Video: Gears 5's Next-Gen Upgrade Looks Stunning On Xbox Series X

I’m very excited to see how next gen optimisations like VRS Tier 2, Sampler Feedback and Mesh Shading make use of every last bit of juice in next-gen titles.

Didn’t play this on the Xbox one so can’t really compare but it looks pretty nice in the DF video. That multiplayer pretty much locked to 120fps is impressive too.

It is difficult to appreciate the upgrades in these videos when they play on youtube at 1080p.

@Luigi_Skywalker Digital Foundry videos play in 4K on YouTube

@carlos82 I did a little research and it looks like the issue is I am using Safari from my iMac. Thanks for the heads up, Chrome works fine.

@Luigi_Skywalker Yes Safari doesn’t support VP9 codec (only HEVC) for 4K/8K youtube playback. Hopefully AV1 will solve the issue.

Meh. I watched that earlier on my 4K TV. The differences are minor in many scene comparisons. If DF must zoom in for you to notice something, it's an insignificant difference. Shadows are slightly improved. Smooth framerates will be the biggest upgrads.

Very disappointed with the result after hearing the analysis. But it's to be expected from next gen, disappointment after disappointment, overpromise and underdeliver.

Dynamic 4k as low as 1080p, frame drops and while below max setting.

Oh well, I'll replay it on PC yet again with the upcoming XSX engine improvements also coming to PC, without sacrificing resolution, framerate or quality. And naturally keeping the inferior T2 VRS off too.

@Menchi
You must have crazy high expectations.
To hit 4K native at 60FPS on PC max settings, you'd need an RTX 3080!
I know the Series X version is dynamic res, but it's on average almost 1800p on campaign 60FPS with some settings higher than available on PC.
That's pretty impressive for what is essentially a patch for an Xbox One game.

@blinx01 Ultra is not max on PC and the other engine enhancements are coming to PC. I expect better from "the world's most powerful console" on a previous gen game. But I'm not surprised considering what a disappointment both consoles have demonstrated.

@graysoncharles like @Senua said, safari doesn't play YouTube in 4k. My iMac is 5k, but Safari doesn’t support VP9 codec. I just switched to Chrome real quick to watch the Digital Foundry breakdown and it looked much better from this close up. Gears 5 should be a great early showcase for the Series X.

I don't think the difference is that spectacular, but it does look nice.

I'm mostly frustrated that I don't intend to play a backlog of 4 prior games before getting into this one when there'
s other console goodness other than 360 games to play at launch

@Menchi
Not sure what you are expecting from these consoles.
Series X on paper is similar in power to an RTX 2080 or Super.
That card can't hit native 4K at locked 60FPS at these settings, never mind the new settings.

Obviously if you have the better hardware to best this on PC, then I wouldn't even bother with a next gen console.
For everyone else, these £450/$500 consoles can't be bested for price and performance.

I suspect YouTube's impotent compression makes the differences quite a bit less impressive than they are in real life. I went through this with XBox One X as well.

@blinx01 Then maybe Microsoft shoulda advertised it accurately instead of overpromising and underdelivering.

Fire Greenberg for the 82673629th mistake I suppose.

Seems the xbox is just a cut down RX6800 (not even XT), which makes it look even worse since it's the brand new RDNA2 stuff out this month.

I don't disagree that it's a fine cheap entry point for people, but it's still a disappointment after the last year of marketing. I am satisfied to see reality hit the twitter/youtube fanboys though.

@Menchi exactly what I thought also. From a few ppl on here, you would assume that series x would be running everything in native 4k easily & running everything at 120fps etc . For a lot of them it was magic sock time. I’m not surprised by the dynamic resolution, there’s more to next gen then just resolution, nice to see the usual fanboy posters on here being told otherwise. Moving forward I’m expecting there to be more dynamic resolution, which if it guarantees a stable frame rate-i’m all for that. Regardless, the upgrades look superb for gears 5.

@Cyrus29 Right, my comments are not on the final quality of the game improvements. More so Microsoft and the fanboys getting slapped hard by reality. World's most powerful console means basically nothing important from everything shown. Still getting 30fps games. Finally getting 60fps but with frame rate issues. Dynamic resolution. It's the same thing all over again.

Full RDNA2 bragging rights the fanboys throw around clearly mean NOTHING. XSX is around the power of an RTX2080 or Super, yet even the bottom tier RDNA2 PC GPU is significatly better than that. Even the lowest model, the RX6800 turns in 70fps in campaign at native 4k with Insane settings (higher than ultra). You know why they're bragging about RDNA2 and not games? Because they can't.

And just like PS4 Pro vs Xbox One X, Sony's studios are making much better looking games with lower powered hardware, and in this next gen case "without full RDNA2!". What does that say about Xbox and their studios?

It all stems from terrible marketing. It's the X1X all over again. Sony isn't immune either but they'ce covered themselves better. They never made broad promises like full 4k everything! 60fps and 120fps everything! Raytraced everything! They left it to the devs to promise what their games will deliver. But like I said, not immune especially after Demons Souls was announced with raytracing and a few days ago the creative director said no raytracing.

It's all about (in this case) overpromising and underdelivering.

@Menchi
I just think people are in for a shock in general.

It will be the same as last gen Pro and X;

• Multi-format games will play best on the Series X due to more horse power
• PS5 first party games will look the most impressive because they'll be squeezing every last ounce out of the hardware.

I also think both sets of marketing has been poor.
Xbox fanboys are focusing on the power advantage, but doesn't have anything to show that off right now.
PS fanboys are focusing on the faster SSD, even though that won't offer anything game changing compared to the Series X SSD.

I'll just be glad when both consoles are in my hands and I can enjoy what both has to offer.
Series X I'll be playing AC Valhalla and Cyberpunk as priorities.
PS5 I'll be playing Spiderman MM and Demon Souls.

@blinx01 pretty much

@Menchi seeing as none of the usual fanboys have replied to you, makes me believe that because you opened discussion & viewed your own opinion, they have put you on ignore. They do that when someone doesn’t agree in what they say. Regardless, Gears 5 was a awesome game, I’ve been going through all the gears games & it’s my favourite franchise on Xbox.

@Cyrus29 I'm actually replaying through Gears again myself too. Did 1 and 2 over the last week, and now half way through 3. Will move onto 4 on PC next but waiting to finish my new PC to redo 5 with the new engine improvements and campaign DLC.

Gears 5 looked amazing on my 1080p tv and Xbox One S, Can't imagine what it looks like on Series X on a 4K TV..

I'm playing through Gears UE at the momentum so it will be a while before I get to play this game. GU doesn't look half bad to me so i can only imagine what it will feel like to play G5 with these updates

@Menchi finished playing 4. At the time,I wasn’t that impressed with it. But after playing it again, I enjoyed it a lot more on the second play through. Also worth mentioning that the hdr implementation on gears 4 is stunning.

@AJDarkstar lol