GTA 5: PS3 Vs PS4 Graphics Comparison

Rockstar Games released a new trailer for GTA V over on the PlayStation blog to help give last gen and current gen fanboys something to squabble over (as well as a little bit of something-something for the GPCMR to talk about, as well). The video draws direct comparisons to the PS3 and PS4 versions of GTA V, and some of the differences are quite significant.

Just to get it up and out of the way, during the confirmation of the first-person mode for GTA V, Rockstar made it known that GTA V would only be 30fps on the Xbox One and PS4. It will at least be 1080p on both consoles, though. PC gamers will get full on 60+ frames per second at 4K resolution, so prepare to have your loins blown to smithereens playing GTA V with your quad-Titan setup in SLI.

Now getting back to the basics. There are some interesting things of note in the video. Rockstar had previously made it known that there would be some obvious upgrades for the game, including increased pedestrians (which we obviously see throughout the clips), increased traffic density (which is also highlighted throughout the clip) and better graphics.

One of the other little nuggets of increased quality is the underwater sea life – there's more of it. I wonder if they also upgraded the fish A.I.?

But on to the more thrilling aspects of the trailer... we get to see that on the graphics front there is an increased amount of foliage and greenery, complete with animated wind effects. Atmospheric particles also litter the air in various areas – especially the wilderness of the great outdoors.

Additionally, we see where the increased polygon count of the objects and high-resolution textures are put into place, especially during the desert comparison where we get to see how the parallax textures help bring the natural wildlife of GTA V's environments into startling view with amazing clarity and visual depth from the upgraded object maps and geometrical intricacy for even the most infinitesimal details. Simply put: dat cactus.

Another real highlight, for me anyway, was the night-time segment that scrolled across the dense traffic on the street. We get to see light scattering and increased bokeh depth of field to give the game a hazy look in the distance. This was one of my favorite features from the iCEnhancer mod for GTA IV, because it just made the game look so atmospherically engaging... especially during the night time cycle.

The whole lighting feature is also highlighted with the increased world reflections. This feature can really wear down a GPU into the ground, and we get to see how the eighth-gen consoles sort of handle the kind of graphical details that PC gamers have been enjoying for years. The segment with the helicopter near the end of the trailer gives you a nice view of how the light and shader scales have been increased on reflective objects. It's not really a game changer in how you play the game, but it does add a lot of immersion when you can better appreciate how you take in the environment and the way it reflects on the surrounding objects.

If what you saw has you all tingly in all the right places, be sure to look for GTA V to release on November 18th.