Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3: Round 25

Episodes from Liberty City, SSFIV, SEGA All-Stars Racing, Superstars V8, Dead to Rights and AVP.

Face-off by Richard Leadbetter Technology Editor, Digital Foundry

Updated on May 10, 2010

Aliens vs. Predator

Xbox 360 Review

	Xbox 360	PlayStation 3
Disc Size	6.1GB	6.4GB
Install	6.1GB (optional)	-
Surround Support	Dolby Digital	Dolby Digital, 5.1LPCM, 7.1 LPCM, DTS

Colonial marines face off against xenomorphs and the odd Predator in this long-awaited triple-header of an FPS that allows you to take control all three parties. It's a game that has the potential to be utterly brilliant but is spoiled by somewhat uneven pacing and unimaginative gameplay.

What Aliens vs. Predator does feature, however, is its own bespoke engine, and in a genre where so many games use Unreal Engine 3, or at least look like they're using Unreal Engine 3, at least Rebellion's latest release does have its own visual identity. It's just a shame that despite some interesting use of light and shadow, the game itself looks technically quite backward compared to many of its peers. There's a real sense while playing that Aliens vs. Predator has come to market a year too late.

It's also that engine, and its performance level, that is the main point of differentiation between the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 builds of the game.

Aliens vs. Predator. Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3. Use the full-screen button for full HD, or hit the link for a larger window.

A quick glance at the initial comparison movie suggests that the games are mostly like for like, but with a far higher level of screen-tearing on the PlayStation 3 version of the game. Adding to the feel that the game is somewhat dated is that it appears both consoles are running Aliens vs. Predator at a sub-HD resolution: 1120x630 by the looks of it.

More impressive is the utilisation of a custom anti-aliasing system that is capable of some seriously decent edge-smoothing. Implementation seems to be selective though and based on the comparison shots it does appear that the Xbox 360 rendition of the game is the more accomplished of the two.

Onto overall performance then, and the full impact of the screen-tear can be seen on both versions of the game. While it's clearly a factor to be taken into consideration on Xbox 360, it's obviously far more of an issue on the PlayStation 3 version of the game.

The amount of screen-tear is the main differentiating factor with Aliens vs. Predator.

The conclusion is pretty self-evident. Aliens vs. Predator looks pretty much the same on both systems and frame-rates are very, very close indeed too. However, image quality overall is less satisfactory on PS3 since tearing is an ever-present companion whereas it only ever encroaches on 360 when the engine is under stress.