Graphic content: do Xbox One and PS4 games really look better?

The words "next generation" have always held a lot of promise — and a lot of hype — in the world of video games. Consoles like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 that herald the arrival of a new generation are said to offer stunning graphics that unlock gaming experiences like never before. That’s an exciting promise, and there’s good reason for the fascination with these black boxes: for the next several years, video gaming itself will likely be defined by these two consoles.

But now that delirium over the launches of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is beginning to subside we must ask what, exactly, this next generation delivers to living rooms. When it comes to graphics — that jumble of polygons, sophisticated algorithms, and complex maps that create so much buzz — what do these systems offer that your dusty old Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 can't? And, as of today, have these consoles delivered on their promises?

To find out, we've carefully examined 10 different games across all four consoles — a grand total of 29 discs. As is common during transitional periods, almost all launch titles are offered on both new and old consoles. These multi-platform games offer a unique opportunity to compare these consoles head to head. For each, we have side-by-side comparisons of the same exact scene across the two generations to let you see the difference for yourself. A few of these comparisons are included in this article (you can slide the divider to compare on each) — well over a dozen more can be found in our supplement.

At first glance, these games may lack that next-gen “wow factor,” but we’ve identified some key improvements that make the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of these games stand out. And developers are just getting their feet wet with this hardware — these are the graphical improvements you can count on getting out of your new console, and they hint at what this latest generation could offer in the future.

Lighting

If you're impressed by the realism afforded by these new consoles, it's probably the improvements to lighting effects that are making the biggest difference. Our eyes are very accustomed to the way multiple light sources fill a three-dimensional space, reflect off of different types of objects, and cast shadows. To put it simply, these details haven't been close to accurate on older consoles — they lack the horsepower required to handle all of these effects. With the jump to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, however, light plays a far more convincing role.

One major upgrade across all of these multi-platform games is high dynamic range, which means detail in both the bright and dark parts of the game are maintained, producing an image that is more akin to what the human eye sees in the real world. This drastic change in lighting is immediately apparent from this scene in Battlefield 4, below. The next-gen version shows far more varied levels of lighting across the entire scene compared to the overly bright, uniformly lit environments in the versions for older consoles. The lower dynamic range on older systems is apparent just by looking at the sky: the sun blows out much of the image, hiding a lot of the detail in the clouds.

Next-gen versions also feature light that responds more realistically to objects in environments, and it does so dynamically. In one scene from Call of Duty: Ghosts, for example, different objects in space catch the light differently depending on their positions. Another lighting effect that makes a significant difference between the generations is shadows. There are usually far more shadows across the same scene depending on which generation of console you're using, and they'll be more accurate as well. In this shot from Battlefield 4, for instance, shadows found in the foreground on both the pole on the far left of the image and on the rubbish on the right are completely missing from the 360 edition.

NBA 2K14, meanwhile, offers a look at how these lighting improvements — coupled with real-time reflections — can completely alter the visuals of the same game between the two generations. Not only do the arena’s bright lights bounce off the court, but you can also see the reflections from the players’ white jerseys and the video monitors that wrap the sidelines.

Resolution

The jump from the PlayStation 2 to the PlayStation 3 and from the Xbox to the Xbox 360 was one of the most impressive generational leaps ever because the new consoles brought high-definition gaming to the living room. While this year's new consoles don't offer such a noticeable resolution increase, they do offer a marked improvement. The truth is that the vast majority of Xbox 360 and PS3 games are rendered at 720p (or sometimes lower) and then upscaled to play on your 1080p TV. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4, meanwhile, can handle games that run natively at 1080p — or close to it.