Yesterday, Microsoft released FPS Boost, a new backward compatibility feature for the Xbox Series X and S. FPS Boost will increase frame rates well in specific, older games if you play it on a next-generation Xbox. After playing around with FPS Boost for a while, I’m excited and impressed. This can be a big change in the way we experience old console games.
Microsoft has big plans for FPS Boost, which promises to support many more games in the future, but for now only five fans can take advantage of it. That is Far Cry 4, New Super Lucky’s Tale, Sniper Elite 4, UFC 4 and Watch Dogs 2. Two of these titles, New Super Lucky’s Languages and Sniper Elite 4, is currently on Game Pass. So I downloaded it to see how well FPS Boost works.
My first impression was not great. I started Sniper Elite 4 and it was not 60 frames per second. It still ran at 30, with drop below it. Next I started New Super Lucky’s Languages and it was the same thing. It ran at 60 fps, not the promised 120. A quick Google search appears to indicate that other people have this issue. (There’s currently no icon on the screen that says FPS Boost is enabled, and there’s no way to turn it on or off. It’s coming in a system update in the spring.) I have my Xbox Series X starts again and starts again. the games again and luckily FPS Boost started working. But I’m glad it didn ‘t work at first because I was able to compare the games better before and after the feature was turned on.
People, I’m very, very impress.
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Sniper Elite 4 was slow and thick for FPS Boost. I found it hard to play. With FPS Boost it now runs at almost 60 fps. I played through the whole first level and saw only a few small drops, which I think most people in most situations will not even notice. Doubling the frame rates improves the game. Aimed, shot, movement, it just all feels better. For example, I was not going to play the whole first level, but I enjoyed it too much to stop.
One thing to keep in mind is that while FPS Boost looks like magic, but can double the performance in older games, it’s not a miracle feature that improves everything. The resolution, textures and HUD on the screen are found in Sniper Elite 4 is still the same as on Xbox One. On my big, stupid 4k OLED screen, it’s noticeable, but the smoother performance still makes for a huge improvement on the overall experience. I will probably play the other levels now.
New Super Lucky’s Languages is more interesting. Microsoft claims that FPS Boost will eventually double the frame rates in many games, and even benefit from about 60 fps titles. As an example Lucky’s Tale, which now runs at 120 fps. This is just something you can see if you have a TV or monitor that supports 120Hz. That big, dumb, expensive TV I mentioned earlier does support 120Hz and holy shit, New Super Lucky’s Languages feels good in FPS Boost mode.
For FPS Boost, New Super Lucky’s Languages felt good and beautiful enough alike. But when it runs at 120Hz, it all feels funnier and more responsive. Even flipping through and opening menus feels better on these framerates. Running and jumping pull a ton out of the double performance. I felt like I had more character over character, and combined with the improved loading times of the Xbox Series X, it made it hard to stop playing again. As Sniper Elite 4, I’m excited to go back and play more of this beautiful platform. I was worried about playing Lucky’s Tale immediately after playing the newly released version Super Mario 3D World will not be fair to the poor fox. But now I’m worried about going back to Super Mario 3D World.
What’s impressive about FPS Boost is that, according to Microsoft, these improvements require little or no work from the developer in some cases. This means that older, less popular games that are unlikely to reboot or receive next-generation posters will still be able to see radically improved performance in the future if Microsoft excludes it for the FPS Boost treatment. It’s also exciting for games that have never been released on a computer and sit on consoles like the Xbox One. Without computer ports, large performance improvements like these were unlikely. Now things have changed. Can we see Red Dead Redemption finally at 60 fps? I’m not going to bet my life on it, but I’m happy to say that yes, it now looks like a possibility. The future is exciting.