720P JUST CAUSE 4 1080P
720P JUST CAUSE 4 UPDATE
720P JUST CAUSE 4 PS4
720P JUST CAUSE 4 PC

Just Cause 3 is renowned for its explosive action and this is reliant on the fidelity of its physics model. Please enable JavaScript to use our comparison tools.

720P JUST CAUSE 4 PC

Just Cause 3's open world is abundantly rich, and its distance detail levels are very close to the PC version running at its best, so it's clear that there's a lot of data to stream - we may well be looking at a memory bandwidth issue on Xbox One, or else it's a matter of storage.

This is the kind of test we utilise in order to overcommit VRAM on PC graphics cards, but with the consoles employing unified memory, we were surprised to see this issue manifest in this way. What's particularly disappointing is that even in areas with little or nothing going on, Xbox One can still have issues - moving into a forest area and spinning around on the spot can cause the engine's performance to drop to the mid-20s, while PlayStation 4 retains the lion's share of its performance. It's a little disappointing that neither version of the game can stick to its target frame-rate - high tempo combat with lots of performance-sapping alpha transparencies cause issues on both machines - but it's clear that PlayStation 4 has the edge in sustaining target performance more consistently. In between shoot-outs, both editions mostly hold at 30fps, but once things kick off, it's clear that Microsoft's machine struggles to a more noticeable extent.

720P JUST CAUSE 4 PS4

In our tests, we've compared both cut-scenes and gameplay, and our lowest recorded drop occurs on Xbox One, where a massive explosion sends us plummeting to 20fps, while PS4 plateaus to 24fps in entirely different circumstances - with CPU power the likely culprit for bottlenecked performance there. What's clear is that neither version of Just Cause 3 is able to sustain a locked 30fps, but it is indeed the Xbox One release that offers a noticeably lower level of in-game fluidity.

720P JUST CAUSE 4 1080P

It's 1080p vs 900p visually, but it's the performance differential that is more of an issue. Just Cause 3 compared on PS4 and Xbox One. In motion, Just Cause 3 looks and feels much like a v-sync title - but in restricting tearing to the top of the screen, Avalanche hopes to lower latency and reduce stutter with a slightly more elastic approach to the game's rendering budget. Both versions target 30 frames per second and there is something akin to an adaptive v-sync solution in play on both versions - but like a lot of games utilising this technique recently, tearing is limited to the very top portion of the screen.

The end result is that both editions of Just Cause 3 look very similar, but PlayStation 4 has the edge visually with a crisper image, meaning that the real issue is indeed one of performance. Avalanche clearly felt no need to adjust GPU-intensive elements such as shadow quality - in this respect, both look equivalent to the high setting on the PC game. Initial comparisons of art assets, effects and lighting suggests that both versions are operating with the same visual feature set.

In terms of core image quality, we can confirm that the PlayStation 4 version is indeed running at native 1080p, while Xbox One operates at 900p. We managed to grab the game ahead of release from a local retailer, and our analysis is based on both releases patched up to version 1.01. Additionally, with the pre-release focus on Xbox One, what of the PlayStation 4 version? Going into our testing, we couldn't help but wonder - is the console version of Just Cause 3 really in bad shape? After all, Avalanche's recent cross-platform work on Mad Max was exemplary. Original story: Available to some ahead of time, initial reports on Just Cause 3 console performance haven't been particularly positive - with an Xbox One preliminary analysis causing much concern.

720P JUST CAUSE 4 UPDATE

UPDATE 2/12/15 9:00am: We're still working on our Face-Off coverage for Just Cause 3, but in the meantime we've updated the article with how the game runs on PC - specifically our budget computer, featuring a Core i3 4130, 8GB of 1600MHz DDR3 plus an Nvidia GTX 750 Ti.

720p just cause 4