While the appearance of the ball path/shape and breakpoint will be similar, particle will handle lots more oil than will urethanes.

Urethanes will hook earlier on lesser amounts of oil (light to medium oil, as currently defined), while  particle balls will roll out on amounts of oil useful to urethanes. Particles will generally require more oil, medium, at a minimum, to as much as true heavy oil, before they will retain enough energy to be truly useful.

The particle cover will make more of a move in the friction vs the urethane, due to the resin additive...and a stronger movement overall

Since particle loads will vary considerably from light to heavy, and the surface can be anything from polished to very dull, yes, the actual ball reaction will also vary considerably.

On shorter flatter patterns, the ball reaction will also vary considerably, given that most particle balls are meant for heavier oil applications. I'd suggest that particle balls meant for shorter oil will probably have a sharper breakpoint than all urethane currently available.

Charles/Rico, thanks for your replies, they matched my intuition, but it's always nice to get feedback from people that know a lot more than you do.

Visionary still sells the Raven so new pearl particle is a choice as well, but as others say is an oiler and needs longer oil more than likely.  Not much beats the EPX for short heavy oil but not easy to find these days.  That new hot cell urethane might be able to handle short heavy oil not sure.  Supposed to be real strong.