Killzone Shadow Fall is, undoubtedly, one of the most eagerly anticipated titles from the launch lineup of next-gen consoles. We’ve been following the game’s progress since its reveal back in February this year, and are happy to report that it is shaping up to be the definitive graphical showcase for Sony’s brand new piece of hardware, the Playstation 4. For the sake of comparison, we’ve chosen a selection of GIF images based on footage from the E3 build of the forest level and, more recently, this week’s episode of GTTV.

While we have tried to match the locations and viewpoints as closely as possible, this isn’t a like-for-like comparison. We worked with what little footage we had available at the time of writing. Having said that, it should certainly give a fair idea of the progress Guerrilla Games has made over these last few months.

(Top = E3 Build, Bottom = GTTV build)

The first thing that catches the eye is a broader range of color in the more recent build. The E3 footage was already a whole lot more colorful than previous games in the franchise, but the new footage appears to have adopted a more natural and eye-pleasing color tone. It also helps that the volumetric lighting has been given a visible boost. Sun shafts cutting through trees are more apparent and there’s the added lens flare as the camera is panned across a light source in the newer build.

(Top = E3 Build, Bottom = GTTV build)

While not very apparent from these GIFs, the transition in level of detail on distant environmental objects as you approach them is less aggressive, with not as much noticeable pop-up as compared to the earlier build. In the E3 footage (top image), detail on the trees can be seen popping up as you zip-line across them. Post-process effects such as depth of field and per-object motion blur also appear to have been added to the GTTV build.

(Top = E3 Build, Bottom = GTTV build)

By far, the most notable improvement comes from the addition of a dense layer of mist that sprawls across the landscape in real-time. It appears to add plenty of life to the setting, especially in terms of the atmosphere it conveys. It’s hard to go back to the rather empty and shallow looking E3 build, which looked great in its own right back then.

These changes are certainly for the better and we look forward to even further improvements as we get our hands on the retail version next month. Stay tuned for our review and in-depth coverage on Killzone Shadow Fall.