Xbox Game Studios’ and Obsidian Entertainment’s survival action adventure game, Grounded, is now available across multiple consoles, and here’s a look at the PS5 vs Xbox Series vs Nintendo Switch versions of the game.
Grounded offers a single graphics mode across PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, while the Nintendo Switch version offers docked and portable modes. The PS5 version exhibits further draw distance on small pebbles compared to the Xbox Series X|S versions. In addition, shadows are higher quality on PS5 but also exhibit shadow aliasing not found in the Xbox Series X|S version, resulting in shadow jaggies on Sony’s console. Meanwhile, the Switch version has received major visual cut backs in terms of texture work and draw distance. Furthermore, motion blur, depth of field, lighting shafts, character shadows and all volumetric effects are removed entirely on Nintendo’s console. This version also exhibits pronounced pop-in. The graphical settings on Switch are generally the same across docked and handheld modes.
In terms of resolution, both the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of Grounded operate at a dynamic resolution, with the PS5 running between the range of 1920 x 1080 and 2160 x 1215, and the Series X running between 2688 x 1512 and 3840 x 2160. As a result, the Series X version looks visibly sharper than the PS5 version. The Series S also runs at a dynamic resolution, but rarely drops below its upper bound of 1920×1080. Meanwhile, the Nintendo Switch version operates between a lower bound of 640 x 360 and an upper bound of 1280 x 720 in both docked and portable modes, maintaining a higher resolution when docked.
With regards to performance on PS5 vs Xbox Series consoles vs Switch, all current-gen versions of Grounded target a frame rate of 60 fps, but only the Xbox Series consoles are able to maintain it for the most part. The PS5 version runs in the range of 45-60 fps, struggling to hit the target frame rate in certain segments. The Series X delivers a solid 60 fps with occasional one frame drops as well as stutters while saving that are also seen in the PS5 version. The Series S version of the game is the best performing of the three, delivering a tighter lock to 60 fps, with less occasional one frame drops and less pronounced stutters due to saving. Lastly, the Nintendo Switch version targets a frame rate of 30 fps in both docked and portable modes, and while it often maintains its target, it suffers from large frame time spikes and traversal hitches.
On the whole, both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are currently the best way to play Grounded on console.
