Mass Effect 2 Xbox 360 vs. PC - Graphics Check

Videogameszone published ten more screenshots, which compare the PC with the Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect 2. Hint: Click on "Screenshot in HD" to view them in original size.

[iMad]

I can see no difference. XBOX has a lot of power to show us.
Gaming on consoles has more pros then gaming on PC: price, big tvs, sofa and co-op play with friends, more fun.

[The General]

If you're trying to decide which version to get the PC version definitely looks sharper and more detailed. You have to be blind or very biased to not notice the differences.

And why exactly is the 360 version (inferior version) ranking higher than the PC version?

Is it just me or has there been an increase in the amount of Xbox fans on this site? I know it probably is just the same Xbox fans from last year with even more accounts, that go and de-bubble PS3 and multiconsole owners. It's just been a little annoying seeing fans like foxgod, the guy above and others getting away with blatant lies.

[iMad]

Yes, but 1% difference can't make PC version better for me because of pros console gaming have over PC gaming.

[The Meerkat]

"Is it just me or has there been an increase in the amount of Xbox fans on this site? I know it probably is just the same Xbox fans from last year with even more accounts, that go and de-bubble PS3 and multiconsole owners. It's just been a little annoying seeing fans like foxgod, the guy above and others getting away with blatant lies."

Are you having a laugh?
This site is dominated by PS3 fans. Look at the number of disagrees you get if you say anything positive about a 360 game, especially Halo: Reach.

Oh, and I cant see any difference between the PC and 360 shots.

[likedamaster]

I'm gonna have to go with iMad here, there's hardly a difference in visual quality. Not bad Bioware, not bad.

[Budg3tG4m3r]

The General the ammount of Playstation fanboys in the 360 secton is staggering compared to the 360 fanboys. IF Xbox fanboys were to retaliate it would only be poetic justice for the crap PS3 fanboys have done in the past couple of years on this site. I for one don't like any of it and would like to see some changes.

On topic this games looks good no matter if it's on the PC or 360. The only real difference here is the money you want to spend playing this great game. 360 is cheaper than a PC and you don't need to buy or upgrade Windows for a 360.

[peterdawa]

iMad, the screen shots prove that the game was definitely made for 360 and ported to pc. The pc version looks better but it doesnt look that impressive for a pc game. This generation has been dissapointing in the sense that many developers are aiming for similar experiences across the different hardware. To me its just wrong or lazy. The pc version should look better than what im seeing there.

[flakko]

i can play my pc games on my big tv sitting on a sofa...

[Guido]

And seeing this on my 52 inch Sammy is amazing. What? You didn't think you could run a PC on an HDTV? Get an education sir!

[ryuzu]

Have to say - all those advantages are actually for PC, not 360...

1) Price
360 is expensive!!! If you bought a PC today with the spec of a 360 it would cost about 50% of the 360 price. Of course no one buys a PC with the spec of a 360 because the 360 is 5 years old. Not only that but the PC is more flexible.

Factor in that games are cheaper, DLC is free, online is free and in fact, over a like for like period, the PC is cheaper - oh and it has better games.

2) Comfort
Um, if you hadn't noticed, PCs support hdmi/dvi, surround sound, remote controls, BluRay, stremaing video - so much stuff that the PC is the ideal media kit for the lounge - big screen gaming on a PC is cool.

Anyway, that's all irrelevant I guess. ME2 doesn't look great but then again why would it - it's based of a 360 development which is a 5 year old PC.

However, I imagine with some high res textures applied via mods we'll have a better looking game soon - only problem is ME2 is SP so by the time those mods come out no one will be playing it....

r.

[moneybuyseverything]

Need a tissue? Whats with the fanboy fit filled with BS?

ME2 is an RPG, It's not going to look like Battlefield Bad Company 2. It's an RPG with photo real art VS most RPG that have bad cartoony graphics.

What did you expect, a 40 hour long RPG to look like this, one of the most graphically stunning games on PC and the best looking game on consoles
http://stickskills.com/news...

I'm afraid most the people, magically praising PC when the PC only articles are alway empty are not trustworthy, being because most are PS3 fans are looking for a way to attack the game and the 360.

[Guido]

Wow, looks like ryuzu got the better of an Xbox fanboy here. Who needs the tissue now?

[moneybuyseverything]

*Looks at your fake XBL gamertag in your N4G profile*

*Hits ignore*

You have to compare ME2 to other RPGs like Demonsouls and western RPGs plus the cartoony JRPG so you make sense bashing ME2's graphics.

[Raf1k1]

The reason there's no difference is because it's a direct port with a few tweaks for keyboard and mouse control.

The visual options are pretty much non-existent. All the graphics options (other than resolution) are either 'on' or 'off'. If this was created specifically for the PC and then ported to 360 it would be very different.

edit: @moneybuyseverything, lol at 'photo real art'. Funny guy. There are a few characters who have enough facial detailing to be considered photo-realistic. There's nothing photo-realistic about any of the alien species or even environments but they do look great in terms of their visual appeal.

[Nihilism]

Firstly, these pictures don't even say what settings or resolution were used on the PC version, secondly, if they used the in game settings only, then they would have had no anisotropic filtering or anti-aliasing enabled, I will be running 16af and 8-16qaa as you can force it through Nvidia control panel, I have no doubt that it will look a lot better than these shots here.

I played mass effect 1 on both pc and 360 and the difference was phenomenal, the same is true for all multiplat games.

EDIT:

Yep, the link says to click to view the full size image, the total res was 1280px × 1737px ( for both pics + borders ) so they only took the PC shots at 720p, I will be running 1080p, more than double the amount of pixels. Big difference when you do it right, myth busted, next time they should use a decent res and some AA.

[SlxTeN]

Bioware just made the game look identical on both platforms, so no need to get excited about xbox having more power.

[peterdawa]

Raf1k1 kakashi I agree with you totally. There is nothing fanboy about saying the truth. I wish others like moneybuyseverything would stop bringing up fanboyism anytime a game he likes is criticized. As gamers we should be able to criticize and praise games so they can get better.

[evrfighter]

does it say what res and settings they had the pc version at?

First thing I noticed when I saw the 360 version is apparently they have anti-aliasing on the 360 maxed out (ya right)...A true HD screenshot comparison would clearly show how much of an issue Anti-Aliasing is on consoles.

[commodore64]

Well, it stands to reason that the PC version SHOULD look better,
but it seems in these screenshots the differences are negligible.

That's not to say that with a $1500 2010 PC rig, you couldn't crank up the resolution, AA, AF, texture detail, draw distance etc etc. and make the game look really hot.

But then what would be the point of such a comparison?
If anything, the 360 version should be judged against a PC specced with 2005 hardware.

With that in mind, we can all agree that the 360 version looks pretty damn close to the PC version, depending on the power and age of the PC you compare it to.

Congrats bioware.
360 gamers thank you.

[SilentNegotiator]

Turn on more Anti-Aliasing. Stop making PC vs Xbox comparisons with AA off or really low.

And Bioware shouldn't be COMMENDED for making them look similar, they should be shamed for porting the xbox version and leaving the textures looking muddy.

[Double Toasted]

I can't believe they fell for that...wow! I would think that they would've gave you AGREES just to prove you wrong, lol...

[xTruthx]

Wow commodore64 its pretty obvious to me that you know nothing of computers when you say you would need a 1500 to max it out. with 800 bucks you can have more than enough power to run this to max, my pc is 2 years old right now and i spent 1200 on it and because i had to pay 250 bucks for shipping to my location. Many people in the world have computers by now, they would only need to buy a vid card, ram and a cpu. That would cost less than 500 bucks.

@Double Toasted
If you knew that the people hitting disagrees to fox are the same 360 fan boys with multiples and accounts, now you see how bad n4g has it.

For the people getting disagrees and don't know y, ill explain. You must not know about pc resolutions and performance's because anyone with a little bit of computer knowledge would know any game would look better on pc with decent parts over any console.

[Double Toasted]

Why would 360 fanboys disagree with him? Hmmm...the plot thickens!

[WhiT3Kr0w]

I have a PC as well, and I have it connected to my 50" Kuro TV. It is amazing, yes it is.
What I don't agree with you is that the PC is cheaper. For you to play most games that come out to the PC you need to be upgrading it every 2 or 3 years. Even if you don't spend much you need at least to change the graphics card and add some memory/hd because of new OSes. This is without touching CPU and Motherboard. No way you could get the same amount of gaming you have on either XBOX360 or PS3 with the same money on a PC. Where would you buy a PC that costs 300 pounds and offer you gameplay for years?
Every platform has it's own benefits over the other, but I don't agree on the cost bit. If you buy a PS3 or XBOX360 you don't need to constantly be adjusting resolutions and check wether it runs smoothly or not. And you will be playing it until a new console comes out.

Of course the PC has (much) better specs. And it's normal because it's being constantly upgraded. Every day something new comes out. Consoles on the other hand are just that. Static hardware to last a few years. No graphic card or CPU upgrades. I love my PC, but I prefer playing on my console.

EDIT: Once again, what I am saying is that with the price of a 360 you couldn't play most of the games for PC out now. Of course you could play most games on the 360 if they were made with the same specs for PC. But that doesn't happen. When a game is made for PC is made to use the hardware there is available at that point of time.
Of course PC is more powerful, but come on. Half price PC is better than the 360? You can buy one for around 150 quid. Are you saying you will get a PC for 75 pounds and it will run better than the xbox360 and that you will be able to run all games available? :p
I like both consoles and PC and I don't think of myself as a fanboy of any kind, but you on the other hand... Oh well, hope you have fun with any platform you own. I enjoy every game I play on either.

[ryuzu]

Well having played this for a couple of hours on PC I think it's fair to say, graphically this isn't up to current PC standards.

The environments are small with not much going on, and yet the texturing is poor and some parts are just downright ugly - i.e. don't look out of the windows at Project Lazarus!

Need to play the game a bit more before I comment on that - not been wowed as yet but that may come.

@MoneyBuysEverything - except a clue and decent PC for you huh?

This is a SP RPG with small instanced environments - that's why graphics should be better. Then again it's been developed using a 5 year old cheaply built PC architecture that is the 360 so I guess that's the reason.

Doesn't make the game less fun - but it does break the immersion when the graphics don't stand up.

Also, what's with the walking? - guy looks like he has a pencil up his butt lol.

r.

EDIT : @Krow ^^

Just go buy a PC with the spec of a 360 - it'll cost about half that of 360 for starters. Then you can play 99% of the 360 games and do a lot more besides. Not only that but the games are cheaper too and you have access to all those PC *exclusives*.

Frankly the cost argument is LAME. The reality is that with the rise of consoles it's cheaper than ever to keep a decent gaming PC current - the reason is games like Mass Effect 2.

Devs these days make their money from consoles - they develop games to console specs and as a result, you don't need the latest graphics card or processor because even an average PC right now is much more powerful than a 360.

If you want to play Crysis maxed out - that's different (then again, Crysis isn't particularly good so I'd skip it), if you're happy with the majority of games around now, a fairly cheap PC is plenty.

[vhero]

Well I got the PC version and it doesn't look no way near that bad so them shot were obviously taken at min settings. I have Next to no jaggies at all on my PC which is 2 1/2 years old now and running this game at 1680x1080 on a 8800gt with near max settings. It looks WAY better than on those screens though that's a FACT. They have obviously downplayed the PC version to make it look like 360 can compare. I am not slating 360 here but how can it compare to modern graphics considering its now 4 years outdated? Technology is always upgrading and games looking better every year 360 and PS3 is falling behind.

Also the fact I can run this game on a 2 1/2 year old PC at max setting means this game was downplayed however as the 360 was probably the version they worked off.

[Genesis5]

I am playing this game at 1920x1080 on a 40" Bravia on max. settings. You are telling me the 360 version would look just as good? I don't think so.

[Dev8 ing]

@vhero - If you game on PC then every game that comes out new is at least $10 than the console version. PC online is also free which is another $50 a year you save. If you buy 5 games a year you would save $100 a year. Every 2 years you could upgrade your video card with to a new midrange card ~$200 which is a bit excessive.

For PC pro's there is also the fact that modding gives games much more replayability. Also I can have 3 screens when I am playing my games which consoles can't do, at least not without buying 2 more consoles.

[HDgamer]

PC version all the way. Too many factors why it's superior.

1. Good Graphics Card
2. Very short loading times
3. One Disc or none at all.
4. Superior Graphics as Number 1 states
5. Mods, they change the game experience more times this game can be beaten.
6. Superior Anti-Aliasing.
7. It's only 50 bucks

All in all these screenshots are set to minimal settings. I don't know why mine look so much superior than these pathetic shots, I guess it's because i have a better pc.

http://img513.imageshack.us...
http://img718.imageshack.us...
http://img215.imageshack.us...
http://img31.imageshack.us/...
http://img442.imageshack.us...

[Hanif-876]

There is hardly any difference at all and i'm not being biased about this Bioware could of done a better job porting this to the PC

[Christopher]

Those PC shots don't looks as nice as how I have it running on my system. Overall, they did a good job on both versions of the game. The detail on the models and environments are improved, but overall the graphical quality is only a small percentage better than what there was in Mass Effect.

Most disappointing is that my 1080p monitor shows the various cut scenes in worse quality and oftentimes with that annoying filter grain automatically on than what I play in-game.

Luckily the gameplay is still fun and the storyline enjoyable.

[MetalProxy]

Budgetgamer says "The General the ammount of Playstation fanboys in the 360 secton is staggering compared to the 360 fanboys. IF Xbox fanboys were to retaliate it would only be poetic justice for the crap PS3 fanboys have done in the past couple of years on this site. I for one don't like any of it and would like to see some changes."

Thanks for the laugh dood, obviously you werent at N4G the first few years the PS3 was out. This place was ran by the xbox lovers,fact. So now is what you would call..poetic justice.

On topic Iam still working on the first ME and cant wait to play this now that its just as good as thePC version.

[wicko]

I find it funny that you mention both price and big TVs in the same sentence.. I don't know about you but all the big TV's I see cost more than a gaming PC.

Also, do you really think they made the PC version of mass effect first, pushing the PC to its limit, and then the 360 version after, making it equal to the PC? No, it is the other way around, where the 360 version was created first and the PC version is ported from that.

[darthv72]

Generally comparisons are made between multiplatform games on consoles. At least with that you have a set standard by which to guage the final result.

PC is to variable to properly make a comparison. Different graphic cards produce different results as well as performance between CPU's being used.

While I can understand the need for this, it should be reserved for games on 360/PS3. When and if ME2 comes to PS3 then we can have a good head to head comparison.

In all fairness, to those who absolutely despise the 360 and want to play this game. Get the PC version and adapt your system to at least the minimum requirements if it already isn't better or equal to.

Why is this becoming an issue?

[Budg3tG4m3r]

MetalProxy no I wasn't here 5 years ago, I only see the guilty ones now.

[flyponix]

Without even looking at the pictures, the PC version is graphically superior. If it isn't, it should be. That's not to say the Xbox is bad or anything, the hardware in my computer is just a lot newer.

As far as the play experience goes, i have an Xbox controller hooked up to my computer, play on a 50" 1080p TV, all while sitting on the couch in my living room. Lol at my $1500 dollar Xbox!!

For me, computer is always better. With exceptions... Rock Band, all my friends have Xbox's but not all have computers, and I can't get the dang wireless Xbox controller to work :(

btw, when will they let PC gamers play against Xbox gamers? Then all I need is a PC version of Rockband and i can donate my Xbox to charity.

[Sarcasm]

Honestly, who really cares. Yes the PC is going to be the "superior" version simply because of the hardware. But the game runs excellent on the 360 and is much improved over ME1. I see with my own two eyes on my TV how detailed the characters and environments are. Needless to say I'm much more impressed with the graphics of the 360 now. I'm willing to admit that the 360 still had untapped power.

So Ironically, it's not that PS3 devs are lazy. It's most 360 devs are lazy for not pushing the 360 like they SHOULD. ME2 and Bioware just proves that you can do a lot more with the hardware.

[menoyou]

It is such a shame that they didn't make the graphics much better on the PC just so it could look good on 360. The graphics are great either way but it pisses me off when the unlimited potential of PC is thrown off by companies trying to the console version look equal.

[mcnablejr]

just let them have it, its not like pc gaming is doing well for itself nowadays anyway.. apart from world of warcraft which just embarrasses ''gaming rigs'' (waste of money)

[VanHalen]

haha, totally! funny how defensive pc gamers get when a console version of a game looks no different than pc version. seriously man, its like you said 1% difference. i guess thats enough to play it on a pc and spend thousands of dollars constantly upgrading your machine for. let them keep deluding themselves. ive gotta friend that has it for pc and i see virtually no difference. if any its so damn hard to tell. definately not worth the money and crying about. just play the f@ckin game already. who cares what you play it on, its frikin awesome!!!

[superrey19]

The only reason they look the same is because the PC version didn't have an option to turn any AA on.

[CWMR]

-Based on the screenshots there is hardly any difference. That said, with the right PC hardware and seeing the game in person I am sure the PC version will be even nicer looking.

Personally, the 360 version has already blown my socks off. It is easily one of the best looking console games I have laid my eyes on.-

[goflyakite]

They look very similar. Not sure if this is a bad thing for the PC, or a good thing for the 360. I'm thinking a bad thing for the PC

[wicko]

You know what's great VanHalen? Playing ME2 at 1920x1080, without scaling. Also, only idiots spend 1000's of dollars building PC's. You could easily spend under a grand and have an incredibly powerful PC. Funny thing is people rarely build PCs just to play games. I mean, are you commenting from a console right now?

[Rageanitus]

PC' hard ware is not that expensive anymore plus you dont need to spend that much to get a super rig

YOu can connect your pc EASILY to a large screen HDMI pretty standard interface (in case you dont know HDMI outputs the same signal as DVI)

PC pioneered multiplayer and it is still strong.... PC gaming is a hobby and im sure ppl who play PC games have friends who also play pc games

[Virus E]

"big tvs, sofa and co-op play"

You obviously don't own a pc that can play games and know NOTHING about tech or TVs. My xbr800 I had in 04 had dvi in on the back that made my pc games look awesome in 720p and 1080i. My current card has a DVI out and..... wait for it...... HDMI. Hmmm I wonder what that would let me hook my pc up to? They also make these cool things called “wireless keyboard and mice”, you should check them out sometime. A 360 controller works right out of the box too! Okay well you obviously need to go study and I need to get back to my co-op game of Left4dead 2 in 1080p at a solid 60fps. Any other retarded crap you want to share iMad?

1920x1200 is more than 2 times the pixels of 720p (921,600 vs 2,304,000). 2560x1600 (30" monitors) is 4,096,000 pixels. These are not small differences. Even though the xbox 360 version looks amazing the sharpness and clarity of the pc version makes a huge difference.

No pc gamer runs games like this at 720p and if they do their machine is junk, so why are both sets of shots in 720p? At 720p the difference is marginal at best as the shots above show. Try this, go buy a dvd and compare it a bluray with the output limited to 720p. Thats the kind of difference we are talking about.

[Saaking]

@imad

yet a 1 percent difference makes 360 multiplats better than the PS3 version? What a hypocrite.

[starchild]

"obviously you werent at N4G the first few years the PS3 was out. This place was ran by the xbox lovers,fact."

This is a lie PS3 fanboys tell themselves and others to make themselves feel better about all the shameful trolling they do.

I was on this site back then on a different account that I forgot my log in details for and I later came back, and it was not much different then than it is now. Maybe things were not so heavily dominated by PS3 fans and things were a little more even, but it most certainly was not dominated by 360 fans.

Even then PS3 fans were talking crap about how the 360 would not equal the 'mega power of the PS3' and all kinds of other hate towards the 360 and its games.

I have even gone back and read a bunch of old threads to see if my memory was correct and sure enough there were no 360 fanboys "on rampage" like some PS3 have claimed. It was pretty much the same as it is now, except things were a little more balanced and there were a more equal number of 360 fans as PS3 fans.

Read the following old comments from articles that came out around several years ago. Notice the comments and the disagree/agree ratios. I don't see the kind of hate from 360 owners as we see today from PS3 fanboys.
http://n4g.com/ps3/NewsCom-...
http://n4g.com/NewsCom-1484...
http://n4g.com/NewsCom-1204...
http://n4g.com/NewsCom-6066...
http://n4g.com/NewsCom-6908...
http://n4g.com/NewsCom-1847...
http://n4g.com/NewsCom-5388...
http://n4g.com/NewsCom-5214...
http://n4g.com/NewsCom-2237...
http://n4g.com/NewsCom-1131...
http://n4g.com/NewsCom-1285...

Go read any of those article threads or go look at any old thread you can find and you will see that things were a little more even back then and fanboyism wasn't quite as bad, but things were not dominated by a bunch of hateful 360 fanboys as some PS3 fanboys have tried to claim.

The myth that N4G was once dominated by hateful 360 fans and the poor PS3 fanboys are just getting even now is a complete falsehood. It never happened.

[JudoChinX]

Hypocrite this and fanboy that. Can't we all just get along?

[andron]

Those posts don't really show everything. Lots of inane fanboys before too, on both sides:

http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-...

http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-...

http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-...

N4G was as bad then as now in many ways...

[y0haN]

Very similar, good work from BioWare, but the better UI + slightly better graphics means PC for me. Also 1.0's point is moot because you can use Xbox 360 controller + plug your PC into your TV.

http://www.videogameszone.d...

[king123]

the difference is little or even no difference
if you didn't tell me which one is which I'd never know

[CernaML]

This game doesn't seem to offer native AA for the PC version which is a huge disappointment. Oh well. At least the frame rate makes a huge difference.

[Nihilism]

It does on Nvidia cards...

[OpenGL]

That is the result of the deferred rendering path used by Unreal 3. There are ways to get around what is normally a hardware limitation with DirectX 9. If they haven't done it yet, I would expect both ATI and Nvidia to offer a work around in a future driver update.

[mcnablejr]

lol you needed to point that out.... good old pc gaming..

[CernaML]

I have a GTX 260 Core 216 and I even tried forcing AA using Nvidia's Control Panel. Still didn't seem to do anything. Unless I'm doing something wrong. Oh well, I'm sure a whole bunch of mods will fix that. :)

[gillri]

PC version looks about 5% better, and my xbox cost me £100

ME is a console RPG at heart with the action combat and cinematic gameplay whereas DA (which I got for the PC) is a PC RPG at heart,

the 360 version has better metacritic score than the PC version whereas its vice-versa with DA which I think is correct

Personally I was always getting the 360 version. third person shooting are always better with control pads and I hate fiddling with settings

plus I have a 46 inch TV downstairs and a comfy ssofa

360 version for sure

[Raf1k1]

I think you'll find there isn't much to fiddle about with as the PC version is a direct port with a little tweaking for PC controls.

The only options you'll find are the standard resolution options and the rest are just shadows and various effects that you can either turn on or off which don't make a huge difference. That's all there is to it.

It also runs better than the first game which is good since if you were able to play the first you won't have any trouble with this one.

[Christopher]

There is a lot you can tweek, just not from the in-game options.

Go into the UI and Game INI files and there's a lot more that can be modified, even to improve graphical quality a bit, though you'll take a big hit in performance on older machines/graphic cards.

[wicko]

It has a worse metacritic score on PC, because PC games don't fall into hype as easily as console owners. It takes a lot more to satisfy a pc owner than a console owner, and rightfully so.

[mesh1]

i dont trust any screen shot from this pro SONY SITE !

EDIT@
AHH SEEMS like this fanboy sony site cant tamp[er with the screens (sabatour screens say hi)
the pc running on a 2grand +pc barely looks better thna the 360 version runnin gon a 150£ console , the 360 has won this gen as technically this game blows most games released to date graphcially !and so much im getting th epc version hahha they both look the same cry more FACT!

[CernaML]

Agreed! They gimped the PC screenshots! :3

[iMad]

Do you think in reality 360 version looks even better? :)

[CWMR]

-I agree with you on one thing. I have been playing this game and it looks more impressive to me than any other game I have played on any console. Yes, even better than Uncharted 2.

There are times when it looks way better than Uncharted 2, then there are times that it looks worse, but overall it looks better to me than Uncharted 2.-

[CernaML]

A game running on the UE3 looking better than Uncharted 2? Hah. I have the PC version maxed out and there is nothing impressive about the graphics. The character models look great but that's about it. Then again, this is running on the UE3 so the characters look very lifeless.

[ChrisW]

As to why...? I don't know. It's a very odd resolution if you ask me. Unless someone has confirmed that it's what the 360 is running at... Which I HIGHLY doubt.

The only slight difference that I see is the "Film Grain" is fuzzier in the 360 version.

I'm running mine at 1920 x 1200 at full graphics (w/ Nvidia GT275 and i5-750 Quad Core) except for "Film Grain" (I really don't like it, even in L4D). I can only imagine that makes a difference.

All-in-all the graphics are nice, the physics are nice (though no where near Crysis, FarCry2 or even Red Faction), but I'm not seeing why it requires a minimum of a Duo Core; there must be a conspiracy to force people to upgrade!

[Yes, I'm aware that Red Faction requires a minimum of a Duo Core, but the physics are multiple times better than ME2.]

[starchild]

Mass Effect 2 looks amazing. Definitely one of the best looking games on any console. But Crysis is still on a way higher level than any of these console games.

[loo]

but let's be honest guys, I think that the PC version is just slightly better. However the PC shots were probably taken with the highest end spec computer which not that many people will have so there you have it:
Computer: wider range of graphic capabilities (i.e better than xbox on high end comp, but worse on lower end)
Xbox 360: Good stable graphics for everyone without worrying about upgrading hardware etc.

Um, take your pick. I personally don't have a good computer (cant even run half life 2 anymore!) so I will be getting 360 version.

[Nihilism]

I doubt they were taken on the highest settings, they likely used a moderate res ( possibly even 720p for the sake of comparison ) and I doubt they even used AF or AA.

EDIT:

Yep, the link says to click to view the full size image, the total res was 1280px × 1737px ( for both pics + borders ) so they only took the PC shots at 720p, I will be running 1080p, more than double the amount of pixels. Big difference when you do it right, myth busted, next time they should use a decent res and some AA.

[Christopher]

Actually, those shots do not look like they were taken on a high end PC or close to that. Looks like it's just the default settings.

[AliTheBrit19]

The Same :)

[Lou Ferrigno]

i know a good eye doctor i can recommend to you if you want? :)

[awesomeperson]

See Ali, like I said your not a bot, to be a bot you have to flame maor! Although at times you can be incredibly annoying...

But when its made for the 360 aswell, they can't make the PC version too advanced or else they would have to ditch one or the other (so they are not effectively making two complete different versions, instead of a port)... This is like Alan Wake, the 360 couldn't keep up with what was being produced for PC so they dropped the PC version, knowing it would sell better on 360.

[rjgbyrne]

What alternative dimension would that business model be from? Gimp a PC version because it would sell better? Come on mate, why would they waste time even developing a PC version if it was going to be gimped? Chances are they preferred a DLC model on the Xbox as PC is plagued with DRM issues and piracy. Its not like any game on PS3 or Xbox couldn't be eclipsed on a PC built to handle the graphics. Fact is, developers make more money producing the games for the console market, the PC is added cream and an easy port considering they are developed on PC to begin with, or an Apple but same thing applies. I see the reviews are favoritism for the Xbox version on Meta critic too... Bio-ware done well. Nuff said!

[AliTheBrit19]

All I'm saying is

Based on THOSE screenshots, I wouldn't be able to tell you which is superior, the quality looks the same to be, in terms of colour, detail, texture etc.

Maybe people are just looking for differences? Where there isnt any.

[Lou Ferrigno]

PC looks MILES better haha ..
cant wait to grab me this awesome multiplatform game once it hits $20 used at gamestop next week.

Surperior PC version FTW! .. i do have DA:origins and didnt care for it as much as i thot i would but i only played through 10minutes of it.. can some one tell me if its worth it to go on past that point?

EDIT; haha yea ok BROSEF.. i wasnt talking smack moron,just telling it like it is :) cant deal with it?,then dont reply .. simple for ya?

[moneybuyseverything]

Miles better? you can barely tell the difference other than the facial textures on the PC version are more pronounced. Go play your PS3, coming in here talking smack isn't going to make you feel better about PS3 at the end of the day. No good news in your camp? Waiting for comparisons(and exaggerating the results) is the best news you guys have had in weeks?

[Corrwin]

The 360 holds its ground, but PC has the edge.

However it should be noted that Bioware won't waste time and money in creating textures (and other non-scaling assets) that will look their best on both 720p screen, and the variable screen resolutions of PC.

I suspect whilst PC resolutions are higher, the textures will suffer from greater tiling. Though post-processing will take care of a lot of that.

[free2game365]

Another lazy multiplat game that doesn't take advantage of the extra power of the PC.

[rjgbyrne]

As for the fan boy crap, get a life... Anyone who is a gamer enjoys console games better with the joy-pad, PC is a lot more expensive but upgradable and if it ever does go to a PS3 then good for Bio-ware. Personally I would rather play it on an 360 joy-pad rather than a mouse and keyboard. I have a very well built PC that could handle this game at its max and would still go for the console version. Is it me or is the excuse that 'Its on PC, so its not exclusive' wearing a little thin? Almost as thin as cheap toilet roll that breaks mid swipe?

[lightcz]

You don't know how to connect 360 controller on your PC and your PC to TV ? No wonder, you have 360.

[LostCypher11]

Bioware did not program the 360 controller to work with the PC verison. one of the few games that won't work with it sadly. but you can work around this using xpadder

[LostCypher11]

to the disagreer, go ahead and try using your 360 pad in ME2 without xpadder. there is no option to even select it.

[peterdawa]

Is there a multi console owner whose played the game on 360. I want an unbiased opinion of the game. Should I be jealous?

[BrownPowerzz]

Uncharted 2 was unbelievable and I LOVE Mass Effect 2 on my 360!!

[peterdawa]

NorwegianSalvation I have to admit ive been secretly admiring the ME2 trailers. Hope i get to play it one day.

[rjgbyrne]

Uncharted 2 is great, so it Mass Effect 2!?! both even have a 2 in the title! Worse than Gremlins you trolls are...

[LostCypher11]

anyone that has either system and pass up either of those titles is a damned fool. both games should be in every multi console owners collection

[Darkeyes]

I am a PS3 fan (check my history) and even I admit the game is really good. In fact I like it more than Fallout 3 which was my previous favorite WRPG. I played it on my PC (these shots aren't good, it's 720P and the game easily runs at 1080P with more AA which makes it look much cleaner), but getting it on the 360 is also recommend if you have one. Just like UC2, it's a MUST BUY for any 360/PC gamer out there.

[CernaML]

Yes. You should be jealous. Good thing I have a gaming PC. lol

[Wii360BeatsPS3]

So much for you PC elitists and your expensive rig. Games look the same and I would rather play the 360 version on a comfy couch on a big screen.

[Nihilism]

I'm sick of repeating myself to you fools so I'll paste my comment yet again:

"Yep, the link says to click to view the full size image, the total res was 1280px × 1737px ( for both pics + borders ) so they only took the PC shots at 720p, I will be running 1080p, more than double the amount of pixels. Big difference when you do it right, myth busted, next time they should use a decent res and some AA."

[LostCypher11]

The PC versison Does not have native AA, this is why they look so close. But if you Turn on AA through the Nvidia Control panel you start to see the differance. PC verison for me. Not that there is anything wrong with teh 360 verison. But I'd Rather play in 1080p 60fps on my 60inch rather then 720 and 30fps as on the 360 verison

[Nihilism]

Damn straight, I get my copy tomorrow, can't wait to see how it runs.

[Robearboy]

The 360 version hold up brilliant to the pc counter part, i bet if you take of the logos, mixed them up and asked people to say which they thought the pc version and xbox versions were, nobody would get every one right.

Well done bioware

[hoops]

The one advantage for me as to why I pick multiplatform games on the PC now over my Xbox360 or PS3?

I just picked up a shiny new 5970HD on the cheap and have three monitors. Its been a blast playing games with a threee monitor setup...and when i get Mass Effect i will do that too
3x1080p with 8xAA and Ansio enabled=Frekn sweet

[The real killer]

I have this game and also for the 360,. they look almost the same. the PC version is litteral gimped for the 360 version.

[agent027]

The PC version looks sharper and more detailed. Sorry.

[divideby0]

I am about 2 hrs into ME. I bought the 360 version soley because BB and GS did not stock the PC version.
I am using VGA out on the 360 and I might try using the HDMI out tonight.
Game is pretty, but its not as good looking as I keep reading. Of course I am only briefly into the game, but there is a lot of fog and little DOF..It the looks good, just not as great as I keep reading about.
Can I only get 1080p out of HDMI from my 360 ?
btw..I am using a XBR9 and a few other games looks better than this one.
This is the first game in a long time the 360 fans can boast about and they are blowing some stuff totally out of proportion.

[Charmers]

One thing people keep missing here is the FRAME RATE as well. Not only does the PC version look better, not only can a decent PC run this game at much higher resolutions than the xbox 360 version a decent PC can also do it at 60fps. So lets recap :-

Xbox version = 1280 x 720 @ 30fps
PC version = 1680 x 1050 (and higher) @ 60fps

There is no advantage to getting the console version, want to play on the sofa using your big HDTV ? guess what I have my PC connected to a monitor on the desk and my HDTV. I can CHOOSE how I want to play the game.

Now having said all that it is clear that the xbox 360 held back the PC version. When I monitor Mass Effect 2 it is barely using 50% of my quadcore and my graphics card just picks it's "virtual" nose and looks bored. I am not an Mass Effect hater for the most part I think number 2 is great. It is just such a shame we don't see the game at it's full potential because it is crippled by the xbox 360.

[hoops]

There is no advantage in getting ANY multiplatform game on consols when its out for the PC for those same very reasons.
This includes the Wii, Xbox360 and PS3.
720p@30fps with little to no AA enabled was done on PC's 6+ years ago.
These "next generation" consoles barely do 720p@30fps with 4xAA....
That's "next generation"?
Hmmmmm

[hoops]

If they focus on the console version of games then port or make it for the PC, then it gets gimp somehwre down the line. The PS3 and Xbox360 run almost all their games at 720p with minimal use of AA.

[dirthurts]

The textures look pretty low for a pc game. Maybe they're not at maximum settings for a "fair" comparison?
It doesn't matter anyway. The higher res and frame rate , plus AA on the pc will take the lead anyway. I ordered this one this morning. Looks good.

[iistuii]

If youve got any sort of top end PC it will of course wipe the floor with a console. For a start you'll have a big res monitor and can turn on AA fully. Even the likes of GT5 & U2 would look a million miles better on PC if you had it running at 1920x1200 with 8xAA, cmon get serious it's a stupid comparison.

[devilhunterx]

Damn, the PC version is really downgraded.

[hoops]

Put the resolution to 1080p or 2560x1600 with AA and Ansio on and it will looked fantastic.

[devilhunterx]

The graphics details won't change you know.

[Mkai28]

The res is better on the pc but that's about it.Obvously from what they are showing it seems they and other websites as far as ratings and screenshots are showing the 360 verson "on par" for sales. Being rated higher than the pc version is for sales nothing more. More install base, more praise it will have.Evenso,I will be getting the 360 version.

[gillri]

thats the thing the only game that looks better than UC2 and killzone 2 on my high-end pc is crysis and only marginally

hellthe chracter models, digital acting and level polish (that exclusive ps3 games seem to have) is even higher!

all the best talent in todays industry works for ocnsole gaming im afraid

and the most stupid thing about pc hardware is they never make full use out of it (unlike console gaming) and I mean ever! it took me a while to realise that, but blind fanboys will be blind fanboys

you spend all that money ( well I did for 3d work not gaming in particular) and it never gets utilised to it full potential, I would love you PC only players to get the same graphics with a spec PC the same as xbox 360 , lol 512 MB RAM! I have 8GB RAM DDR3 at 1600Mhz on my PC and reckon the graphics will only look 10% better

no wonder PC gaming is nowhere near what it was 10 years ago

[hoops]

There are more games looking better then kz2 and UC2 on the PC other then Crysis. Just two off my head:

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
FaryCry 2 (The PC version looks amazing at high res)

Btw. Comparing Crysis/Warhead to U2 or Kz2 is laughable in graphics.
Play Crysis at 1080p with 4xaa and you will know what I mean.

[silvacrest]

the thing is you need high end equipment to achieve that level on those games, the investment is not worth it for a moderate improvement

when this can be done cheaply we will have something to talk about

[divideby0]

I dont get the PC vs console debate at all...
2 Diff. animals and most rigs you need cost 1G to make games look as good as the PS3 or 360.

I have a good PC with a 512M graphics card and was gonna buy ME for the PC last nite, but BB and GS didnt stock the PC version, so I opted for the 360 version.
I have both hooked up to an XBR9 and I know the PC version would have looked better, especially if I tweaked the settings.. Hands down would have looked better.

[CWMR]

-Yeah right. Crysis wipes the floor with any game on consoles, be it Killzone 2, Gears of War 2, Uncharted 2.

You are exaggerating so much. Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 barely look better than Gears of War 2. The difference is so minor that many people I have asked actually think Gears of War 2 looks better.

In my opinion, Mass Effect 2 is a nicer looking game than Uncharted 2 anyway.

In terms of technical performance though, Crysis destroys any game on any console.-

[gillri]

lol you dont know what your talking about really yes it does look better, but only 5-10% better!

and they have added bump map!? like the 360 version doesnt have bump, cavity and normal maps, specular anyway!?

I think you are talking about the resolution of the maps

I work as a character artist making models for game company so dont try and pull the wool over my eyes

[Godmars290]

How can you tell anything? They're either using in-game cut scenes or blurred and dark in-game shots.

[silvacrest]

these are just pics with no info to state what PC hardware was used, no resolution, or in game tweaking was mentioned either (in English)

i have an okay PC running ME2 with a GTS 250 (not the best card out there) running at 1440 x 900 resolution and it looks better then these pics

im just saying dont look at these pics and automatically think they are equal

[Arnon]

I'm just glad both versions were developed at the same time, compared to Mass Effect 1. It shows.

[Letros]

It looks decent, but you can really tell this game was held back by 360, low res textures mainly.

The benefits to PC vs. console multiplatforms are:
60 fps vs. 30 fps
Higher resolution (games looks 10x better when your native TV res is displaying an image at that same res, i.e. 720p source on a 1080p TV looks like crap).
Anti aliasing (this is incredibly important for a realistic image) and anisotropic filtering.
Dx11(nothing shown to an extreme yet, wait for AvP/Bad Company 2, though Dirt 2 on my PC looked Jaw-dropping when compared to the PS3 demo)

Basically PC versions of games take good graphics and makes them much cleaner and much smoother. Controls are really personal preference(although M/KB offer higher precision/accuracy).

Honestly I'm not trying to be a fan boy, it may come off that way, but if you have the money to get yourself a gaming PC go for it, I have all platforms(save Wii, f-that) and I honestly believe I'd be missing out as a gamer without my PC (it just does everything, haha).

Possibly, PC gamers are just a more hardcore crowd, esp. when it comes to controls/graphics/dedicated servers(competative gaming) etc. I'm sure there are casual console players who just don't give a hoot about any of the advantages I listed, that is perfectly understandable, but don't try to deny these obvious advantages.

And HDTV + couch = PC/consoles/bluray/whatever so stop with that dumb argument.

[Enjoi915111]

pc games on a couch rofl....someones lonely

[TheMailman]

People don´t buy PC games… they just download them illegally on the internet...

[TABSF]

Total lie I have 96 Games on Steam since the start of 2008 and payed less than £500 for them.

Yet all the people I knew had chipped PS1, PS2 and Xbox or softmoded wii, DS, 360 and PSP.

People only try and get games for free because they can't afford it.
The solution is not to charge £60 (like COD: MW2) or put DRM on PC games, the real solution is what Valve is doing on Steam making games affordable.

PSN PSone all 3 Command & Conquer games come in at £10.97
PC all Command & Conquer classics £0 Free on EA offical C&C site

PSN miniS Echoes (cheapest miniS game) £2.49
PSN Casual games PAIN (not casual but like ARCADE) £6.29
PC Steam Half-Life 2: Episode One £5.99
PC Steam Star Wars Starfighter £2.99

PSN Wolfenstein 3D £3.99
PC Wolfenstein 3D £2.99

So basically Console gamers pay or pay more for the same game (in C&C and Wolfenstein 3D case) or pay more for a worse game.

[Enjoi915111]

all my pc games are downloaded rofl...as for the guy above ^ im sorry you wasted all that money

[NeutralGamer]

Seriously they are 100 % the same...
Everyone saying the one is better than the other is a fanboy for their system...

[ReverseCycology]

The best part is I don't have to upgrade my 360 every other year like the PC. Either way PC and 360 owners are the real winners here with this fantasmic beast of a game called Mass Effect 2.

[champ21]

i could show you a 3 yr old pc that outperforms your xbox360.

pcs dont need yearly upgrades, its a myth.

however paying extra on every game bought ont he console is lot more expensive, plus online charges on the xbox 360 not to mention the expensive accessories. it all adds up in the end.

360 is by far the most expensive gaming platform out there like it or not.

[TABSF]

When comparing the PS3 to the 360 there is differences because the developer has tried to max out each platform, The same goes for the PC

But what is the point in comparing the PC version at lower setting to match the 360

360 1280 by 720 @ 30FPS 2x aa, no af
PC 7680 by 1600 @ 60FPS 8x aa, 16x af

If your going to do a comparison at least do it properly

[ForROME]

Too many of you are way off topic with your 360 PS3 war, anyways

On Topic, My PC is mild at best SONY vaio notebook which has the processor but not a card for that, so xbox it is, but frankly its just easy to sit in front of a tv and play than a pc screen anyways.

[Mr Lahey]

Hardly any difference at all. console version looks a little paler in comparison, but thats all. this game looks awesome on 360! And as i been saying since i got blown away by Uncharted 2, the gap between console/PC is closing in more and more..

[ATi_Elite]

I have to disagree with your opinion that the graphics gap between console and Pc are closing.

If you mean the gap between console graphics and Directx 9 PC graphics then yes it is slowly closing.

but the gap between Directx 11 Pc graphics and the console is a gap the size of a few light years.

remember it is 2010 and neither console has yet to make a game that exceeds the quality of Crysis PC 2007

[Mr Lahey]

Well, i think so because the best looking games i ever played is on console (UC2, KZ2, MGS4). And the fact that a brand new PC/360 game like ME2 nearly look identical when compared. Now i know that good PC hardware is incomparable to consoles, always have been and always will be to some extent. BUT if you compare the gap between console and PC at the time say Half Life first arrived, You can clearly see how each new generation of console hardware more and more match up to it's PC counterpart. Just the fact that the same games comes to both consoles and PC nowadays is proof enough the gap is closing in.

And all PC games don't look as good as Crysis. Hell, it's 3 years old and still the best looking PC game around. So to say the difference is about light years is a heavy exaggeration.. There is a gap, maybe it always will be, but compared to say 10 years ago, the gap is way smaller.

[Charmers]

The gap isn't "smaller" there is still a massive gap the problem is developers are not making use of it at the moment. Mass Effect 2 runs at 1680 x 1050 and a solid 60fps + Now that is TWICE the frame rate of the 360 and at a considerably higher resolution. Now want to guess how much processing power Mass Effect 2 is using on my quad when it runs at 60fps ? When I run ME 2 on my PC at 1680 x 1050 @ 60fps my processor is barely using 50% of it's power.

The only reason why you are getting the impression that the gap is "narrowing" is because developers are constrained by the consoles so all the PC gets is slight improvements over what the consoles do. So naturally you think "ha the consoles have caught up". No they haven't not by a long shot it's just no one is pushing the boundaries any more. I mean it is nearly 3 years on and no one has brought a game out that beats Crysis graphically that tells you something about what is actually going on, laziness and greed.

[8thnightvolley]

bioware did a fantastic job at making it look beautiful on both pc and 360 but i am sure if they crank the settings on pc to the highest .. emmm.. it will beat the 360.. and i am being totally honest here... i will be getting the 360 version which would be out in the next 2 days here in UK... anyway.. MASS EFFECT 2 BABY!!!WOW WOW WOW

[The5thApe]

They both look great, but what do I care; I like doodle jump.

I'll be getting it on 360 cos I can then trade it in when I've compleated it.

Hope it come out on PS3 soon cos you guys really should play this game.

[mcnablejr]

youve got to be silly to think either is superior.

[ATi_Elite]

You are such a flaming fanboy and a moron.

If "you HAD a big screen TV" you would notice all those HDMI, DVI, VGA ports on the side or back of it.

Hmmm wonder what those are for, OH I know, I can hook my PC up to it, HDMI, DVI, Hi def VGA = Dedicated for PC Hi def as well

Not to mention my 25" inch HP monitor has a higher resolution 2560 X 1920P Ultra HD than my 42" Sony Bravia 1920 X 1080P Full HD

Mass Effect 2 is a good game on the 360 or PC
but let's be real here the PC version is nothing but a gimped 360 port
but it has better graphics sound control and gameplay than the 360.

ME2 for the 360 Native resolution is 1280 X 720p 30 fps no AA
ME2 for my PC 1920 X 1080p 60 fps 8x AA 16x AF

No way those screenshots are better than a PC this is just more BIAS media coverage and lies but if thats the game the media wants to play then fine. I guess morons in the media and Mcnablejr go hand in hand.

[mcnablejr]

show me ur pc hooked up to a bravia, which is unlikely because it would look awful most of the time stretched on a big screen, pc games are made for smaller screens.

i just know the console experience is better 90% of the time... because.. 90% of the time the pc's are on small screens on a desk.

just show me.. and sure i will believe you.. but so far, im 90 percent sure your faking. ust show me your ''gaming rig'' and i will decide which i would enjoy.

Edit: it makes me laugh people like you thinking your above and beyond the media, what a difference your going to make against the common opinions of people.

[ChrisW]

Just to interject something here...

I don't think it would wouldn't look better on a Bravia because it isn't meant to be a PC monitor; because the refresh rate is still quite a bit different.

As for resolution. A larger screen is NICE... but having a larger screen with higher resolution (than standard 1080) is even NICER!!!

And with a monitor being on a desk, it means that the viewer is sitting closer -- in comparison to LCD-TVs where the viewer is sitting several feet away and the eye automatically blends the pixelations.

In other words, my 27" monitor at 1'6" away looks like about the same size as a 42" LCD-TV at about 4' or 5' away... AND would look about the same in resolution.

[ATi_Elite]

Yeh your a first class Idiot

Try using google and look up EYEFINITY and you will see That one PC using one HD 5000 series graphics cards can display across "6" monitors at resolutions higher than any big screen TV.

2 XFX HD 4890's crosfire overclocked to 1 gigahertz each. My PC would make your TV display LOOK BETTER. Pc's can run at any resolution that the TV display at. PC are not limited.

Those with limited knowledge only use limited technology so have fun with your xbox no Full HD 360

[The Milkman]

Honestly, if it were even at least 25% better looking on the pc it wouldn't convince me to go buy it on the pc. I like to play my games on consoles because I dont like the focus on keyboard support and I like to keep it simple without debate what graphic card I upgrade to later. With a console your pretty much guaranteed you'll be set for the next 5+ up to date on gaming. Instead of paying 1500 dollars for a computer that will run your games smoothly. If you can afford upgrading that way and fine with making decisions on what graphic card is the best for its price then hey more power to you. You should understand why console gaming is more mainstream though. Most us are just gamers! We dont want to have to f$$k with the mechanics we just want to pop a disc in and be done for the next 5 years or so.

[NeutralGamer]

Who are the one giving all the disagrees for saying they are identical?
Come on give me some love n4g they are 100 % exact...

[Blitzkid]

For me the PC Version looks much better! And i will play it on my 50" Panasonic in Full HD :)

[Hurrikane88]

Another dummied downed brain-dead console port ... Not to mention you 360 players think your crap-box is anywhere near a PC because of this game ??? Console games are a step back because of your aging hardware can't do anything else , which to me is the end of any advancement in gaming ...Quality gaming is on the decline Period !!! , its all about the money , not about pushing ahead you idiots ... Another thing , PCs do not cost 1500-2000 , it only shows me how stupid console players really are with replys like that not to mention arguing whats better , the xbox 360 or the PS3. Get a clue .. They are both massively outdated hardware that will soon be obsolete like all consoles and then you will have to re-invest all over again ... Effin Idiots ... All this because your too lazy to get a job... I am gonna call you guys the boom-box crowd of gaming , you play dumbed down games on inferior hardware and think its so great , similiar to somebody who listens to a boombox in music and calls it the finest sound he ever heard ...

[champ21]

if this keeps up we wont see progress in games for 5-7years till a console gen ends sad.

on a positive side pc gamers dont need any upgrdes either if this keeps up, since graphics are not being taken to the next lvl. this makes the PC platform by far the cheapest and superior platform to game on. not to mention the most versatile.

evidence of this is rigs with 3 yr old specs like:

dual core cpu
8800gtx
2gig ram

still outperforming whatever a console can do. according to the benchmarks the rig i listed above could play ME2 @ 1080p around 35-40fps 2xAA

thats something the xbox can only dream of.

[ChineseDemocracy]

I'm going to have to say PC looks slightly better. Not too noticeable so it's not a big deal.

In terms of fanboyism on this site; it's clearly equal, don't deny it.

[ATi_Elite]

Why is this an issue? Becasue developers are lazy that's why.

First Off, every single advertisment you have seen for this game has been the PC version. So that great trailer or commercial was of the PC version and not the XBox360.

Second both systems are using the same ANCIENT Unreal Engine 3 for graphics.

The PC version is better because it has more power for post processing which intern leads to more vivid colors and greater detail. notice the washed out colors and minimal detail on the 360 version. But it still looks good for a 360.

BUT in comparison to todays graphics engine MASS EFFECT 2 PC has low graphic quality. Hopefully a graphics mod of ME2 PC will be released shortly so to bring the graphics into the 21st century

[Richdad]

The game looks great for 360 standards. There are not much games which surpass this one visually on 360.

As for Pc it still looks great for a PC game and not to mention to atleast need a 8600 GT or 7800 GTX for this game to run. That is really high requirement for game ported from 360. Since both 360 and PS3 GPU are near about capacity of those GPU'S only. Not to mention that it's the minimum requirement on PC.

SO yeah they juiced up 360 nicely.

[t850]

yep not hard to max out a ps3 or a 360 something console gamers dont like to belive.

after all its 4yr old tech, how hard could maxing that out be.

[ATi_Elite]

I say Mass Effect 2 for the Xbox 360 is pretty much the Graphical Limitations of that console. It will never output quality at 1080p and it struggles to do 720p above 30 fps.

Never the less ME2 360 looks good and they did a good job taking advantage of what the 360 can do well.

Maybe some new compression techniques can squeeze some more power out of the 360 or just go with an add on.

[Ninji]

It only gimps games

[mcnablejr]

It only plays movies.

[AnotherGamerUser]

Are you blind? it looks better on the Xbox360...

[Gimped Hardware]

i wonder if i could handle a game like this with my gimped hardware

Bottleneck issues and lack of RAM for the win...........

[hoops]

The PS3 also cannot go above 720p with 4xAA for graphic intense games running higher then 30fps. None of these consoles are "next generation"
Why? Because that resolution and IQ settings have been done almost 3+ years ago

[Ninjaspeed313]

ONLY on XBOX 360 NOT on pos POOSTATION:) hahaha

[happy_gilmore]

how is this game only on the crapbox?

how dumb can you be?

[CWMR]

-PC isn't a console. He should have said it another way, but I'm sure his point was that it is not on the PS3, which is the 360's main competition.-

[The Milkman]

If you want to be able to back up your words of a gaming pc being better than a console you will be spending in the $1000 range http://gaming-pc-review.top... . Thats if you even find a game that has been developed to play on such a powerful system or actually worth it for that matter. As for the Boom boxing and the no job comment? Someone needs to wake up and smell the coffee in the chandelier lit bedroom. Believe it or not majority of the people in this world live on a budget supporting family(With a job). If they want the top of the line gaming for the cheapest amount they go console. The mainstream matters because it determines when the consumer is ready to make a leap and when the company will make one ahead of them. It's not the consoles that hold back PC gaming. Theres already technology out there thats far superior to what we have now but they wont release it until the consumer is ready and it becomes more affordable. Also people are more willing to invest a small amount at a time than a large amount at once. Thats your average consumer that is. Thats not idiocy thats life my friend because a lot of people cannot not afford a large amount of their paychecks going towards technology like that. The developers understand that also thats why you see more focus towards consoles today. Its not where your at it's where everyone else is that determines growth in any product.

[jalen247]

PC version obviously looks better which was expected.

However, the 360 version holds its own. 360 owners shouldn't feel let down because they are receiving a very good version of the game.

If you own both a gaming PC and an xbox 360 get the PC version.

If you own a gaming PC and not an xbox 360, then get the PC version.

If you don't own a gaming PC and own an xbox 360, then get the xbox 360 version.

If you don't own a gaming PC or an xbox 360 and own a PS3, then wait a few months for the inevitable PS3 version announcement.

If you don't want to wait for the inevitable PS3 version, then either upgrade your PC or purchase an xbox 360.

[gamer0123456]

lol where did all these pc gamers come from....this is N4G it 360 and ps3...

just look at the pc section and the comments

http://n4g.com/pc/

...o wait no one comments on pc articles

i love ps3 fanboys acting like they have a pc to say there version is better rolf to make use 360 fans jealous or something.

Ps3 fanboys look dumber and dumber everyday..

i even own a ps3 but you guys are just retarded rofl

[CWMR]

-It's obvious half these guys are not PC gamers. They are only using it as some lame way to minimize the 360.

It's unfair to guys like dchalfont who really are PC gamers and should be able to talk about PC games without all that other crap mixed in.-

[ATi_Elite]

I'm a PC gamer and I can careless about a PS3 or a 360 they both suck compared to MY equipment.

I just hate when I hear stupid comments like PC gamers can't sit on the couch and game. Hello we had wireless controllers/mouse/keyboards before any console and we can hook directly up to a Big screen TV, using VGA, DVi, or HDMI cables.

Mass Effect 2 is a great game and achievement for the 360 but sorry most screenshots and video were the PC version. I know Anti Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering when I see it not to mention the 360 has limited resolution (1280 X 720) and I saw video that was higher than that and they said it was the 360 version.

So go play ME2 and have fun I got nothing against ME2 360 or the xbox360 just false ads and stupid comments.

[champ21]

pc gamer here.. i dont own any console. neither would i ever.

[ReBurn]

Yet another lameboy hatefest going on in here. I don't care whether it's PC or 360, Mass Effect 2 looks pretty freaking nice either way. I don't care who disagrees.

[ThePostalDudeX]

Xbox wins again!!!!!...............JUST Kiddin PC all the way baby.

[The Milkman]

You guys are really hard headed if you bought a gaming PC for $300 it would be crap. Can you show me a link to where theres a gaming PC for $300 thats not lacking? Good hunting to you I would be happy if you proved me wrong. Otherwise the only thing you can do is disagree because you cannot back up you arguement. Thats what pisses me off when I bring up a good point you get lazy and just say no without an explanation. I dont care how many disagrees I get you fail the debate if you have nothing else to say. So for you guys like hell yea this is better on PC. WRONG! If your playing on a crappy gaming PC. I can just see it now "Woo hoo Pa! The PC version is better hyuck hyuck!" playing on his green screen PC. Ok I was being a little exaggerated there but you know what I mean. Also another thing people are talking too much about graphics anyway. I would say consoles hold the best exclusives for the past years. If you guys say otherwise you have to be out of your mind. As I said developers know where most of the consumers are.

[artsaber]

Depending on one's specific needs, they can come away with a VERY capable PC at a fraction of what BestBuy charges, etc. And even though these are "BareBones Kits" some come completely preassembled, etc. Others, all you need to buy is a heatsink for your processor and thermal glue. Look around TigerDirect, you may be surprised how your dollar will stretch when it comes to PCs now.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/...

[CWMR]

-No way. I was interested in building a gaming PC a while back to supplement my 360 and PS3 gaming and after a ton of research I gave up on the idea because the cheapest I could come up with is $500, and that is for a barebones system that you have to build yourself and has no operating system (which would add to the cost).

On top of that, a lot of PC gamers I talked with in forums told me that I would not be happy with that system and that I would find out a lot of games wouldn't run completely smoothly on it.

I realized that to get what I want (i.e. a PC rig that could consistently outperform the consoles) I was looking at spending closer to $700 or $800.-

[Hurrikane88]

I think the major reason people play on consoles is that there are to fricken lazy to learn how to deal with driver issues when they pop up , its quite easy , any 10 year old thats been on a computer for a awhile can do it , not sure why there are soo many problems with drivers and such . Truth be known , console players spend just as much on gaming as PC gamers do and get the short end of the stick with there overall investment due to having to completely buy a new system every 4 years .
Not to mention not being able to play old games from older systems , its a total loss .... Yep , the money argument doesn't stand up , its lack of motivation to do anything that requires a little thought other than sitting on the couch eating potato chips and playing Halo all day ..

[Auron]

just play the game and enjoy.

[TheObserver]

I admit that I do not have ME2 on steam yet;therefore, I cannot see the differences for myself.However, I do own the first one and MA1 on PC beat the 360 version by a wide margin. Claiming that MA2 running on 360s will be on par with gaming PCs is laughable.

Praising them for making it the same on PC? Umm... What is this Blasphemy? Once again, radical elements of 360 fans want to gimp gaming. I am a PC guy and I expects the PC to perform better than consoles, be it PS3 or 360(I own them all, of course except for a Wii). PC superior performance is written is stone, you can't argue that consoles are more powerful. Each platform has it unique selling point, PC's performance is bar none. For some unknown reason, elements of fanboys from consoles camp are praising them for withholding quality and pushing sameness. Unbelievable. Like the FFXIII situation, surely is disappointing.

I already saw this recurring fact with many games I personally own and play on both consoles and PC. For example: MW2 and L4D2 on the PC also beat the consoles version by miles. Although I hate MW2 because it accelerate the trend of gimping PC gaming for mass profit, I cannot deny how better it was on a PC.

You may hate me for saying this, but the 360 lend itself an image of being a poor's man gaming PC with multi-platforms. This epithet is a double edged sword: Making hardcore gaming affordable, but sacrificing quality. I personally emphasize quality, that's why the PC is my favorite machine to play games on. This could also be the reason why other PC fans and PS3 fans have stigmas toward 360 fans as well: The different emphasis on quality vs availability.

Everything would be peaceful if people don't try to interfere with or down play what the other side wants. But hey, that's too much to ask with so many fools on the internet.

[The Milkman]

Well looks like people are getting desperate by trying to start a xbox 360 vs ps3 fight instead of staying on the actual debate PC vs consoles. I just want to say I've seen Mass effect on console and it looks way clearer than what they show in those pictures. As for the PC screens thats the quality I see. Sometimes I believe theirs a conspiracy behind this comparing sh&% so I'm just wasting my time right now. If you guys really dedicated to this I suggest you do your own research and not feed from the hands of others.

[Drac]

Although image 6 did look slightly cleaner on the PC, but it's hard to say as they're different shots. Plus not being able read the language no idea what PC configuration they;re comparing against the 360.

Although as I own a PC that can easily play this at max, and the PC version is $20 less here in NZ as well, I've gone with the PC version.

[Hot_tea]

But the 360 version stands up damn well against the beast which is a PC.

[magicwalnuts]

The only difference is that the PC version has more AA, and post processing which means brighter colors. The reason they look so similar is that it is using the UNREAL 3 ENGINE PEOPLE!!! An old engine that reached its limit (the limit being the ability of the 360 to run the engine) with GoW2. If you look at games like Batman AA, Mirrors Edge, and Bioshock they look almost identical on the PC as well, except for the DX10 water effects in Bioshock, and the extremely high end PhysX support for Mirrors Edge and Batman(you need a 2 series Nvidia GPU to actually use the system).

Now people spouting BS about the price point of PC gaming clearly have no idea what they're talking about. Take your average home PC, if you have a multicore processor (sorry if you have a P4 your sh*t out of luck and need a new computer anyway), all you need to do is stick a Radeon HD 4600 series card (70$)or a Radeon HD 5600 series card (100$ for a DX11 capable card, its a steal) add in some ram if you have under 2 gigs, and you have a gaming PC for less than the current price of the 360 arcade. And all of you 360 F*cks out there who grew up with the chip melter box not knowing there were other gaming avenues out there probably spent the 500 bucks on the system when or soon after it came out anyway.

Yes there is the contention of a monitor, a good widescreen will cost you 2-300 bucks, but an HD set costs much more than that. Add to that the XBL fee (ridiculousness), 60 bucks per game as opposed to the 50 and under games I can get on Steam PC gaming is cheaper in the long run. When's the last time you bought a 360 game on sale, oh yeah thats right NEVER! I got Batman: AA for 25 bucks and GTA IV for 7 dollars, and I can actually aim the goddamn crosshairs instead of nudging an analog stick and hoping autoaim takes over, and it looks F*cking beautiful too.

[starchild]

I'm a big supporter of PC gaming, but you are a bit off in your assumptions.

For one thing, I know a lot of people that have cheap laptops or netbooks for internet use. Then even out of the people that do have desktop computers many of them are out of date and would be a horrible choice to plunk a graphics card into.

I would never game on a PC that I didn't build from the ground up for gaming.

[Hurrikane88]

Chip melter box ...LOL

@ Observer ... My new slogan thanks to you

Consoles = Gimping games for mass profits ...LOL so true...

[Enjoi915111]

who cares

theres probably a 20 : 1 ratio that more people bought it for 360.

they both look the same

pc games now days = CS and WOW...... just look at the N4g pc section no ones ever comments in there unless its 360/pc article.

fanboys are so silly

[t850]

steam and the rest of the digital distribution network disagrees with you.

check out the 360/ps3 sections, most topics dont get commented on there too, its same for the pc.

Most ppl tend to look at the ALL section and thats where you will find most of the comments. Lastly most games now are multiplat, asides handful of sony exclusives everything else is multiplat which is why comments can be pc/360 or pc/360/ps3 or 360/ps3. Anyways we all know which machine does multiplats best.

[Cueil]

it's probably more than double the numbers on the 360... if not four times the numbers

[chewmystink]

Add in some Nvidia 3D vision with ME2 and you will chant PC.

[Cueil]

the game looks effing amazing on either system... the PC version will benefit from higher textures and more AA if you have the money to dump into a system like that... and certainlly it'll cost you more than 300 bucks to get a system that can show the game at the level of the 360

[t850]

most ppl already have dual core pcs.. all the pc needs to beat the xbox or ps3 is a 100usd gpu.

then games on pc are cheaper.

for most ppl it may be cheaper to go pc instead of xbox.

[gfield35]

Guys,

Dont forget that when they do these comparisons they run the game on the pc with the same resolution as is the maximum on the 360 (to be fair) The pc however is very capable at running this game on much higher resolutions (with higher Anti-alising to boot) so the comparison may not look all that much better but try it out and you'll see a massive difference.

[free3sixty]

Now the fandroids say, that even PC games get gimped because of the 360, lol... i mean really, sounds desperate and foolish like hell :D.

Wait until FF13 comes out for 360, it will be superior in terms of graphics but right now the droids say, that the game was gimped because of the 360 hardware, lol.

Mass Effect 2 is one of the best looking games this gen. And with upcomming games like RAGE, Brink, Splinter Cell Conviction, Alan Wake, Halo: Reach, the true Power of the xbox360 will be shown.

[t850]

its not hard to max out a 360.

most games now run at 720p or below and mostly fps is limited to 30fps.

If the 360 did have more power, then its not difficult to run the games at 1080p. Which is evidience enough that the 360 or even the ps3 for that matter are running at their limits. small optimisations may come however we cannot expect a large jump from these consoles.

[Keita101]

PC version is a direct port, Textures are the same, no options whatsoever for those. The only adjustable thing on the PC version is the resolution, higher quality shadows, and a higher quality bloom effect. it is lazy on bioware's part to do this, but the xbox version isn't bad at all, so the pc version isn't really suffering. plus, with my GTX 275 i'm getting a constant 60 fps at 1280*1024 (old monitor =( ). i still think getting a constant 60 beats a constant 30 any day.