Biggest Graphical Downgrades In Video Games From The Initial Reveal

Games that look mind blowing in their first trailer but ended up being downgraded in the end.

[Relientk77]

Yeah, Ubisoft really needs to stop downgrading

[Genuine-User]

I agree. Almost everything they show gets a downgrade by release.
The E3 reveal and closed beta for Rainbow Six Siege also exhibits quite a difference.

[breakpad]

while MGS 4 was a bit downgraded the final build was running on the exact same engine and the reason behind the small degradation (a bit less polygons on models) is the inclusion of big and absolute perfect MGO 2...also they should include the horrible transformation of MGR rising which was using the same engine wiht MGS4 but cause X360 couldnt support the heavy engine they gave it away to Platinum ...which by the way made a very good title

[Azzanation]

Shouldn't blame the companies, blame the Hardware.

[Priestwithgun]

"don't blame the fairness cream blame ur puny face"

What a way to think

[Priestwithgun]

"don't blame the fairness cream blame ur puny face"

What a way to think

[Bobby Kotex]

Yeah it's not Ubisoft's fault they posted unrealistic gameplay footage.

[ProjectVulcan]

In the case of WatchDogs they may be allowed some leeway, simply because they showed the game nearly 18 months before the new consoles arrived and their hardware was not precisely fixed at that point.

They overestimated what Sony and Microsoft would deliver. However they have had no excuses for a while now so there should be no more downgradeatons from them.

Any major downgrades from games shown since late 2013 are entirely their fault.

[Darkwatchman]

Doesn't always work that way. For example, The reveal for the first uncharted game looked better than the final product, but that's not the hardware's fault because Uncharted 2 and 3 looked better than the Uncharted 1 reveal so....

[spaceg0st]

That's why I'm not holding my breath in regards to the division. I'm so pumped for that game, but I have to keep my expectations very low

[Genuine-User]

At this point, I would not mind if the graphics are not as good as the initial reveal. However, what I won't accept is a downgrade in gameplay and animation.

[HammadTheBeast]

After The Crew I'm not sure how they can handle online multiplayer games.

[98xpresent]

Killzone 2 & watchdogs

[psforward]

You clearly didn't play Killzone 2...

[starchild]

Oh, get real. Killzone 2 looked fantastic, but it came nowhere close to that CGI trailer.

I can't believe the way some of you bash Ubisoft games for supposedly "massive" downgrades, but then you can't see the very big difference between that CGI trailer and the final game.

[Genuine-User]

In certain areas, the final game looked better.

[JasonKCK]

What about the other areas?

[ginsunuva]

It's not a downgrade if the original footage was CGI.

[deadpoolio316]

Well technically its not a downgrade either if your doing so to make the overall game run smoother....But graphics whores gonna be graphics whores, idiots would rather play a game that runs like crap apparently

[MysticStrummer]

"technically its not a downgrade either if your doing so to make the overall game run smoother"

Are you suggesting some developers downgrade just for the hell of it? Of course it's a downgrade if you're doing it to help performance.

[mkis007]

Killzone 2 looks better than the reveal trailer...play it maybe? Stop latching on to the slander.

[Captain_TomAN94]

Haha ya know it really isn't worth the effort. Some people just want any excuse they can get to hate on Sony. Once people heard "CGI" it was over (Even though the final game looked just as good on average).

There are people like this for every big company, and all of these people are idiots...

[Psygnosis333]

You guys are ALL crazy...when first time I saw Killzone 2 reveal trailer I was blown away...I rocordet the trayler and watch it over and over...the finel game wasent close too that..Killzone 2 final game was very good graphicaly but not good like the trailer :P
I am mostly PS guy but dont defend this shit :D
I work rendering in Mental ray and V-ray..I analise every frame lol

[Eddie20101]

Killzone 2 actually came pretty close to the pre rendered E3 demo.

[InTheLab]

It only ended up being the best looking shooter on consoles for 5 years..

[MysticStrummer]

"Killzone 2 & watchdogs"

No & yes.

[Gamer777]

Watch Dogs could pretty much be considered false advertisement.

[Spinal]

Loooool true.

[AndrewLB]

Watchdogs was downgraded due to parity with consoles which is why all the assets used in the E3 version were still in the install folders when it hit retail.

I'm not defending ubisoft whatsoever. They should have kept the PC version as it should have been and downgraded for consoles like every other multi-platform game out there

[obz]

A good amount of the assets not all.

[Enyxodin]

What a disgrace

[imtheman2013]

The Metal Gear Solid 4 TGS trailer looked really awful. I've played the actual game recently and I'd say it looks a lot better than that trailer. More realistic animations, better overall lighting, etc. MGS4 was one of the first games on the PS3 that really blew me away in the graphical department.

[DoomeDx]

Killzone 2? lol what? The full game looked much better then the teaser. Less intense? Yes. But graphically downgraded? No.

[Gamer777]

The teaser was pre-rendered with more fine details than the release, plus it had a high framerate.

[DoomeDx]

high framerate? The trailer was at 30fps just like the game. Finer details? No way man. See that part where the dude gets burst into flames? In killzone 2 the flame casts a shadow and not just a standard dynamic light.

[starchild]

No, it looks nowhere near as good as that CGI trailer. Are some of you really this blind?

There's a much bigger gap between that CGI Killzone 2 trailer and the final game than there is between Watch Dog's first demo and the final game.

[Captain_TomAN94]

Haha except there isn't.

[Psygnosis333]

Yes it was downgradet heavaly from smoke effects particlas, from antialising,volumetric clouds at the begining ...you sould chake your EYES..the game is good tho.

[someOnecalled]

i kept forgetting what site im on. ps fanboys will never admit sony is not perfect any everything that is ps is not gold. the game looked good but nowhere near the cgi trailers. we even had people back then at the time saying it was ingame just to get egg ontheir face. being a ps fanboy mean never admitting their wrong and ps is perfect = n4g

the first trailer of watchdogs was before next gen release, so i thin they just overestimate these consoles just like everyone thats make multiplats. i know devs that have been making multiplats for the last 4 yrs has to be disappointed. look at metro, tr, and the witcher 2. and right before next gen was announce console gamers claimed they didnt look that much better than ps3/xb360 games. funny how things turn out. now they saying the samething

[Rute]

I don't really see a big difference in that Watchdogs video (E3 2012 vs. final product in PC Ultra settings).

[starchild]

It's definitely a decent downgrade, but nowhere near as big as some people make it seem.

But we have delusional people here claiming Killzone 2 looked better than the CGI trailer, so nothing surprises me any more. A lot of people are generally clueless when it comes to graphics.

[Psygnosis333]

I agree and I am a PS guy lol

[someOnecalled]

thats how this site work. one group of fanboys rule this site. im suprise you dont have one bubble

[AlokTheDemon]

even after downgrade it was stutturing like sh*te

[nchizimbi]

Personally, I do expect an upgrade and downgrade difference from the initial reveal versus the final build. Initial reveals are basically TECH DEMOs and DEMOs because until they are released, the games are still in the developmental stage. Until the product (game) is released, what I get to see in the reveals/trailers, to me is just a WORK IN PROGRESS THAT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

[hugogs]

Yes but when your hear "work in progress" you don't really expect them to donwgrade the whole game.

[EazyC]

God, these sites with one slide/picture per page p*ss me off to no end, N4G should blacklist them until they stop pulling these moves off for extra hits.

[Spartacus10]

use adblock

[EazyC]

I do, AdBlock doesn't stop this happening, it just prevents ads and popups!

[KnownAsEpic]

I thought this would be the first time I agree with gamingbolt but once I saw the "next page" shit, I stopped and closed that window.

[46889337]

Stopped reading after the author claimed Far Cry 4 was "downgraded" by citing Far Cry 3's E3 demo reveal and retail comparison as proof. That alone should tell you that the majority of this list is purposefully inaccurate and solely created for garnering clicks, if the 15 pages for one paragraph wasn't enough.

[Rookie_Monster]

How about Uncharted 4? The First teaser at E3 look like real but when they showed actual gameplay, it is nowhere near the quality or 60fps for that matter.

[ginsunuva]

1. They never said it was going to be 60fps. They said they were "targeting" it to make the fanboys happy.

2. The E3 teaser was known to not be real-time, and we knew the real game was different.

[Vegamyster]

@ginsunuva

There was quite a bit of people who actually thought the game was going to look like that trailer because it was in-engine, you said otherwise and you were jumped on lol.

http://n4g.com/news/1526720...

[ziggurcat]

*sigh*

E3 was a cutscene. PSX was gameplay.

and there was nothing even stating that the game was going to be 60fps.

[mkis007]

Game is not released...

[guyman]

The stupidity and ignorance is real. How on earth could a game be downgraded when we have only seen one demo of gameplay? You're just trying to create flames where there are none.

[TheCommentator]

Ubisoft is clearly the worst with this behavior, but...

They should have put The Order in here as the early build showed, amongst other minor details, character models way more detailed than the retail release.

If they waited a while longer they could add Uncharted 4's misleading "This (CGI) video was captured directly from a PS4" reveal to that list as well, lol. It's clear from the more recent gameplay videos that it won't look like the trailer when it launches.

I have a feeling Battlefront will be in the same boat console-side as well, but I am looking forward to gameplay video to compare it to before judging it.

To those naysayers on Killzone 2, that one is widely known as one of the biggest lies in the history of video game reveals. Character models, textures, particle effects, lighting, resolution, anti-alaising; almost everything was notably downgraded.

[mkis007]

Killzone 2 does not look worse than the reveal...it looks grittier and dirtier, but if you actually play it, you will realize it is one freak of nature of a game. Absolutely gorgeous.

This is one of those long standing disagreements I just do not understand...I am looking at both movies...they have differences of course, but it truly looks like the final game improved on some things like character models from the reveal. I just do not see a downgrade on this game. I also do not inderstand how anyone can say "not even close". Of course it is! Or it wouldnt be a disagreement.

[Aloren]

To be honest, I feel the same about watch dogs. People talk about it like it's some Genesis game but it's still a very nice looking open world game and while it's not as pretty as the reveal trailer, it's still very much the same game.

[mkis007]

Well watch dogs doesn't really play like they made it look in the original reveal. I like the game, but the gameplay seemed to be dumned down a bit. To be honest I want to go back through it and explore more. Gfx was not that big of a deal though it was obviously lowered.

[WellyUK]

Ubisoft are one of the main culprits for this but then again they are the only publisher that seems to be bringing out new IP's this gen, which is a good thing.

[Aloren]

Motorstorm by far. That "target render" video is still ridiculous today...

[Minute Man 721]

Killzone 2 looks nothing like the reveal trailer. Stop lying to yourselves.

[starchild]

Damn fanboys. They constantly bash multiplats and exaggerate every downgrade, but they'll never admit one of their precious exclusives was downgraded. It's so ridiculous.

[Spartacus10]

Because killzone 2 improved in almost every department. Frame-rate consistency being the exception.

You must be blind not to see it in a side by side comparison

[cyphertech]

Alan wake should be on this list.

[Zizi]

Downgrade is always painful to customers. I, however, ended up enjoying Watch Dogs despite its downgrade.

[TeamLeaptrade]

This is why I never take a reveal too serious, because there's always a chance it will be different.

[ThePain1]

What ever about the graphics downgrade, Watchdogs it self was a disappointing game all round. graphics were clearly downgraded but the game it self was just a really over hyped nextgen launch title and we all know htow bad launch titles are...
And what with the Assassins Creed series !! they are putting out more recycled shit then call of duty!!
Its nothing against Ubisoft but alot of there shit lately is rubbish.... i am hyped for rainbow :)

[skulz7]

Watch dogs is the one and true graphical downgrade example. The others on that list were no where near as bad as that. Ubisoft don't tend to downgrade all their games, watch dogs and far cry 3 only. AC Unity which even though is riddled with bugs can be seen as one of the best looking open world games out there and that wasn't downgraded so hopefully Ubisoft have listened.

[HmongAmerican]

Ubisoft will also downgrade The Division as well. Just watch.

[Abnor_Mal]

Why do people worry about game trailers graphics when the game is still in development only to be displeased with the final outcome. Accept the trailer for what it is, a preview of what the game COULD look like, but NOT what it WILL look like. The Killzone2 reveal trailer while all the volumetric smoke and the fire looked good, did anyone notice that the character models looked ugly as heck. Just look at Rico and u will see what i mean. Also it seems that only multiplats and Sony exclusives gets downgraded going by these comments. Everyones elses games always reach their goal of having the finished game look just as good or better than the reveal trailer. Hm interesting.

[ninjahunter]

Lol, comparing red steel 2 trailer to red steel 1. The two games are so different you couldn't identify the connection without the title.

[AlphaBlackWolf96]

I do hope that Forza 6 looks close to what 5 initially was, if not better, since they're using the new ForzaTech engine.

[clouds5]

I played watchdogs only recently with the worse mod (on pc). The graphics were simply amazing. Especially the nature area or the city by night when it was raining. But of course that was a mod and almost a year after the game was initially released.

It's a weird situation. They have the better effects in the game files but don't let you use them? In my 20 years of gaming I've never seen that happening before.

[Captain_TomAN94]

Stopped at Killzone 2. The final game looked as good if not better than the CGI demo.

[Maxor]

Stop picking on Watch Dogs. The Dark Souls 2 down grade as freaking epic.

[windblowsagain]

Watchdogs still looked good, not as good. But I find it funny people blaming sony for it,lol.

Aliens was downgraded, but it wasn't the worst and actually wasn't that bad to play in some parts.

Killzone2 looked better imo and I enjoyed it.

Farcry 3 still looked good and ran well.

Some are target renders, some are demo's with very high end effects turned on with many cards running it.

They should just do away with the tech demo's and wait till they have it running on systems properly or don't show it.

[Chrisgamerguy]

yeah it really blew us all away at e3 wtf ubi

[thexmanone]

That what happens with these weak consoles we have. They are not super computers. Steam box should be better. At least you will have a choice.