Another massive graphical downgrade. Now it's Infamous.

Ubisoft has company now to go along with the now famous Watch Dogs .gif.

http://www.dualshockers.com/2014/03/13/infamous-second-sons-retail-version-shows-radical-differences-compared-to-e3-2013-trailer/

'Don't call it a downgrade, it's just different.' LOL

It's definitely a downgrade. Look at those shadows and blurry texture. His hair is definitely different too. Nothing here looks next gen.

Hmm. I already saw this. Looks like it could just be lighting difference too perhaps. No biggie Games do trigger cut scenes reflecting the current in-game time of day.

It's not like the huge contrast between Vaas FC3 at E3 reveal, and the less facial expressive console version of his insanity rant scene.

Hard light and diffuse my friends.

LMAO. Massive downgrade? The article does not mentions anything about the downgrade, just that the final scene's time of day changed from Noon-ish to Dawn. Hence the shadows. Hell, if you had bothered to read the article the writer himself said that there is no downgrade and that Sucker Punch themselves denied it.

A possible reason for the change in lighting is that the original version’s stronger shadows due to the direct sunlight (it looks like noon-ish) effectively hid some of the feature of the characters, making the nuances of their expressions less visible, while the sunset lighting of the new version has more evenly distributed lights and shadow, allowing the expressions to stand out more. It’s very visible in the fifth pairing, where Delsin’s frustrated expression is almost completely overpowered by the shadows and he almost looks like he took a punch to both eyes.

Of course that’s just my personal speculation, so take it with a grain of salt.

Whether the new version looks better or worse is mostly a matter of taste, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it’s interesting to see how the game evolved over the past nine months.

One thing is for sure, I had quite a lot of hands-on time with the game just two days ago, and it looks absolutely stunning. You can expect my preview very soon.

Update: Since some will take every possible chance to flame (or to be overly defensive), I feel compelled to clarify something: Not once the article mentions a “downgrade” or an “upgrade,” and that’s because there isn’t ground to mention something like that. The article mentions differences, and there are indeed differences in lighting, time of day and environmental design. In addition to that at least a scene has been changed in its content. The comparison is not about quality and visual fidelity. It’s a simple before and after face-off to show how a game evolves in nine months of development.

“Difference” does not mean downgrade. It doesn’t mean upgrade. It means “difference.” That’s all there’s to it. The scene portrayed simply looks radically different. It doesn’t look necessarily worse or better. Just different.

Update 2: Sucker Punch firmly denied that any visual downgrade has been made since the E3 build.

Here are some of the screenshots taken by people over at neogaf playing the final copy. If anything it looks better than the E3 trailer. You can clearly see self-shadowing.

@S0lidSnake:

My god... Friday can't come soon enough. Game looks too damn pretty. Great pics, thanks for posting them. Loving the rain and puddles on the streets.

PS 1 game confirmed.

I'm fully comfortable with admitting I'm only playing this game for the graphics. Never really cared for the first 2 games, but this is just purdy and that's enough for me.

looks like different times of the day to me

I am a fan of the first three games (nods towards Festival of Blood) but the new Infamous having great graphics doesn't bother me any.

Nice troll one-liner there

As Solid clearly shows the game looks absolutely stunning.

So what about everyone start shutting the F up about Ubisoft and downgrades and wait until Watch Dogs have been released, because this is just getting ridiculous and some of the screen-comparison shots are clearly doctored when it comes to Infamous Second son.

That's me being sarcastic and making fun of all the knee-jerking reactionaries we have here.

A long time ago, I played Infamous 2 at my local Best Buy. It reminded me a lot of Assassin's Creed, but done in a modern day, so I look forward to stepping into the franchise for the third game in the series. If they ever do decide to do a HD remake on PS4, like how the rumor has been going around for the Uncharted series, I'm game to go back and play those too.

@S0lidSnake:

Okay, that is fairly ridiculous. Looks insane!

well , then PS4 is THAT powerful after all ....

yes it looks last gen.

Yeah this seems like its becoming a recurring trend unfortunately :( Not that its bothers me too much anyway, I'am sure Infamous will be a great game regardless. SuckerPunch know how to make some excellent games with great stories backing them the whole way. its just a damn shame, I wont be able to play this until I buy a ps4. Until then I'am sure Dark Souls II, will keep me occupied. Speaking of DS2, that also happens to be another game that was actually quite heavily downgraded in the final product as oppose to the original gameplay reveal.

What is it with these companies getting all up on their high horse, and then failing to deliver?

@mesomorphin:

Regardless of what? The insanely incredible graphics?

Iam sure Infamous will be a great game, regardless of its graphical downgrade.

Ah, never mind, you must be an Xboner...or you just need to actually read a bit better. Good luck.

Some great screenshots in this 78 page thread (as of now) on neogaf http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=784419 , from actual ps4 screenshots for anyone interested.

I've never played the Infamous series, not sure if I'll pick it up or not, but it *looks* crazy-good.

Been playing the game since Saturday. I can confirm there's no downgrade from trailers, the e3 reveal, or footage you've seen. It looks amazing. Also really fun so far, might be my favorite Infamous yet.

Back from a 4 month hiatus! Hope everything's well.

I went to two walmarts to secure an early copy of the game with no luck. How did you get yours so early?

I envy you Jbul.... nice to see you back by the way. You should grace us with your impressions when you get the chance.

You lucky bastard.

Good to hear it's great, though. More impressions, please.

that's just what people say when the game doesn't look as good as it could have or they wanted it to look.

The responses in this thread are the reason I made it. You guys don't disappoint.

Looks like the game actually got an upgrade.

E3.

Retail.

So you admit to making just to troll? Great. Thanks for wasting everyone's time.