Resident Evil 5 Head-to-Head

Presentation

Resident Evil 5 is one of the most technically spectacular games of this generation. It's crammed to the gills with environmental detail, elaborate character models, terrific natural lighting, and some fantastic explosion effects. Facial animations and lip-synching are also nuanced and bring out some subtle undertones in cutscenes. From a technical standpoint, you'd be hard pressed to find a more impressive game on either console.

Still, there are some small differences worth noting. The PS3 presents more brightly, and this helps to bring out more visual detail in dark areas. In comparison, the blacks in the 360 version tend to wash out some of the finer details. In brightly lit areas, however, the PS3's brightness adds a slight haziness to the image that makes brighter colors look a touch washed out. The PS3 takes a hit in the framerate department, with noticeable dips into the low 20's in some especially hectic scenes. It's also worth noting the PS3 version appears slightly more aliased than the 360 version. You won't see this without looking closely because environments generally have so much polygonal detail that straight lines never stand out. Still, you'll notice a slight jagginess on gun models and some simpler environmental objects in the PS3 version.

The PS3 version requires a hefty 4.8GB installation that took me upwards of fifteen minutes. Once the game is running, the PS3 version loaded into levels just a second or two more quickly than the 360. The PS3 will have you loaded in from the level select menu in 10-11 seconds while this takes 12-13 seconds on the 360. It's a small difference and shouldn't be an issue either way.

The biggest factor for most hardcore gamers will be the framerate. If you know in advance that framerate drops are an issue for you than the 360 version should be the one to get. Otherwise, both versions look just as good as one another. The 360 gets the win here because of its more stable framerate, but the PS3 version shouldn't be considered inferior by any stretch of the imagination. Both versions look better than almost any other game out there.

Overall

1. Xbox 360

2. PS3