“…Which version will escape the dark and deadly void?…”

Capcom

Capcom

Airtight Games

1

1

Airtight Games

Action, TPS

n/a

n/a

Action, TPS

Release: 01/19/10

35.6 sec

28.3 sec

Release: 01/19/10

ESRB: Teen

10.16 %

1.75 %

ESRB: Teen

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				Head2Head – Dark Void Length: 00:07:17 We go Head2Head with Dark Void for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

This week Lens of Truth puts Dark Void under our lens to see which version can escape the  Bermuda Triangle and return as winner of this week’s Head2Head. But first we would like to thank our always reliable sponsor Play N Trade (Oviedo) for supplying us with yet another great game to analyze for this Head2Head. As always, Lens of Truth was able to find some differences between the two versions, so if you’re interested in which version is worth taking the $60 plunge, watch the video and read on because you are in for quite a ride.

Before we continue on with the Head2Head, here’s a brief description of what to expect. Right off the bat, it’s very apparent that the main character of the game is voiced by Nolan North, the actor who voices Drake in the Uncharted series. It’s a little difficult to match his very recognizable voice to this new character’s face, but you can eventually get past it.  In the parallel universe of “The Void”, you are Will, a pilot dropped into incredible circumstances within the mysterious Void.  Trapped, Will must join forces with resistance fighters who are battling an alien race that threatens Earth. Dark Void introduces a unique vertical combat system, allowing players to dangle from crumbling cliff edges as they try to take cover and hurl enemies to their death. Will is also equipped with a powerful rocket pack which allows him to hover and attack from the sky or take a more direct approach and engage in  fierce hand to hand combat. Of course, the player can also use the jet pack and rocket through the Void at sound-breaking speeds while engaging enemies.

Graphics: Dark Void starts out by immediately exposing the player to their jet pack with a quick tutorial on flight controls. Unfortunately, the flying ends abruptly and hurls Will to the ground for Gears of War style combat. It is not until around chapter six or seven that the player actually gets to play with the jet pack again, and this chapter also starts where the demo left off.  Keep in mind when you look at the video and images,  most of our footage is on the ground due to this change in gameplay. Overall, the graphics of Dark Void on both versions were of similar quality. Some textures did differ between the two in terms of looks (reference the image above), but texture quality looked to be the same resolution across platforms.

The first thing you notice with Dark Void is that the lighting effects on both versions look amazing; a good example of this is when you get your jet pack fully functional again. Walking out of the cave through a waterfall overlooking a thousand-foot cliff was just breathtaking. The volumetric lighting engulfed the character’s body while cascading multiple sun beams around which revealed Will’s silhouette. Simply awesome.

While the lighting on both versions looked great, the Playstation 3 version had some extra details not found on the Xbox 360 version. First,  the Playstation 3′s environment looked more polished. In the last rollover image you can clearly see a cloud/fog effect filling the environment and adding a better sense of height. This effect was completely missing in the Xbox 360 version. Furthermore, the Playstation 3 version has a much stronger bloom effect complementing the stylized lighting and effects, which was also missing in some areas of the Xbox 360 version. On the flip side, the Xbox 360 version did sport anti-aliasing while the Playstation 3 version had none. Another effect that was present on the Xbox 360 version but absent on the Playstation 3 was exhaust fumes on the jet pack (as seen in the first clip). So overall, both the original development team and the port team did some things slightly better than their counterpart.

Performance: Dark Void’s performance was mediocre on both versions, each with its share of frame rate drops and screen tearing, but the Playstation 3 version performed worse when trying to render  in-game cut scenes. Our analyzer proved that the Playstation 3 takes  major performance dips in these cut-scenes, but on the bright side both versions seemed to perform on par with one another while playing through the game.  Below is the complete break down of each version’s performance statistics.

Loading: This category was rather cut throat; the Xbox 360 load times average around 28.3 seconds while the Playstation 3 had an average of 35.6 seconds. Note the Playstation 3 did not have a mandatory install.

Load Time 1: PlayStation 3 – 38 sec / Xbox 360 – 30 sec
Load Time 2: PlayStation 3 – 42 sec / Xbox 360 – 33 sec
Load Time 3: PlayStation 3 – 27 sec / Xbox 360 – 22 sec

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. Notice the Playstation 3 version lighting reveals a more natural look.

Roll over to see the differences.

Roll over to see the differences. Notice the Xbox 360 version lacks bloom.

Roll over to see the differences. Notice the Playstation 3 version has some additional environment effects.