Far Cry 5′ Xbox And PlayStation Console Comparisons: Ubisoft Shows How It Should Be Done
Cross-console graphics and performance comparisons often involve a lot of finicky detail about how one console differs from another. Digital Foundry discovered that’s not the case with Far Cry 5 when they looked at the game running on the Xbox and PlayStation machines. Of course there are a few anomalies to report, and the game looks better on the Xbox One X than any of the others, but the bottom line is crystal clear. Far Cry 5 looks terrific and runs well no matter which console you play it on. “Good tidings of great joy”, indeed.
Graphics
Far Cry 5’s beautiful visuals are largely the result of two features, high quality textures that are rich in fine detail, and an excellent temporal anti-aliasing system. (If some technical terms are unfamiliar, check out this guide.)
Temporal anti-aliasing combines information from successive frames to smooth curved and diagonal edges. It’s a very effective anti-aliasing technique but it tends to soften an image by blurring some of the detail that’s present in a high-resolution render. Ubisoft seems to have found the sweet spot between too much blur and not enough anti-aliasing. Edges in Far Cry 5 are sharp and clean while textures remain sharp and detailed. Ubisoft used the same technique on Assassin’s Creed Origins with similar results. They’re both gorgeous games.
The textures in Far Cry 5 are exceptionally detailed and realistic. With over a decade as a painting contractor under my belt, I’ve looked at a lot of siding like that shown in the picture above. Those textures look so real my first thoughts were how long it would take to scrape and prep the surface and what kind of primer would be best for the undercoat. Put another way, the textures in Far Cry 5 are so good the sense of immersion in the game world is immediate and powerful.
Digital Foundry compared several graphics features across the One X and PS4 Pro and found no important visual differences between the consoles. Both machines use the same texture assets, and texture filtering and pop-in are identical.
Resolution
If there are no visual differences between the One X and the Pro in terms of graphics, why does the game look better on the One X? In a word, resolution.
Far Cry 5 does not use dynamic resolution scaling. The game runs at 1080p (1920 x 1080) on the vanilla Xbox One and PS4, 1620p (2882 x 1620) on the Pro, and native 4K (3840 x 2160) on the One X.
The visual differences among the consoles are due to the differences in resolution. Everything looks a bit better on the enhanced consoles and even better yet on the One X. You can see how much sharper the image is on the One X compared to the Pro in the picture above. Keep in mind, however, that the picture shows a zoomed-in area of the screen. If you saw those same signs at the distance you see them in the game, the differences would only be apparent if you stopped moving and looked closely, and even then they might be barely noticeable.
The One X’s superior visual presentation is due to more than just its raw resolution advantage over the Pro. Resolution interacts with texture detail. Native 4K really brings out the rich, small-scale details in Far Cry 5’s excellent texture assets. Of course to see this, you have to be sitting close enough to a 4K TV.
Performance
The performance story is simple. Frame rate in Far Cry 5 is capped at 30 fps and all the consoles except the base Xbox One nailed it throughout all of Digital Foundry’s tests. The Xbox One had brief drops as low as 26 fps in some high-stress combat scenes. Although present, this variance in frame rate has little real effect in the heat of battle.
Performance tests run by Resero found instances of screen tearing on the Xbox One and Xbox One S. The tearing was so brief that it was invisible to the naked eye unless frame rate was artificially slowed to a crawl.
Aberrations
Digital Foundry uncovered a pair of odd effects on the One X. First, there’s some screen tearing on the map screen. Frame rate aberrations that lead to tearing shouldn’t be an issue on a map screen and none of the other consoles have this problem.
The second anomaly is the bizarre texture glitch seen in the picture above. It looks like the color map but not the foliage for the fields has been extended across the road on the One X. Textures seem to be missing completely when the same segment of road is viewed at night. This is the only location in the game where something like this appeared.
Conclusion
If you’ve read this far, conclusions should be obvious. If you have a 4K TV, play Far Cry 5 on an Xbox One X. If you don’t have a 4K TV or the One X isn’t an option, don’t worry about it. Far Cry 5 is one of the best-looking games of the current console generation and it’s a visual feast on any console.
If you’re interested in console game graphics, here are some other articles you might enjoy.
Why Choosing The New Performance Mode For Xbox One X Enhanced Xbox 360 Games May Be A Bad Idea
Here’s What You Need To Know About Freesync And The Xbox One X And One S
Taking A Realistic View On Porting Games To Nintendo’s Switch
‘God Of War’ Looks Gorgeous On The PS4 Pro
‘Assassin’s Creed: Rogue’ Remastered For Modern Consoles Is A Winner
Comparing The Original And Patched Versions of ‘Doom” On Nintendo’s Switch
Source:-https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2018/04/01/far-cry-5-xbox-and-playstation-console-comparisons-ubisoft-shows-how-it-should-be-done/#32f860c15b4a
