Digital Foundry: Face-Off: Red Faction: Armageddon

David Bierton writes:

"As it stands, Red Faction: Armageddon is a decent enough shooter, but one that fails to really live up to its potential. Clearly, the GeoMod technology is worth evolving still further for future Red Faction games - but it's evident that any evolution in the destruction really needs to be matched by an equivalent boost in the ingenuity of the game design. In the here and now, Red Faction: Armageddon is a solid game, but not an outstanding one. However, there's little doubt that its charms are best appreciated on PC."

[Paradicia]

360 Disc Size 6.0GB
PS3 Disc size 5.7GB
360 Install: 6.0GB (optional)
PS3 install: 1962MB(mandatory)

ehh??

[andron]

I'm not sure but i think it has to do with that the 360 DVD disc is optimized for loading and might have some data doubled.

If it's the install size you are referring to 360 owners must install the whole disk, while on the PS3 they can have a smaller install because they don't need to install everything. The Ps3 install is optimized for size and loading and it still loads stuff of the disc. Mainly audio and video and such I believe...

[Shikoro]

"The 960x540 native resolution of the console versions is exactly one quarter 1080p"

It actually runs at a native resolution which is lower than the Vita's one. Just damn... :/

[andron]

Yeah, it seems their GeoMod destruction system takes a lot of resources. I guess it explains the move underground too.

I was disappointed about the game going underground, but they might have been to early with this tech. They might have a nice head start next gen though...

[Shikoro]

I wouldn't know. Although the destruction was pretty good (I played the demo), it shouldn't take so much resources from the system. Were they a capable studio who understood the PS3 hardware, at that resolution and with such destruction, the game would be running on at least 60FPS.

The alpha buffer resolution is also really low. I know that PS3 is transparency limited, but that just sticks out too much.

All in all, it seems like a good game, but it could be running better and look better. :)

[andron]

I have only played the demo too, and Armageddon seems to be a step back from what they did in Guerilla. I mean a sequel should look and play better as you say...

[nickjkl]

"We have been getting the physics system, the Havok system and our own proprietary destruction system running on the SPUs, as well as our animations. We're seeing quite a decent speed improvement now that we've effectively got that running on the SPUs instead of the CPUs."

Carroll added that the game is "very much" pushing the PS3, "both in terms of memory and processing power".

Volition: We struggled with PS3 Red Faction

We actually ended up hiring some from Sony to help us make our PS3 version. Fortunately, they are the same

they say they were pushing the ps3 to its limits with guerilla

but at the same time they say they struggled getting it running

its like they got it running and said hey good enough