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We have already discussed Cyberpunk 2077 from the content and technical point of view in terms of its best version, which, as expected, CD Projekt RED preferred to analyze before formulating a written judgment (video) and a vote; However, considering the scope of such a game between two, if not three different generations, and greatly enjoyed on consoles, we decided to offer you an analysis that also included performance on the latest platform, in the middle of the storm for problematic performance, starting in particular with devices from the Xbox family.
Before starting, it should be considered how the versions of PS5 and Xbox Series X | S that many of you are playing are none other than those, emulated through backward compatibility, respectively for PS4 Pro, Xbox One X and Xbox One S, and that an update, as announced by the Polish developer, will turn them like a sock to get the most out of them . the potential on a (sadly) as yet unspecified date of 2021. In fact, even if you’re playing it on next-gen consoles, you are not using a “next generation” version And you won’t do it until next year, and this is good to clarify as many are expressing disappointment at how the title lights up on the new PlayStation and Xbox.
First of all, the RPG shooter features some differences according to the reference platform. As of today, there is only one mode available on PlayStation regardless of the console: on PS4 a locked frame rate, albeit with its uncertainties, at 30 fps, like Xbox One S and Xbox Series S; on PS4 Pro an unlocked frame rate.
its Xbox Series X Instead, the situation changes slightly because, as on Xbox One X, gamers have the choice between two modes, one that opts for performance and therefore with an unlocked frame rate (the default option) and another that focuses on pure graphics, raising the resolution and level of detail; the latter, to date, appears to be exclusive to Xbox.
Come on tour on Xbox Series X
In Xbox Series X it is possible, in practice, to play as if you were on Xbox One X, enjoying only the additional benefits that come from installing an SSD in the next generation console. This means that you can choose between an “Image Quality” mode and a “Performance” mode, with the strengths and weaknesses that both solutions present, and an inevitable preference of the writer that coincides with that of the developer (who not by chance made it the default solution).
As we are used to seeing, the mode that focuses on graphics returns a warmer and more precise image, which means an image truly faithful to the palette of saturated colors theorized in the development phase and a ridiculous amount of irregularities or imperfections by the resolution. lower as well as the variables of the movement. In our photos you will undoubtedly capture a substantial improvement shadows cast by moving objects and NPCs.
However, this modality comes with a commitment that many will find it difficult to digest, especially ourselves: the block at 30 frames per second. In addition, this frame rate is not even anchored to the initial amount, since movements in the horizontal axis are still accompanied by visible motion blur and micro-shots that you get used to quickly but are in any case quite a presence. constant. Regarding the effects, the fumes, which, as we will see, are a decisive component of the artistic direction, the explosions and the blood hold up better than the other way, if only because even if a drop occurs, it would be from a starting point. smaller and, therefore, the gap is necessarily, in the worst case, more limited.
On the other hand we have performance mode targeting 60fps greatly lightening the field of animation and purely movements, and from which it is really difficult to return once you have tried it. The image is a bit more discolored and the first jaggies leave room, due to a lower resolution but not too much, but as much as the difference can be seen with the naked eye (probably an expert) it is commendable how CD Projekt RED has managed not to do by weighing the transition from one to the other in terms of visual rendering.
However, it should be noted that the frame rate is unlocked and not fixed at 60fps as it is expected to be once the update is released for current generation consoles. This leads to ups and downs in performance that defining actual drops would not be correct, as the 60 frames per second peaks are mostly just that, of the peaks, and the average is actually lower; they find each other “Drops” at about 45 fps in the open world, where the smoke and the crowds – although not of the same quality as the previous mode, but in quantities that have remained unchanged – are the masters, and in the presence of shots it is enough to hit an enemy with blood to there are clicks.
The truth is that the eye will be a little “trained” in this type of renderings, since, for example, when looking in the mirror (which happens frequently in the first hours) you will be surprised by a reflection in a resolution unexpectedly low, so I eat in front of some details that will go down a notch to accommodate frame rate release. Especially in the action sequences, however, it is undeniable how this unlock has the feeling of improvement and certainly not a step back.
How it runs on Xbox Series S (and older generation consoles)
The version of Xbox Series S that we were able to test with the same Xbox code provided by CD Projekt RED acquires right now a core valueAs the older generation versions, not so much those of the mid-generation Xbox One X and PS4 Pro as those of the last generation starter consoles, have ended up in the eye of the storm for performances considered excessively moderate.
Let’s start with the frame rate. The edition for Xbox Series S, equivalent to that of Xbox One S and therefore paradoxically one notch below that of PS4 (we normally see Xbox One placed in 720p or 900p and PS4 in 900p or 1080p, in terms of resolution), has just a mode anchored at 30 fps, at least in theory; The bad news is that it seemed to us that the 30fps target had not been reached steadily, because – especially moving on the horizontal axis, an animation that triggers strong motion blur – despite having the same declared frame rate , the latter already seems to us at first glance to be something constantly below the fluidity of the Xbox One X / Series X “Image Quality” mode.
The most negative aspect, however, is related to the resolution, because as we suggest we are facing modalities ports similar to the ones we enjoy on Nintendo Switch: for the resolution we risk 720p, for a really poor image quality compared to the standards of the last generation and almost pixelated -especially if you leave the film on-, while the image itself has a faded appearance and many , too many stairs that can be seen with the naked eye. The one chosen by CD Projekt RED is a particularly aggressive solution, which we are used to seeing precisely on Switch, when the game is well done and by downscaling you give up everything you can (resolution, textures, etc.) to not touching the design again and compromising the artistic direction.
In fact, even in this version, Cyberpunk 2077 does not give up some of its distinctive features at all, like the close-ups with the characters, which come in intense close-ups to make us feel the physicality of the dialogue once we have to deal with it, or the fumes, which we have already mentioned and give it a very retro-science fiction touch. 80s style that has roughly the same importance as saturated colors and neon in the project’s identity economy. The crowds, at the same time, are there, they have not undergone tweaks in terms of the number of components (which we suspected would happen, since there is a special slider on PC) but in their presence it is evident how the detail falls even more.
It is not clear why the Polish studio had to make such compromises, from which it will hardly be able to return with just one patch (which at most, we believe, will be able to fix the frame rate in addition to the various glitches that will be found scattered throughout the code. ). of course The big problem is the fact that for about eight years a PC version was practically removed from the availability of the public it was intended for, consciously or unconsciously,, which is an audience of gamers captivated by the undeniable component GTA and the luxurious aesthetic sector largely equipped with a standard PS4, not even Pro. An audience that obviously had not intended, in the absence of a gameplay that explicitly spoke of that version, that the product bought on the first day would have been provided at a significantly lower quality level in sight until 01:00 on December 10.
Interestingly, however, we have not encountered several of the issues raised by the console community, particularly the PS4 community, because there have not been (yet, at least) crashes of any kind or pop-in phenomena that were highlighted. for the first videos that appeared on red allo unlock at 01:00 of all versions around the world. These may go back to a time before the day one patch, but we reserve the right to return to this topic with more hours of playtime and once we’ve thoroughly tested the PS4 / PS5 version, we’re just taking care of it. as we write.
On the side of insectsIn the same way, the situation did not seem overly dramatic: we have not encountered any that break the game (although our Domenico Musicò has reported three in the PC version, easily bypassed through the layered save system) but only a pair of an aesthetic nature, with a character entering an elevator through the doors, and linked to physics, like a corpse that, as we passed, we saw “jump” through a limited portion of a room. Nothing who knows how problematic, in short, but even in this case it will be good to resent ourselves at the end of the race in case the situation worsens over time.
In conclusion
In conclusion, the technical analysis of Cyberpunk 2077 reveals lights and shadows– In the case of shadows, we do not know if an update or a series of updates will be enough to give dignity to the versions for the base consoles, undermined by a degradation of the image quality too important and too connected with the computing power of the latter. are equipped.
In the case of lights, we have a technical sector that does not renounce its ambitious and pleasant artistic direction even in the worst of cases, and that in any case seems relatively far from the first reconstructions that spoke of an unplayable title for its simple existence on PS4 and Xbox One. 2013. At this point, and the mere fact that there is a console version with an unlockable frame rate gives us hope, we just have to wait news about the promised next-gen update to summarize in short one of the most anticipated and ambitious projects bordering on the controversy of the last decade.
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