Digital Foundry has released their own video analysis of Horizon Forbidden West, the new game from Guerrilla Games for PS4 and PS5. Here are the details on what the newspaper said.
First of all, Digital Foundry talks about the resolution and explains that Horizon Forbidden West proposes on PS4 and PS4 Pro very similar graphics quality, with dynamic 1080p on the base console turning into a dynamic 1800p checkerboard on the most powerful console. Both go at 30 FPS. The only difference is the resolution.
On PS5instead, Horizon Forbidden West offers 4K and 30 FPS, or 1800p checkerboard at 60 FPS. In this case, therefore, you have to choose what to prioritize between resolution and frame rate.
In terms of performance, Digital Foundry claims that on PS4 / Pro the 30 FPS are granite, better than those of the first chapter. The same can be said on PS5, both at 30 and 60, with only a few minor issues when switching frames during cutscenes.
It is then explained that the PS4 version, understandably, is the one that decreases the amount of polygons the most. The PS5 version is “remarkably dense“and the compression of YouTube videos fails to do justice to the amount of detail in the game. Also, on PS5, the loading distance of objects is significantly higher. On PS4 you can see the pop-in of objects on the horizon.
In short, there are many on PS4 compromises to make sure you don’t drop the resolution too much and don’t drop frames. The performance is therefore excellent, but it is clear that the PS5 version is clearly superior from every point of view, from the quality of the textures, reflections, volumetric and particle effects and so on. According to Digital Foundry, the level of detail of the base PS4 can be considered as “low” on PC. That said, compared to Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West is also great on PS4.
Digital Foundry then praises the quality of the game, in terms of variety of biomes, the quality of the details in the interaction with the vegetation (in the first game we just went through it, now it reacts to our movement). Wind and climate have also been improved. Horizon Forbidden West’s water and lighting have also been enhanced.
The new system of gods is then praised faces of the characters, all much more expressive. There is also talk of reload times. In one specific example, on PS4 Pro it takes 52 seconds to load, while on PS5 it only takes 8 seconds.
Finally, speaking precisely of the PS5 version of Horizon Forbidden West, Digital Foundry suggests playing at 30 FPSto enjoy all the graphic details thanks to the higher resolution.
Finally, we leave you to our review of Horizon Forbidden West.
