Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare console showdown: PlayStation 3 vs. Xbox 360

By Adam Rosenberg November 5, 2014

With more than 150 million PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles sold worldwide, there’s still a whole lot of interest in playing the latest games on the older machines. And it doesn’t get much more new than Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, which arrived in stores on November 4, 2014.

Which version to get, though? If you only have a PS3 or Xbox 360, yeah sure, your choice is easy. But is one superior to the other? Check and see how they run side-by-side right here to judge for yourself.

Related: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare review

Some context: Both games are running as-is, with no optional installations. The PS3 release is on one disc; you pop it into your drive and fire up the game, simple as that. The Xbox 360 release, on the other hand, comes with both an Install Disc and a Game Disc. The former loads a couple of necessary content packs onto the console’s hard drive before the game can be played. This likely has to do with the fact that the PS3 uses a Blu-ray drive, so its discs can store significantly more data than the Xbox 360’s DVD drive.

Related: Some tips to survive in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s new campaign

Both play sessions were in “fresh” versions of the campaign, with no prior progress or saves, and the difficulty is set to normal in both cases. The Xbox version appears to be a little bit sharper overall, with slightly more detail in its textures and an edge in lighting and particle effects. The PS3 version, on the other hand, seems to run more smoothly. There’s a choppiness to the Xbox frame rate that isn’t exactly disruptive, but it’s definitely noticeable.

Obviously, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game are the way to go. But much like the game released on the more recent machines, this pair of last-gen releases is close to identical, with no glaring flaws or advantages that clearly elevates one above the other.

Editors' Recommendations

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Gaming

These Activision Blizzard games need to come to Xbox Game Pass this year

Sekiro easy mode mod FromSoftware Souls games gameplay difficulty

In October 2023, Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and by the end of the year, the latter company's CEO had departed. Now, this will be the year where we’ll see how Activision Blizzard functions when fully integrated into Microsoft. The most immediate change for those who play games will likely be Activision Blizzard titles coming to Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s subscription service.

Microsoft and Activision have explained that because of the tribulations the acquisition encountered, it was impossible to have Xbox Game Pass additions prepared almost immediately after the acquisition, as it did with ZeniMax Media. In the coming months, I expect we’ll finally start to see Activision Blizzard games trickle onto the service, even if we shouldn't expect it from this week's Developer_Direct. As Activision Blizzard is one of the oldest game publishers out there, having released hundreds of games, there are plenty of titles to choose from. I’ve cherry-picked the ones I want to see most.
Diablo IV

Gaming

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies: how to complete Bad Signal

A soldier with a Pack-A-Punch weapon fires at zombies from behind cover.

Once Season 1 hit in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Zombies mode, a new Act was added for players to dive back into the undead masses to complete more missions. Since this Act takes place after all the prior ones, it's only natural that it puts players to the test.

The first mission in Act 4 is Bad Signal, which brings you to a new area that is more deadly than even the highest threat-level zones. If you're struggling to survive this mission, we'll give you clear instructions on how to complete Bad Signal.
Bad Signal guide

Gaming

The best weapons in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

A soldier standing in an armory.

To the layman, every gun in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 probably seems the same. They all shoot bullets, right? In reality, that couldn't be further from the truth. Even when you take player skill out of the equation, each gun has vastly different stats and applications that make some, even within their own category, just plain better choices for everyone. Each gun is broken down into various stats, including recoil, ADS speed, damage, and much more, which makes it hard to easily compare them. When you factor in just how many guns are available as you level up and keep unlocking more, the prospect of picking the best ones becomes overwhelming. If you're trying to build the ideal loadout to dominate the current meta, these are the best weapons in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for each weapon type.

We will detail the top picks per each class, and then list the rest in terms of how they rank.
Best assault rifles in MW3