Techland developers have a reputation for being able to deliver exceptional graphics using your own technology, the C-Engine that powers the new Dying Light 2. With the dual intent of launching the latest two console generations and showcasing more hardware graphics modern, the studio promises high detail density, load-free streaming, and improvements in physics, animation, and artificial intelligence. Our first impressions? Dying Light 2 may sound amazing, but it’s no secret that it’s exceptionally demanding on the GPU.
The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles feature three different rendering modes, all of which offer something uncomfortable, but there’s not enough potential to offer all three things at once. For this you will need a high-end PC (where Dying Light 2 offers even more graphics features).
Now, the question itself is simple: how do PlayStation 5 games and Xbox Series consoles work? Are the 30FPS or 60FPS modes the best to play, or do you have to go through the mode with ray tracing? Without a doubt, Dying Light 2 looks great on all three current-gen consoles. Woodlands are surprisingly lucrative, with little sign of declining performance. Including in the Xbox Series S, animations, texture and lighting quality are well maintained as well as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, making great sacrifices in resolution and frame rate. To get rid of the bad news first, the Xbox Series S doesn’t have many rendering modes, having an optional native resolution of 1080p at 30FPS (a goal the developers also marked for gen console versions previous one, which we will try in the coming days). In the tampoco Xbox Series S, there are no ray tracing options or features.
It comes with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X where things get more interesting. As standard, both consoles start the game with render mode, where the rendered resolution is stuck at 1080p and the frame rate is 60FPS. Consistency in this way should be alabada, especially taking into account that Techland does not resort to dynamic resolution escalation to achieve these results. Without a doubt, the combination of a relatively low resolution with a temporary anti-aliasing solution produces a definitely a bit boring image. Also, in any case, the better the performance, the better the feel of weight and movement in the parkour sections of the game, and the input lag is also lower. There was talk of a mode with an Xbox Series X exclusive variable refresh that unlocks the frame rate on 120Hz displays, but unfortunately that wasn’t available during the review period. When this function is activated, we will explain how it works.
Then we have a resolution mode that dramatically increases the resolution of the image, thanks to the increased resolution to 3200×1800 on PlayStation 5 and 3456×1944 on Xbox Series X. That’s a 16.6% difference in the number pixels in favor of Xbox Series X, only slightly below the differential computing power between the GPUs of the two consoles. This seems to be an advantage for the Microsoft machine, but in practice it is somewhat limited; there is something more interesting, especially in the transparent elements, but the truth is that it is difficult to see the difference when the two versions are placed side by side. This way you get a frame rate stuck at 30FPS, with only a few small bumps when certain concrete effects are shown (e.g. when jumping into water). In this regard, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are very similar. Xbox series S? Think of its 30FPS mode as a slightly less stable version – very consistent too, but with a greater tendency for screen tearing.
Finally, we have in quality mode, which maintains the 30FPS of the resolution mode, combined with the 1080p of the output mode. The advancement in GPU resources is intended to show shadows with ray tracing and environmental coverage, adding much more depth and realism, especially in outdoor scenes. Vegetation life also turns into an additional shade sheet. With ray-traced shadows enabled, character shadows are also more diffuse as they reflect off light sources. Performance in this mode, both on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, is maintained at 30FPS.
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Effects with ray tracing can result in transformers, but the sacrifice in both resolution and performance is pronounced. It’s really difficult to know how to choose the right path: most of my starts spend using render mode because 60FPS is what matters most to me, but shadows with ray tracing and environmental protection are a authentic point to highlight on the consoles.
Seen in perspective, it’s a luxury that PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X users have so many options in Dying Light 2: shadows with ray tracing, sixty frames per second and 4K compatibility are things that deserve to be tried. Undoubtedly, it is a pity that the three modes have distinctive characteristics, but at the same time they are also sacrificed. To get everything up and running – along with other visual enhancements – Dying Light 2 requires a high-performance PC with an Nvidia RTX card (because yes, DLSS is a crucial feature for it too). In any case, the possibilities of selection that Techland offers show its commitment to the next generation of hardware, putting all possible options in the hands of users – except that in the Xbox Series S, it remains only 1080p and 30FPS.
What surprised me the most was the effectiveness of shadows with rays of rays to be used when and where appropriate. Dying Light has plenty of moments to highlight this, including nothing more to start with sunlight filtering through the trees in the forest. It’s a whole lot better compared to the rest of the fashion, and something to consider for anyone who catches up with Dying Light 2 this week. For others, that is, it will be more difficult not to play at 60FPS, but at least users have the option to choose what suits them best.
Translated by Josep Maria Sempere.
