Tech Analysis: Rise of the Tomb Raider

Ultimately, Rise of the Tomb Raider feels like a genuine step forward in terms of rendering technology, with significant improvements made to the last generation engine. The Foundation tech itself is highly capable and delivers an impressive looking game with huge, densely populated environments. The quality of its character rendering combined with great animation and environmental interactions helps form a deeper bond between the player and the surroundings, while improved lighting and effects work creates a more nuanced presentation.



However, it's clear that both image quality and performance aren't exactly where they need to be and that ultimately takes the shine off an otherwise beautiful game. Hitting 1080p is important but without a high quality anti-aliasing solution in place, results can still feel underwhelming in places - despite the game's many visual triumphs elsewhere. Surprising as it may seem, sub-native games such as Ryse offer superior image quality despite operating at a lower resolution - raw pixel count is only one component of the visual presentation, after all. The fact that performance often feels rather unstable throughout only serves to suggest that perhaps pushing for a full 1080p on Xbox One in this case has taken its toll.
What's fascinating in this particular instance is how close the Xbox 360 version appears to be, based on the media we have available. With Nixxes at the helm, Rise of the Tomb Raider on 360 looks surprisingly close to the Xbox One version of the game in a number of ways. We're planning to delve deeper into this version in the near future, but first impressions certainly seem to suggest that this is a game that will be worth playing on both platforms.