Borderlands 2 Vita vs. PC vs. PS3 Screenshot Comparison: Looks Great For A Handheld Game

GearNuke: "Borderlands 2 on the PS Vita is based on the PS3 version of the game, as confirmed by Gio Corsi, Director of Third Party Relations at Sony PlayStation. Surprisingly, Sony has done a decent job with this port for the PS Vita, making it look as close to the PS3 version as possible."

[Mankey]

That the thing though. Keep in mind we are looking at the Borderlands VITA port. Not the Ultimate PC edition.

Impressive stuff, given the hardware.

[DarkLordMalik]

Kudos to Sony for porting it. Frame rate runs at 28 to 32 fps, as per IGN preview.

[Mankey]

This is the truth.

So long and they can keep it as close to 30 as the Vita is able to handle and the controls are as customizable as humanly possible, this should be a feat for the Vita to pull off.

[Back-to-Back]

One thing we all can say is Borderlands is ugly as hell regardless of platform. The pop-in textures on ps3 made me want to pull my hair out.

[LAWSON72]

I love the art style and IMO that is all that matters. Played it on both 360 and PC, 360 version looks good though like most UE3 games texture pop in occurs pretty often, the PC version looks fantastic. The nicest thing about higher resolutions IMO is good art style games are crisp and clean with no blurry textures and jaggies, however it is not required to still look good unlike say realistic graphics like BF3 which looks ugly as hell on Xbox 360

[GeraltofRivia]

played it on pc and it looked fantastic don't remember any pop-ins. comparing last gen console versions of games top pc versions is basically like comparing a pile of vomit to Milla Jovovich

[Mankey]

To each their own, but keep in personal I enjoyed the highly stylized graphics.

[_FantasmA_]

GeraltofRivia

Honestly that was a bad comparison, but vomit is probably a better option than Milla Jovovich who likes a flat chested man. Why not a pile of vomit versus Jessica Buriaga?

[BallsEye]

Seems quite good considering the price of vita vs new mobile phones. My nokia lumia 1520 seems to pull off better , super sharp gfx on a full 1920x1080 screen. It was quite expensive though.

[Foraoise]

Your nokia doesn't play borderlands 2 :I

[3-4-5]

Pretty solid for a handheld game.

I'm going to read some reviews on release day and then decide if I want it for Vita or PC.

I could play it on STEAM right now, and have been tempted to, and it would be the better and more fun version.

Something about playing a "full" game on handheld has always seemed pretty cool to me though.

[randomass171]

The fact that they got this running on Vita in the first place... I love my 3DS but I doubt it could run that. Even if it's not an exclusive and a port, I think it's definitely a technological achievement for the developers. :)

[Vegamyster]

The 3DS is much weaker then the Vita just like the DS to the PSP, considering what Uncharted & Killzone look like on the Vita it doesn't surprise me at all that they could put this game on it.

[Sly-Lupin]

It should surprise you, because BL2 has MUCH bigger environments.

The ONLY reason it is possible is because of the cel-shading.

[Vegamyster]

@Sly-Lupin The environments are not richly detailed, they're relativity basic.

"The ONLY reason it is possible is because of the cel-shading."

How? The original visuals of the first borderlands didn't have cel-shading put into it and the game looks barren because of it, the cel-shading was put onto the existing engine so how would it make it easier to run?

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[WafflesID]

It's not cel-shaded dammit.

http://www.destructoid.com/...

[sinspirit]

@Sly-Lupin

Like WafflesID said. It isn't cell-shading. It's graphic novel-like texturing with a border around objects to have the art style. I have BL2 on PC and have modded it to turn off the border effect and it actually boosted frames by a few and the game looked great.

[elhebbo16]

I agree but people buy 3DS for there exclusives, not for 3rd party games they have already played on a a PC/ home console.

[Klad]

If 3DS can run Resident Evil Revelations (Which has better graphics than this), it can run Borderlands 2 easily! all they have to do is optimise it for the 3DS.

[Foraoise]

Klad, I don't think you understand a thing about how computers/game systems work, bud. The 3DS can't even load Terraria. Engine even stated this. There's no way it can even BEGIN to run BL2.

[Sly-Lupin]

At first I didn't plan on getting the game because the Vita's analog sticks are too small to deliver the level of sensitivity I think first-person games require.

But after playing the game a bit more on PC, I think the better reason not to buy would be that design choices that are only annoying on a home platform would be downright infuriating on a handheld.

If tech limitations on Vita necessitate the constant enemy respawns you can bet your ass I'll reconsider.

[SonyStyled]

the sticks are odd at first in a fps, but as you play and grow accustomed to it they feel a lot more natural. i dont even notice any awkwardness anymore in KZ:M

[Sly-Lupin]

Maybe, but in general I feel like my thumbs are just too big.

I have (constant) problems with any game that uses the right stick and also has touch screen controls, as my right thumb will frequently hit the screen as I move the stick.

I don't know. Maybe I just have freakishly oversized hamhands.

[MatrixxGT]

@Sly, yeah BF4 is prime example. I can't remote play because of it. Not that it doesn't work, its actually been pretty smooth for me but my thumb touches the screen and keep bringing up some battlelog shit. Breaks the immersion. I have small hands so I don't think that matters as much as the sticks being so small andclose to the super responsive touchscreen.

[SaffronCurse]

Definitely takes time getting used to the sticks, once you find your groove you'll have no problems.

[randomass171]

The sticks are a'ight from what I've played. Do they have click down thumb stick buttons like the dualshock controllers? I couldn't tell if they had them or not because they don't seem to click.

[MatrixxGT]

No they don't. Thats why controls are mapped to rear touch pad. For the cost of that touchpad that NOBODY other than media molecule has made use of they should have just added buttons to the analog sticks or maybe just another face button to map r2/r3 - l2/l3.

Edit: oh and LBP vita used back touchpad kinda cool too.

[randomass171]

Tearaway uses it for some interesting puzzles, I noticed. That's a shame there are no clicks, but then 3DS has great games with no clicks and only one analogue nub. I'm sure Vita will be fine without the click buttons.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Not bad! I look forward to seeing it in person before I make any final judgment.

[ninjahunter]

It looks significantly better in motion. The screenshots seem a bit washed out, but it really comes together with the lighting and stuff putting in work.

[tubers]

It looks worse in that IGN direct capture vid with screen tearing, pop-ins and juddering framerate.

NONE of those flaws are visible in these provided still shots.

[Skate-AK]

Perfect game to play on the go.

[tubers]

Wonder why my post got deleted.

Glad someone liked my screen grab:

https://i.imgur.com/GAoDlc7...

The other images are from Eurogamer's previous article as well:

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

[sdozzo]

We've all played the balls off BL2. How is this suppose to sell well? It had like 20 DLC etc. Sadly, I don't see this being the silver bullet.

[patchzon]

The vita is an awesome piece of hardware,when i see games like KZ mercenary running on it,there is no excuses for other devs not to use the system to its true potential!

[Azzanation]

PC is always the best option for games like this.

[ArbitorChief]

Already have the game on PC and beaten it, why would I buy a dumb down version for a handheld with terrible controls? If I want a handheld version of Borderlands 2, I get a Project Shield and play it on that as it looks better, plays better, has better controls and is free to Stream anywhere in the world.

[Protagonist]

Thanks for posting......../s

Anyway I´m sure YOUR reasons doesn´t apply for most gamers.

[ArbitorChief]

We'll see what the PSVITA Borderlands 2 sales figure say, but I guarantee it'll be a flop for the reasons I listed because "most gamers" aren't interested in a VITA version of Borderlands 2 :)

[snake9182]

@ArbitorChief

I know a good few people who are interested in this, playing this on the go, who wouldn't want this.

[Foraoise]

Lol. The project Shield doesn't "play it" at all. It streams it. This is running from the Vita.

[Agent_hitman]

Not bad for Vita, it still looks great for a handheld device.

[Oprah_Winfreys_Nips]

Oh my god borderlands 2 is looking so exciting!!!!! I absolutely love it!

[Oprah_Winfreys_Nips]

I wish I could play right now it is that good.

[Fireseed]

As much as I love Borderlands 2, this games art design does NOT fare too well in low quality conditions. The moment those textures get down sized everything becomes a blurry mess.

[Oprah_Winfreys_Nips]

Gearbox software certainly did great with this one.

[SynGamer]

After seeing the video, assuming the games framerate holds stead around 30 fps throughout the game, I'm picking this up. Has it been confirmed that it will support cross-save? I'm about 10 hours into the game on the PS3, but haven't touched it in awhile. Thinking about trading my PS3 in towards a PS4.

[Thehyph]

I believe there will be a patch for the ps3 version near the vita release which will add cross save.

[SynGamer]

I JUST traded my PS3 in today. Uploaded my save to the cloud, hoping I'll be able to use that...

[Thehyph]

Hopefully the cloud save is all you need! Did you get the ps4 today with your ps3 trade? If so, congrats!

[SynGamer]

Yeah. I popped in to my local EB Games (Canada) and asked how much i could get for my Slim (120GB). He said $65 + 30% for rewards members. I ended up getting $85 for it in total.

I might have been able to get more online, but this was far less hassle and I got my monies-worth over 4+ years :) Now to save some money so I can buy a few games, instead of the free PS+ ones.

[OutcastMosquito]

No offence to anyone but I think it would be hell trying to play any FPS game on the Vita because the sticks are kinda wonky. Still pretty sweet to see this game on a portable system, I really enjoyed it on the PS3.

[plaZeHD]

Why would I want to play an inferior version of a game on Vita? Sony you just don't understand do you. Look at the 3DS' and PSP's library and you might learn a thing or two.

[cfc83]

Does this game have a single player mode ?

[Thehyph]

Yes. It's either co-op or single player.

[Soldierone]

It looks awesome! I didn't expect it to be that good, now I want it!