Similar to RAGE, Battlefield 3 will allow users to stream high resolution textures from the Xbox 360's hard drive, making a great looking game look even better. Will Battlefield 3 still look great without the install? Undoubtedly, but the texture pack inclusion is a nice addition for the A/V lovers who want to get the most out of their BF3 experience.
The second disc of Battlefield 3 will contain a hi-res texture pack that players can install to their system's hard drive to pump up the graphics a bit. It will not be a small install, if RAGE is anything to go by -- that game requires a hefty 22 GBs of free space to install its textures.
DICE's Frostbite 2 engine is a huge upgrade, visually, from what it was originally. Evidenced in the latest batch of screenshots, the engine is capable of delivering gorgeous graphics without sacrificing framerate. Battlefield 3 producer, Patrick Liu, talked to Gamerzines about the prestigious Frostbite 2 engine and how it compares to its competitors.
"We're pushing that technology to the limit, and compared to our competitors, I would argue that we're the best looking game."
Confidence is exactly what you want to hear from any developer in terms of how good their game looks, and DICE has that in spades. Games have started looking better in recent times, especially with developers creating new engines that bring high caliber graphics to today's consoles. CryENGINE 3 and id Tech 5 are prime examples, but when it comes to that balance of realism, beauty, and destruction, Frostbite 2 might have the edge.
To see Frostbite 2 in action, on consoles, check out the Operation Guillotine trailer, featuring gameplay on the Xbox 360.
Of course, there are going to be proponents of people who will always believe PC graphics will be superior, and in this case, Battlefield 3 will probably look a lot better on PC than it will on console. But just being able to see these kinds of graphics on a console that's several years old is pretty fascinating, and things might only get better from here.
Battlefield 3 releases October 25, 2011, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.
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Source: Gamerzines