Digital Foundry vs. Killzone 3

Digital Foundry performs an in-depth analysis on the image quality, frame rate, 3D, move support, and technology used in Killzone 3.

Digital Foundry concludes that "just like its predecessor, as a technological demonstration of the power of Sony hardware, Killzone 3 is a hugely impressive piece of work. But what makes this game so special is that the core gameplay experience is just so strong: in the midst of battle, nothing looks like it, nothing plays quite like it. For PlayStation 3 owners it really is a must-buy."

[MGRogue2017]

Killzone 3 is a technical masterpiece.. Just like it's predecessor.

Guerrilla Games have outdone themselves, once again.

[pangitkqb]

Agreed. Killzone 3 represents an incredible optimization of the hardware it runs on. Whateve rplatform you prefer, optimization like that of Killzone 3 is almost unheard of.

Kudos to Guerilla.

[malandra]

from the article:

"In revamping the control scheme, Guerrilla was faced with an unenviable task. In many ways, Killzone 2 felt more realistic than the average shooter and the control system played an important part in that. You "felt" the weight of Sev's equipment weighing him down, you felt the inertia in every move he made, and this tied in extremely well with the game's animation, and the movement on-screen as you were running and jumping."

indeed, while many people complain about the response time, I liked it because it made feel more realistic, we have plenty of weightless shooters around and there was no need for KZ2 to be just another one

[malandra]

"Just like its predecessor, as a technological demonstration of the power of Sony hardware, Killzone 3 is a hugely impressive piece of work. But what makes this game so special is that the core gameplay experience is just so strong: in the midst of battle, nothing looks like it, nothing plays quite like it. For PlayStation 3 owners it really is a must-buy. "

word

[Pixelated_Army]

"There's no way you could level any kind of complaints about "teh jaggies" in Guerrilla's last game: between the QA, the post-processing and the generous use of camera and object-based motion blur, basically there wasn't any."

Oh yeeaaaahhh.... : )

Excellent read. I would love to see more in-depth articles like these from other sites. 5/5

[BattleAxe]

This is the first game that I've ever pre-ordered, and I'm looking forward to playing this technical marvel on tuesday!

[blumatt]

I can't wait to buy it Tuesday. I will admit, however, that the KZ3 collector's edition is overpriced, just like Halo Reach's collector's edition was. These collector's editions need to be around $80 MAX, like LBP2 Collector's Edition was. $80 is the perfect price, just enough to show it's worth more, but not so much that you could have bought nearly two more games for the difference.

PSN: blumatt

[zootang]

"Killzone 3 is a state-of-the-art console shooter that really pushes boundaries"

That's what I like to hear.

[malandra]

Digital Foundry is an excellent site

it's so great to read stuff written by someone who actually knows a lot of what he's writing about, which is very unusual in gaming journalism

[hakis86]

I fully agree. I love how he goes in-depth about everything technical: How maby MB of ram they free up by switching AA-method, pros and cons regarding image quality and performance, how the 3D stereoscopic mode actually works, measuring the ping(response time) of the controller, ++..

Can't WAIT to pick up my KZ3 copy on tuesday! Some people on my PSN are already playing it =( =( =( = (

[theonlylolking]

I will trust digital foundry over any gaming site that does comparisons or just analyzing the game.

[MNicholas]

It's rendering the same number of pixels as in 2D mode but rendering all the geometry in the scene twice. This is because the image for each eye is fully rendered in true stereoscopic 3D which means each eye sees a completely different set of pixels and even unique polygonal objects.

In contrast, el cheapo 3D modes like in Batman and Crysis 2 are nothing more than image warping that renders a single image and then simply warps the image a little to the left or right.

Digital Foundry explained the difference in a previous article.

[theonlylolking]

Since they are rendering the image twice when in 3d. Couldn't they have been able to get the game to near 60fps without 3d?

[coldfoot]

They're rendering twice but each at half the resolution, so no, they couldn't have gotten 60fps.

[Inside_out]

.
Listen, I like KZ the franchise...it has all the potential in the world, but, this game is no technical marvel in any way. Maybe getting the game to run on a PS3 at all is a technical marvel but nothing more.

Is 720p-30fps some sort of benchmark??? All those special effects ( smoke, particle...etc ) rendered at 640x360...is that state of the art...O_o

I'll admit...32 gb's of cut scenes is impressive but you don't play cut scenes and the story and cut scenes are this games biggest problem if you believe the reviewers.

I have played both the beta and sp demo's. Spent several hours on the single player demo looking for alternative ways to flank the enemies, exploring the environments, shooting at the water and testing the weapons...noticed a couple of things...

FIRST...I didn't see anything state of the art or special. Lots of green screen type of backdrops running on loops. Some pretty dismal AI that rarely if ever tries to charge or flank your positions. They just sit there behind cover lifting there heads every once in a while. Played through on Trooper, then Veteran which unlocks the Elite difficulty. The game NEEDS to be played at the higher difficulty levels...Elite didn't offer much difference. The jet pack was nice and controlled really well ( yes, it's EXACTLY like a mech )...my favorite part as it let you play vertically and I had alot of fun flanking those Helganese defending the AA gun. Had issues with the aiming...a reticule would of been nice.

The sp was fun and FAR, FAR superior to KZ 2 which I consider to be broken game play wise. The weapons in the demo were average. The grenade tossing of little use. The pistol is useless and the rocket/missile launching weapon requires no skill at all since it locks on the enemy. the rifle/sniper weapon suffers from hit detection issues...why, I don't know since the standard weapons are fine.

What's with all the Helganese looking all the same??? seriously, can't they have a couple of midgets or really fat or skinny enemy types. A " technical marvel " should have different enemies with different AI abilities.

I could go on and on. DF is biased...there was tremendous slowdown and stuttering in all the cut scenes. Explosions tended to look all the same and lets not even talk about the " jungle " level.

KZ 3 will be a good game, maybe great but calling it a technical marvel just Set's it up to fail, like KZ2 did.

BTW..I thought PS3 was HDMI 1.3???

[ComboBreaker]

1. Halo Reach on the 360 coudlnt't do what Killzone 3 did.
2. Cyrsis on the console couldn't do what Killzone 3 did.

Lastly, the PS3 was orginally HDMI 1.3, however, a firmware update had upgraded it into HDM 1.4.

The different between HDMI 1.3 and 1.4 is only in software, unlike the difference between HDMI 1.2 and 1.3, which is a hardware-based differene.

360 had HDMI 1.2, which can never be upgraded.

[humbleopinion]

@ ComboBreaker:
I tend to disagree. Killzone 3 is nice, but it looks a bit like Killzone 2 with a fresh coat of MLAA paint (which has both advantages and disadvantages over QAA)
It was quite impressive back then 2 years ago, but other games kept pushing forward. I won't comment on CS3 because I'm waiting for the final game, but as far as I'm concerned it seems that Halo Reach which you mentioned has already gone beyond Killzone 3 when it comes to the technical department: Pushing plenty more polygons per frame, with more detailed character models and less blurry textures and impressive particle effects (not running a quarter resolution), coupled together with impressive AI (and more AI agents at the same time). Top that with impressive animation (which was probably one of the weakest points in Halo 3) and you simply have a better looking game tech-wise (art wise it's a matter of preferences).
So I simply don't see how Killzone 3 can trump Reach - except for the obvious 3D support which is completely absent in Halo. But feel free to detail if yo can...

P.s: 360 HDMI supports 1.3.

[NewShadow101]

@humbleopinion

lol...

[ComboBreaker]

I like your jokes.

[Maddens Raiders]

Kutaragi, the genius, had in mind when he uttered:

"...for consumers to think to themselves, I will work more hours to buy one (PS3). We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."

man's a fkn prophet..MGS4, HS, GT5, GOW3, UC1/2, Demon Souls, Valkyria, R1/R2, KZ2/3, MS1/2/3, LBP1/2, WARHAWK... these games stand alone on one system.

[floetry101]

I've always appreciated Digital Foundry's depth with game analysis. This is almost as good as GT5's.

[SWORDF1SH]

I used to prefer Lens of Truth but they have gone downhill rapidly.

Digital Foundry are the main guys now.

[Redempteur]

very good article with good explanations

[MechaGear]

[...] in the midst of battle, nothing looks like it, nothing plays quite like it.[...]

There is not much to be added I guess.

[ct03]

From the article:
<<There are over 32GB of video sequences stored on the Blu-ray disc, with game data accounting for around 9GB>>

I stated the exact same thing a few days ago and received a bunch of disagrees.
http://n4g.com/news/699552/...

[kancerkid]

I stated that a while ago too. Plus they use BINK which is a stupid encoder. Game data is about 9 GBs

[CobraKai]

Bink = FAIL

[BlackKnight]

And you are still getting disagrees. The game looks amazing but if you point out that nearly all cutscenes are pre-rendered video or you talk about anything that is negative but true, boom, disagrees.

Come on fanboys, you have an honest site like DF, don't bury people just because you have this childish loyalty to a particular platform...

[beavis4play]

to all of you - so what? who cares? and any other similar response.

i'm excited for the WHOLE game - not just the 9 gigs of gameplay.

[baodeus]

yes, but it sure debunk the claim that Blue-ray help increase gameplay time and better graphics, because it doesn't. Most are still fill w/ movies and uncut music. I hope u guys don't keep spilling same BS again and again.

DF gave a really good in depth review of the tech and very informative. So basically when KZ2 going into split screen mode, it is almost the same as going in 3D mode which the game take quite a hit on (resolution, framerate, etc....) So it got me thinking, Gears has split screen coop and halo even have 4 player split screen coop, so what does that mean?

So i mean, seriously, both consoles are very comparable in powers, just different implementation (depend on developers).

[Maddens Raiders]

"yes, but it sure debunk the claim that Blue-ray help increase gameplay time and better graphics, because it doesn't."

...because everyone knows this game could easily be exported to the 360 in all it's glory.

/s

[blumatt]

"yes, but it sure debunk the claim that Blue-ray help increase gameplay time and better graphics, because it doesn't."

Umm, just because developers don't choose to make longer games with the bluray, doesn't mean that the bluray can't help make longer games. lol It's up to the developers. Just wait for Final Fantasy Versus 13 and we'll see how long that game is compared to FF 13.

[baodeus]

yeah, i hope we don't get another 10+ hrs CGI movie so they can finally put in some town, cause seriously, im fed up with fanboy blaiming the x360 gimping the FF13 version, when it is actually the x360 that was gimp (the ff13 on ps3 was fine and look really good)

Yes, blue ray can give more gameplay hours, but why they don't do it? Because these developers got to eat, their family got to eat, their workers has to eat, their company need to have profit,.....there are many things they need to consider when making a game, if it doesn't make sense, especially business wise, they not gonna include it. I guess you guys don't know how business works. Go take a course in college please, because people open business not to cater to you guys (represent the minority in gaming industry) got it? I still waiting until i get 50 gig worth of pure gameplay on ps3 exclusives.

But no not on n4g, people were blaiming DVD for holding ps3 back for lack of contents, gameplay hrs, etc.... when most if not all of the exclusives so far on ps3 is <10 hrs and there are still DLCs. They mostly fill up HD movies, cut scene, uncut musics, etc...(which people have been telling u guys over and over already), but u guys just don't get it. U don't see other larger games running on 1 DVD like RDR, fable, oblivion, fallout, etc...lack of towns and shitz why? Because they don't have 10+ HD CGI movies right?

And yes, blueray doesn't make the game look better either. Tell me how that works?

[baodeus]

@blumat

i suggest u go play lost odyssey on x360, it is easily over +60 hrs story wise w/ world map, airship, all of that back in old FF game and it ran on 4 discs, w/ HD movies. It is still the best JRPG this gen (for me so far, but hey try it out and see if you like it). U don't have to wait till FF13vs to get longer/larger game than ff13.

If you guys like to disagree, then try to dispute what i said then. C'mon any response?

[diehardgamer1000]

ok pple on the 22nd of feb least all say hello to the the most technically advanced FPS.this is why i respect consoles developers cz they hv "limited" resources to work with and yet they are still able to produce games tht cn be talked abt in the same manner as crysis and the like.

[trounbyfire]

so KZ3 is trying to be COD.....right and with all the 3rd person cut scenes, weight on character and guns, shoot from the hip being effective, cover system, online driven by team work, actually a pretty game....yep just like COD

GG reduced input lag which people complain about so they want desperately to be COD now. right KZ2 influenced everyone and KZ3 will do the same.

[BlackKnight]

In the article they said the firing range is what made it seem like COD.

Controls that dont have laggy response times (Halo, Crysis 2, Resistance, MGS4, etc) is just good programming and performance. COD is not special when it comes to fast response times.

You are taking two parts of the article and mixing them out of context.

[PirateThom]

CoD doesn't have weigh on character and guns or a cover system and online play is driven by HERP DERP XD-RC SO REAL XD.

[trounbyfire]

what??

[Dingodile]

And IGN gave it a 9.5 in Graphics ! lol

[imt558]

KZ2 with "lag" response was the unique shooter. Why? Because in the multyplayer there was a difference between noob players and pro players. That's why. Now in KZ3 multy without "lag" response even the worst noob player can kill anybody. And that's bullshit.

[BlackKnight]

Lag is bad engine performance. Frames per second is not the only important thing. If your game engine has frame lag (it takes a long time per second to produce each frame) then your controls feel laggy because you have to wait for the engine/PS3 to finish rendering each frame, thats what this lag is. It's not a design choice, it was a performance issue. That's why even pulling a trigger was lagging when a trigger weighs nothing.

Animation and camera work is what gives a sense of weight. KZ3, similar to BFBC2, gives a feeling of weight without introducing laggy controls/performance issues.

Also, when the framrate dropped, lag would increase in KZ2 (KZ3 does so as well but not as bad. Had you read this entire article, you would have known). Why would the PS3 slowing down below 30FPS make your character have more weight?

Easy, it's lag due to not enough optimization, not a design choice.

[palaeomerus]

If it hadn't been a PS3 exclusives and otherwise was exactly the same, no one would have cared about it and most of the people in this thread would have been mocking it.

[Heavy_Rain]

If it had been a x360 exclusive palaeomerus would as usual talk about how lighting is exceptional and kicks cryss 2 and how ps3 fanboys are insecure because it looks better then crysis 2. Sigh how much ignorance can this site hold.With big pappy, cez of rage , palaeomerus I think quite a lot

[jalen247]

GG are great at pushing the boundaries of PlayStation consoles

[NewShadow101]

sometimes it feels like xbots will come in to a thread and hit the disagree button on everyones comment. just a feeling.

oh and killzone could not be done on the xbox, some people say its the developers. EPIC games created gears of war, the first one was a huge step in graphics, EPIC games is very talented and if these kind of visuals can be achieved on the xbox, we will see it in gears 3. am i right? i was disappointed in gears 2 because i was expecting a graphical leap from the first.