You've seen the overwhelming amount of praise Horizon Forbidden West has been treated to in this morning's reviews, so now the attention turns to how the PlayStation 5, PS4 game runs on the two consoles. Digital Foundry is, as always, the master in this field. It has today posted its findings covering both systems in a lengthy video analysis embedded above, but an accompanying written piece shares the details we're all craving. What are the resolutions of the PS5, PS4 graphical modes?

According to Digital Foundry's research, they are as follows:

Base PS4
Dynamic 1080p at 30fps
PS4 Pro
Dynamic checkerboard 1800p at 30fps
PS5 Resolution Mode
Native 4K at 30fps
PS5 Performance Mode
Checkerboarded 1800p at 60fps

John Linneman of Digital Foundry then goes on to explain that in the case of the two PS4 models, they lock at 30FPS much more reliably than Horizon Zero Dawn did back in 2017. "Finding frame-drops in gameplay is challenging. The same can be said for PlayStation 5 in both performance and resolution modes: 60fps and 30fps are essentially a lock (cutscenes in performance mode aren't quite so solid)." Linneman notes there is the occasional stutter during transitions between camera angles, but that's essentially it.

The site says the biggest differences between the PS4 and PS5 versions can be found in geometric density and reduced asset quality on the last-gen console. "Horizon Forbidden West on PS5 is remarkably dense to an extent where YouTube video compression actually sells the game short. The PS4 consoles reduce this density significantly, with many objects reduced or removed (an impressive moss layer completely vanishes, for example). Foliage rendering is also reduced in quality, with the PS4 consoles using software-based variable rate shading up against full resolution on PS5."

John Linneman then signs off by actually recommending PS5 owners play Horizon Forbidden West on the Resolution Mode, opting for 30fps purely because of the increased graphical quality. "Double the frame-rate is nice, but you're missing out on a decently-sized chunk of the next-gen (current-gen?) experience. Whichever way you choose to play, however, we highly recommend that you buy this game." Click through the link to read Digital Foundry's full Horizon Forbidden West PS5, PS4 analysis.

[source eurogamer.net]