We've pieced together a lengthy head-to-head video below, slowing the footage down to 33 per cent to better allow these details soak in without YouTube's sometimes suspect image quality. The overwhelming takeaway is that sides of the divide are mostly identical throughout, though as ever, there are exceptions to the rule.
This is, of course, in reference to the foliage cutbacks on Xbox One. As bullet-points in a Face-Off comparison go, we're surprised to find this is in fact the biggest for Grand Theft Auto 5's re-release. The Xbox One version is hardly a barren landscape when taken in isolation, but placed side-by-side with the PS4's woodlands and deserts, it's clear there are distinct contrasts in vegetation density. Some areas are entirely unaffected, but at its most apparent we have grass tufts and ferns stripped from the game world - as shown in one overview of the O'Neil farm.
It's a success story for both PS4 and Xbox One, but one disappointment remains: texture filtering. Though a step ahead of the last-gen standard, the effect is equally sub-par on both platforms in its current state. The perceived effect is an unwanted trail-off to texture detail when seen at a angle, with a blur creeping in near the player's field of view when walking down streets.
Given Xbox One and PS4's near-identical visual setups, you'd expect some margin of victory in performance for Sony's more powerful platform. Targeting a fully v-synced 30fps, it's worth stressing that both consoles are, in the end, surprisingly adept at holding form. An initial hour-long play-test, for example, flags no substantial dips on either console, and only the odd dropped frame interrupts a usually perfect 30fps line. It's a solid performer regardless of which flag you fly.
But once we venture on to later missions, certain buckling points start appearing on each console. For the PS4, this often manifests during speed races through busy downtown junctions, where a drop to 24fps constitutes our biggest performance dip. In running a time-lapse comparison of these grid-locked areas, it's interesting to learn traffic patterns are indeed identical for both platforms - the density of active vehicles is matched for both PS4 and Xbox One, so the Microsoft console's advantage here is probably down to its faster CPU cores. Xbox One, meanwhile, suffers from drops around heavier traffic, but typically to a lesser extent than its PS4 stablemate. The downside for Microsoft's more GPU-restricted platform is in a different area entirely meanwhile; namely, the console's handling of transparency effects such as explosions or water sprays.
Where Sony's hardware soars through one explosive shoot-out with a drug cartel, with its strong 30fps line, the Xbox One picks a rougher path through its prolonged 24-26fps read-out. This may be down to the strain on Microsoft's GPU memory bandwidth in upholding a 1920x1080 output, but adding an excess of alpha effects - which otherwise go toe-to-toe with the PS4's level of effects quality - makes a bottleneck evident here.
Technically, Grand Theft Auto 5 for PS4 and Xbox One is an unmistakable product of last-gen design, but its re-release finesses the visuals enough to make Los Santos well worth revisiting. Both consoles receive even-handed treatment from Rockstar North, starting with the 1080p setup on each, and leading to the boosted texture resolution and broadened draw distances. Given the markdown in foliage density on Xbox One, we're surprised traffic shows no likewise downgrade around the city centre for the console - and that additions such as parallax occlusion mapping and screen-space reflections remain intact.
All of which means the PS4 advantage is based on its higher foliage density, plus its more intense lens flare effect. Otherwise, the visual comparisons and performance metrics paint both versions in a positive light; the 30fps target not being a perfect lock on either, but much improved over last-gen despite the enhancements elsewhere. On balance, at stress points the PS4 wins out on this front; despite dipping further in our racing sequences, the console has no trouble tackling alpha-heavy shoot-outs. On the other hand, the Xbox One betrays its weakness in both scenarios, albeit to a differing extent for the driving sections.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-grand-theft-auto-5-ps4-xbox-one-face-off
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