Dark Souls Performance Analysis

Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry has put together a performance analysis for From Software’s Dark Souls, in which the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version get compared, for our perusal. Bottom line? They’re ultimately very similar in performance:

In the final conclusion, image quality on both platforms is ostensibly identical, while performance is an apples and pears situation. Neither the 360 or PS3 version can definitively claim to have an absolute edge here, with Sony’s machine taking volumetric effects in its stride, and Microsoft’s handling destructible elements more convincingly. These are minor quibbles compared to the performance hit both consoles take in the face of particle effects and multiple enemies, however.

For the deciding vote, it’s close enough for us to recommend either controller preference or the PS3 version’s larger range of supported audio formats as more crucial points for consideration. It’s clear From Software accepted no compromises when it set out to deliver the dark, fantastical world of Lordran, and to that end, an extreme price is paid in terms of playability at points. However, it’s ultimately the same story whichever version you end up buying. In the run-up to its release much has been made of the game’s promised difficulty, but it’s ironic that Dark Souls is just as unforgiving towards your hardware as it is to you.