Burnout Paradise PC vs. PS3

Abernyte's picture
Submitted by Abernyte on Tue, 02/10/2009 - 17:57

General Comments

Clearly, as is the case with many Burnoutaholics, I’m obsessed. Having now played through BP on the PS3 3 ½ times (twice on my main account, once on my second account and part way on my third account) I naturally thought I should go and do it again on the PC version. At this point I am about 50 wins away from Criterion Elite and have spent enough time on the PC version that I feel like I can make a reasonable comparison.
 
Because of the tremendous number of variables involved in setting up a PC, anything I say here should be viewed as subjective at best. What I see as differences could come down to the hardware I am using, how I have stuff configured or even how far I sit from the screen and speakers. So take all my comments with a grain of salt.
 
With all that in mind, here are some thoughts on the PC version of the game.
 
Gameplay
 
Single Player
 
With the exception of the introduction of some PC specific billboards, the PC version appears to be virtually identical to PS3 version of the game. There are no noticeable differences in the way the cars handle and single player events such as stunt run, marked man, burning routes and road rage seem unchanged.
 
Getting all of the superjumps, smashes and billboards seemed a lot easier than I remember from my most recent run through which was just after the PS3 trophy support was added. I’m sure this is simply a function of the color changes designed to enhance the visibility of these items.
 
Online
 
Accessing online is exactly the same as on the PS3 and from what I’ve seen, online is very consistent with the console versions. An obvious exception is the messaging systems used by the two consoles and that of the PC differ.
 
Online is still pretty quiet. It will be interesting to see what the composition is of the PC players of this game. Mostly people who previously played on a console or players who are completely new to the game?
 
Racing
 
I have not done any racing at all on PC and have not done any on the PS3 version is quite some time so I really don’t have any basis to form an opinion here. What I will say is that, for better or worse, the racing will be exposed to all of the problems that have cropped up in the PS3 environment with race and boost class switching.
 
As with any PC based game, at some point there will probably be user hacks introduced to the game. I imagine some of the first will involve racing, closely followed by something takedown related such as invincibility.
 
Magically Appearing Cars
 
More accurately described as late spawning traffic. While it is difficult to tell on the smaller PC screen, it appeared to me that this was less of a problem on the PC version. Not a lot less but in certain spots where I tend to see traffic spawn at the last moment it seemed as though the traffic cars were visible a little bit sooner than on the PS3 version. For example, if you are doing a speed run on Newton Drive going in a counter-clockwise direction there is a particular spot just before where Newton Drive splits that I find the traffic spawning late is a recurring problem. It didn’t seem as bad on the PC. I’ll need to continue to look at this before I’ll know if I’m just imagining things.
 
Graphics
 
As a practical matter, any perceived differences between the graphics on the PS3 and the PC versions of the game are most likely a function of the PC hardware I am using and the video settings I have configured in the game. That said, I expected that the PC version would be superior graphically to the PS3 version but didn’t find that to be the case. Some things I noted are:
 
·         The PC version offers a fair amount of adjustability for the video settings including:
o        Quality of texture maps
o        Quality of shadows
o        Level of anti-aliasing
o        Display resolution
o        Display ratio; automatic, 4:3, 5:4, 16:9, 16:10
o        Motion blur
o        Brightness
o        Contrast
·         Distance draw in seems to be somewhat better on the PS3 than the PC.
·         Getting the anti-aliasing setting right on the PC is key. Without anti-aliasing you’ll find that shattered windows on cars simply turn grey. The detailed shatter patterns we are use to seeing in game on the consoles only appear after anti-aliasing is turned on. This is easily done via an in game menu but you need to know to do this.
·         The motion blur can be set to “always” which I believe is a difference from the console version. I’m certainly noticing it more on the PC.
 
Audio
 
I was actually quite surprised to find that I like the PC audio better than the PS3 version. The audio equipment I’m using for the PS3 is superior; a full blown surround sound home theater system using a digital optical feed from the PS3 to the receiver. On the PC I’ve got a middle of the road 5.1 surround sound speaker system hooked up with conventional RCA plugs. The sound on the PS3 should be better. However, I think my PCs internal audio board may be better than the PS3s. Or it could just be the speakers are better positioned around my PC than my PS3.
 
One thing that I either haven’t figured out how to do yet or simply isn’t available is custom sound tracks on the PC. I never bothered to copy all my MP3 files to the PS3. But since they were already on the PC I figured it would be worth looking into. Hopefully, I’m just not finding the right menu option.
 
Controllers
 
I found the default keyboard control layout to be less than ideal but as it is easily changed this doesn’t present a problem. I was surprised that the game didn’t recognize my game pad. While I can program the game pad to use the keyboard controls, I found that to be less precise than what I was used to.
 
The easiest solution was to simply buy an Xbox controller. Windows immediately recognized it and installed the drivers. The game also saw it immediately. Best of all, the game allows you do assign buttons to functions as you see fit. No more accidentally turning on the lights and siren when cornering in the Citizen.
 
Getting used to the Xbox game pad layout vs. that of the PS3 proved to be no problem at all.
 
Conclusion
 
 
The PC version of the game is one of the better console to PC ports I’ve seen. Provided you have the hardware to run the game I don’t think you lose anything going from the console version to the PC version.
 
The question is why buy it if you already own a console version? Few reasons I can think of:
 
·         You’re as obsessed with the game as I am and this will give you an excuse to play through it one more time.
·         You have a high end gaming machine that can use the maximum setting for graphics. I would expect that at those settings the game would be better looking than on either console.
·         You have friends on the other console you’d like to play against. Provided you have a PC that can run the game well, buying Burnout Paradise for PC is a cheap way to have access to a whole new group of online players.
 
Hardware Comparison
 
I’ve included detailed specs of the hardware I’m using below. As mentioned above the PC video settings can be heavily customized. It is worth noting that, while I’m using a fairly powerful PC, I am not using the highest setting available in the game as, based on the Vista “Windows Experience Index” my system does not have the capability to run the game at it’s highest settings. The Windows Experience Index is intended to be a simple way of ranking your hardware to determine if it is capable of handling a particular game. Burnout Paradise requires a minimum rating of 4.3 and a maximum of 5.0 (on a scale of 1 to 5.9). My PC generates a 4.8 rating which is based on the weakest component of those tested.
 
PS3
 
Burnout Paradise original disc updated to version 1.6
 
PS3 specifications
·         60 GIG model with full PS2 BC
·         320 GIG hard drive upgrade
·         HDMI video out
·         Optical audio out
·         Dual shock wireless controller
 
TV Specifications
·         32 inch Samsung LCD using HDMI input for 1080 display
 
Audio
·         Denon 7.1 surround receiver using DTS for PS3 audio
·         Acoustic Research speakers
 
PC
 
Burnout Paradise Ultimate Box for PC
 
Dell XPS 720
·         Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6600 2.4 GHz
·         4 GB ram
·         1 TB hard drive
·         Twin nVidia GeForce 8800 GT video card 768 MB on board memory
·         Xbox gamepad
·         Vista Home Ultimate 32 bit edition
 
Display
·         Viewsonic 22” widescreen LCD
·         1280 x 768
 
Audio
·         Cambridge Soundworks 5.1 surround PC speakers
·         Soundblaster X-Fi audio

Thanks to Khanon for clarifying some of the graphics issues I was having!

Edited to correct PC specs.

Comments

SUFFUR's picture

SUFFUR

Tue, 02/10/2009 - 18:58

I have not decide to turn 'on' the beast for over 4 months and it's still missing a real graphics card, but I will do, some time soon after what you have written.

I tried to DL it to my lap top and I thought it only needed 3 G to play, but after DL, extraction, then wanting the EA DL thingy, it said I did not have enough space, (6g taken up with just gettting it on the system to play?), needing 5G to play around in me gubbings. So when the TV gets moved I rig up the beast to see the fun on the PC version. Of course I am a noob to computers, so maybe I should delete the extraction file, and keep the extracted, should have tried that doh, anyway...

The stuff I did not like before is still in the game (TD's, Spawning traffic (the van on Newton has gone, yeah! Good Thing!) the map at the start of the race too small, a zoom function with said map, rotating map, sorry but a speedo, i think it is importatnt but i do understand why it's not there, and other things which i'm sure i've bytched about but forgot because i dropped the drum stick)  but visuals, sound and game play mechanic has improved, and I don't mind playing it for longer sessions than I have been doing, I even tried the Ranked racing, but takedowns are still off, but over all was a fun experience.

I find the sunset time of day similar to Lone Peak and Angel Valley of Revenge, as well as sunrise for White Mountain.

I don't know how far Criterion are really going to work on Paraidse, but I hope to see a full weather patterns on the PC version, either made by them or a Fan, but it only needs to be speciffic to certain areas of the map, like snow in the mountains, rain around the lake etc. Like a cloud of weather that can be moved around for added game play to racing.

And that is another thing that I hopes comes to Paradise, a way to set up markers for lapped racing, but anywhere on the map, and corner markers, that throw up the yellow arrows.

If a marker is like an orange blob flash on the map now, that the GPS still has problem to find in user created races, is it the shortest indicator or the quickest? answers in comments if you know? If they were turned a lighter orange but more yellowy, and had arrow direction markers on the side pointing in the general direction to the next check point.

Its hard to discribe but imagine a circle, covering a road, but what is not touching the road rises up on either side of it has the scrolling arrows pointing in the direction you need to go. Of course people will say it is open world, but with open world we are supposed to be open to possiblity of functionality within that space, so Paradise style racing is great, but does cause confusion, adding a race creator mode that follows along the lines of the older games would be cool, so the racer may be in an inclosed/enclosed... (sorry it's not an epithany/epiphany, you know, will sleeping with a dictionary under my pillow help me or just give me a crick/creck in the neck?)) 

...track is still with in the open world format, and the arrows are not walls, so with in a race a taked down is not as bad as being pushed down the wrong road! Also traffic still drives through the directional markers, anything can!

Sorry became obsessed with a dream, probably due to the flashing of check points like nasty speed cameras in the dark...

Anyway, I like Paradise after the 1.06 update, it has issuses but after a year of beta... It's a great game, roll on the Island...

Patience is something I taught myself, so I never know when it's going to run out?

Patience is something I taught myself, so I never know when it's going to run out?

Abernyte's picture

Abernyte

Tue, 02/10/2009 - 20:26

Assuming we're thinking of the same one. There is a van that spawns virtually in front of you just before where Newton splits. Two other cars usually spawn there as well. It doesn't appear to be random. Seems like it is consistent every run. I still see that van on the PC version but I'd swear I have a bit more time to react. Could be better traffic spawning, could be that I'm not into the fastest cars yet on the PC and I have more time by virtue of lower speed.

Have to do some more testing once I've got comparable cars on the PC.