old hardware. We’ve compiled official screens and stills released from EA, and matched them head to head against the original PC version, in order to see if the remastered version can measure up.
Check after the jump to see how it fares.
It’s worth noting that while the game releases in October, the screens may have been from a previous build, meaning that many visual elements may have changed. Some of the images have also been taken from the announcement trailer, which means that while the video was in high definition, there may be some resolution and detail issues. All of the screens have been taken from the Xbox 360 version, and compared against the PC version running with all settings set to maximum.
Xbox 360:
PC:
Right away, there are two big things to notice here. Firstly, many readers will be pointing out that the PC shot is in a completely different location, but if you look closely, it is in the exact spot as the Xbox 360 screen. The amount of foliage in the console version has been drastically reduced, from the amount of grass on the ground, to the shrubs and palm trees.
The second big difference is the Xbox 360′s color palette, and its liberal use of blue shades. The more vibrant color palette really stands out from the original’s more earthy, grittier visuals, giving it a slightly more stylized, less natural look.
Xbox 360:
PC:
Again, a lot more blue here. Perhaps the heavier use of cool blue colors is a creative decision, as these screens are from the same level; Exodus, where players retreat from a massive ice dome. This portion of the level seems to remain more intact, although the particle effects (particularly the explosions) seem to be less dense on the Xbox 360 version.
Xbox 360:
PC:
In this screen, the Xbox 360 version actually looks very nice, and dare I say it, a bit more visually attractive than its PC counterpart. Here, the console’s more vivid and high contrast visuals make for a slightly crisper image. A few things of not here is that it seems like the console’s draw distance utilizes blue-tinted fog to mask far away objects, while the PC screen, shows that a more complex rendering technology is used.
Xbox 360:
PC:
This is one of the console screens that isn’t too flattering when compared to its PC predecessor. The blue fog that I mentioned earlier is back once again, covering up much of the island and ocean detail in the distance, while the heavy blue colors of the game’s palette really remove a lot of the scene’s depth. The combination of the two elements makes it almost impossible to distinguish where the ocean ends and the sky starts. The lower level of detail and lighting effects makes this one of the more obvious illustrations of the differences between versions.
Xbox 360:
PC:
When displaying character models and facial features, the Xbox 360 does surprisingly well, retaining all of the original detail and attention that made the PC version famous. I’ve always thought that the facial animation and modeling in Crysis was some of the best around, and I’m glad to see it make the transition to console virtually unscathed. In the console version however, the heavy blue shading has returned, which is starting to lead me to believe is implemented for performance reasons. In the PC screen, we can see a whole array of different colors and hues, compared to the slightly two-toned console version. The console version seems to sacrifice many small, unique light sources for a few, heavy ones in the name of performance.
Xbox 360:
PC:
Once again, the Xbox 360 screenshot comes out pretty well, although many of the textures, most notably the grass, comes out pretty muddled. There are also far fewer objects occupying the level, such as the smoldering debris on the side of the road. The PC version also cranks up the volumetric particle effects here, and combined with the more subdued color palette, creates a grittier, less sterile image than the console version. Also worth noting is that the console screen starts to show some more blue fog creeping up in the distance.
Crysis is a game that still gives most modern computers a rough time, so it is no surprise that it has been slightly modified to run on five year old console hardware. From what we’ve seen so far, the visual quality varies greatly within certain spots. While the superb facial and character models are highly detailed, the game world seems less dense, from the lessened amount of foliage to the fewer particle effects.
While it looks like the console version may only be comparable to the PC version set slightly above medium, it’s still appearing to be one of the nicer looking console games on the market. And if you can say that you can run Crysis and make it look pretty good, then you haven’t done too bad.
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