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The Callisto Protocol - The DF Tech Review + PS5 vs Xbox Series X/ S + PC #StutterStruggle Analysis

adamsapple

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



We've been eagerly anticipating this one - and on PlayStation 5 at least, we're getting a simply brilliant game and a proper technical showcase. That's the bulk of our coverage in this tech review - but there's clearly something amiss with the Xbox Series port, while the stuttering problems on the day one PC experience are unbelievably bad. Note: At 21:35, the label under PlayStation 5 should read Quality, not Performance. Apologies for the typo.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction
01:19 - From Dead Space to Callisto
02:32 - The Visuals of Callisto Protocol
10:50 - How is Ray Tracing utilized?
12:43 - Performance Mode vs Quality Mode
16:04 - PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X|S
18:29 - Performance Analysis
22:38 - PC Performance Analysis
26:42 - Loading Times
27:52 - How does it sound?
30:22 - How about the gameplay?
32:36 - Wrap-up
 
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adamsapple

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



TL-DR

- DF did not have access to PS4/XBO versions for this video, there may be a future video on those versions later.

- Built on Unreal Engine 4, one of the latest and final revisions
- Performance mode target 60 FPS. Quality mode targets 30 FPS
- The Quality Mode uses RT reflections and hybrid RT shadows and RT Transmission on enemy skins
- Quality mode also adds additional shadows compared to Performance mode on things as small as the lettering on Jacob's jacket, volumetrics and fogs also take a hit in Performance mode
- As per John, the 30 FPS is an acceptable sacrifice for the visual additions in this games case.

- DRS used on both PS5|SX. 1440p to 1728p but highly variable. Unreal's TAA up-sampling makes the IQ sharp on both modes
- Series S offers close to 1080p and does not offer RT or Performance mode and has lower resolution textures by comparison
- On SX versions RT reflections are currently missing and it has an orange fog issue same as PC version
- Otherwise the two versions have visual parity in terms of assets and effects

- In Performance mode both consoles hit their 60 FPS mark rather well, but some scenes can show drops to 50~51 FPS.
- In Quality mode, the pre day1 patched SX version exhibited a lot of slow down, the day 1 patch has mostly fixed this but it's still missing RT reflections
- For Xbox, DF recommends sticking to the Performance mode as despite the patch it drops more frames in Quality mode compared to PS5
- On PS5, the Quality mode is stable most of the time with some small drops here and there
- Series S also does not have the drops like Series X. The 30 FPS target is hit most of the time

- Loading times are very fast on all consoles.
- Good sound design via headphones
- John praises the games implementation of dual-sense on PS and rumble-triggers on Xbox

PC corner:

- "Disastrously poor at launch"
- Awful shader compilation stutter. Comical level of stutters.
- You cannot change graphical settings (other than resolution) in real time, must be done in main menus
- Alex likens the PC version to Gotham Knights and says he won't cover the PC version because of its poor state.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Watched it earlier today and god, the PC Performance is a joke. I'll happily get it once they fix the compilation stutter.


PS5 by far best version. Xbox Series X is missing some RT features and has a weird tint. Identical in everything else.
PC version a fucking mess with shader compilation stutters all over.
Was going to get the PC version as I usually do with multi, but held off until tech reviews since it's an UE4/DX12 game. Will wait for repairs.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
dude the video just went up 1 minute ago, be patient lol

Bored Cabin Fever GIF
 

Stafford

Member
Watched it earlier today (early access for supporters) and god, the PC Performance is a joke. I'll happily get it once they fix the compilation stutter.


PS5 by far best version. Xbox Series X is missing some RT features and has a weird tint. Identical in everything else.
PC version a fucking mess with shader compilation stutters all over.

I am in no hurry to buy this, but I do hope they fix this for Xbox. I guess it's no shock PS5 takes the edge here, it's clearly the lead platform and Sony devs helped out too. But at the least X should be on par.
 

Lysandros

Member
Watched it earlier today (early access for supporters) and god, the PC Performance is a joke. I'll happily get it once they fix the compilation stutter.


PS5 by far best version. Xbox Series X is missing some RT features and has a weird tint. Identical in everything else.
PC version a fucking mess with shader compilation stutters all over.
Not identical in performance, certainly not in quality mode despite PS5 running with RT reflections.
 

Arioco

Member
Can't watch the video right now but I will be interesting to see this game running on old gen consoles.


The game looks great. I hope it runs and plays great too.
 

adamsapple

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

- DF did not have access to PS4/XBO versions for this video, there may be a future video on those versions later.

- Built on Unreal Engine 4, one of the latest and final revisions
- Performance mode target 60 FPS. Quality mode targets 30 FPS
- The Quality Mode uses RT reflections and hybrid RT shadows and RT Transmission on enemy skins
- Quality mode also adds additional shadows compared to Performance mode on things as small as the lettering on Jacob's jacket, volumetrics and fogs also take a hit in Performance mode
- As per John, the 30 FPS is an acceptable sacrifice for the visual additions in this games case.

- DRS used on both PS5|SX. 1440p to 1728p but highly variable. Unreal's TAA up-sampling makes the IQ sharp on both modes
- Series S offers close to 1080p and does not offer RT or Performance mode and has lower resolution textures by comparison
- On SX versions RT reflections are currently missing and it has an orange fog issue same as PC version
- Otherwise the two versions have visual parity in terms of assets and effects

- In Performance mode both consoles hit their 60 FPS mark rather well, but some scenes can show drops to 50~51 FPS.
- In Quality mode, the pre day1 patched SX version exhibited a lot of slow down, the day 1 patch has mostly fixed this but it's still missing RT reflections
- For Xbox, DF recommends sticking to the Performance mode as despite the patch it drops more frames in Quality mode compared to PS5
- On PS5, the Quality mode is stable most of the time with some small drops here and there
- Series S also does not have the drops like Series X. The 30 FPS target is hit most of the time

- Loading times are very fast on all consoles.
- Good sound design via headphones
- John praises the games implementation of dual-sense on PS and rumble-triggers on Xbox

PC corner:

- "Disastrously poor at launch"
- Awful shader compilation stutter. Comical level of stutters.
- You cannot change graphical settings (other than resolution) in real time, must be done in main menus
- Alex likens the PC version to Gotham Knights and says he won't cover the PC version because of its poor state.
 
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Gaiff

Gold Member
Main difference between Performance and Quality is RT

- Performance still has some lower resolution effects such as volumetrics

- Dynamic resolution is between 1440p to 1728p with TAA on both consoles

- XSS no RT or performance mode. Only one 1080p mode

- Series S also has lower res textures and mo subsurface scattering

- RT reflections don't work on Xbox. Only SSR reflections seem to work. It's a bug

- Orange fog bug on both PC and Xbox

- Mostly sticks to 60fps in performance mode. Some dips to the low 50's in heavy scenes on both consoles and they are about on par

- Series X in Quality Mode runs poorly with dops into the low 20's.

- PS5 runs much better in Quality mode. Drops in quality mode are mor minor and infrequent

- Both exhibit stutters in some specific instances

- PC has horrendous shader compilation stutters. The weaker your CPU is, the worse it gets.

- 400ms spikes on an i9-12900 700ms spikes on a Ryzen 5 3600X

- Cannot change options in-game other than resolution. Have to go back to the main menu

- Heavily CPU limited with RT. Poor CPU usage with RT and single-threaded. Not unlike Gotham Knight

- Avoid it on PC as the performance is disastrously poor

- Great loading time on all platforms

PS5 seems to be the version to go for now if you want to play the game. In conclusion, let's ask our technical expert what he thinks:

giphy.gif
 
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FingerBang

Member
I am in no hurry to buy this, but I do hope they fix this for Xbox. I guess it's no shock PS5 takes the edge here, it's clearly the lead platform and Sony devs helped out too. But at the least X should be on par.
I'm sure they will. There's no reason why the XSX shouldn't offer at least the same level of performance.
Was going to get the PC version as I usually do with multi, but held off until tech reviews since it's an UE4/DX11 game. Will wait for repairs.
Same. Really sad to see the state of the PC version. Makes you wonder what is the point of having $1600 GPU if developers don't bother making games smooth anyway.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
Waiting for sale and patches. Probably grabbing the PS5 version over PC since it's all over the place technically. Or wait for PC Game Pass. Or not buy it at all and instead wait for Dead Space.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
IfI were ot get this game... and as of right now I am not.. I would still go with the PC version and wait for a patch.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
It was choppy with patch 1.4 but it seems like 1.5 fix some things.

Yeah, I played it on Xbox recently and it was a mostly stable 30 FPS experience from my experience. A bunch of glitches though.
 

Fermbiz

Gold Member
Im glad extra glad I didnt buy for PC on day 1. I knew it was going to be a technical mess. They really nailed the "AAAA" gaming
 
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