The next generation of consoles are just about to land in the laps of gamers but it’s only today that we can give you a true look at new 9th gen. games on 9th gen. hardware. Yesterday we gave you our mixed review of Xbox Series X and lamented the lack of eye-melting software to get excited about. Today we are poring over the type of AAA killer app that gets gamers to open their wallets. An action feast that shows off the new controller tech as well as fancy new graphics capabilities. Check out our Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales for PlayStation 5 review if you haven’t already.
Choice is Your’s
Insomniac offer a choice of a 30 frame per second ‘Fidelity Mode’ and a 60 frame ‘Performance mode. Both hit their targets and both look incredible. New York in Winter is indeed a sight for sore eyes but take a look at what you lose when you want the silky smoothness of 60fps and decide for yourself.
Fidelity shots are on the left all the way through. Pay close attention to windows and other reflective surfaces but also keep an eye out for differences of shadow level of detail (LoD).
When the two modes were revealed a few weeks back, we learned the major differences between the two. Performance mode lacks ray-traced reflections, using screen-space reflections instead. It also runs the game in a lower dynamic resolution. Fidelity mode runs at a full 4K with a few extras that weren’t mentioned in the GameInformer piece.
On the move it’s tough to notice anything beyond the frame-rate. Even the dynamic resolution, which usually kicks in when the screen is moving, is hard to behold. Ray-tracing is mostly only used for reflections while diffuse reflective effects are achieved via more traditional methods. The Christmas market scene (above) is gorgeous in either mode thanks to Insomniac’s attention to detail in interreflectivity and light-mapping.
Night Mode
The effects of some of fidelity mode’s finery stand out a little more at night. Our first night shot (below) captures the immersive detail of ray-traced reflections. Even the relatively low resolution ray-tracing seen in the PS5 version of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales lends an extra layer of visual realism that will tempt many of you to the 30fps fidelity mode.
One lesser difference seen between the two modes of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales also becomes apparent at night. Lighting LoD is perfectly adequate in performance mode but the resolution of light-maps is preserved to a much greater distance. This includes the LED advertising boards scattered throughout the bustling metropolis of New York.
Can you readily see the difference? Do you think it’s worth halving the frame-rate or do you believe that 9th gen. should always be played at 60fps? Are you excited at the potential of hardware-accelerated ray-tracing?
