Face-Off: Dragon Age: Inquisition

Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry division has penned an article on Dragon Age: Inquisition that directly compares the three “current-gen” versions of the game (PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC) in terms of graphical prowess and performance. They conclude that the PC version has the potential to the be the best, as long as it’s running on a good rig. I doubt that will surprise anyone:

The future of BioWare games is looking bright indeed. Dragon Age fans should be pleased by the combination of Inquisition’s excellent visuals and stable performance, while its gameplay is receiving plenty of plaudits. From a technical perspective, even with the underwhelming cut-scene performance, Dragon Age: Inquisition is still the most optimised BioWare experience we’ve enjoyed on a console. Thankfully the firm has acknowledged these issues (which are mostly a concern for PC owners) and is apparently investigating solutions. Considering that much of the problem appears to be tied to animation rather than frame-rate, however, we’re very curious to see what they come up with.

In terms of final recommendations, it’s clear that if you have the muscle, the PC version is going to provide the best experience – but the console versions are still very impressive. If you don’t mind minor frame-rate dips and feel that image quality is most important, it’s easy to recommend the PS4 version. However, those looking for the most stable experience should instead opt for the Xbox One version. It’s clear that neither console version is quite perfect but the level of graphical accomplishment and performance are an enormous improvement over every other BioWare console title we’ve played.