Wolfenstein: The New Order Old vs New Gen Direct-Feed Screenshot Comparison: ‘Massive’ Difference

Earlier this week, we shared a Wolfenstein: The New Order comparison GIF, which compared the PS4 version against the Xbox 360 version. The difference was huge in our eyes but many people didn’t really take it as such. The point of that comparison was to show people that the difference between current generation and the previous generation is only increasing with time, although there are still a few cross-gen titles that hold well against their current gen counterparts. Wolfenstein: The New Order definitely isn’t one of them, as the game seems to have been toned down significantly to meet the 60 fps frame rate target on previous gen.

So the point of this comparison is to show exactly where the sacrifices have been made for Wolfenstein: The New Order on the previous generation, so that it can run at 60 fps just like the current gen version. This is illustrated in the form of direct-feed screenshots below.

Note: Current gen screenshots are 1080p while previous gen ones are 720p. Both versions runs at 60 fps although there is plenty of screen tearing for the game on the previous gen platforms indicating more aggressive dynamic resolution for them.

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The above screenshots illustrate the difference in lighting for both version. It is more natural on the current gen while it lacks the precision and interactivity on the old gen.


The texture difference on the walls here is pretty big for sure.

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It appears that textures are not the only things that have been pared back for the previous gen, it also includes some changes in the environmental assets as the above screenshot shows missing bodies on the table.

wolfenstein-comp3-3-1024x576 wolfenstein-comp3-1024x576

The above comparison is regarding the texture details for characters. In addition to missing effects (atmospheric fog), the difference in lighting also has a big impact on the presentation of cutscenes, making them look bland/worse than the current gen counterparts.

wolfenstein-comp4-4-1024x576 wolfenstein-comp4-1024x576 wolfenstein-comp5-5-1024x576 wolfenstein-comp5-1024x576

You can see how the reduced effects and different lighting can have an impact on the graphics in the above two images. In the second comparison image, we can see lights on the bridge but on the previous gen, they aren’t visible at all. The light sources are greatly reduced for the previous gen version, resulting in less impressive looking environments, not to mention the horrible textures on the ground.

In conclusion, it is very easy to recommend the current gen or PC version of the game over the previous gen one. The reason is simple, despite all versions running at locked 60 fps, the graphical downgrade for the old gen is sadly ‘massive’ enough that both games look wholly different. Those of you who don’t have any choice can still go for the previous gen version, because of how it still maintains 60 fps for the most part. Although the constant tearing and graphical downgrade make them least impressive visually.

Wolfenstein: The New Order is out now on the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

What do you think about this comparison? Let us know in the comments below.

Khurram Imtiaz


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