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Need for Speed Unbound - The DF Tech Review - PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S - Criterion is BACK!

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?


It's been many years since the legendary Criterion delivered a new Need for Speed game, but the studio is back with NFS Unbound and... it's really impressive! In this video, Oliver Mackenzie discusses how the Frostbite engine is deployed on this title, how it ranks against Criterion's prior NFS classics - and yes, we get the full lowdown on how PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S compare.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Made using Frostbite engine
- Game uses cel shaded characters and elements juxtaposed against realistic backgrounds and cars
- A lot of environments and geometry misses SSR effects, and some car based reflections are unflattering looking cube maps
- Motion blur is disabled when using Boost in cars

- PS5 DRS 1800p to 2160p. Typically runs at 1944p.
- Series X DRS 2016p to 2160p. Typically runs at 2160p.
- Series S DRS 1080p to 1440p. Typically 1296p.
- All console versions show signs of checker board reconstruction
- Asset and effects are the same outside of resolution.

- Series X can suffer one off drops to mid-low 50s with 33ms spikes at various points
- Series S can suffer more frequent drops to low 50s
- PS5 can also suffer one off drops but is more consistent than either Xbox console
 
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feynoob

Banned
*reserved for summary*

Season 3 Waiting GIF by SpongeBob SquarePants
 

feynoob

Banned
I just used PC for older games or Esports games,everything else on the PS5. Most devs don't care about the platform.
I reserve certain games exclusive for my PC (Shooter games), while others for console.

The issue for me right now is the budget. Cant upgrade my PC until summer 2023 if possible.
 

Bojji

Member
So slightly better fps (PS5) vs slightly higher resolution (XSX), and Series S version is quite solid.

Not bad.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
There is a very meaty 10-hour trial for this game, and anyone who has game pass ultimate or EA play, I would highly recommend them to check it out.

If it wasn't for this video, I wouldn't have been able to tell any drops on the Xbox myself, but then again I guess the vrr does a good job masking it.
 

Darsxx82

Member
- Best overall experience on PS5 (usually locked 60fps)
- Higher average resolution on XSX at the cost of unstable framerate

They think they could maybe reduce the resolution on Xbox to improve framerate.
There is no unstable framerate on XSX LOL.
There are only framedrops on rare occasion and circunstancial. The playable experience is very stable 60fps.

PS.Lowering the resolution is not always the solution to eliminate framedrops. These may be for reasons unrelated to GPU load.
 
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MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
Solid version on every platform, that’s what we like to see. DLSS 3 support on PC was a nice surprise.

Also, ignore his “opinion” about the game. It’s clear he didn’t play past the first few races…
 

Darsxx82

Member
If it wasn't for this video, I wouldn't have been able to tell any drops on the Xbox myself, but then again I guess the vrr does a good job masking it.

Because the gaming experience on XSX is very stable 60fps. I have seen different framerate comparisons on youtube and framedrops are circumstantial.

All console versions are very solid.
 
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Markio128

Member
I’m really enjoying it. It looks great and so is the performance. The biggest surprise for me is how challenging it can be, especially when there is money at stake.

I especially love how it forces you to improve your car in order to progress, rather than shower you with cars from the off (after the initial intro). I’m currently driving a lowly Honda Civic and fighting for every penny 😂
 

Imtjnotu

Member
The first thing I noticed that I'm never a fan of wjth frostbite is pop in LOD.

This game was no different. Downloaded the trial on PS5 last week and played 8 hours. All the city buildings has bad pop in
 

Lysandros

Member
I really don't understand these type of scenarios, if XSX FPS dips considerably lower than PS5 and more often, why the DRS scaling isn't set as aggressive as PS5 by the developers? That's a racing game, FPS consistency is more important than slightly higher resolution here and there. Is there something preventing scaling on XSX? What can it be?

Edit: By the way a slight mistake in the description, XSX drops as low as low fifties not 'mid', lowest in the video being 51 FPS.
 
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Fantastic game, having a blast really keeps you on your toes. Ignoring the campaign and focusing on the online grind, which also avoids the terrible dialogue in the campaign. Good stuff and looks/sounds stellar on ps5
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I really don't understand these type of scenarios, if XSX FPS dips considerably lower than PS5 and more often, why the DRS scaling isn't set as aggressive as PS5 by the developers? That's a racing game, FPS consistency is more important than slightly higher resolution here an there. Is there something preventing scaling on XSX? What can it be?

The drops are one off spikes, if the game was running consistently in the 50s that would be a problem.
 
I really don't understand these type of scenarios, if XSX FPS dips considerably lower than PS5 and more often, why the DRS scaling isn't set as aggressive as PS5 by the developers? That's a racing game, FPS consistency is more important than slightly higher resolution here an there. Is there something preventing scaling on XSX? What can it be?

Edit: By the way a slight mistake in the description, XSX drops as low as low fifties not 'mid', lowest in the video being 51 FPS.
Your guess is as good as ours. I have never ever heard any developer talk about this.

But I remember the case of Assassin's creed Valhalla on Xbox though. First it had a slightly higher resolution than PS5 at the cost of heavy screen-tearing. Then it was patched in order to improve performance on Xbox (because people complained) but the DRS was now very aggressive with down to 1080p or so resolutions making the game very blurry at times.

The drops are one off spikes, if the game was running consistently in the 50s that would be a problem.
Problem is the drops happen on Xbox when you actually need consistency. The problem is big enough for DF to say PS5 version being the best experience (even if they oddly forgot to put that in the article subtitle this time).
 
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Fake

Member
I think it's a part of the engines pipeline. But outside of magnified examination, the results are very good.

Whatever is part or not of the engine, mixing Dynamic Resolution Scaler with Checker Board Reconstruction is a huge mistake for next gen. Even TAA alone or temporal injection would be miles better.
 

01011001

Banned
Props to the developers for putting some effort into using the dual sense features - the subtle pop every time there’s a gear change is cool.

I never played a racing game with Dualsense support, does it feel similar to the Xbox impulse triggers? because I find it hard to imagine how a force feedback system would be used in such a scenario.

the impulse trigger rumble on the other hand is usually used to give you feedback for your traction while breaking and accelerating (and subtle "pops" gear changes too)
 
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Hawk269

Member
There is a very meaty 10-hour trial for this game, and anyone who has game pass ultimate or EA play, I would highly recommend them to check it out.

If it wasn't for this video, I wouldn't have been able to tell any drops on the Xbox myself, but then again I guess the vrr does a good job masking it.
Thank you very much for posting this. Had no idea they were doing this for this title, but again it has been a while since i paid attention to anything EA. Will defintaley trigger the download in a few minutes to try it out.
 

Markio128

Member
I never played a racing game with Dualsense support, does it feel similar to the Xbox impulse triggers? because I find it hard to imagine how a force feedback system would be used in such a scenario.

the impulse trigger rumble on the other hand is usually used to give you feedback for your traction while breaking and accelerating (and subtle "pops" gear changes too)
It’s more the haptics than the rumble the causes the sensation, in that the accelerator trigger slackens for a split second as the gear changes, before the resistance kicks in again. Nothing mind-blowing, but cool all the same.
 

Tripolygon

Banned
I never played a racing game with Dualsense support, does it feel similar to the Xbox impulse triggers? because I find it hard to imagine how a force feedback system would be used in such a scenario.

the impulse trigger rumble on the other hand is usually used to give you feedback for your traction while breaking and accelerating (and subtle "pops" gear changes too)
Technologically speaking, the impulse trigger is just a simple ERM motor, it doesn't do subtle, it does on and off vibrations. They can lower the speed to simulate low vibration but that's about it. Most of the other "pop" gear shift and traction feedback is our brain playing tricks on us. Most tactile and haptics tech exploit our brain to fill in the blanks where there is nothing. It was a genuine brilliant idea to add miniature ERM motors in the trigger housing.
X5TZnBM.gif


The DualSense can simulate different sensations using the exact same motor but applied differently.

Spring Sensation by applying slight force opposite to the already tensioned trigger but not stopping the movement, it moves with the trigger pull.
mju2pgd.gif


Vibration by driving the gear up and down and it can be subtle or damn near violent.

QUcphJx.gif
NBuy8Le.gif


The Pop sensation, the mechanism removes tension briefly and pushes back at you giving your finger the pop feeling of gear shift, same mechanic can be used for gun trigger pop feel as well. Our brain does a lot of heavy lifting.

Vu7N6mB.gif
 
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Tripolygon

Banned
Not a bad showing on both big consoles. Slightly lower DSR bound on the lower side should clear up most of the performance issues or you can use a VRR display which should make it unnoticeable.
 

JackMcGunns

Member
"Between the various next gen consoles, the PS5 offers the best overall experience."

Obligatory...

dj-khaled-another-one.gif


Imagine two basketball players shooting from the free throw line and the other from the 3-point line and calling the free throw line player a better shooter because he made all his shots, even though the 3-point shooter made 99% of his lol.
 

DaGwaphics

Member
I’m really enjoying it. It looks great and so is the performance. The biggest surprise for me is how challenging it can be, especially when there is money at stake.

I especially love how it forces you to improve your car in order to progress, rather than shower you with cars from the off (after the initial intro). I’m currently driving a lowly Honda Civic and fighting for every penny 😂

This is the type of of progression I like with driving games. Makes it seem like you are really building to something.
 

ChiefDada

Gold Member
Imagine two basketball players shooting from the free throw line and the other from the 3-point line and calling the free throw line player a better shooter because he made all his shots, even though the 3-point shooter made 99% of his lol.

Or, for better context, imagine a 5ft 8in/173cm basketball player having comparable and often better dunk statistics than a 6ft 8in/207cm player over a considerable number of dunk contests, despite the 20% height differential in favor of the taller player, and in a competition where spectators often assume height is the major indicator for performance.

Just as the smaller player would have people praising them based on what they've been able to achieve with little, you could understand why PS5 players would celebrate the console's relative performance against "more powerful" Series X.
 

01011001

Banned
Technologically speaking, the impulse trigger is just a simple ERM motor, it doesn't do subtle, it does on and off vibrations. They can lower the speed to simulate low vibration but that's about it. Most of the other "pop" gear shift and traction feedback is our brain playing tricks on us. Most tactile and haptics tech exploit our brain to fill in the blanks where there is nothing. It was a genuine brilliant idea to add miniature ERM motors in the trigger housing.
X5TZnBM.gif


The DualSense can simulate different sensations using the exact same motor but applied differently.

Spring Sensation by applying slight force opposite to the already tensioned trigger but not stopping the movement, it moves with the trigger pull.
mju2pgd.gif


Vibration by driving the gear up and down and it can be subtle or damn near violent.

QUcphJx.gif
NBuy8Le.gif


The Pop sensation, the mechanism removes tension briefly and pushes back at you giving your finger the pop feeling of gear shift, same mechanic can be used for gun trigger pop feel as well. Our brain does a lot of heavy lifting.

Vu7N6mB.gif


dude... why are you writing an essay on how the triggers work for a very simply question I had about how they are typically utilised in racing games???
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Or, for better context, imagine a 5ft 8in/173cm basketball player having comparable and often better dunk statistics than a 6ft 8in/207cm player over a considerable number of dunk contests, despite the 20% height differential in favor of the taller player, and in a competition where spectators often assume height is the major indicator for performance.

Just as the smaller player would have people praising them based on what they've been able to achieve with little, you could understand why PS5 players would celebrate the console's relative performance against "more powerful" Series X.



Lebron James What GIF by SB Nation
 
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