Spot the difference: Shadow of Mordor ultra HD textures barely change a thing

There’s been a lot of buzz around Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor’s ultra HD textures, mostly because you’ll need a minimum of 6GB of VRAM to use them. The textures are optional to install, only becoming available in-game after downloading a free DLC pack from the Steam store, presumably because the patch is 3.7GB for a feature that will basically only be used by people who have a GTX Titan. Well, we don’t have a GTX Titan. We have four.

I installed the ultra texture pack onto the Large Pixel Collider, our PC of inordinate power, to see what the game looks like when running out of VRAM isn’t a concern. The Steam store page for the ultra textures says they are “the highest resolution textures available,” but when I loaded them in game, I had to double check that they were even installed at all. The ultra textures are so incredibly similar to the high setting ones that when I compare near identical images I can only catch a subtle difference here or there.

You can judge for yourself, but it seems crazy to me that such a small change would double the required VRAM. I’ve reached out to WB Games for comment on what exactly is different about the ultra textures, but have yet to hear back. The prevailing theory online is that the ultra textures are simply uncompressed versions of the high textures. If this is true, the most impressive thing to me is how close to uncompressed the high setting looks.

I started by comparing the two settings with the game's built in benchmarking tool, thus the fps counter in the top right. While you might notice some slight fluctuation in the max and min fps, both settings had a dead even average. I'd take that with a grain of salt, though. The LPC can slice through any graphics setting like a knife through butter.

An important note: Nearly all the enemy's in Shadow of Mordor are randomly generated, so the change in orc skin color you see here and going forward has nothing to do with the texture setting.

I started by comparing the two settings with the game's built in benchmarking tool, thus the fps counter in the top right. While you might notice some slight fluctuation in the max and min fps, both settings had a dead even average. I'd take that with a grain of salt, though. The LPC can slice through any graphics setting like a knife through butter.

An important note: Nearly all the enemy's in Shadow of Mordor are randomly generated, so the change in orc skin color you see here and going forward has nothing to do with the texture setting.

This is the first image I could find any difference in. The hanging meat has a slight change on the wrinkles just under the fifth rib from the top. There are more noticeable differences to come, but they are so few and far between I feel the need to call out anything I could see.

This is the first image I could find any difference in. The hanging meat has a slight change on the wrinkles just under the fifth rib from the top. There are more noticeable differences to come, but they are so few and far between I feel the need to call out anything I could see.

There is no doubt in my mind that the game looks beautiful regardless of how the ultra version looks.

There is no doubt in my mind that the game looks beautiful regardless of how the ultra version looks.

A lot of the texture differences on Talion, the main character, and his clothes here seem to actually be from the rain and water effects on him.

A lot of the texture differences on Talion, the main character, and his clothes here seem to actually be from the rain and water effects on him.

After running the benchmarking test a few times on high and ultra, I was genuinely concerned that it may not take your texture quality choice into account. So I loaded up the actual game and ran through the first ten minutes twice, trying hard to replicate my actions and camera angles and cutting out any pre-rendered sequences and cut scenes.

The ground looks softer in the ultra version of this image, but I don't necessarily know if that equals "better". Note also that Dirhael, Talion's son, decided to strike a different pose almost every time I played through the opening.

After running the benchmarking test a few times on high and ultra, I was genuinely concerned that it may not take your texture quality choice into account. So I loaded up the actual game and ran through the first ten minutes twice, trying hard to replicate my actions and camera angles and cutting out any pre-rendered sequences and cut scenes.

The ground looks softer in the ultra version of this image, but I don't necessarily know if that equals "better". Note also that Dirhael, Talion's son, decided to strike a different pose almost every time I played through the opening.

This is by far the largest difference I noticed, and the first one where I can see an objective rise in quality. The tree on Dirhael's armor is significantly crisper along with the green braids on his sleeves, the stitching on his bracers, and the belts across his chest.

Some of the other changes in this scene were due to lighting differences. Dirhael never liked doing the same thing twice!

This is by far the largest difference I noticed, and the first one where I can see an objective rise in quality. The tree on Dirhael's armor is significantly crisper along with the green braids on his sleeves, the stitching on his bracers, and the belts across his chest.

Some of the other changes in this scene were due to lighting differences. Dirhael never liked doing the same thing twice!

I was looking for changes on Talion's gold armor but couldn't find any. It seems strange that Dirhael, a character barely on screen, would look significantly nicer in ultra while the main character of the game wouldn't change. It is possible that Monolith spent a large amount of time optimizing Talion's textures already, making the diminishing returns of ultra almost non-existent.

I was looking for changes on Talion's gold armor but couldn't find any. It seems strange that Dirhael, a character barely on screen, would look significantly nicer in ultra while the main character of the game wouldn't change. It is possible that Monolith spent a large amount of time optimizing Talion's textures already, making the diminishing returns of ultra almost non-existent.

Apologies for the not-quite-identical images, but the door on the left does show an increase in texture quality for both the wood and metal.

Apologies for the not-quite-identical images, but the door on the left does show an increase in texture quality for both the wood and metal.

There are a few differences on the floor due to lighting and reflection angles, but the marble texture itself seems to be the same.

There are a few differences on the floor due to lighting and reflection angles, but the marble texture itself seems to be the same.

Celebrimbor, the other main character, is really too bright to notice any difference on him directly, but the white lines on the ground do show a change with their edges smoothing out in the ultra setting.

From what I've seen, the ultra textures make for a negligible improvement. It was hard for me to tell the difference in still photos, and nearly impossible when I was actually playing the game.

I have reached out to Monolith for comment and will update here with what they have to say.

Celebrimbor, the other main character, is really too bright to notice any difference on him directly, but the white lines on the ground do show a change with their edges smoothing out in the ultra setting.

From what I've seen, the ultra textures make for a negligible improvement. It was hard for me to tell the difference in still photos, and nearly impossible when I was actually playing the game.

I have reached out to Monolith for comment and will update here with what they have to say.