My save file size is close to 9MB and I'm 37 hours into the game. I have visited just over 100 locations. I'm sure most of these tricks are well known but I've been experimenting for the last day or so with the game and I thought I'd bring my findings. Feel free to add and help... Also, nothing I put down is gospel rather just what I have noticed. My game ran much smoother for longer after doing all this BUT it isn't going to solve the problem outright and the file size will still rise.


1. Clean your PS3. Make sure everything is perfect. I restored certain settings, turned others off, deleted unwanted files as well as physical cleaning the PS3 and it's fan. Check online on how to do all this just make sure you know beforehand what you are doing.

2. Make sure your HDTV is set to "Game Mode". This is predominately a tip for fast relax-based online games but it can help with frame rate issues also... It's called game mode for a reason. It removes intensive glossy settings designed for making movies/blu rays look better.

3. Set your PS3 to 720p. Does this make a difference? I'm not sure but the game only runs in 720p so I selected it... not sure if 1080p settings can disrupt games in general but I remember Resident Evil 5 on the 360 being a screen tearing mess until I bumped it down to 720...

4. Delete and re install the game data (not game saves). Might have a placebo effect but worth a shot if you are desperate or have followed the options above - I'm not sure how it is influenced by outside factors but with any download or install things can always go wrong the first time and can be sorted out the next.

5. Reset the console when frame rate gets bad. A sure fire way of temporarily making the game playable again.

6. Turn off all the auto save functions. This is a well known method but it's up to you if you want to risk losing your progress vs smoother gameplay. I just manuel save every half hour or when I know i'm about to take a risk.

7. Try not to drop items and leave them on the ground. Try and store them in a chest or on a corpse. The PS3 is having a problem with caching i.e it is remembering to much worthless info...don't feed it more!

8. Turn off (lower to zero) the music and footsteps. Ok so like a few others this one is very open to debate but it's a method I used when laptop gaming (certain games would run a lot smoother when they didn't have to "cue" in music).

I'm sure many know all this but I hope it helps. Like I said this doesn't cure the problem outright but I believe it makes the game more playable and I did a lot of in game tests in areas and situations that had previously caused dismay... I was ready to quit altogether after only trying a few and getting limited benefits but the game worked a whole lot better when I did them all back to back. I can't remember if there was a few more but let me know if you have any tricks and I can add them. One last thing - The best you can hope for in all of this is a longer session before resetting the console.