Fallout 4 is a game at odds with itself; an arresting open-world adventure with a staggering number of moving parts, but also one where its engine trembles under its demands. Having picked apart all three versions at length, it's fair to say PlayStation 4 and Xbox One each have unshakeable performance issues that can't be ignored. However, in visual terms they fall very close to one another - and at its top settings, PC adds some interesting touches over the console experience.

Let's rattle off the basics first: the 1920x1080 checkbox is readily ticked for both consoles, and pixel-counting gives us the precise same return. It's a state of affairs that perhaps points to Xbox One as the focus for Bethesda at the start of Fallout 4's development, and visuals are almost entirely matched with PS4. We have an accomplished implementation of temporal anti-aliasing on each console too, while texture map quality, shadows and even the quality of specular mapping in rain are a direct match.

Introducing PC at ultra settings is very revealing here, and shows just how much PS4 and Xbox One retain on balance. As tested on the latest patch, 1.01, on each version, the good news for console owners is that you're getting the maximum quality in textures, alpha effects and geometry across the game. PC's take on this post-apocalyptic Boston setting is identical in its building blocks. To an extent, this might frustrate those looking to squeeze a radically overhauled visual setup on PC - but there remain three main areas of improvement.

The first is in draw distance, particularly once we push object and grass fade settings up to ultra. Taken from the highest point we could find (the Corvega factory rooftop overlooking Lexington), the difference from PS4 and Xbox One is stark. Higher-quality building LODs, trees, and cars render in at a much greater range on PC's top setting.

This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view. Manage cookie settings Our Fallout 4 visual comparison between PlayStation 4 and PC. The ultra preset brings the most noticeable improvements to draw distance, shadow quality and god rays.

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As far as we can tell, consoles run at PC's lowest grass setting, while other fade settings are broadly set to medium quality equivalents. On the plus side, buildings on the horizon run with 'distant object detail' set to high, meaning we can navigate to major landmarks by eye. On balance, the paring back in LODs goes unnoticed during regular play on console, and it's only in broad views of the world that it's apparent that elements are missing. The only aspect that grates is the shadow distance setting on PS4 and Xbox One, which runs at around PC's medium preset, causing a visible fade-in just ahead of the player.

Indeed, shadows are the second point of improvement on PC. In terms of overall shadow quality up-close, the ultra preset gives sharper outlines as the time of day shifts by. It's a cleaner, clearer look than PS4 and Xbox One, though again it takes a side-by-side comparison to really pick that out. For the most part, this aspect still looks very solid on consoles, but the added refinement on PC is a boon.

The third major difference is in PC's lighting. The god ray effect in particular produces an unusual dither effect on consoles, a result of these machines cutting its resolution down to around 480x270. This means that wherever this effect crosses with geometry, we see a stair-stepping artifact on console - both of which fall close to PC's medium god ray setting. Inevitably, running this effect at the high or ultra preset alleviates the issue; it's a much more precise implementation in matching tests, with less pixel-crawl to geometry crossing its path.

Sadly, there's no way to improve other settings in a similar way on PC - at least, not by the official route. GPU control panel options are available, and mods are likely to twist this game into better shape. For example, screen space ambient occlusion is used here, as with PS4 and Xbox One, but it's unfortunate that this is the best in-game setting we have. This method of shading looks somewhat out of place in a modern game, especially at top settings where we expect superior variations like the horizon-based HBAO. That said, we're likely to see a rush of inventive, fan-made solutions to fix the game's weaker aspects.

Fallout 4 presents itself at a full 1920x1080 resolution on PS4 and Xbox One. Settings are very close indeed on console, while PC wins out in draw distances - rendering in shadows, geometry and foliage not visible on console at range. At this extreme point, Xbox One also shows a rare advantage over PS4, with extra details resolved (note the buildings at the centre), though in every other case the two are identical. Other shots show a matching level of detail between PS4 and Xbox One - while PC on ultra settings fill in scenery at the top of this image with more structures. Consoles run on PC's medium setting for shadow draw distance, while grass fade is on par with the lowest setting. Meanwhile, the buildings seen in the far distance to the right indicate console uses PC's high settings for distant object detail - these being absent on medium. In terms of core assets however, PC's ultra textures are identical to console's. Texture resolution is the same across all three - and likewise for geometric detail. A minor difference in shadow filtering is noticed, putting Xbox One on the back foot in clarity - but in other tests this setting is identical. Skin shaders are implemented with equal quality too. However, you'll notice the shadow line across the character's neck is sharper at PC's top settings. God rays are also improved on PC. Note the cable to the side of this lamp-post appears aliased on console when exposed to this effect, but otherwise much more precise on PC. An extra shot showing the differences in shadow quality across the world, as time of day shifts past. Asset quality doesn't always hold up, and it's a shame PC has no better preset for normal map resolution. That said, the modding scene surrounding Bethesda's work is highly active, and we may see some twists to the game's presentation.

Otherwise, most other settings are identical between PC and console - down to the screen-space reflections, motion blur, and water shaders during rain. All told, we're looking at substantial PC advantage in draw distances, shadows and god rays. But it's ultimately the same core asset-work and geometry shared between all formats.

Given the consoles' similar visual return to PC overall, the real dividing point is in performance. We've put more time into analysing Fallout 4's frame-rate on PS4 and Xbox One, this time focusing on more stressful areas further in to the game. Of course, it must be said this is a huge world with many avenues, and in this sense, the experience will vary from player to player - particularly once the state of the world changes as more hours are invested in the game. However, even at this point, it's clear that frame-rate is an issue on PS4 and Xbox One.

Xbox-exclusive Fallout content In terms of actual game content, Fallout 4 is essentially identical across all three versions of the game. There are no platform-exclusive missions or items. However, the Xbox One version has a pre-order bonus, giving you a voucher that allows you to download Fallout 3 in its entirety - and you can run it on both Xbox 360 and its successor via its backward compatibility functionality. We took a look at how it runs on Xbox One, and came away impressed. Additionally, Xbox One is at the front of the line to receive mod support. Director Todd Howard has confirmed there's a close working relationship between Microsoft and Bethesda to allow a range of user-made tweaks to the game created using the Creation Kit modding tool coming soon for PC, with mod-sharing coming to Xbox One in early 2016. Bethesda 'hopes' to follow this up with PS4 mod-sharing at a later date, but details seem rather fuzzy right now.

Our initial analysis showed some hefty drops from the target 30fps, but it gets worse. In Xbox One's case, we saw glaring stutters during general play, particularly while drawing weapons or moving through complex cities - an issue not experienced to the same level on PS4. Meanwhile, Sony's machine struggled with heavy alpha effects in battles, though general traversal ran at a smoother rate. However, moving to demanding areas like the Corvega factory, or even shootouts around the Cambridge college area, frame-rates take a nosedive to 20fps and lower.

Corvega is a particularly challenging case. At its upper heights, broad views of Lexington below prompt PS4 and Xbox One to come crashing down to some dubious numbers. In particular, PS4 comes off worse in scenarios with a heavy effects component, and combined with the wealth of geometry drawn in from a range here, hits a low of 15fps. The lowest point in this section for Xbox One is 20fps by comparison, though in both cases the variability of refresh makes aiming manually very difficult.

This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view. Manage cookie settings A new performance analysis video, focusing on PS4 and Xbox One stress-points in battle.

Alas, Microsoft's machine suffers from a similar nadir in the factory's sewers - in what is presumably a less CPU- or GPU-intensive scenario. At the sight of an empty hallway, we see a 17fps drop on Xbox One, in the middle of each console wavering at around the 20-30fps range. It's yet another sign that the game could use another optimisation parse, and most puzzlingly of all, there's no clear cause for these drops at all. There's a sense that the computational effort going into these scenes isn't matched by the visual return - and again, impact on controller response is a big distraction.

Of course, these battles don't account for the entire experience, but sustained drops are frequent enough to frustrate. Equally, we are going in with wild, real-time shoot-outs, rather than using the more methodical, slower-paced VATS system. However, when either PS4 or Xbox One takes a nosedive, it's impossible to ignore - it just doesn't feel quite good enough.

Fallout 4 is absolutely one of the most compelling open-world adventures we've played on console, and it's a shame this sluggish controller response holds it back. As always, there's a lot more to explore. But as it stands, there are serious rough points on console that need addressing both on PS4 and Xbox One - and we hope something can be done.

This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view. Manage cookie settings Our original frame-rate test video, covering the basic performance issues in Fallout 4 on PS4 and Xbox One.