Inspect Kratos' HD facelift in God of War Collection

by Andrew Yoon { Nov 9th 2009 at 3:30PM }

Sure, the upcoming God of War Collection is a lot more resolution-y than the original PS2 games, but does that produce a noticeably better-looking game? Bitmob tested the original God of War games on their backwards-compatible PS3 systems and took comparison shots of both. It's clear that the Blu-ray remastering is better than the PS2 original, even with the PS3 upscaler turned on.

It certainly helps that the original source material was so good. Looking back at the first game has us impressed -- we'd forgotten how much muscle the last generation could flex.

Source - Graphics Comparison (part one) God of War 1 vs. God of War Compilation
Source - Graphics Comparison (part two) God of War 2 vs. God of War Compilation

Tags: action, comparison, god-of-war, god-of-war-collection, god-of-war-ii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

uncle jesse @ Nov 9th 2009 3:35PM

Now THAT is a chin!

EGOvoruhk @ Nov 9th 2009 3:38PM

Did he enable the HD mode on the PS2 version before taking the screenshots?

charlie b. @ Nov 9th 2009 3:40PM

"the Blu-ray remastering is better than the PS2 original, even with the PS3 upscaler turned on."

Space @ Nov 9th 2009 3:47PM

I think he's talking about the code you enter on god of war 2 title screen. anyhow I think that essentially does the same thing as the PS3 scaler

Filthy Assistant @ Nov 9th 2009 4:40PM

I also really haven't seen much of a difference from the PS3 upscaling. It's a minimal improvement at best.

DeepFriedSushi @ Nov 9th 2009 4:42PM

worse lighting/shading in the ps3 version

PS3:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3500/4082333346_aaaa155e11_o.jpg

PS2:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/4081567617_e29979c63d_o.jpg

PSN: John-Paul-Jones (click for last.fm profile!) @ Nov 9th 2009 4:51PM

@DeepFriedSushi

Wow, I don't recall God of War I looking that bad on the PS3. I thought the graphics were great (with 480P on) and the only complaint is that it doesn't fill the whole screen width-wise. Still, I might pick this up!

why not the LS2LS7? @ Nov 9th 2009 5:11PM

Where's the lighting issue in that pic? Are you just talking about the bright spot on the boards near the fire chain? It's just coincidence, that's just the same bright spot as on the PS3 pic, it's just the different gammas make it look like a big deal on the PS2 pic.

EGOvoruhk @ Nov 9th 2009 5:44PM

Yes, I was talking about the HD mode that actually renders the game in 1080i. It's not just an upscale, which is entirely different. Especially since the HD mode is coded in the actual game, and not some generic PS3 mode

Rank me down for actually knowing the difference though

Bluebrake @ Nov 10th 2009 4:43PM

There is no HD mode in the original GoW2, just something that was mistakenly labeled that by some blogs. The game still ran at 480p, just with a smoothing effect.

Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 9th 2009 3:41PM

Seeing this...I want a few other games remade.

Dark Cloud, anyone?

Aaroniero Arruruerie @ Nov 9th 2009 3:41PM

Yeah, after I played the GOW3 demo, I canceled my order for Collection, the graphics were outstanding I cant go back and play a last gen game, maybe I will buy it when its cheap, which I expect to happen near the GOW3 release

NitroMikeo @ Nov 9th 2009 3:45PM

Shadow of the Colossus.

/end

scooterbaga @ Nov 9th 2009 6:51PM

Don't forget Ico! It needs it more. That game looks awful on my ps3/HDTV.

Filthy Assistant @ Nov 9th 2009 9:20PM

I tried playing Ico again and it gave me a headache within 20 minutes. It was somehow blurry and jaggy at the same time.
Ico and SOTC really need re-releases like this. The improved framerate especially in SOTC's case.

Traceur_Ryuk [Founder of The Anti-EMCB(tm) and co-leader of ATDF] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Nov 10th 2009 2:20AM

Protip: Never play SD games on an HDTV. It actually looks BETTER on an SDTV because you don't notice the flaws.

Bluebrake @ Nov 10th 2009 11:29AM

A lot of SD games, mainly ones that support 480p, actually look a little better on an HDTV. GoW and SotC, for instance.

Ico is not one of them. The game ran at 320x240, half of what even most PS2 games run at. On a modern TV it looks like one of those old realplayer videos stretched up to fullscreen.

Definitely a good candidate for an upgrade.

CaramelZappa @ Nov 9th 2009 3:52PM

I'm really impressed with he difference. It looks a LOT better. Can't wait to get my copy in the mail.

Is it just me or do the collection screenshots look washed out compared to the original?

Lord_von_Punx @ Nov 9th 2009 3:53PM

gow 2.5??

Lars @ Nov 9th 2009 5:53PM

I don't get it. Are you saying you want an HD version of Chains of Olympus?

IcelandTerrorist (stormtrooper190) @ Nov 10th 2009 8:20AM

Chains of Olympus is really 0.5 not 2.5

GiggMan @ Nov 9th 2009 3:53PM

Shockingly this is the game I'm looking forward to the most. When GoW came out I worked all the time (sometimes seven days a week) and had little time for gaming. I remember renting the first one and not buying the second.

Now I work normal people hours (thanks a lot College) and plan on taking my time and enjoying these great games.

spuddpotatto @ Nov 9th 2009 4:02PM

i'm the opposite, i had much more time to play games back in college. now that i'm working, i hardly have time anymore. ahh, such is the life of an overworked and underpaid animator.

i'm looking forward to these HDfied vesions too, as i never had a PS2 (i was only a PC gamer back then).

ducttapeBigSexy (PSN&XBL: ducttape12) @ Nov 9th 2009 4:01PM

Woah, since when does Kratos have a scar?

CtrlBurn @ Nov 9th 2009 4:02PM

Looks like the same model with better textures. I guess that's not surprising, given how much more work would go into re-doing the models. I'd like to see these two pictures with a shot of the GoW 3 Kratos model for comparison there.

Dreadhead541 @ Nov 9th 2009 7:32PM

it's the same models, with the same textures just rendered natively in 720p. Which is exactly what they said they were going to do when it got announced. What were you expecting?

CtrlBurn @ Nov 10th 2009 12:30AM

I never read the details of exactly what they were doing, so I didn't know what to expect. I'd still like to see these images compared to a GoW 3 image, just because it would be interesting to see how far things have come.

captainprotonx @ Nov 9th 2009 4:07PM

HD tits. YEEEEEEEEEESSS

Danthok @ Nov 9th 2009 5:03PM

Yes the GoW games set the bar high on tit rendering.

Darkfocus @ Nov 9th 2009 4:07PM

I can't believe it when wii fanboys say HD doesn't look better and that HDs useless HD looks so much better

CaramelZappa @ Nov 9th 2009 4:12PM

One of my biggest problems with the wii is no HD output. They don't have to impove the graphics, just add a little extra ram so they can render at 720p. People have done it with emulators and it's a world of difference, especially since 480p looks so horrible on a 1080p tv.

Of course, they're too busy printing money to care.

why not the LS2LS7? @ Nov 9th 2009 5:13PM

It's not a little RAM, you have to quadruple the video RAM just to get to 720p. And then you need to quadruple the memory bandwidth since you are accessing 4x as much RAM in the same time (1/30th or 1/60th second) as before. And if any of those textures are computed on the fly you need to quadruple the speed of the thing doing the computing, either the main CPU, GPU or etc.

Nickytetlow @ Nov 9th 2009 5:35PM

"I can't believe it when wii fanboys say HD doesn't look better"

I can't believe it either. But that's because they don't say that. Any person with a wii would be happy with HD. Me i don't care either way since i have all the consoles.

sikbeta @ Nov 9th 2009 4:08PM

This is Awesome, now I only need RE4 - DMC - MGS2 - MGS3 and I'm complete

1251 @ Nov 9th 2009 4:13PM

Kratos is hawt.

funkyellowmonkey(ps3 id) @ Nov 9th 2009 4:14PM

Nice, can't wait for this, only a few weeks to go!!! ;)

jmam @ Nov 9th 2009 4:16PM

The new screenshots do look "washed out", but they also reveal more details about the environment. What was too dark is now lightened to enhance detail. This however has the effect of making what was already lightened lighter. All in all a beneficial compromise.

TONY @ Nov 9th 2009 4:34PM

I think it looks that way because it's more of a natural looking lighting(according to IGN) if you go to there site and click on the full size images the difference is night and day. Especially for GOW1.

Jose [Steam & PSN: Assmar] @ Nov 9th 2009 4:18PM

Looks very slightly stretched horizontally, but still beautiful.

Rhamsey @ Nov 9th 2009 4:19PM

Yeah, this looks great. It really makes me want more old games from the ps2/xbox to be remade in HD.

Wardo @ Nov 9th 2009 4:47PM

I can't wait for this collection to come out, I'm actually glad I did not play the originals now. :P

Royale @ Nov 9th 2009 4:55PM

Thanks for the NSFW links...

Danthok @ Nov 9th 2009 5:01PM

I personally will be buying this day one. These games were so great that I am ready to play them again. The GoW3 demo is definitely a plus but this is a bargain at $40.

There is only so much they can do to upscale a old game to HD graphics. Any SD texture is never going to hold up in HD resolution. To do any better they would have to remake the game.

Phil @ Nov 9th 2009 6:32PM

I don't get the people who want to wait for a price drop on this.

It's $40. That's $20 per game. The same price they have been for the PS2 versions. And they have been at that price for a LONG time.

Just buy it already. Maybe it'll encourage them to remaster more of the PS2s excellent library.

It's already been said but I want a HD Shadow / ICO bundle to coincide with the launch of TLG. Now THAT would be sweet.