BioShock High vs Medium Image Quality

Before we get started with the screenshots, let’s first define what we mean by “high” and “medium” quality, as there may be some confusion with this:

High Quality settings

Medium Quality settings

Under our high settings, all options (with the exception of force global lighting which hurts IQ) are turned on in the game’s menu. Actor detail and texture detail are also set to high.

Now let’s look at some screenshots from the medical pavilion level:

BioShock w/High quality settings

BioShock w/Medium quality settings

BioShock w/High quality settings

BioShock w/Medium quality settings

BioShock w/High quality settings

BioShock w/Medium quality settings

BioShock w/High quality settings

BioShock w/Medium quality settings

You can really see the difference between high and medium detail in the screenshots above. With high detail shaders disabled under the medium graphics setting, specular lighting is turned off. As a result, the dramatic lighting effects are turned down drastically, which in turn affects objects and surfaces nearby. You can also easily see the lower-res textures on the floors and walls.

Here are a couple of examples zoomed:



BioShock High Graphics Setting


BioShock Medium Graphics Setting


BioShock High Graphics Setting


BioShock Medium Graphics Setting




BioShock High Graphics Setting


BioShock Medium Graphics Setting


BioShock High Graphics Setting


BioShock Medium Graphics Setting


To really get a better picture of high versus medium quality settings, you may also want to download the original screenshots above.