<img src="https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p/?c1=2&amp;c2=10055482&amp;cv=4.4.0&amp;cj=1"> Skip to main content
PC Gamer PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • Hardware
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Video
  • Forum
  • More
    • PC Gaming Show
    • Software
    • Movies & TV
    • Coupons
    • Magazine
    • Newsletter
    • Community guidelines
    • links
    • Meet the team
    • About PC Gamer
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$32.49
View
Popular
  • PC Gaming Show
  • Summer Game Fest
  • Dune: Awakening
  • Elden Ring: Nightreign

Recommended reading

A screenshot of the PC version of The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered
Graphics Cards The Last of Us Part 2 proves that 8 GB of VRAM can be enough, even at 4K with maximum settings, so why aren't more games using the same clever asset-streaming trick?
A screenshot of Ubisoft&#039;s Assassin&#039;s Creed: Shadows using the game&#039;s Photo Mode and maximum quality graphics settings
Hardware Assassin's Creed: Shadows PC performance analysis: Ray tracing, upscaling, and frame generation are all optional, but only two of them are worth using, though not the ones you might think
Norbert Lelles looks goofy and has a terrible pencil moustache.
The Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered has a new texture error, and this one mucks up a gag from the original game
The Adoring Fan from Oblivion Remastered, looking creepy.
The Elder Scrolls If you dig into Oblivion Remastered's files you can find almost the whole original game like a set of dinosaur bones
Fighting a troll in the Oblivion Remaster.
The Elder Scrolls Hot damn: The Oblivion Remaster is 125 GB, 2600% heavier than the original game from 2006
Half-Life 2 running on 8 MB VRAM on a tiny resolution in Windows XP with graphics settings disabled or lowered to ridiculously light levels
Graphics Cards Getting Half-Life 2 to work on 8 MB of VRAM means turning it into an eerily befitting voidscape: 'there were absolutely no effects left'
Screenshots from the PC version of The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, using the game&#039;s photo mode
Hardware The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered isn't perfect on PC but it's a million times better than Part 1
  1. Games
  2. Adventure
  3. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

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

Features
By Tom Marks published 7 October 2014

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an commission. Here’s how it works.

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 ing 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.

Page 1 of 27
Page 1 of 27
Benchmark sequence — High

Benchmark sequence — High

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.

Page 2 of 27
Page 2 of 27
Benchmark sequence — Ultra

Benchmark sequence — Ultra

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.

Page 3 of 27
Page 3 of 27
Benchmark sequence — High

Benchmark sequence — High

Page 4 of 27
Page 4 of 27
Benchmark sequence — Ultra

Benchmark sequence — Ultra

Page 5 of 27
Page 5 of 27
Benchmark sequence — High

Benchmark sequence — High

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.

Page 6 of 27
Page 6 of 27
Benchmark sequence — Ultra

Benchmark sequence — Ultra

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.

Page 7 of 27
Page 7 of 27
Benchmark sequence — High

Benchmark sequence — High

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

Page 8 of 27
Page 8 of 27
Benchmark sequence — Ultra

Benchmark sequence — Ultra

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

Page 9 of 27
Page 9 of 27
Benchmark sequence — High

Benchmark sequence — High

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.

Page 10 of 27
Page 10 of 27
Benchmark sequence — Ultra

Benchmark sequence — Ultra

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.

Page 11 of 27
Page 11 of 27
Gameplay — High

Gameplay — High

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 . 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.

Page 12 of 27
Page 12 of 27
Gameplay — Ultra

Gameplay — Ultra

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 . 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.

Page 13 of 27
Page 13 of 27
Gameplay — High

Gameplay — High

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!

Page 14 of 27
Page 14 of 27
Gameplay — Ultra

Gameplay — Ultra

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!

Page 15 of 27
Page 15 of 27
Gameplay — High

Gameplay — High

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.

Page 16 of 27
Page 16 of 27
Gameplay — Ultra

Gameplay — Ultra

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.

Page 17 of 27
Page 17 of 27
Gameplay — High

Gameplay — High

Page 18 of 27
Page 18 of 27
Gameplay — Ultra

Gameplay — Ultra

Page 19 of 27
Page 19 of 27
Gameplay — High

Gameplay — High

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.

Page 20 of 27
Page 20 of 27
Gameplay — Ultra

Gameplay — Ultra

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.

Page 21 of 27
Page 21 of 27
Gameplay — High

Gameplay — High

Page 22 of 27
Page 22 of 27
Gameplay — Ultra

Gameplay — Ultra

Page 23 of 27
Page 23 of 27
Gameplay — High

Gameplay — High

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

Page 24 of 27
Page 24 of 27
Gameplay — Ultra

Gameplay — Ultra

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

Page 25 of 27
Page 25 of 27
Gameplay — High

Gameplay — High

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.

Page 26 of 27
Page 26 of 27
Gameplay — Ultra

Gameplay — Ultra

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.

Page 27 of 27
Page 27 of 27
Tom Marks
Tom Marks
Social Links Navigation
Tom is PC Gamer’s Associate Editor. He enjoys platformers, puzzles and puzzle-platformers. He also enjoys talking about PC games, which he now no longer does alone. Tune in every Wednesday at 1pm Pacific on Twitch.tv/pcgamer to see Tom host The PC Gamer Show.
Read more
A screenshot of the PC version of The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered
The Last of Us Part 2 proves that 8 GB of VRAM can be enough, even at 4K with maximum settings, so why aren't more games using the same clever asset-streaming trick?
A screenshot of Ubisoft&#039;s Assassin&#039;s Creed: Shadows using the game&#039;s Photo Mode and maximum quality graphics settings
Assassin's Creed: Shadows PC performance analysis: Ray tracing, upscaling, and frame generation are all optional, but only two of them are worth using, though not the ones you might think
Norbert Lelles looks goofy and has a terrible pencil moustache.
Oblivion Remastered has a new texture error, and this one mucks up a gag from the original game
The Adoring Fan from Oblivion Remastered, looking creepy.
If you dig into Oblivion Remastered's files you can find almost the whole original game like a set of dinosaur bones
Fighting a troll in the Oblivion Remaster.
Hot damn: The Oblivion Remaster is 125 GB, 2600% heavier than the original game from 2006
Half-Life 2 running on 8 MB VRAM on a tiny resolution in Windows XP with graphics settings disabled or lowered to ridiculously light levels
Getting Half-Life 2 to work on 8 MB of VRAM means turning it into an eerily befitting voidscape: 'there were absolutely no effects left'
Latest in Adventure
Robert, the protagonist of AdHoc Studio&#039;s dispatch, stands in a crammed elevator full of superheroes.
Dispatch is the first Telltale-style game I've played that's delivering on the promise of playing a TV show, and it's even got a compelling management sim tucked inside, too
Three figures stand nervously in an elevator, two of them dressed for skiing.
If you've ever wanted to play an NPC in a Hitman level then do I have the Steam Next Fest demo for you
A woman in an astronaut suit looks down with a vexed expression.
Dontnod's next game looks like Uncharted's platforming bits as its own thing, in space
A man in sunglasses is set against a glowing city backdrop.
A noir take on Yakuza is love at first sight: Stranger Than Heaven's reveal trailer is a head scratcher but I'm already in
Tire Boy
PC finally has its own Breath of the Wild killer, and it's indistinguishable from the Nintendo game except that you are a boy who is also a tire
Sci-fi people with masks in a waterworld
If an NPC hates you in this adventure from the makers of Road 96, it's probably because another player was mean to them earlier
Latest in Features
Dune: Awakening promo image - sexy man with sword
Dune: Awakening's dungeons are so atrocious that I'd rather get slowly digested by a sandworm than fight through another one
Pipistrello racing along with his yo-yo in Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo.
Fight predatory capitalism with a yo-yo possessed by your aunt's spirit in this brilliantly bizarre metroidvania
Date Everything
Date Everything turns everyday household objects into gorgeous love interests, and now I can't look at my refrigerator the same way
MindsEye screenshot
I've played 2 hours of MindsEye and it's pretty bad so far, I'm afraid
A hobbit standing over a pan in Tales of the Shire while they are cooking.
I've played my share of cozy games, and Tales of the Shire is definitely one for the maximalist decorators
resident evil requiem
Resident Evil Requiem's behind-closed-doors demo was weirdly boring, but it's got me donning a tin foil hat and ing the 'Leon's back' chants
  1. Annapro carrying case, GameSir Nova Lite controller, SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds, and Asus ROG Falchion RX Low Profile keyboard on a blue background with PC Gamer Recommended logo
    1
    Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
  2. 2
    Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop
  3. 3
    Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
  4. 4
    Best 14-inch gaming laptop in 2025: The top compact gaming laptops I've held in these hands
  5. 5
    Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I've tested
  1. AndaSeat Novis gaming chair in an office environment
    1
    AndaSeat Novis gaming chair review
  2. 2
    8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller Review
  3. 3
    Kinesis mWave ergonomic keyboard review
  4. 4
    MSI MPG 322URX review
  5. 5
    Nothing Ear (a) review

PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • Future's experts
  • and conditions
  • Cookies policy
  • with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please or to comment

Please wait...