Just Cause 3 is out today, bringing the third instalment of Rico Rodriguez’ over-the-top action antics to your consoles and PC. Reviews for the game have been all over the place, with many getting lost in the repetitive, explosive action – and others finding the chaos to border on the mundane.
Still, if you loved Just Cause 2, you probably know what to expect, and want a little more of that. If you’re a multi-platform owners (or just want some sort of bragging rights because you have some weird, skewed platform bias), Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry has done the hard work to see which version is best. They’ve put the console versions through their paces.
“Initial comparisons of art assets, effects, and lighting suggests that both versions are operating with the same visual feature set,” it said. “[Developer] Avalanche clearly felt no need to adjust GPU-intensive elements such as shadow quality–in this respect, both look equivalent to the high setting on the PC game.”
It seems that both consoles versions look pretty much the same, with the PS4 having a crisper image because of its higher resolution. According to Digital Foundry, the consoles look equivalent to the PC version set to high.
Where the PC versions is capable of breaking the 60fps barrier though, the console versions are locked to 30fps – though they have trouble staying within target. As you’d expect, the Xbox One has a tougher time keeping up.
“It is indeed the Xbox One release that offers a noticeably lower level of in-game fluidity,” Digital Foundry said. “In our tests, we’ve compared both cut-scenes and gameplay, and our lowest recorded drop occurs on Xbox One, where a massive explosion sends us plummeting to 20 fps, while PS4 plateaus to 24 fps in entirely different circumstances–with CPU power the likely culprit for bottlenecked performance there.
“In between shoot-outs, both editions mostly hold at 30 fps, but once things kick off, it’s clear that Microsoft’s machine struggles to a more noticeable extent. It’s clear that PlayStation 4 has the edge in sustaining target performance more consistently. What’s particularly disappointing is that even in areas with little or nothing going on, Xbox One can still have issues–moving into a forest area and spinning around on the spot can cause the engine’s performance to drop to the mid-20s, while PlayStation 4 retains the lion’s share of its performance.”
Neither system really excels though, with just Cause 3 taking both consoles to their number-crunching, processing limits. There are other issues too – such as unbearable load times, bugs, glitches and other performance issues that affect all three versions. Still, if you just want to blow stuff up, Just Cause 3 will let you do that.
Last Updated: December 1, 2015
Spidy Duz It
December 1, 2015 at 09:11
Xbox is only good for the Americans. Its not the console for SA.
Graeme Selvan
December 1, 2015 at 09:20
how so?
Spidy Duz It
December 1, 2015 at 09:31
well for 1, there is more south africans playing on the ps4 online. if u into online gaming then having a xbox one in sa is a set back.
WitWolfy
December 1, 2015 at 09:45
Your argument just gave me cancer. The reason Xbox One isnt selling well here in SA is thanks to one stupid reason..
Ready for it?
No FREAKING OS out of the box! All thanks to their 180 online DRM fiasco. Meaning you have to have an uncapped Internet connecction just to set this puppy up! But wait there is more… Even after you eventually you installed your ?OS. ITs the games that F you over EVEN MORE!!!
Wanna play Forza 5 without updating it?? TOO BAD YOU CANT!!! The freaking console forces you to download updates to play the game you bought regardless if you want it to download in the background it wont… Unlike the PS4 that totally allows this.
Not thanks to MP reasons as you claim.
Jonah Cash
December 1, 2015 at 11:21
I bought one last week Friday. Also bought Titanfall and Sunset Overdrive. I downloaded 18.6gig on it already… But I had great download speeds? Maybe because the games are older or something. It downloaded at over 10mb on my 10mb line. So I was actually very surprised to see that. And that is on my wireless connection to boot. Really enjoying Titanfall… It really is a great game!
Francois Knoetze
December 1, 2015 at 12:02
Titanfall is surprisingly a lot of fun. Still some decent amount of people playing it.
WitWolfy
December 1, 2015 at 15:22
Agreed, it is a good game.
Gardos
December 1, 2015 at 11:24
It does suck that updates are mandatory but I’ve almost never found myself running into issues! Generally things update in the background while I’m at work or while I’m sleeping and everything is ready to go when I want to play. I think it’s happened about twice that a game needs an update when I want to play it but in that case I’ve just taken the console offline and let the update happen once I’m finished with my session. I definitely wouldn’t say it’s a deal breaker.
Francois Knoetze
December 1, 2015 at 12:10
ok the patches forcing you to download is a pain in the ass. But I usually let the box do its thing while I am at work. if something unexpected pops up I switch on my ps4 and continue what I was doing there. Not everybody has this luxury though. Both consoles are really awesome though. Being on the PS train for years you would expect to still scream PS FAAAWR…but I enjoy gaming on the Bone as much as I enjoy gaming on my PS4.
WitWolfy
December 1, 2015 at 15:21
I’m not hating just something they didnt think through.
Spidy Duz It
December 1, 2015 at 14:23
well u deserve it… who told u to buy a xbox
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
December 1, 2015 at 10:26
The boner is only useful for keeping the leaning tower of Pisa from toppling over.
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 1, 2015 at 09:20
My eyes. They can like to wear a jean pant.
Sean Carbutt
December 1, 2015 at 10:36
Back in the day.
Original Heretic
December 1, 2015 at 11:27
After hearing about the PS4 7th core being unlocked (sounds like a ninja move…), this kind of article makes me realize how much more worthwhile the PS is going to be in the coming years to come.