The developers of Techland have a reputation for being able to offer exceptional graphics thanks to your own technology, the C-Engine that moves the new Dying Light 2. With the double intention to cover the last two generations of consoles and present pointer graphics in the Most modern hardware, the studio promises a great density in detail, streaming without loads and physical improvements, animation and artificial intelligence. Our first impressions? Dying Light 2 can be great, but it is no secret that is exceptionally demanding with the GPU.
In the consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, three different modes of rendering are offered, all of them offering something desirable, but the power is not enough to offer three things at a time. For this you will need a high-end PC (where Dying Light 2 offers even more graphic features).
Right now the question is simple: How do PlayStation 5 and Xbox series consoles move? Are the modes to 30fps or 60fps the best to play, or should you go for the mode with Ray Tracing? Undoubtedly, Dying Light 2 looks great on the three consoles of current generation. The Woodland areas look great, with few signs of performance falls. Even in Xbox SERIES S, the animations, the quality of the textures and the lighting endure well the type with respect to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, the great sacrifices being the resolution and the Rate. To remove ourselves from first the bad news, in Xbox Series S there are no other rendering modes, having as a fixed option of 1080p to 30fps as a fixed option (a goal that developers have also been marked for the versions of previous generation consoles, which we will try in the coming days). In Xbox Series S no options or features of Ray Tracing.
It is with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X where things become more interesting. As a standard, both consoles start the game with performance mode, where rendering resolution is blocked at 1080p and the Rate-Rate is 60FPS. The consistency in this mode deserves to be praised, especially considering that Techland does not resort to a dynamic resolution scaled to obtain these results. However, the combination of a relatively low resolution with a temporary anti-aliasing solution produces an image that is definitely a bit blurry. Even so, in any case, the performance improvement takes out the best of the feeling of weight and movement in the Parkour sections of the game, and the Input Lag is also lower. It has been talked about an exclusive variable refreshment of Xbox Series X that unlocks the frame-raate on 120Hz screens, but unfortunately this was not available during the analysis period. When this function is active, we will explain how it works.
Then we have a mode of resolution that considerably increases the sharpness of the image, thanks to the increase of resolution up to 3200×1800 in PlayStation 5 and 3456×1944 at Xbox Series X. This is a difference of 16.6% in the amount of pixels in favor of Xbox series X, just a little below the computing power differential between the GPUs of the two consoles. This is an advantage for the Microsoft machine, but in practice it is somewhat limited; There is something more sharpness, especially in the transparent elements, but the truth is that it is difficult to see the difference when you put both versions next to the other. In this mode you get a blocked frame-rate at 30fps, with just some small falls when some concrete effects are displayed (for example, when jumping into the water). In this aspect, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X render very similarly. Xbox Series S? Think about 30FPS as in a little less stable version – very consistent too, but with a greater tendency to show screen tearing.
Finally we have quality mode, which keeps 30FPS resolution mode, combined with 1080P performance mode. The surplus in GPU resources is intended to show shadows with Ray Tracing and environmental occlusion, adding much more depth and realism, especially in outdoor scenes. The life of the vegetation is also transformed with an extra layer of shading. With the shadows by Ray Tracing activated, the shadows of the characters are also more diffuse as these move away from the light sources. Performance in this mode, both in PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, is maintained stable in 30Fps.
The effects with Ray Tracing can be transformers, but the sacrifice both in terms of resolution and performance is pronounced. It is really difficult how it is worth choosing: Most of my departure I spent using performance mode because the 60s are what matters most, but the shadows with ray tracing and environmental occlusion are an authentic point to stand out in consoles.
Seen in perspective, it is a luxury that the users of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X have so many options in Dying Light 2: Shades with Ray Tracing, sixty frames per second and 4K compatibility are things that are worth trying. However, it is a pity that the three modes have remarkable features, but at the same time also sacrifices. To get this all at a time – along with other visual improvements – Dying Light 2 requires a high-end PC with a NVIDIA RTX card (because yes, DLSS is also a crucial feature for it). In any case, the choice possibilities offered by Techland show their commitment to the new generation of hardware, putting into the hands of users all possible options – despite the fact that in Xbox Series S the thing stays with only 1080p and 30fps.
What has surprised me most is the effective shadows with ray tracing when used at the right time and place. Dying Light has piles of appropriate moments to highlight this, even nothing else to start with the sunlight filtering between the trees of the forest. It is a great improvement if you compare with the rest of modes, and something to consider by anyone who is going to submerge in Dying Light 2 this week. For others, yes, it will be more difficult not to play 60FPS, but at least the users have the option of choosing what suits them according to their tastes.
Translation by Josep Maria Sempere.