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From Destiny's E3 2013 reveal at Sony's media briefing to its final PS4 and Xbox One release, Bungie's sci-fi shooter has seen a number of significant changes. After replaying the PS4 version for comparison with footage of its reveal, it's clear there's been a radical review of Old Russia's aesthetic overall, both for better and worse. In the wake of Ubisoft's Watch Dogs, which saw the final game shorn of many of its most impactful rendering features, we wondered whether these changes are technical in nature - perhaps driven by a shifting console spec - or simply the result of refining and improving the visuals over the remainder of the development period?Using a 1080p feed of last year's Sony E3 conference, we play through Destiny's opening stage on PS4 to match the demonstration areas beat-for-beat. This drops us on the ruined outskirts of Old Russia, with the mission leading us through the dark interiors of the Cosmodrome wall. Bungie's initial showing adds extra elements to up the ante for a public demonstration, of course - such as an Archon Slayer boss fight and extra enemy encounters - but the settings remain broadly the same.
The time of day is conveniently a match by default, with shadow placements identical, and seemingly static as long as we remain on the wall's outskirts. The only discrepancy in matching shots here is the slight compression on the original E3 conference feed, where edge enhancement also affects certain high contrast details.
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