We’ve already taken a look at how Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare runs on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in a side-by-side comparison, but now we’re going to consider two versions of the game that have legitimate differences. The Xbox One is Microsoft’s shiny new gaming flagship, a beefy, black box that delivers best-in-class gaming for a 2014 audience. Its predecessor, the Xbox 360, benefits from almost a decade of active development. There’s no doubt that the Xbox One exceeds it, but by how much at this early point in the new console’s life?
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Quite a bit, as this video demonstrates. The pre-rendered opening cutscene obviously looks identical on both — it’s just a video playback, not a function of active processing — but the gameplay, from the drop pod on, shows noticeable differences between the two platforms. Just take a look at the split-screen comparison of the final descent. There is significantly more detail on the XB1, more visual effects and liveliness to the image, that is just absent on the Xbox 360. The textures are sharp on the older console, but they’re lacking in fine details and don’t pop nearly as much without the enhanced lighting.
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Both videos come from a playthrough of the game’s first mission on the Normal difficulty setting. The Xbox One play comes from a post-completion save, so if you’re noting a difference between the two consoles in the reload time, that’s why. The Xbox 360 version is certainly playable, but it’s very difficult to go back and look at that game after you’ve spent multiple hours on the Xbox One release.
