Fallout 3 looks rubbish on PS3
22-Oct-2008 Claim the predictable internet headlines, but we've played it on all three platforms - and here's the real, if less exciting, truth...
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Our exclusive Fallout 3 PS3 review (from PSM3#107) has leaked onto the Internet and, as expected, a single sentence has been dragged out, beaten and interrogated under a spotlight. This one; "The PS3 version compares poorly to its Xbox and PC counterparts." Which, in the parlance of the Internet, obviously means; "THE PS3 VERSION SUCKS! XBOX WINS! ANOTHER CRAPPY PORT!" But that isn't the case. T
he PS3 version just looks SLIGHTLY WORSE than the other versions.
The PC version of Fallout 3 is gorgeous. The colours are vivid, the draw distance is endless, the textures are high-res and the lighting effects are beautifully subtle, especially when you're gazing over the Capital Wasteland at sunset. It's the best-looking of the three.
The Xbox 360 version's textures are noticeably rougher than on PC, and objects in the distance aren't quite as clear. It does, however, boast an impressively solid frame rate. The game is, otherwise, identical.
NOW, the PS3 version looks the same as on Xbox, but things in the distance are slightly jaggier/rougher, the textures seem 'muddier' up-close and the frame rate is choppier, especially during the last few story missions (which may be the same on Xbox, but we've not seen the equivalent scenes to comment). We won't spoil anything, but the set-pieces here are MASSIVE, and the engine quivers under the weight of what's happening.
So, really, the difference between the Xbox and PS3 versions won't hamper your enjoyment of the game in ANY WAY. High-res textures or not, it's still the same huge, epic, absorbing, brilliant adventure.
And if you're bothered by a slightly inferior frame rate and fractionally blurrier textures, then perhaps, yes, you'd best buy the Xbox version, leaving the rest of us to enjoy an almost-identical, equally brilliant, game on PS3, while you smugly inspect concrete textures at terrifyingly close range to reap the full benefit, rather than, say, losing yourself in a 100 hour epic quest in an evocative post-apocalypse. Or having fun.
Good night.
Andy Kelly (the one who reviewed Fallout 3, and finished it on PS3.)
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