As for the matter of resolution, the Xbox One version on show at E3 is confirmed by John Mamais to be running at 900p, with hopes to push it higher come release as part of the larger optimisation drive. It's also confirmed that in addition to post-processing effects, temporal anti-aliasing is in use for the current build - an approach that blends the current and previous frames together to cut down visual noise during camera movement. It's a step beyond similar techniques on the last-gen, where obvious ghosting was in evidence. As for the as-yet unseen PS4 version, meanwhile, Mamais concedes that "being able to do 1080p on PS4 a little bit easier than on Xbox One." Given the divide in pixel count between multi-platform releases for the two platforms so far, this seems a realistic target.

On that note, performance of the E3 Xbox One build is very encouraging, having been designed with a 30fps target in mind. Unlike The Witcher 2 on 360, we're pleased to see a permanent v-sync in place to avoid tearing. A potential stress-point for the engine is in combat, where we detect stutters down to the mid-20fps range - the additional development time CDPR gave itself should hopefully see optimisation efforts implemented to level out the frame-rate.

Our outlook on The Witcher 3 so far is hugely positive, then. With a non-linear approach to questing and no loading screens to speak of, the world streaming aspect of REDengine 3 is already tightly optimised on Xbox One at 900p - a point which bodes well for the PS4 version. The PC version may be set for a few extra visual tricks come the 24th February 2015 release, and we're intrigued to see whether CD Projekt RED can indeed deliver on its promise to treat all players equally, handing in an equivalent slice of gameplay to all platforms.