Like many others, I have been waiting 20+ years to play this demo, and it is a blessing that Digsite has made this a reality - thank you! In fact, I've bought a gaming PC for the first time since 2011 just to play through the demo and am currently waiting for it to be delivered. I am planning on doing a thorough comparison between the original E3 & MCC versions, starting with the intro cutscene in this post. I am aware at some point the Digsite team will want to move on to other things, so the aim is to have the full series published by the end of November while it's an active focus for them. So let’s get started!

Comparison Setup
* E3 Demo Footage Source - This E3 demo source is a high quality aspect-ratio corrected upload. I decided not to use Neo Te Aika’s higher quality upload, as in their words, it is a later build than that used at E3 and has differences, however I have used it at points as a higher quality reference.
* MCC Footage Source - This MCC source is played at 480p 30fps, the same as the original demo. This is to account for post processing differences which apparently do not scale accurately as resolution increases.

Sources have been sync’d for side-by-side playback using ViewSync. If you want to watch them both side by side as well, here's the link!: https://viewsync.net/watch?v=Xxa2M4pIaPI&t=56&v=9mGxwb-CfSw&t=7.17


The Differences

Reference Image 1[imgur.com]
1. The Pelican flies in at a higher position in the MCC version
2. Glow effects from the fire and the background explosions are significantly dimmer in the MCC version
3. (Not pictured) The “New Mombasa” text does not appear over the scene in the MCC reference video, instead appearing over black bars

Reference Image 2[imgur.com]
1. Quite different colours between the two versions. The MCC version is more blue.
2. An object is present to the left of Master Chief in the MCC version which is not present in the E3 version (ODST helmet?)

Reference Image 3[imgur.com]
1. Significantly more intense explosion effect below the Pelican in the E3 version

Reference Image 4[imgur.com]
1. Light beams on top of the buildings are significantly more visible in the E3 demo
2. The Pelican appears to be positioned higher in the MCC version

Reference Image 5[imgur.com]
1. Plasma explosions in the sky are significantly more intense in the E3 version
2. The particle rings that trail from the plasma mortar appear to be more intense and last longer in the MCC version (not pictured)
3. The car on the left is a different colour between the two versions

Reference Image 6[imgur.com]
1. Sgt Johnson is present on the MCC version, but not in the E3 version
2. The lighting in the MCC version is much brighter

Reference Image 7[imgur.com]
1. In the E3 version, the Pelican exits the scene fully to the right, this does not happen in the MCC version where it is half way across the screen when the transition to the next scene occurs.

Reference Image 8[imgur.com]
1. A large light beam is missing from the background of the MCC version
Addendum: on closer inspection, the light beam seems to be present, but there may be some randomness in the light movement which results in it not appearing on this particular MCC play through

Reference Image 9[imgur.com]
1. The dynamic lighting from streetlights are missing from the MCC version

Reference Image 10[imgur.com]
1. There is a graphical bug in this scene where the sky goes black for a few frames.

I’ll need to wait for my gaming rig to arrive to do a proper comparison of the gameplay section as I’m planning on recording a playthrough that is as close to an actual E3 demo recording as possible. In the meantime, for Part 2 I’ll do the same analysis for the outro cutscene. See you then!