The Orange Box

The Orange Box includes five games, but we stuck with the Half-Lifes for our graphics comparison. Half-Life 2 and all of its variants have been out on the market for quite some time, and the game still looks impressive on both the PC and consoles. The first image set is from Half-Life 2, and the second set is from Half-Life 2: Episode 2. The PlayStation 3 graphics appear blurrier in both games, due to either a lower overall resolution or low resolution textures. The difference feels like sitting in an optometrist's chair and flipping between two different lenses, one of which is clearly not the right prescription. Like with Assassin's Creed, the PlayStation 3 also lacks depth here in its textures, indicating a lack of normal mapping. That said, the PlayStation 3 seems to have a better antialiasing routine. The electric wires in the Xbox 360 disappear almost entirely, and the curbsides have decidedly more steps to them. Once again, we didn't feel that the PlayStation 3's hard-drive installation conferred any benefits over the load times of the Xbox 360. However, the clincher lies in the motion of the game, and the Xbox 360 has the PlayStation 3 beat hands down. Frame-rate issues mar the experience on the PlayStation 3.