Final MGS V: The Phantom Pain PS4 vs XB1 Tech Comparison Shows Two Big Differences You Might Have Not Noticed

With Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain finally out, it is possible to have complete tech analysis for the game now available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. The versions we will talk about today are those for the current-gen consoles, awaiting for some more details about the PC.

According to Digital Foundry, the game is a huge "success" for Kojima Productions, reproducing an entire open world at 60fps with just a few frame-drops not undermining the overall gameplay experience. Anyway, we have two big differences between Xbox One and PS4:

"Accepting everything else as equal, the game's core visuals differ in two ways on current-gen. First and foremost, PS4 makes use of a skin-shading technique known as subsurface scattering, while Xbox One does not. A detailed normal map is in place on both consoles, and in Snake's case this puts all his wrinkles and scars on show. However, on PS4 this is used as a base layer, on top of which another is placed to filter oncoming light, and also blend shadows more naturally across his face. This still allows us to see these raw details, but lighting conditions dictate the extent to which they're visible - much like the way actual human skin tissue layers up to diffuse light.

For Xbox One in its current state, this extra pass is essentially missing in many cases - as you can see in our zoomers below. This means the normal map looks rougher with all surface details presented bare (and in many ways matches the look of Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, albeit with a higher resolution map). It must be stressed that this only affects extreme character close-ups, but it's a strange omission given Xbox One's parity in character detail with PC and PS4 in Ground Zeroes - both of which benefitted from the subsurface scattering effect.

The second difference is in its post-effects. Both PS4 and Xbox One offer an excellent suite of photographic effects, simulating camera depth of field, lens flare, and exposure levels with HDR when entering and leaving interiors to face brightly lit areas. However, a drop in resolution for Xbox One's per-object motion blur is noticed, as best seen in this still shot. This manifests in cut-scenes and during high-speed chases, where a horse's galloping hooves leave behind a pixelated trail on Microsoft's platform. It's tough to catch by eye, but the effect blends in correctly with the object's contours on PS4, with no aliasing."