EA: RA3 looks and plays better on PS3

By Robert Purchese Published 22 January, 2009

LA studio using "more complex" tech.

EA Los Angeles has told Eurogamer that Red Alert 3 really will look and play better on PS3 than on Xbox 360.

The company was clarifying chatter from EALA development director David Seeholzer yesterday, who said PlayStation 3 fans can expect "better graphics [and] improved performance" but failed to elaborate further.

"We had a dedicated team working on the PS3 versions of Red Alert 3 over the past months, and the additional time this team had has given them the opportunity to really polish the performance to a level we are very proud of," explained a spokesperson for the developer in response.

"Another reason why the PS3 version will ship with better graphics and performance is that, in some places, we were able to use the more complex renderer from the PC version of Red Alert 3."

The PS3 version of Red Alert 3 - dubbed the Ultimate Edition - will be out here this March for usual full-game price, and comes stuffed with plenty of extras.

There are numerous video features crammed onto the Blu-ray disc, such as a Girls of Red Alert 3 piece, plus five new multiplayer maps, an official soundtrack and profiles for all the Red Alert 3 units.

The Xbox 360 version of Red Alert 3 came out last December. And while the game fell just short of a "must-play" recommendation, control improvements and a fabulously cheesy set of FMV sequences starring serious actors, glamour models and David Hasselhoff, make this a worthwhile investment.

Head over to our Red Alert 3 Xbox 360 review to find out why.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (42) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • menage #1 3 years ago

    Mmm. I'm sure it looks better (if they say so)r, but play better?
    Edited by 1 at 22/01/09 @ 08:45

  • Rash' #2 3 years ago

    Well, it is the most powerful console...

    :)

  • des #3 3 years ago

    Don't worry EA,Eurogamer is going to compare two versions...

  • Widge #4 3 years ago

    Interesting about the extra graphical bits and bobs being slapped in, reading the head to head on Fallout 3, it seems Bethesda did the same approach. Maybe in a "here! have shiny objects to offset no DLC!" appeasement!

  • bioreit #5 3 years ago

    I was really tempted to get this on 360, but wasn't totally convinced about the control scheme - the demo still felt like "PC mouse/KB control adapted for controller", so I might get this on PS3, seeing as I can use a keyboard and mouse with it.

    Means I miss out on the achievements, mind, but I'm fairly sure the graphics-whore in me will tell the gamerscore-whore to shut the hell up.

  • Widge #6 3 years ago

    ^^^
    remember, trophies must come with stuff from this year onwards.

    I thought EG might compare 42 versions myself
    Edited by 1 at 22/01/09 @ 08:58

  • qoobah #7 3 years ago

    TEH C3LL POWAH OLOLOL!!!

    Seriously though, good for all the PS3 owners. I wonder how big will be the difference - 10, 20% increase in performance?

    Still, I can't stop myself from voicing what hit me the most here, and please don't treat me as a troll/flamebait/pink kangaroo, I'm just saying what this article made me think.

    We had a dedicated team working on the PS3 versions of Red Alert 3 over the past months, and the additional time this team had has given them the opportunity to really polish the performance to a level we are very proud of

    So, they needed additional time and resources after all. And, IMO, thats the biggest problem with PS3 - it needs additional time and resources to really utilize all of its functions. In the era of multiplatform development, crysis and cutting expenses that's a very serious flaw in my eyes.

  • Doctor_What #8 3 years ago

    If they can do that and keep the framerate the same then that'll be nice. It seems to be the usual trade-off among the better developers: more detail on the PS3 v.s more stable framerate on the 360. It's times like this when those face-offs become interesting!

  • muscleblade #9 3 years ago

    "Well, it is the most powerful console..."

    You wish! :)

  • aidey6 #10 3 years ago

    Solid framerate would be nice, how long have EA been developing this for anyway.....

  • Rash' #11 3 years ago

    Doc, those face offs will become more and more interesting as the months roll by. remember the days when bloom was used rather than HDR? those articles in the end will just be a chronicle of developer confidence in the system.

    i bore of them myself. rarely do the features include games I'm interested in.

  • menage #12 3 years ago

    "i bore of them myself. rarely do the features include games I'm interested in"

    Huh? Don't they feature all of them?:p
    Edited by 1 at 22/01/09 @ 09:19

  • Widge #13 3 years ago

    I just turned on my PS3 after slapping in a 320GB and I could literally feel the cell power glowing from it.

  • Widge #14 3 years ago

    Ah, no, I'd left one of my halogen hobs on.

  • Zander #15 3 years ago

    All these comments about Keyboard and Mouse support. When will devs and console manufacturers realise that so many people want to play using them? It can't be that hard to add as an additional extra can it? Instead they think they can make an RTS fit by coming up with there own control systems - because they are geniuses and we are morons that can't use their brilliant controls.

  • Widge #16 3 years ago

    I'm sure EG will get some sort of EA interview before it comes out, maybe if one of our overlords could ask about K&M for us?

  • KayJay #17 3 years ago

    Framerate... Wot Eva (Its never Really that game breaking)
    Graphics... I can get over that (Or not in this case)

    Keyboard and Mouse... make this much more attractive

  • insincere_dave #18 3 years ago

    Won't this get destroyed by Halo Wars on the 360 anyway? Non-issue really.

  • Widge #19 3 years ago

    ?

    Its been out for ages on the 360 hasn't it? I'm sure of the 360 RTS market, C&C has probably got the sales that it needs already.

  • tomnol #20 3 years ago

    A certain Brombeer won't like this.

  • Widge #21 3 years ago

    Be interesting to see if Halo Wars is good. Must be one of the first "for console only" RTS'.

    Has there ever been any others?

  • Rizzle #22 3 years ago

    "...in some places, we were able to use the more complex renderer from the PC version of Red Alert 3."

    So, err, PC gaming is king? Hurrah for the unwashed masses!

  • qoobah #23 3 years ago

    @Widge Has there ever been any others?

    Endwar springs to mind.

  • Widge #24 3 years ago

    Ah yes. I attempted to have a go at the demo of that, but quickly felt like a PLONKER barking orders in my front room while setting up the headset.

  • skillian #25 3 years ago

    Endwar is coming to PC too. But it is certainly a "console RTS".

  • harzo #26 3 years ago

    Gotta love these pointless debates....

    I doubt the game will look substantially different, and I am even more sure that it will play identically. If it ends up being better, good on them :)

    I have never got into a C&C game since the original RA. I think I just preferred to play the skirmish mode...spend like 4 hours building a HUGE army then letting the chaos follow! Ah maybe I will pick this up on the 360 when its a tad cheaper..

  • Widge #27 3 years ago

    Yeah thats my style, I'm a proper hermit base builder.

  • ps3owner #28 3 years ago

    of course EA would say that... they have to sell the game somehow.

    RTS belongs to the PC

  • kinky_mong #29 3 years ago

    EA Los Angeles has told Eurogamer that Red Alert 3 really will look and play better on PS3 than on Xbox 360.

    You mean it won't be a RTS on the PS3 then?

  • jozz #30 3 years ago

    "Interesting about the extra graphical bits and bobs being slapped in, reading the head to head on Fallout 3, it seems Bethesda did the same approach"

    Which head to head was that because it doesn't sound much like the EG one? Unless you mean Tomb Raider of course.

  • bioreit #31 3 years ago

    @ Widge

    Yeah, I know about the Trophies, but it's kinda meaningless when my nemesis and I are locked in a battle over 360 gamerscore!

    It would be great if there was a way of collating the two into one score, but I doubt it would ever even occur to either Sony or Microsoft to think of collaborating on this.

  • septimus #32 3 years ago

    This version is only really preferable due to mouse/kb. I don't think there are enough of us to reiterate how nice it is to have this control scheme available in more games. I know it unbalances multiplayer, but to be honest I don't give a shit.

    More mouse and keyboard please!

  • Widge #33 3 years ago

    I'm sure in the Fallout 3 head to head said that the PS3 included additional details on objects that were present on the PC version but not on the 360.

    I'd have to go recheck, did see someone do some image comparisons on THE GAF though.

  • Widge #34 3 years ago

    From the Faceoff:

    "However, despite its issues, in many ways, the PS3 is trying harder than the 360 game in retaining the most intricate elements of the PC game's visuals and for that it deserves some respect.

    Certain texture-based lighting effects are totally absent on Xbox 360, making characters and creatures look more flat than on PS3 and PC. Detailing on selected textures looks to have been reduced, and complexity of rocks when viewed close up also reveals a paring down of detail here. In terms of elements that are actually noticeable during gameplay, these differences can also extend to the close-ups with the in-game characters - hair in particular looks nicer on PS3, metallic items look more... metallic. In short, PS3 and PC have an extra sheen of detailing that's missing on Xbox 360. Not massively significant in the greater scheme of things, but it's curious to see how different elements of the base PC code are replicated in different ways, or not at all, on each console.

    It's a little known fact that Bethesda farmed out its excellent PS3 Oblivion conversion to an external developer, and you can't help but wonder whether the same thing has happened here. It's almost as though there's two different agendas here - with 360, the aim is to retain the look and feel of the PC version as much as possible, cutting corners where they can get away with it to improve performance. With PS3, the objective seems to be different - to retain everything from the PC game (anti-aliasing aside), no matter what the impact may be on the way the game feels and plays. Different conversions, different compromises, different levels of success."

    The impact on the PS3 for trying to do all that is frame rate apparently. Out in the field and in general everything has been stable for me, although I did encounter a whoa nelly in the Rivet City Market as mentioned in the head to head.

  • Beano #35 3 years ago

    "This version is only really preferable due to mouse/kb."

    Wait.. the PS3 version supports keyboard and mouse?
    Edited by 1 at 22/01/09 @ 12:39

  • jozz #36 3 years ago

    Ah, okay, I did skim read it a while ago admittedly. Wonder if the PS3 version also shares that weird glitch where NPCs have slightly demonic looking glowing eyes when in low light areas.

  • Widge #37 3 years ago

    I certainly had that in Oblivion! Eyes made from marbles.

  • aphexstwin #38 3 years ago

    all games that are k&m should be bought for the ps3, that way you can buy a cheap set from pc world instead of being lumbererd to part with extra cash for an official set from ms. which wll probably work worse if the ms wheel is any yardstick to go by.

    it does seem strange that the extra dev time is needed for ea games porported to be leading toward ps3 development mind. mabe its still a case of leading on 360 but working harder to get those ps3 sales.

    and gamerscore? once upon a time i used to look at my stats and see my percentage complete figure, so maybe gs seems innapropriate to me. i downloaded gta;sa on the 360 and its lack of gs hasnt stopped me from collecting all the cars or spraying the tags...

  • Dizzy #39 3 years ago

    Orange Box. Nuff said.

  • wikoogle #40 3 years ago

    AWESOME, you forgot to ask...

    Will this coop game support SPLITSCREEN CO-OP, even if all the textures have to be toned down while in splitscreen play?

    I want to play with my friend sitting beside me, even if the graphics are toned down in that mode.

  • wikoogle #41 3 years ago

    I'm SOOOOO pumped for this game. Thank you EA for porting it to the PS3.

    But PLEASE PLEASE include SPLITSCREEN CO-OP and VERSUS in the PS3 Version, even if you have to delay it...

    Everyone is going to be playing this on widescreen hdtvs. Splitting a widescreen tv vertically would be roughly the same as a computer monitor.

    With this game built to be co-op, I want to play my friends sitting beside me. Use one of the PS3 cores. Please do it if at all possible.

  • Ebicurry #42 3 years ago

    is it possible to play this game online from the ps3 vs pc players?