BioShock Infinite: the Digital Foundry verdict

"What we love most about BioShock Infinite is the way in which technology and game design come together to deliver a unique experience."

Despite our concerns with performance on console, Irrational Games still manages to deliver an engrossing experience across all formats, where the core experience is so strong that the game is an essential purchase no matter which platform you own. The extra clarity afforded by the PC version better represents the stylised artwork on offer, while smoother frame-rates certainly make the combat sequences so much more enjoyable to play, with more responsive controls delivering an extra dimension of precision needed in fast-paced shoot-outs. If you have the hardware capable of running the game smoothly, the PC version is the game to buy.

However, the console releases are still outstanding releases that come highly recommended. The shooting isn't as much fun when frame-rates are crashing down but most of the other elements that help make BioShock Infinite such an accomplished release are fully in effect. The more responsive PS3 game gets the nod for delivering a more consistent, flowing gameplay experience. The addition of tearing isn't particularly attractive, but the extra controller response is preferable during intense combat scenes. Alternatively, those especially susceptible to screen-tear may prefer the 360 version, despite it featuring heavier dips in performance in more demanding scenes.

Overall, BioShock Infinite is certainly one of the most entertaining games we've played in a long, long while. At its core, the power/weapon-based combat is similar to previous games in the series, but what sets this sequel apart is how all the different elements come together coherently to form a compelling, irresistible experience, where Elizabeth takes centre stage. Impressive AI and animation are combined with excellent dialogue and delivery that help to give her real character throughout the whole adventure, even if some of the gameplay mechanics surrounding her are a little underused. What we love most about BioShock Infinite is the way in which technology and game design come together to deliver a unique experience. With this philosophy in mind, we're excited by the possibilities next-gen platforms represent to a developer like Irrational. Let's hope we don't need to wait another five years to see its next game...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-bioshock-infinite-face-off

PC >>> PS3 > 360

PC looks a lot sharper but not a world of difference.

I don't like screen tear or performance drops. Hopefully both the PS3 and 360 will get patches to help with the issues. Screen tear is annoying as hell.

Digital Foundry

"Despite the soft look, BioShock Infinite renders natively at 720p on both 360 and the PS3, with the distinct blur caused by the inclusion of a heavy post-process anti-aliasing solution that smoothes over pixel-wide edges along with texture details. It's difficult to say for sure, but our guess is that we're looking at differing implementations of FXAA appear to be in play across each format"

"On the other hand, there's little to separate the PS3 and 360 releases from each other: textures and normal maps are a close match, although we find the level of filtering to be a little higher on the PS3, adding a touch more clarity in some places. Shadows are rendered in slightly higher resolution on the 360, while an off-set bias causes some lights and shadows to appear in different places on PS3, with elements such as specular sheen and lighting bloom dialled back slightly as a consequence"

"Frame rates are generally higher on the PS3 across a basic run of play factoring in various scenarios, but particularly when under load, where the added smoothness translates into more responsive controls during intense fire fights where quick reactions count. Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of some hefty screen-tearing. UE3-standard adaptive v-sync is used on the PS3, where the engine locks at 30FPS, tearing when frame-rate dips beneath the target. For its part, the 360 the game is more solidly v-synced: tearing occurs at the top of the screen but we see the level of smoothness drop more sharply as the GPU stalls while waiting for a new frame to be completed in time for the next display refresh"

"The bottom line is that the 360 game enjoys a higher level of visual integrity, but in comparison to the PlayStation 3 version it takes a hit in terms of smoothness and response"

"Despite our concerns with performance on console, Irrational Games still manages to deliver an engrossing experience across all formats, where the core experience is so strong that the game is an essential purchase no matter which platform you own"

"The shooting isn't as much fun when frame-rates are crashing down but most of the other elements that help make BioShock Infinite such an accomplished release are fully in effect. The more responsive PS3 game gets the nod for delivering a more consistent, flowing gameplay experience. The addition of tearing isn't particularly attractive, but the extra controller response is preferable during intense combat scenes. Alternatively, those especially susceptible to screen-tear may prefer the 360 version, despite it featuring heavier dips in performance in more demanding scenes"

Hmm... not much of a difference in terms of how they look.

I'm playing the 360 version and I didn't really notice any screen tear.

There is an option to have v-sync and that gives a performance hit, but I'm fine leaving that off.

The article states that the PS3 version is the one with screen tearing.

Is this from the same link?

Indeed it is ^^