However, all the DLC will be removed from standalone purchases along with the different versions of the game. Saves and Achievements will carry over into the Re-Elected version. Furthermore, cross-platform play is also launching on the same day, allowing those on Steam to play with Epic Games and GOG users.

Saints Row 4 is available for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, while Re-Elected is on PS4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and Nintendo Switch. For more details on the base game, check out our review here. You can also check out our review for the Re-Elected version here.

Good news for Persona fans this side of the pond! Deep Silver, who’ve published everything from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky to the Dead Island franchise will be publishing the quirky, high-school JRPG Persona 5.

In addition to Persona 5, Deep Silver has also said that it will be bringing over other select titles from Atlus’ catalog, according to the tweet from the official Deep Silver Twitter handle. Those select titles include the much-awaited Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse.

There was a bit of worry and speculation about how, if, and when Persona 5 would release in Europe, ever since Atlus split with NIS North America, who were initially supposed to bring the game out in Europe.

As of now, there is no clear time-frame with regards to Persona 5’s European release (or Shin Megami Tensei IV’s, for that matter). Here’s to hoping Deep Silver coordinates with Atlus America to ensure the game comes out at the same time on both sides of the pond.

We're bringing @AtlusUSA and select @SEGA titles to Europe! That means YES to Persona 5 and SMT IV: Apocalypse! pic.twitter.com/4GxPiLchQh

— Deep Silver (@deepsilver) July 6, 2016

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Body Looting

Have you ever been in one of those games where you play with your friends, mowing down the enemies and just having a blast, until it’s time to loot the bodies that fell from all the war? ‘First come, first serve,’ as the motto goes, meaning whoever gets to the body first gets all the spoils. Not in Homefront. This is a game that wants boundaries to be blurred and shared amongst everyone. When a body falls, take all the time you need to collect that loot because the loot will be available for everyone in the party.

We recently got our hands on the beta version of Homefront and from the technical side of things, we have mixed feelings about how this title is shaping up. But before we jump into it, it should be noted that this is the beta version and things can always change in the final version. It must also be noted that the parameters we noted may or may not apply to the game’s single player campaign portion as these two components tend to vary just like they do in Uncharted 4: A Theif’s End. So keep that in mind!

The very first thing we wanted to talk about is the match making issues. It took us ages to get into a match…the wait was literally depressingly difficult at times. We are hopeful that Dambuster Studios will fix this issue at launch, because it could be a game breaking issue for many.

Homefront: The Revolution is running on CryEngine and as you can expect, the game looks pretty decent at times. You can expect a good mix of destruction, volumetric and physics effects, combined with an effective anisotropic filtering solution and lighting. This is the CryEngine after all, so we are not really surprised at all with how good the game looks at times.

However it seems that CryEngine will be rendering the game at 900p on the Xbox One, a trend we have seen on previous games on the console using the engine. Does this mean that the PS4 version will run at 1080p? Most likely but we won’t know for sure until the game launches. It’s also possible that the game may finally run at 1080p on Xbox One at launch but with only a couple of months to go for release, we think this is quite unlikely, although we hope we are proven wrong in this regard. Performance wise, the game surprisingly runs quite well. The game seems to be running well above 30fps for most of the gameplay but a capped fps will help make the experience smoother. Dambuster Studios can learn a thing or two from Sucker Punch who provided players the option to run inFamous: Second Son at a locked 30fps.

Homefront The Revolution seems to be a pretty ambitious game. Its open ended approach along with dynamic gameplay could make this game one to keep an eye out for. If Dambuster Studios are able to fix the match making and performance issues, we may have a technically solid first person shooter on our hands.

We will follow up with our final analysis across all three platforms when the game launches in May.

The first thing to say about this particular remastering, is that it doesn’t appear to be all that impressive. Certainly some of the problem is that the art style when it comes to the Saints Row games is that they just aren’t as crisp and clean as some of the other titles that first appeared on the Playstation 3 and have since been ported over to the PS4. If you attempt to compare Re-Elected to something like The Last of Us or Grand Theft Auto V remasters, the graphics and especially the facial features of the characters in this game are going to fall quite short.

"If you attempt to compare Re-Elected to something like The Last of Us or Grand Theft Auto V remasters, the graphics and especially the facial features of the characters in this game are going to fall quite short."

Another problem is the rag doll physics employed in the game. The developers got away with some of the goofiness of movement when it comes to Saints Row IV because most of the game actually takes place inside a computer generated world. The physics rules of this world have already been tampered with a little bit in order to give your character a number of different super powers. Having those powers already makes everything seem just a little bit goofy, but in a good way. Being able to run faster than a speeding car works because you and Kinzie have worked together to make that computer generated world allow you to run faster than a speeding car.

Despite the souped up physics and otherworldly powers characters in this game are supposed to have, running into and through a pedestrian and watching them actually bend and flip and rag doll away still seems like something you wouldn’t expect to see in a AAA game on the Playstation 4. Once again, you have to wonder whether Volition meant for this level of goofiness, since there is actually one particular game mode, where the entire intent is for you to rag doll your way through the town for as long as possible. Do this just right and you’ll be able to roll and flip and smack and flop for miles and miles and miles.

So did the developers design the rag doll physics for Re-Elected in order to make fun of other games and their attempts at realistic death scenes? Or did the developers come to understand the limitations of their engine and come up with a rather clever way to poke fun of themselves? Whichever the answer, it still comes off as a little off putting to see on a major console in 2015. It’s even more off-putting when you again compare Saints Row IV: Re-Elected to the other games that have recently gotten a new spit and polish. When you shoot someone in Grand Theft Auto V or The Last of Us, those gun shot victims have a bit of rag doll in them, but they go down looking quite realistic.

"The real issue is whether or not you’ve ever played this game before. It is certainly worth a buy if you don’t already have it or haven’t ever played it."

I should stop here and say that because I’ve been complaining about the look and feel of this particular remaster for the first half of this review, you’ve probably assumed I didn’t like the game. The fact of the matter is I still greatly enjoyed myself as I played through this incredibly original story and well created world. The conundrum that always presents itself when talking about a supposed upgrade of a title that isn’t particularly old is that it’s hard to tell exactly what you’re supposed to review.

Am I supposed to sing the praises of well drawn and well filled out characters that have become fan favorites as the series has unfolded? Or do I assume you all know that Saints Row IV is a very good game and what you really want to know is whether or not it’s worth your money to purchase it all over again in a new format? If the answer is an affirmative to the second question, then the answer simply has to be no.

The release of the current generation console version, which really is seemingly just the originally with a slightly longer name and just a little spit and polish might be one of the most pointless remasters to date. The lack of any real tangible upgrade from the original is complicated by Sony and the launch of its Playstation Now service. As long as you have a fast enough Internet connection, you can play the original through that service and assuming this isn’t a game you’re going to want to play over and over, you can do it for quite a bit cheaper this way.

If you don’t want to go through the bother of trying to stream the original Saints Row IV, or you want to be able to go through the game as often as possible, Reelected isn’t a complete waste of money. There’s plenty of content, more than you’re going to be able to go through in a number of sittings and even when you are going through a somewhat repetitive part, there’s enough to keep it fresh and fun.

The real issue is whether or not you’ve ever played this game before. It is certainly worth a buy if you don’t already have it or haven’t ever played it. If you’re enough of a fan of the series that you’ve already played Saints Row IV on the PS3 or Xbox 360, then there really isn’t a compelling reason to give Saints Row IV: Re-Elected a go.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, which features one of the biggest worlds in video games in recent years, saw updated animations, new content and the first person mode that totally changes the way players can go about in the game. Earlier in 2014, Crystal Dynamics along with Nixxes Software and United Front Games launched Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition which was extremely well developed, featuring updated character model, effects and graphical overhaul.

Video comparing cutscenes from the PS4 and Xbox One versions.

In short, this trend of remasters is not a bad thing, unless developers get it right. Unfortunately, this is where High Voltage Software falters a bit. Saints Row 4: Re-Elected isn’t exactly a bad port but the problem is it does not seem to be taking advantage of the potential that the current gen consoles offer.

We recently got our hands on both the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game and are pleased to report that both run at a native 1920 X 1080 resolution, which is a step above the sub-HD resolution found on the PlayStation 3 version. Both the versions share the same in-game assets such as character models and high resolution textures, but the real downer is the frame rate. Given that the game came out almost 18 months ago, it is not unfair to expect that the remaster will run at 60 frames per second on both consoles. Unfortunately, that is not the case here as the developers opted for an unlocked frame rate approach. Both versions frequently judder from 30-60 frames per second but it’s the PlayStation 4 version that stays close to sixty frames per second at most times which is down to its superior GPU.

Unlocked frame rate isn’t an unknown quantity at this point. Last year’s inFamous Second Son had an unlocked frame rate but given that it was a fast paced game, the judder was hardly noticeable. Later on Sucker Punch released a patch that allowed players to cap the frame rate at 30. Why exactly High Voltage Software did not opted for a similar approach is something that we are not aware of. Given that a fair share of the player’s time will be invested in slow paced activities such as exploring the world and navigating from point A to B, a locked 30 frames per second could at least helped in removing the judder effect. May be developers will fix this in a future patch but nothing is confirmed at the time of writing this analysis.

Video comparing gameplay from the PS4 and Xbox One versions.

Another disappointing feature is the lack of a decent anti-aliasing solution. As you can see from the PS4 images below, there does not seem to be any kind of post processing AA. In an era where developers are pushing their games with advanced and optimized AA techniques such as HRAA (Far Cry 4), the lack of a decent AA solution is baffling. Again we are clueless as to why the developers opted for this but we suspect that the PS4 and Xbox One versions are based off the PC version which had support for MSAA, so the developers might have avoided it all together due to resource issues. But this is merely an assumption on our part, regardless this game seriously needed a decent post processing AA.

Lack of decent AA solution is rather disappointing. For high quality images, please download from here.

Another feature that seems to be lacking are detailed shadows. As evident from the screenshot below, the remastered versions suffer from shadow dithering. It must also be noted that some alpha effects like smoke and fire seem to be better on PS4, especially in the cutscenes. As seen from the cutscene comparison video in this article, the PS4 version seems to be have more effects, whereas they are completely absent on the Xbox One version. However these instances are rare and far between.

The remastered version has shadow dithering.  For high quality images, please download from here.

But as I said before, this isn’t exactly a bad port so other than the updated resolution and high resolution textures, the developers have added enhanced screen space reflections wherever they could. This kind of helps the city to come alive at times. Enhanced motion blur and depth of field also make a return to the remastered versions. The reason why I am using the term enhanced is because it seems that that certain graphical parameters have been given a lift compared to the PC version.

Enhanced screen space reflections, motion blur and depth of field in action.  For high quality images, please download from here.

Conclusion:

In the end, High Voltage Software’s effort with Saints Row 4: Re-Elected can be best described with two words: not optimized. There is no doubt that the remastered versions have few enhanced effects, 1080p resolution but the lack of a stable frame rate and post processing AA makes us feel that this is not a port that will stand up against the likes of The Last of Us Remastered or Grand Theft Auto V.

It’s hard to judge which version performs better since they both suffer from variable frame rates but if you are a fan of more effects and higher frame rates than the PS4 version is the one to opt for. But if you have a decent gaming PC, then you might very well buy the PC version which is better and may be even cheaper.

If anything, this remaster proves yet again that there is still a decent amount of difference between the two consoles. PS4 has a bit more in it to churn out better effects and higher frame rates than its counterpart, the Xbox One. Whether this gap will remain consistent throughout 2015 is something that remains to be seen.

The reworked version of the games are quite aptly named with a suffix of Redux. The bundle itself is called Metro Redux. The changes done to the Redux versions of the game may not be prodigious, they aren’t most certainly anything to overlook. From added DLCs, to porting assets from Last Light to 2033, Metro Redux boasts of numerous changes and additions, but what really catches our fancy is the visual sprucing that both the games have received.

Xbox One

"There are no frame rate drops on the PS4 either. The PC version of the game gives the option of going up to 4K resolutions which is welcome news for the lot out there with Ultra HD TVs. At least 4A Games knows how to feed the respective gamer’s hubris accordingly. "

4A had released the Metro games on the older generation of consoles and the perfect opportunity to remaster a title was on the new generation and they have certainly managed to pull off a splendid job of getting things right. Metro 2033 wasn’t available on the PS3 so we can’t have the older console to contend with the PS4 when it comes to the improvements that were made in Metro 2033 Redux.

We kick things off with the resolution output of the consoles. The PS4 churns out its native resolution of 1080p while the initially planned launch of the X1 version with 900p was given a slight boost with the resolution going upto 914p. This difference may be very miniscule but it seems the developers have gone with making the experience of the game smoother by providing consistency in frame rates which is quite visible as you cruise through the game with no drops.

There are no frame rate drops on the PS4 either. The PC version of the game gives the option of going up to 4K resolutions which is welcome news for the lot out there with Ultra HD TVs. At least 4A Games knows how to feed the respective gamer’s hubris accordingly.

Both the consoles run the game at a stable 60 frames per second with adaptive v-sync enabled to take care of the rare occasions when frame rates decide to jive things up a bit. The same story goes for the PC version too. Metro games are known to push the boundaries of GPUs, so maxing the game out can be a formidable challenge for GPUs like the R9 270x or the GTX 760, although they do come very close; this performance is also affected by the CPU since the game utilises multi processors quite extensively.

PS4

"One of the most visible improvement in the Redux version of the game is the presence of alpha processing and particle effects, both of which have been immensely improved. As a result, campfires look beautiful and so do situations involving smoke and motes of dust."

Metro 2033 Redux actually borrows a lot of assets from Last Light to make it look better. The game is evidently further worked upon by 4A. Last Light Redux version of the game largely maintains the same outlook as the original game, albeit with the obvious changes to account for the new hardware that the game is meant to run on. The Redux versions of both the games are great improvements when it comes to textures and changes in set pieces and ambient objects.

The shadows are better, reaction to light sources is more accurate, textures are rendered in good detail, but the mainstay of the remastered version is the lighting system, which is both an improvement and a downside to the Redux version of the games. The PC version of Metro got a day 1 patch which introduced volumetric lighting, which lends the game an immense aesthetic boost when it comes to dealing with light sources like torches and floodlights, especially in a dull and somber environment like the Metro games have.

One of the most visible improvement in the Redux version of the game is the presence of alpha processing and particle effects, both of which have been immensely improved. As a result, campfires look beautiful and so do situations involving smoke and motes of dust.

Even with high resolution options available in the PC version, anti-aliasing is limited to toggling super sampling, although there seems to be post processing AA in effect regardless. The game also doesn’t let users handle advanced graphical settings with various options like SSAO, anisotropic et al. What really miffed PC users was the fact that both, Metro 2033 and Last Light, wouldn’t run on their systems. As a game that has seen a full fledged release, this is quite a shameful thing even though it is bound to be fixed very soon.

PC

"Metro games - Metro 2033 specifically - had a gloomy, dark and foreboding outlook that promised vile things lurking in the shadows that accentuated the apprehensions of the players and that added to the experience of the game immensely. With the Redux versions of the game, that twitch inducing anxiousness that put you in doubt, is gone; to a great degree if not fully. This is where the redux versions feel lacking and mar the experience somewhat."

Overall, while the Redux versions of the game portray a plethora of improvements, especially with regard to Metro 2033, the game looks quite ‘bright’. Now generally, this is a perk as you’re able to make out what things lie about near you and otherwise and with a special mention of the lighting system which makes the game look much neater than its earlier counterparts, but it ruins the ambience of the game in some ways. Another point to note that the image quality for Metro 2033 on Xbox One is better than on the PS4 but the latter trumps the former in the case of Last Light.

Metro games – Metro 2033 specifically – had a gloomy, dark and foreboding outlook that promised vile things lurking in the shadows that accentuated the apprehensions of the players and that added to the experience of the game immensely.

With the Redux versions of the game, that twitch inducing anxiousness that put you in doubt, is gone; to a great degree if not fully. This is where the Redux versions feel lacking and mar the experience somewhat.  Is the Redux version worth getting? I can’t say definitely.

For someone who has already played the games before, the Redux version may seem like a spectacular improvement over its predecessors in terms of graphical quality and all the content in a neat package, but may be a let down by the lack of the same disquieting environment as in the original games.

For a newcomer to the series, this is a really an option worth considering.

As promised yesterday, we now have the head to head comparison for the remastered version of Metro Last Light. Although the Xbox One version of Metro Redux runs at a lower resolution compared to the PS4, the remastered version of Metro 2033 actually has better image quality on the former.

But in Metro Last Light, the PlayStation 4 version benefits from better depth of field and shadow effects. The Xbox One version, although not bad by any means, lags in comparison and the differences are noticeable. The PC version on the other hand is a beast. One look at the NPC’s jacket in the video below and the amount of detail in the fur is stunning. Just like Metro 2033, the PC version benefits from better AA solution and lighting. All in all, the PC version is head and shoulders above its console counterparts.

As usual, this is our preliminary test and we should have the full graphics analysis for you next week. In the meantime check out our full review of Metro Redux here and stay tuned for more news and updates.

Earlier this week, Deep Silver and 4A Games released Metro Redux which includes the remastered versions of Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light. As with every other AAA game, we first do an initial test followed by a full blown analysis. In this initial test, we have considered Metro 2033 and compared the PS4, Xbox One and PC versions against each other.

4A Games have done an exceptional job in porting the game to the new consoles. The new versions run at 60 frames per second without any drops which is simply phenomenal. As seen from the GIFS below, the PlayStation 4 version has a better black and contrast compared to the Xbox One version. However the latter has a better image quality. The PC version on the other hand trumps both the PS4 and Xbox One version with better shadow effects and anti-aliasing.

Please note that this is not our final analysis and we will follow up with yet another analysis tomorrow which will focus on Metro Last Light. Our final graphics analysis will be published next week.

Note: Each of the GIFs below are 40 seconds long so they will take a bit of time to load. Here is hoping that you are on broadband.

PS4:

Xbox One:

PC:

Game Overview:

Sacred 3 features the classic hack and slash game and supports up to 4 players for co-operative online gameplay. Each character in the game have their own sent of skills and abilities which can be upgraded and customized. Online component includes mission stats and online leaderboards.

Sacred 3  is now available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. The game is developed by Keen Games and published by DeepSilver.

Check out the video walkthrough of Sacred 3 below and let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

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