Street Fighter X Tekken (Digital Foundy - Face Off)

It's hard to imagine characters from two completely different fighting games working well together in a single title, but Capcom's solution is obvious but effective: by tethering Namco's characters to the classic Street Fighter gameplay, the developers have avoided the potential problems of shoehorning two distinct play styles together in one title, and the fresh roster creates a title that feels tangible different from the company's other fighting games.

For this latest release, the MT Framework engine used to power Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has been jettisoned in favour of an enhanced version of the technology behind the Street Fighter 4 games. The result is a game which shares much in common with those titles, from the rendering resolution to the implementation of anti-aliasing. The cross platform conversion work is extremely close, and in terms of the graphical look of the game there are a number of visual tweaks which positively enhance the core artwork without compromising the blistering smooth 60FPS action.

Click through for the full article...

Syndicate (Digital Foundry - Face Off)

The idea of the classic real-time strategy franchise rebooted as a first person shooter may well upset die-hard purists, but the fact is that Riddick/Darkness developer Starbreeze has handed in an entertaining action game featuring solid gunplay and challenging AI. However, single- and multiplayer modes are distinctly fractured from each other, and there's a distinct sense that some of the best ideas are rarely explored to the fullest extent of their potential.

From a technological perspective, the visual representation of the sleek, highly stylised sci-fi setting is handled beautifully, and the engine powering the game appears to be well optimised in terms of performance across both console platforms. Starbreeze's proprietary engine has traditionally favoured the 360's architecture, taking advantage of the increased memory bandwidth and higher pixel fill-rate to deliver superior resolutions along with higher quality artwork. However, Syndicate is by far the developer's closest multiplatform release to date.

Click through for the full article...

The Darkness 2 (Digital Foundry - Face-Off)

Featuring a range of impressive lighting and shader effects along with extensive use of post-processing, Digital Extremes' proprietary Evolution engine is a great fit for The Darkness 2, thanks in no small part to a superb cel-shaded art style that brings Top Cow's comic to life in a beautifully vibrant, violently gory manner.

After the disappointments surrounding the PS3 version of the original game - with its sub-HD resolution, pared down effects and lower quality textures - the good news is that the standard of the cross-platform development work this time around is hugely improved: The Darkness 2 is very, very close on both consoles.

To be honest this isn't particularly surprising given that Digital Extremes' custom Evolution engine has clearly been optimised for both consoles for quite a while now. 2007's Dark Sector was an early example of impressive cross-platform conversion work done right; fairly closely matched in terms of performance, the main difference resting with the sub-HD framebuffer resolution of the PS3 game.

Click through to read the full article...

PC Tech Analysis: Batman: Arkham City (Digital Foundry)

PC versions of cross-platform titles are often characterised as simple ports with only the power of the hardware itself giving any advantage over their console equivalents in terms of higher frame-rates or superior resolutions. Batman: Arkham City on PC is not one of these games. It's enormously improved over the console game, even if the initially broken DirectX 11 rendering mode grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons.

While it doesn't reach the same lofty standards set by the likes of Battlefield 3, it's clear that UK developer Rocksteady has put some effort into making the PC version a substantially better experience. While much of the artwork is shared with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 builds, pretty much every corner of the game is blessed with a graphical upgrade in one way of another. Some of the differences are quite subtle, adding an extra layer of mild polish to the look of the game, while others are far more drastic, showcasing just how much more detail and clarity is possible when pairing up Rocksteady's masterpiece with a decent spec PC. It's a game that cries out to be run at resolutions well in excess of the console standard 720p.

Click through to read the full article...

And here's the Batman: Arkham City console Face-Off...

PSP E-1000 Review

Almost seven years after its debut in Japan, Sony has released the latest - and final - iteration of its venerable PlayStation Portable handheld. The new E-1000 is a cut-down budget model available in stores now for just £85. Is it an example of cost-cutting too far, or is it a sparkling return to form after the ill-advised PSPgo and the disappointing PSP-3000?

Click through to find out...

Saints Row: The Third (Digital Foundry - Face-Off)

Grand Theft Auto may be taking a more serious tone as the series matures but the Saints Row games are moving in the opposite direction. In-depth characterisation and an intriguing story are left behind in favour of what made the earlier GTA games so much fun to play in the first place - that is, being able to mess around in an open-world playground where realism is given the elbow in favour of all-out insanity.

Saints Row: The Third also represents a large graphical improvement over the second game in the series. The change in art direction in this latest instalment in combination with more restrained use of normal mapping and specular highlighting on some surfaces creates a more realistic look to the environments. A closer look at the texturing also reveals quite a bit of subtle detailing in many places: the small cracks that appear on the road and pavements, and the degradations manifesting on the walls of old buildings found throughout Steelport.

Click through for the full article...