There has been a lot of chatter recently about a supposed “downgrade” in graphical quality of Xbox One’s exclusive launch title, Ryse: Son of Rome. The game, first shown at E3, has apparently had its characters polygons reduced from 150,000 to 80,000, unsurprisingly causing a small fan-boy war. So is this even a big deal?
Short answer – no. Higher polygon counts do not necessarily mean the game will look better. There are many criteria that go into a games appearance; things such as art-style, lighting, shadows, etc. To say that Ryse: Son of Rome has been downgraded is a bit hasty. Crytek’s CEO Cevat Yerli has been active on Twitter in defense of the company’s decision to reduce the games polygons.
#Ryse Hero Marius 85k polys? It was choice: 150k polys w LODs vs 85K + better shading + no LODs (stable). The latter wo at better quality!
— Cevat Yerli (@RealtimeCevat) September 27, 2013
#Ryse looks better than at E3! Shader deeper, more real.Marius features additionally also realtime physical dangling pieces.Plus much more!
— Cevat Yerli (@RealtimeCevat) September 28, 2013
#Ryse there is not one single downgrade compared to E3, promised! Only UPGRADES in the final push towards finalling phase! Its FULL HD XP!
— Cevat Yerli (@RealtimeCevat) September 28, 2013
Crytek has obviously made this decision with smooth frame rates in mind. Would you rather play, visually, a 10/10 game at a low frame rate, or a 9/10 at 60 FPS? I think most logical people would choose the latter.