Lens of Truth: Tomb Raider Underworld Head2Head Comparison

Lens of Truth goes Head2Head with Tomb Raider Underworld for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. What they uncover are some disturbing graphical problems with Xbox 360 version.

[RyuStrife]

Wow...just shocking...bad 360 coders? Maybe.

[Masta_fro]

IGN UK said the games look identical...

We all know what they wouldve said if the PS3 version had the issues.

360 owners don't just look away...you know its true.

And you know what? We should all be against it.

I think review sites should (honestly) tell us which version looks better, no matter what console it is.

If youre gonna say which version looks (even slightly) better, do it always and fairly...not just sometimes.

You either take a slice of the cake or you dont, but dont go dipping your fingers in every once in a while.

Update!
This is what ign (US) said:

"The only other multi-console distinction is the inclusion of Achievement points for the 360, which don't translate over into Trophies for the PS3, and the inclusion of upcoming downloadable content for the 360, which the PS3 won't get. While it's a shame that the two console versions won't be equal, the addition of these two features, coupled with the slightly more stable framerate, gives a mild edge to the 360 version of the game."

They gave ps3 version a 7.4...They gave the 360 version a 7.5

Yes i know, i too feel the world is more corrupt every day.

[ExLivingGhost]

lazy developers lol

[Sarcasm]

From what I've notice this generation of multiplatform titles, is the 360 usually has better anti-aliasing, sometimes runs in higher resolutions, but the PS3 usually has better bump-mapping, lighting, and shadows.

It's so inconsistent from title to title, developer to developer, and publisher to publisher.

So those 360 fans need to stop getting their panties in a bunch when the PS3 gets an "inferior" version, because it's happening both ways.

[Ju]

Maybe. But the difference in the lightning engine was never so apparent like in this comparison. I didn't see much in the images, and thought the article is written by another smart..s, but boy did the video speak for itself. Surprisingly. hm...

[PS3isGarbage]

ROFL! are you kidding me?

OH, now I'm beginning to understand your user name! you got me good! :)

[Angelitos]

Poor Xbots

Poor Xbots, with the full power of the PS3, the 360 will only be a beta tester when the game is up to 20% complete. Poor Xbots, your warranty has ran out, so when your fixme dvd player breaks on you, don't cry.

Poor Xbots

[PS3isGarbage]

pooor Nazi'm. Still no friends! :(

[RudeSole Devil]

I just finished the Xbox 360 demo and loved this game. Had a Uncharted sense of control and excellent graphics. I was going to buy this tomorrow on the Xbosx 360 because all the reviews that I read said they where identical between the PS3 and Xbox 360.Unbelievable no other web site spotted this!! I just finished reading the IGN and Gamespot reviews and not one time throughout their entire review mention anything about the clear technical advantage of the PS3 version. In fact IGN review for the PS3 and Xbox 360 where copied and pasted (identical) same for Gamespot. How can a so called professional videogame website miss these very impotent technical issues? Thank god for sites like the LensofTruth and Eurogamer providing very important technical advantages for a multiplatform owners.

[Simon_Brezhnev]

u know how them biased sites are if its one glitch in the ps3 they going to make sure you know

[ArthurLee]

If the PS3 version was missing effects, we would have known about it already. Oh well, I know now and will be getting this game for the PS3.

[Ap3theBad]

oh well.. i got it for the PC and its accually pretty awsome,but it (IMO) will never defeate the king Nathanus drakus of kingdom Uncharted.

:) Cheers to the ps3 !!

[VMAN_01]

Speaking of adventure games can't wait till Uncharted 2.

[morganfell]

Of which some playable footage was shown recently...

[SL1M DADDY]

Where? As much as I like Lara Croft, Uncharted stole nearly ever ounce of thunder the Tomb Raider series ever had for me. I have played through Uncharted more times now than I have played all of the TR's combined. It's just that good!

[morganfell]

http://www.psu.com/God-of-W...

[Close_Second]

...Uncharted satisfies my need in terms of this style of gaming. Looking forward to Uncharted 2.

TR was relevant a decade ago...but today its just like Sonic. No matter what they try and do the franchise just seems stale.

[VMAN_01]

Wow its really strange that reviewers like IGN or Gamespot cannot pick out big things like dyanamic shadows etc but can pick out small things in other multiplatform titles such as GTA IV, sports games etc. Its really strange that the 360 version doesn't have dyanimc shadows.

[DiabloRising]

Odd that reviewers which are so quick to nitpick missed such a large difference. Hmmm... weird.

[Roukuko]

i cant decide if i want to buy this or prince of persia

[Masta_fro]

wait till both get reviewed extensively...

then forget about all the reviews and get whatever you feel like playing most.

[morganfell]

Prince of Persia isn't being made. Instead they are making a game with a character who has adventures set in the mythical middle east. Whatever it is, it isn't Prince of Persia.

Typical Ubi cashinonititis.

[40cal]

Quote- "I just finished reading the IGN and Gamespot reviews and not one time throughout their entire review mention anything about the clear technical advantage of the PS3 version. In fact IGN review for the PS3 and Xbox 360 where copied and pasted (identical) same for Gamespot. How can a so called professional videogame website miss these very impotent technical issues?"

Its things like this that put this industry into prospective and allow (us) to pull there bthchass cards. If it was the other way around it would have been bigger news.

I think it just boils down to the industry expecting more out of the PS3 because it IS way more powerful. To bad devs have a lower denominator to work with.

[Ju]

Running a fully dynamic lightning engine requires some serious juice. I think this is a significant difference.

[Avto]

I don't know what Gamespot is expecting from PS3, but the IGN Playstation team is very how should I put it right they don't like PS3, and the scores by playstation team are always lower. As for the graphics this guys don't know sh!t about what HDR, or ambient occlusion is their graphics score is frame rate+no texture pop+no screen tearing=good graphics score.

[timmyrulz]

More like Lens of bullsh1t, i have never seen the ps3 version so i cant comment but i sure as hell know that the x360 version doesnt look like that

[Sarcasm]

LOL

Folks, feast your eyes on denial in it's finest form. ^

[RyuStrife]

denial is good, but the truth is right there, side by side comparison. I don't think these guys are bias "yet", they just show ingame footage and compare it deeper than most others. I like the sharper side of the 360 over the slight blurred PS3. But technically, this game just "works" more correctly on the PS3. It can't be helped that the PS3 version just works better. Best thing is, just ask the developers "why?"/or wonder why them developers did what they did.

[PS3isGarbage]

"NOTE: There was a slight capture issue with the Xbox 360. The system had the color range set to Expanded and not Standard. Unfortunately we didn’t catch this until the end of our capture session. Fear not! We compared the two systems with the proper settings and their contrast and color are very close. So, whats this mean to you? If your TV supports only Standard black levels then you should expect an image similar to the PlayStation 3. Likewise if your TV supports Expanded (Full Range on PS3) the image will resemble the Xbox 360. So whats this mean for the Head2Head? Just ignore the color/contrast and focus on the graphical issues. Imagination is our friend!"

[billybob2468]

The issue was that they had the 360 set to Extended color range, unlike the Limited color range they had the PS3 set to. This makes the 360 one look BETTER, NOT WORSE, so what they're saying is they on accidentally gave the 360 the unfair advantage of a wider color range, which the PS3 is capable of too if it is set to Full color range, which it wasn't.

[deno]

Looks like the ps3 version is the one to buy for me.

[GUNS N SWORDS]

I'm looking at it all and it's the devs. gears2 has all the pixel post processing that you should be seeing in a lot of games, in both fire and in water, and bioshock which made it's bones off of nice lighting and water FX had none of those issues as well so it's them.

[Sarcasm]

This obviously isn't a knock on the 360's hardware. But like many multiplatform myths, why did they do one thing to one console and not the other?

To me, this is by far the most unique situation. Usually a developer may include less anti-aliasing, perhaps use a lower resolution, or use some type of technique that will improve the way the game runs.

But for Tomb Raider, the lack of dynamic shadows is an oddity.

[DiabloRising]

I don't care if its on the 360 or the PS3, it ALWAYS comes down to developers, budget, and time.

[GUNS N SWORDS]

explain why dead space, devil may cry4, and bioshock doesn't have the issues that this game has, all 3 are multiplats made on different hardware.

edit to below, yeah i said it's the devs and yet i got disagrees.....lol, i guess people like it better when someone else says it.

[DiabloRising]

I'm not following your line of thinking.

What I'm saying is, contrary to popular myth, the 360 and the PS3 are pretty damn close in power, they just have different architecture.

Like I said, it comes down to the dev, time, and budget to get something amazing out of each system. Some devs have more time, a larger budget, or just better skills at getting results out of each respective hardware.

[lonix]

there would be 300 plus comments with xbox fanboys gloating

[GUNS N SWORDS]

not really, the majority of dedicated commenters are mostly ps3 gamers with over whelming numbers of bubbles.....instead of depleting them cause of their bias comments they get increased.

from the looks of it, many people crave chaos and flame wars.

so ps3 gamers will take their best shot and stab 360 gamers in the back and 360 gamers will do the same.

2 years Ive been here.......2 fvcking years.

[KidMakeshift]

Kinda bull

I played through the entire Underworld game and it's not that dark
You can change the brightness setting

That very wasn't a fair comparison

[Shakyhand]

Read the note at the beginning of the article, it explains why one looks darker than the other.

[KidMakeshift]

I know that they site notes the problem with the 360 video feed, but to still compare them side by side with the only big difference being that the 360 footage is almost pitch black while the PS3 version has full clarity isn't a fair comparison.

[jaidek]

Are you not watching the video? Because if you watch the video and read the article you will see that there are major differences between the PS3 and 360 (shadows/effects/aliasing).

[Ju]

Nobody mentioned the brightness. This is obviously not set quite right. But the differences are so apparent, the the brightness isn't even worth mentioning.

[KidMakeshift]

Oh look, it's been updated because the site is full of SH!T

I played the 360 from beginning to end and it has, guess what, DYNAMIC LIGHTING/SHADOWING, BETTER ALIASING, ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS LIKE SWIRLING EMBERS, CASCADING WATER

So shut up already

[Sea_Man]

Are you kidding me? As I recall at the end of the video it say GLITCH! So that tells me they said it was a GLITCH from the beginning. So how are they full of SH!T, as you so kindly put it. How is it their fault that the Xbox hardware sucks and can't load a game properly. It's obviously a rendering issue, period. I am sure the nice folks over at the Lens of Truth will get to the bottom of it soon and what ever they find doesn’t look good for the Xbox. I agreed with jaidex when he says “Maybe reviewers will have to become play testers and play the same level over and over to ensure that what they are seeing is accurate and not a bug.” Yeah why should reviewers need to ensure the idiots that developed the game did their job right? So as I stated before, it’s probably a rendering issue due to crappy hardware which makes the 360 version inferior regardless.

[timmyrulz]

How dare you suggest that i'm in denial, EVERY time these comparisons are done and it shows that ps3 version looking inferior there is a public outcry and we have loads of postings trying to counter the arguements.

Im not been a fanboy and saying that its not possible for the ps3 verison to look better than the x360 version, chances are it does but what i am saying is that the x360 version doesnt look as bad as it shows on this post, i should know i have it

[Sea_Man]

Prove it show us some of YOUR images of this game. That's what I thought no proof.

[RudeSole Devil]

Should of waited for the comparison video to come out and you would have saved $60. The differences are incredible. How this got passed IGN and Gamespot is beyond me. What else have they missed in other reviews?

[InMyOpinion]

The game definately looks better on the PS3, but I would advise anyone to rent this game before you buy it.

[Ju]

Jenzo, I give you a bubble for an honest comment. This means a lot coming from you.

[PS3isGarbage]

Did these moron devs forget the PS3 was the much weaker console; not the 360? You're supposed to remove the dynamic lights on the ***PS3rd*** version; not the superior 360 version. What n00bs! LOL guess they didn't get the memo.

p.s.:

"NOTE: There was a slight capture issue with the Xbox 360. The system had the color range set to Expanded and not Standard. Unfortunately we didn’t catch this until the end of our capture session. Fear not! We compared the two systems with the proper settings and their contrast and color are very close. So, whats this mean to you? If your TV supports only Standard black levels then you should expect an image similar to the PlayStation 3. Likewise if your TV supports Expanded (Full Range on PS3) the image will resemble the Xbox 360. So whats this mean for the Head2Head? Just ignore the color/contrast and focus on the graphical issues. Imagination is our friend!"

-Settle down, droids. Today is not your mythical day. One day! Believe!

[tudors]

1st let me just say that the Xbox-360 could definatly handle the missing effects, I have no idea why they are in the PS3 version and not the Xbox-360, I mean gears of war 2 looks amazing (much better than the 1st despite what people keep saying) and kept me wowed throughout, but if I am honest it is the little things that can make a difference and on this occasion for whatever reason the PS3 wins, though I still don't get the contrast level issues.

[Magic_The_Celt]

Haha the 360 fails man.

the saddest thing of all is some moron is going to come along and say the 360 version looks better, seriously.

I myself have never lied, i said the 360 version of fallout 3 looked better, that COD WaW looked identical (it usualy goes that way) that the PS3 vers of mirrors edge looked better

and now of course TR ps3 version looks better

but hey, either way i dont think TR is that good of a game so i couldnt care less.

[ArthurLee]

Wow what a difference.
The 360 version is actually missing graphical effects. Not a single review of the game told me that.

[ambientFLIER]

No biggie... You guys can have this one. We'll just take all the big releases Like WaW.

[RudeSole Devil]

This is just the beginning of the PS3 onslaught. First this, next you'll witness perfection when Killzone 2 comes out and the final blow to the Xbox 360 will be Uncharted 2 (not to mention God of War 3). Keep your Halo Recon, xbox has no more good exclusives and developers will make PS3 the primary SKU. Killing you Green pile of broken parts (Xbox 360)..

[ambientFLIER]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... .......................just wait till 2020!!!

Btw, weren't MGS4 and LBP supposed to be the final blow to the 360? Look how that turned out. A few more units sold, and then they faded from memory, never living up to even a tiny portion of the hype. Killzone 2, you're next!!!

[Soul Train]

Killzone 2 already got taken out on Nov 07 of this year.

There is no chance of killzone being better then Gears of War 2 in ANY catagory.

Enjoy Tomb Raider 3 PS3 fans and this video is bad ass.

[Sea_Man]

Great comparison! This is exactly what this industry needs, an Unbiased and informative review. This is a single player game and no excuse why you should by the Xbox 360 version. Owned!!

[Baron79]

I love them to.

I hate how the major review sites failed to mention any difference at all in the two versions when the PS3 has the clear graphical advantage.

Just a cut and paste for every multi platform review is just sickening.

[KidMakeshift]

that's why they just admitted they f'ed up and the comparison is a false representation of the 360 version

They're both identical

[jaidek]

They didn't f'up the game did. I mean come on, entire features were broken in the Xbox 360 version. It's all caught on video. Maybe reviewers will have to become play testers and play the same level over and over to ensure that what they are seeing is accurate and not a bug. I think not. This could have happened to anybody.

[evildeli]

How could they miss the water effects? What a glitch!

[aggh im on fire]

I have the xbox version and have played the ps3 version also. Both look pretty much identical. The 360 seems to have more vibrant colours whilst the ps3 has slightly more effects. Unless you looked at them piece by piece you won't notice it though. Both like most ports have good and bad bits. I got the 360 version as i prefer the controller and achivements nothing more.
And before you dismiss the game i recommend you play it. The graphics are not as good as Uncharted's true although they are good but the level design far exceeds uncharteds.
If your more into puzzles and exploring and found Uncharted to shooty i recommend you try this.