Warhammer 40K: Darktide finally came to console last week after a long delay from the 2022 PC release, and a new Digital Foundry tech review gives us a glimpse at why this one took the team a fair amount of time to port over.
Darktide is using its own tech, which as the review points out, is quite uncommon these days for a triple-A release like this. The game's tech seems to put these consoles through their paces, resulting in lower specs than you'd probably anticipate on Xbox Series X and S. Here's how the game performs on both consoles:
"Xbox Series X ships with quality and performance modes, targeting 30fps and 60fps respectively, as you may expect [...] There's a dynamic resolution system in play, averaging at around 864p in performance mode, rising to 1368p in the quality alternative, though the dynamic figure varies according to content.
Series S gets just one visual mode, which targets 30fps. [...] The overall presentation is a little cruder than Series X, with harsher jagged edges and a rougher portrayal of fine details. That's because resolution has been cut down further, averaging around 720p. It's a pretty harsh cutback for Microsoft's junior console, and makes the lack of a 60fps performance mode here quite understandable - the image would simply look too rough."
In the video up above, Xbox Series X's performance mode looks graphically quite similar to the Series S running Darktide at 30FPS, so that goes a long way towards explaining why the budget console misses out on a 60FPS performance mode.
Generally speaking, we think the game looks quite impressive and certainly has its own unique flair. After watching this tech review, we're tempted to give Darktide a go on Xbox Game Pass and see what we think of this new co-op shooter!
Have you played Warhammer 40K: Darktide yet? Impressed by it so far? Let us know if it's worth a go down in the comments section.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 11
It’s more fun that I anticipated it being and honestly was impressed with how good it looked in 60 FPS mode.
Good Graphics, still poor Engine...better optimization would make it run at 60fps...and make it run even better on the X. Its barely playable on the S. I deleted it.
Really good so far (Series X).
@xS1NN3Dx Unfortunately this is not the case. Darktide runs amazingly for everything it does. The Series S is woefully underpowered and you're just going to see this more and more as time goes on and games become even more demanding.
GPU:
Series X- 12.15 Teraflops
Series S- 4 Teraflops
The S is 67% slower.
RAM:
Series X- 16GB
Series S- 10GB
The S has 37.5% less RAM.
RAM Speed:
Series X- 10GB at 560 GB/s, 6GB at 360 GB/s
Series S- 8GB at 224 GB/s, 2GB at 56 GB/s.
Series S has 60% slower high speed RAM.
Series S has 84% slower low speed RAM.
@InterceptorAlpha what's hellblade 2 going be like on series s that's the question?
@Dan1283 That is definitely a question. With something like Starfield running at 900p on the Series S, since Hell blade is a more condensed game, I'd expect 1080p minimum. Likely at 30fps.
Though if that is the case, I'd also expect them to artificially limit it to 30fps on the X as well since it is a first party game.
@InterceptorAlpha seems like the reason starfield is 30 fps on the series x is because Microsoft don't Want leave series s owners out not that the series x isn't capable it definitely is
@InterceptorAlpha like Remedy have said, the GPU on the Series S is a big issue. Its woeful. First party Xbox games are going to be held back by that machine, I’ve said it since day 1 and will stick to my prediction.
@Dan1283 Agreed. I don't have it off hand as I'm at work, but I had read that Starfield was running in the 50s on the Series X just fine. Would have been a perfectly opportunity to do another 40fps game ala Plague Tale Requiem and let VRR do the rest.
While Microsoft is fine letting 3rd party developers release games a different frame rates between the S and X, it really feels like they're keeping their first parties from doing it.
@Fenbops Exactly. Unfortunately a lot of people don't of refuse to understand that games don't necessarily scale linearly. So while it is only 1/3 the speed, that doesn't mean it can run everything the same at 1/3 the resolution.
And I am definitely of the camp that 1st party games are already being held back.
Even Forza, appears to be lesser than what previous hands on were in the graphics department. Which is wild considering GT7 is trading punches for which looks better. Despite GT7 being cross gen, nearly 2 years less in development, and fill VR support.
It really seemed like Microsoft prioritized trying to saturate the market with Xboxes and didn't think much past that for gamers.
I played it on series S and I like it.
I think the games which miss out on a 60FPS mode on XSS have a pretty simple solution to this problem, put a 120hz 40 fps mode in. Done!
I bet most 30fps games would require only a minor tweak (many no tweak at all, as they would have been capped at 30fps because they couldn't reach a stable 60fps, but could hit the 40s/50s).
Yes, I know not everyone has a 120hz capable TV, but it's a growing market and many have one and even budget models include the capability, so more and more people are using compatible tech.
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