Corey | 
October 21, 2009 | 
“…one of the most fun Head2Heads we have captured…”
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| Electronic Arts |
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Electronic Arts | |||
| Double Fine |
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Double Fine |
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| Action / Adventure |
1500 mb | n/a |
Action / Adventure |
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| Release: 10/13/09 | 19 sec | 19 sec | Release: 10/13/09 | |||||||||
| ESRB: Mature |
8.01% | 2.31% | ESRB: Mature | |||||||||
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Head2Head - Brutal Legend Analysis We go Head2Head with Brutal Legend on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. |
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We want to thank Play N Trade (Oviedo, FL) for allowing us the opportunity to check out the retail version of Brutal Legend for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. As you may recall we did a analysis of the Brutal Legend demo a few weeks back. While both demos were very close in the graphics department, there were more performance issues with the PlayStation 3 version. Was Double Fine able to get the PlayStation 3 version to perform on par with the Xbox 360? Read on to find out…
Graphics: Brutal Legend is a game filled with style. While it doesn’t raise the bar or redefine anything graphically in this generation, what it does, it does well. We were very impressed with the facial animations, character/creature design and environments in the game. Speaking of environments, after playing the linear demo we were surprised to find that main world was vast and open. There were many areas to explore and side quests to take. Double Fine did a remarkable job bringing to life the post-apocalyptic, heavy-metal inspired world of Ormagoden. It is also worth mentioning that Brutal Legend features a dynamic time of day and weather system. While frustrating to capture (read: one console would be daytime, while the other nighttime) it really added another element of life to this strange land.
So how did the systems compare to each other? Visually, Double Fine did a phenomenal job of porting Brutal Legend to the PlayStation 3. The textures, lighting, animation and effects matched up almost perfectly. You read that right…animation. In some of the in-game cutscenes Eddie Riggs’ facial animation differs from console to console. It is almost as if the animators made some last minute tweaks that didn’t make it into the other version of the game. Strange indeed. Also, the game appears to be rendering in true 720p on both consoles and supports both 1080i and 1080p output on the PlayStation 3. Neither versions of Brutal Legend features anti-aliasing, which would only have made this great looking game even better…shame.
Performance: When we had taken a look at the demo of Brutal Legend a couple of weeks back, it was apparent that the PlayStation 3 version was suffering from a bad case of frame tearing. We were hopeful that the performance issues were resolved in the final build, but that wasn’t the case. While neither version of Brutal Legend performs flawlessly, the PlayStation 3 version had close to 4 times the frame tearing when compared to the Xbox 360.
PlayStation 3 Avg. FPS: 28.99 / Xbox 360 Avg. FPS: 28.87
PlayStation 3 Avg. Frame Tear: 8.02% / Xbox 360 Avg Frame Tear: 2.31%
A minor disappointment on both systems was the draw distance of certain objects, such as signs and creatures, they would just pop up. It would have been much nicer if they took the fading LOD approach. Not an experience breaker by any means.
Loading: The PlayStation 3 version of Brutal Legend had to download an update and a perform a mandatory install before playing. Overall, the entire process lasted around 4 minutes and weighed in at 1.5gb. But unfortunately, the install didn’t accelerate the PlayStation 3 load times as much as we hoped. Loading in Brutal Legend is relatively quick and usually masked by in-game cut scenes. Just to give you an idea, the average load time was 19 seconds on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Mission restarts were the fastest at around 3-4 seconds on both platforms.
Roll over to see the differences. Here we compare the different HDMI settings between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Roll over to see the differences. In this scene there appears to be no self shadowing on the hair.
Roll over to see the differences. In several areas the facial animation differs between consoles.
Roll over to see the differences. The Xbox 360 reflections seem to be smoother (aliasing) than the PlayStation 3. This can be seen in multiple areas.
Roll over to see the differences.
Conclusion: Both versions stack up really closely, but the Xbox 360 offers a more solid experience with less frame tearing throughout. This has to rank up there as one of the most fun Head2Heads we have captured in a long time. Brutal Legend is a great looking game that is fun to play and has many laugh out load (LOL!) moments. So if you are a fan of hack n’ slash, old school heavy metal, Jack Black, and comedy you owe it to yourself to pick this game up. Yeah-he-yeah!!!
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| G R A P H I C S | |||
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The Brutal Legend developers did a fantastic job matching the visuals between consoles. Textures, lighting, and color all match quite nicely. This is how graphics should be on a port. |
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| P E R F O R M A N C E | |||
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Both systems have their ups and downs with performance. While neither version performed flawlessly, the Xbox 360 wins with less frame tearing than the PlayStation 3. | |
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| L O A D I N G | |||
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Tie. The PlayStation 3 version of Brutal Legend has a mandatory 1.5gb install which didn’t help out the loading times. Both versions of Brutal Legend load in roughly the same amount of time (19 seconds average). | |
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| O U T C O M E | |||
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This game was very close, overall, but the deciding factor came down to performance. And for that, the Xbox 360 wins this Head2Head. | |
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| C O M M E N T S | C H O I C E | ||
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To be honest I wasn’t expecting a lot from Brutal Legend. Come on, it’s a hack and slash game that features Jack Black. Riiight… While it had plenty of chances to turn out all wrong; it did just the opposite. The game is unique, fresh and creative. Not to mention hilarious. I had a blast playing this game and I am looking forward to spending more time with this game. | |
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| Corey | “…unique, fresh and creative…” | ||
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If you played the demo and liked it you won’t be disappointed. But honestly the demo does no justification for this game. The sound track was awesome, the facial expression on the characters models were hilarious, and meeting the headbangers almost made me pee my pants (almost). Finally, both games looked almost identical, but it was clear the Xbox 360 version performed better and my choice is to rock out with the Xbox 360 version. | |
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| Shawn | “…the demo does no justification for this game…” | ||
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Although I will most likely buy this game on the Xbox 360, I’d be just as happy if I had to buy the PS3 version. This game is so damn funny, you won’t care which console tears more. It’s great to see Tim Shafer having another hit on his hands. I played the hell out of Full Throttle and I look forward to playing this game to hell and back. |
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| John | “This game is so damn funny…” | ||
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did you ever experience abything like the camera was being shaken up and down really fast on the ps3 version?
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LMAO
Are you stupid or something??
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I’m having the same camera problem on the ps3 version of the game and yes I did the mandatory update does anyone know a fix to this ?? please
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Again it says “HD install: N/A” for the 360 version, when it clearly is available.
Post the data on how much room the install takes up and what effect it has on loading times. Once again the PS3 has effectively lost to an Xbox 360 Arcade, only being able to match loading times even when the 360 version isn’t installed, but I know I’m not alone in saying that I’d find the data on install size and performance differences on the 360 useful.
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We have seen this topic come up on a number of threads over the last few days and wanted to address the issue.
The N/A on the Xbox 360 is “Not Applicable” as it has no weight on the overall scoring. At this time we will continue to analyze with “out-of-the-box” configurations for all games. If the PlayStation 3 requires a HD install to play the game, we have no choice but to install. It is purely optional for the Xbox 360. We feel that this data is more valuable to our viewers as it has no ambiguity. We have to maintain an equal playing field for these comparisons to have value.
But you could provide the data and still use the results obtained without installing the 360 version for your conclusion. What’s wrong with doing that? No PS3 owners could cry foul as it’s still an out of the box comparison, and 360 owners with a hard drive can see if installing is going to have any benefit on loading times.
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Hey man I understand 3 seconds less of loading times seems like a big factor on purchasing Brutal Legend to you.
…but that’s all i seem to understand.
It’s not such of a big deal really.
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How do you know it’s 3 second? In Operation Flashpoint, loading times were cut by 15+ seconds and as I can install that game, I might as well. It would be nice to see what performance increase would be gained by installing the game, and it would be nice to know how much room is taken up. It takes a maximum of 11 minutes to install a game, so it’s not like it would increase their testing time by a great deal.
Besides, you might as well argue that giving a win to a console that loads a game 3 second fasters is pointless too, but this site does just that and you come here to read it, so you obviously care about minor differences.
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Yes you are correct. It may not even be 3 seconds. It may even get rid of the install times correctly. But is it really that much or an importance?
The team does alot of hard work and effort to put a proper verdict for all their games really and I think a demand like something minor like this is too much. Sure they can do it but I agree with Corey. It’s purely optional whereas it is mandatory on the PS3.
For example, Street Fighter IV had an optional install for the PS3. According to Lens of Truth’s team, it loads slower compared to the 360 without the optional install. The verdict was given to the 360 there.
Take what you have and be satisfied. I do like to notice the minor details and if I had both consoles I would choose the one that was better.
But since i do not own both consoles, those minor details should not deter me from enjoying a wonderful experience.
I’m sure you have more rebuttals for me but this will be my last response to you. I just hope you see where I am coming from, although it doesnt mean you have to agree with me or anyone else.
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It’s about time guys!!!
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Hmm i agree with your decision with the 360 being the better choice but shouldn’t graphics also be won by the 360 as well since the 360 seems to have self-shadowing as well as being much smoother?
Keep in mind team, you know I own only a PS3 so I’m not really being biased in any sort of way lol.
I’d just like to know whether smoothness and visual effects (self-shadowing) affect the verdict for graphics.
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All in all the differences were within the tolerance range for a graphical tie. That section of the analysis was the only area we had seen the hair self shadow like that. And for being smoother, they both were lacking anti-aliasing. That being said we aren’t 100% sure why the cigarette looks smoother on the Xbox 360 in the rollover. Unless they are using selective antialiasing for certain objects.
Thanks for the clarification! I’ll be picking this up for the PS3 since the issues are so small.
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Wait but you said you own only a Ps3.
Whats to pick between?
You don’t make sense
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Awesome review Thank you.
You know whats funny alot ppl criticize but don’t atleast take the time to say thank you.
Looking forward to borderlands!
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Thanks for this!
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the textures on the 360 version are mutch sharper, and the shadows and reflections are better, so the 360 wins this time,
and noone can say the PS3 version looks better because it clearly not!
i have both 360 an PS3, and i waited until this test to see the differences, now i will buy the 360 version.
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I just finished the game last night, it really is creative and hilarious. It’s a metal-head’s dream. I never thought I’d see a game where battles were fought with guitar solos and headbangers. The battles remind me of Warcraft, with spawning and assigning units to targets. That aspect was refreshing to see in an RPG. The game is definitely worth the buy and I will be going through the side missions and multiplayer now. I’ll be going through the single player in the future as it was a blast and worth revisiting. It is one of a kind!
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Did you get the Xbox 360 version?
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[...] vs PS3 Since no one else has done this yet. Lens of Truth Blog Archive Head2Head: Brutal Legend Analysis : Just telling the truth __________________ Click here to see full text [...]
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“Also, the game appears to be rendering in true 720p on both consoles and supports both 1080i and 1080p output on the PlayStation 3″
Did you actual get it to work in 1080i/1080p or are you just saying what is printing on the box? As no one I know, myself include, has been able to get this game to run in 1080i/1080p on the PS3. 480p or 720p seems all it’s able to support.
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Yes I got the XBOX version!
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Well, PS3 is getting the upcoming DLC for free, so I’m extremely happy that I went with the PS3 version over the 360 version.
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[...] available on the PS3. As far as I could tell through graphics comparison screenshots (thanks to lensoftruth.com), I could not see much of a [...]
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Actually the PS3 version of Brutal Legend does not support 1080i/p upscaling. It is 720p only, and the box is a misprint.
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