Brink Graphics Comparison

We compare how Brink looks across the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Brink makes use of the id Tech 4 graphical engine. Other notable games to make use of the engine include Doom 3 and Wolfenstein. Since the engine's release, it's been used in Prey and other id-related titles like Quake 4.

The game features a variety of environments, but because Brink is based around small teams of cohorts trying to clear various objectives, the maps all tend to be medium to small sized, which the id Tech 4 engine (not so coincidentally) excels at rendering.

Brink on the PC has the best-looking textures and features overall, but the consoles don't do all that badly (which we'll get to later). As usual, the PC version benefits from graphical horsepower and can drive extra features like ambient occlusion, antialiasing, high-quality post processing, and higher resolutions. Speaking of resolutions, the Xbox 360 runs at the lowest internal resolution, which is then scaled up to 1280x720. The Xbox 360 makes use of antialiasing whereas the PlayStation 3 does not.

We captured images on the Xbox 360 running at 1280x720 using a Matrox MXO2 Mini over HDMI cables. PlayStation 3 images were captured running at 1280x720 over component with an AJA Xena LH. The PlayStation 3 enables HDCP, which prevents HDMI image capture. Stills from the PC version of the game were captured using FRAPs at 1280x720with 4xAA/16xAF with maximum-quality settings running on a Radeon HD 5870. All images were shrunk down to fit into the rollover images. Zoomed images are pixel-to-pixel extractions from the original files.

We'll break down how the images stacked up as we go across each set.

Texture Lag on Consoles

Both of the consoles suffer from a little texture lag. Most games take a little while to pull in all the textures, but Brink does something interesting. When completely rendered, the console versions of the game pull in textures that seem to be on par with the PC high-quality variant, if we disregard the actual resolution advantage the PC gets.

The perk is nice, but it comes with a trade-off. Objects and terrain behind you get pushed out of memory, so when you look at them again, you'll trigger the low- to high-quality transition. In practice, if you're walking down a hallway, everything in front of you will appear high quality after the initial load. If you keep walking in a straight line, everything will remain nice and pretty. The moment you turn around, it will all get kicked out, and the low to high cycle will kick in for what you're looking at in that moment. Should you do another 180-degree turn and look forward again, you'll see the same transition again from low to high quality. The entire process doesn't take more than a second or two to finish, and if you're focused on shooting enemies, you likely won't notice much.

Xbox 360 - Initial Look       Xbox 360 - 2 Seconds Later      

Xbox 360 - Initial Look       Xbox 360 - 2 Seconds Later      

PlayStation 3 - Initial Look       PlayStation 3 - 2 Seconds Later      

PlayStation 3 - Initial Look       PlayStation 3 - 2 Seconds Later      

Aquarium Match Start

Lighting in the upper-left area of the screen looks noticeably different on the PlayStation 3; almost as if it were turned off. You can also see that the zeroes in the signage and the word "Standby" don't glow like they do on the PC and Xbox 360. On the PC, the banners in the middle of the screen are illuminated, but neither of the consoles include that feature.

PC       PlayStation 3       Xbox 360      

PC       PlayStation 3       Xbox 360