60fps is transformative, but lacks visual effects on the Sony console.
At first glance, the section 2’s upgrade for next generation consoles should be fairly simple to describe, with completely predictable results. Similar to titles like God of War and Days Gone, the latest generation code base is updated with the game, aware that it works on new hardware, which unlocks the frame rate in the process. The end result should be a limited 30 fps experience now running at 60 frames per second (or close to it), with little or nothing else in the process. It’s effectively what you get on Xbox Series X, but something’s definitely missing with the PS5 build, which lacks important graphics effects – visual features not only available on Xbox consoles, but also on PS4 Pro.
But still, the headline is that all versions now run at 60 fps, and the 30 fps cap of the last generation experience is lifted. It obviously feels much smoother, transformative for a third-person shooter, and there are also improved load times – plus improved texture filtering on Xbox consoles. As for the resolutions, The Division 2 retains the game’s impressive temporal reconstruction technique, which means we had to jump somewhat through hoops to discern real native pixel counts. Dynamic resolution is played on all systems, which means that the action of 60 fps is delivered with a resolution range of 900 to 1080p on Xbox Series S, which rises to an 1800p-2160p series in Series X. Meanwhile, PlayStation 5 works with a much wider range – 1080p is apparently the lowest resolution recorded and rises to a maximum of 1890p.
Graphics settings on the Xbox consoles look very good like the last generation Xbox One X, but the move to solid state storage and enhanced CPUs increases the efficiency of the streaming systems in the background, with the pop-in for texture and geometry to a minimum. to some extent – good things! Xbox series consoles actually get the game-changing boost in the frame rate married with additional visual refinements, mostly led by the system-level compatible feature set and the raw horsepower of the new hardware.
Division 2’s next upgrade is the latest title being tested by the Digital Foundry team.
It is when we look at PlayStation 5 more specifically that the situation takes a turn for the stranger. Whether there are issues in the cross-platform SDK or simply errors that came through QA in some way, it’s clear that this version of the game is not quite where it should be. Simply put, we’re seeing a regression in visual features found on Xbox consoles – and it’s extremely important that these visual effects are still available on PS4 Pro, which works on the same code base. The most dramatic change is the total omission of volumetric lighting and atmospheric version: the mist effect emanating from lamps is removed on PS5, something the Snowdrop engine is known to exhibit. Smoke mist is missing. Interiors also lose volumetric lighting. PS5 is now a 60 fps game, but you lose a lot of the atmosphere and it’s hard to believe it’s a deliberate effect.
Not so important for the presentation, but still remarkable, is the fact that reflections on the screen space are not lacking on PlayStation 5 either. Again, it is present on PlayStation 4 Pro and the other systems. Instead, you see only simple and static cube map effects – usually only the rebound for reflections when data on screen space is not available. The last mystery is about loading times – we get a dramatic improvement on the Xbox series consoles compared to Xbox One X, but oddly enough, the PS5 is a few seconds behind the next generation of next generation machines when the same content loaded. This is a bit of a mystery, as the Sony console is usually equal or at least faster.
The good news is that updating 60 frames per second works well on all systems, and perhaps due to the slightly lower resolution and retrospective effects, PlayStation 5 sticks the hardest to its 60 fps performance target. Meanwhile, Xbox Series X and Series S consoles seem to drop some frames when there are a lot of transparency effects working on the screen. The junior Series S has a third of the total computing power, which accounts for only a quarter of the Series X’s target resolution, so that means the lower specification level can deliver a more consistent level of performance than its bigger brother, but there is not much in it really.
Though the 60 fps experience is excellent and in common with similar next-generation updates, it’s hard to go back. It’s a simple way to harness the horsepower of the new machines, but it’s also the most powerful upgrade Ubisoft could deliver. If you’ve upgraded to the new consoles and own the game, we highly recommend checking it out – but let’s hope Ubisoft can investigate the PS5 issues and restore the full effect to the game.