Which has better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

[Zeroth]

Now since everyone has just about finished Metel Gear Soild 4, I'm curious if this game looks better than Gears of War. I know GoW is two years old, but it's graphics are still some of the best on the 360 (at least until GoW 2 is released). Does the PS3 finally have a game that can compete graphically with GoW? Dare I ask if it possibly looks better than GoW?

[Valkysas]

Re: Which have better better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

a LOT of PS3 games look better than Gears of War. MGS4 is definately one of them.

[jvrlopez]

Re: Which have better better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

The title of this topic hurts me.

[marcus]

Re: Which have better better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

I don't know the game from a technical standpoint as Konami rarely talks about specs (for good reason, who the hell cares if a game uses some crazy normal/medium/super bump-mapping and anisotropic spectral lighting filtering mapping) but the fact that the game is on a blu-ray gives it higher resolution textures and it shows. I secretly wish the game was on multiple discs because I hate the three minute installation whenever I want to replay a scene (wah wah).

Anyways, in my opinion it's got the best graphics on the consoles hands down. While the character models and animation are fantastic (as stupidly DBZ as Raiden + Vamp's fight scene was it was spectacular in execution) the facial animations are your standard MGS STIFF. I don't know what it is with Konami but for some reason their faces always look weird. They redid the lip syncing specifically for the US voices but the characters barely move their cheeks and eyebrows and I swear Snake has a perpetual grimace on his face. Just compare an MGS4 cutscene with something like Drake's Fortune or Half-Life 2 and you'll notice the difference in facial animation.

That little nitpick aside, it's waaaaaaay better looking than GoW. Being the gun buff that I get a huge grin on my face whenever Snake does a minor action like pulling back the slide and looking down the chamber or just randomly checking his ammo in a cutscene. There's a lot of small details like this (wish there more animals like in MGS3) and the cat and mouse "area" in Act II is amazing. I won't spoil it, but if you play this part without barreling through it it gets pretty intense as the enemy placement is fantastic and there's lots of little traps and stuff. *** SPOILERS ***
I was actually whispering to myself like "Okay, someone picked up Naomi and carried her these are obviously fake tracks there's probably a trap around the bend yes yes."
*** END SPOILERS ***


Anyways, I wish the color palette wasn't made out of brown and gray but yes, fantastic.

[Zeroth]

Re: Which have better better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

Uncarted's graphics are fantastic, but I wasn't sure if they were better than GoW's. My one friend played GoW and he said that there wasn't a single muddy texture in GoW, he is kinda a graphics junky.

[marcus]

Re: Which have better better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

Uncarted's graphics are fantastic, but I wasn't sure if they were better than GoW's. My one friend played GoW and he said that there wasn't a single muddy texture in GoW, he is kinda a graphics junky.

Console games usually don't have a list of specs so this is a difficult subject to discuss. I'll tell you that from a technical standpoint Crysis blows everything out of the water (if only the game was good HURF HURF) but you can't measure console games with some specifications. A "muddy texture" all depends on what kind of tv you're using and the cables.

[Zeroth]

Re: Which have better better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

A "muddy texture" all depends on what kind of tv you're using and the cables.

What? I've never heard of that. Explain further.

[marcus]

Re: Which have better better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

What? I've never heard of that. Explain further.

Traditional tvs have low resolution (like 320x200 or something HOLY CRAP I AM AN AUDIO/VISUAL TECHNICIAN BY TRADE HOW DO I NOT KNOW THIS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD ARRRGHGFHG). Traditionally you have composite video (composite video burst/baseband signal) which is the standard "yellow" cable and it carries a signal on the RF carrier--

Okay, cutting out the technical mumbo jumbo. Composite has the lowest resolution which gives you a unsaturated and "muddy" look on higher resolution tv's. Component video and S-Video is the next up which splits the signal between two carriers (giving you a clearer picture than component). Next you have VGA and its spinoffs XGA, SVGA, etc. and they give you a higher resolution (this is what your computer monitor uses). Finally you have HD or hi-def which carries an uncompressed signal giving you the highest resolution possible.

Basically, for the best picture quality and clarity, buy a tv with HDMI ports. I work extensively with analog so I'm kind of "left in the dust" with the digital world but HD is the wave of the future right now. If you're still playing games using composite cables then you're missing out.

[Valkysas]

Re: Which have better better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

there are muddy textures in MGS4. there's muddy textures in every game on every system ever. it cannot be avoided, especially if you use a lot of unique textures. Anyone who tells you a game does not have some muddy textures is lying. anything the developers do not believe the player will play close attention to will not be as sharp as things they expect the player will play close attention to. this is a sacrifice that needs to be made because no amount of ram is ever enough to do what everyone wants to do with it. even crysis, the greatest graphical achievement in video games, has muddy textures at max settings.

I'm sure that most of MGS4's space is dedicated to textures, and yes, a bunch of them are what you could call "muddy", even at HD resolutions. but the variety and uniqueness of them is staggering. they rarely repeat wall textures in the urban areas, or even rock textures. there are rocks that look completely different from every other rock in the game. you'll see unique wear on steel beams that are not replicated anywhere else. it makes you feel sorry for the graphic guys at kojima productions.

[Zeroth]

Re: Which have better better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

Standard definition is 640×480, not 320×300 (that'd be like the tvs in the 1910, or something). Component cables are way better than S-video. S-video is the cable the seperates the signal in two, component cables seperate the signal in three. S-video also can't display in 480p, while component can display all the way up to 1080p. HDMI can do the same thing, only it is uncompressed (HDMI can tranfer data at a whooping 5 gigs) and is a digital to digital tranfer.

[Jeroak Nelave]

Re: Which have better better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

Yeah Bob, your friend is blind, as there are muddy textures in multiple places in Gears of War, there are also muddy textures in Heavenly Sword, Ratchet, Uncharted and MGS4.

Its just a fact that no hardware is capable of doing all of those things perfectly yet.

[Perversion]

Re: Which has better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

Hate to be nitpicky, but I'm pretty sure that by using component, you are only able to achieve 720p/1080i. 1080p is only possible with HDMI. And I BELIEVE S-video can display 525 lines of resolution (interlaced) if you have a TV capable of displaying that. Technically, most 720p TVs are actually able to display at 1366x768, but they really only display at 1280x720 (progressive), because that is the standard signal that component carries. If you look at the native resolution of Halo 3, it's only at 1366x768. People think that it's at 1080p, because that's what the case says, but really, it's only capable of being upscaled to that resolution. Same with all other 360 games. If I remember correctly, even MGS4's native resolution is not even 1920x1080 (progressive), although I could be mistaken on that.

But yeah, standard def IS 640x480 (interlaced). You were right on that account. I believe that the Playstation Eye camera has a max resolution of 640x480 as well.

[Chad]

Re: Which has better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

Hate to be nitpicky, but I'm pretty sure that by using component, you are only able to achieve 720p/1080i. 1080p is only possible with HDMI.

Actually, it's up to your television. For playing movies, yes, the highest that the standard allows is for 1080i through component. However, BD-ROM games are not restricted. If the game is outputting at 1080p, and your tv accepts 1080p through component (that's the biggest if) than you will be playing in 1080p.

Edit: Though the PS3 does have lots of nifty extra features that are only available through HDMI.

[Perversion]

Re: Which has better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

Maybe, but name one game on either the 360 or the PS3 that has a native resolution of 1080p. I'm pretty sure there are none. I would have thought MGS4 was, but I'm pretty sure I saw the native resolution printed (or online, most likely) somewhere, and it was not at 1080p. If there was any one game that would be at 1080p, it would have been that one.

As I said in my previous post, just because it claims on the back of a game case that 1080p is possible, that does NOT mean that it's the game's native resolution. It's merely being upscaled to 1080p.

[Jeroak Nelave]

Re: Which has better graphics? MGS4 or GoW?

actually, not that anyone will care. I'm pretty sure that Lair was 1080p native.