Ninja Theory has partnered with QLOC to release a new update for Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice that adds ray-tracing mode to the game.
While it is nice to have ray-traced reflections, they do come with a significant hit to the performance, and not just for the Xbox Series S. The game will run at 30 FPS if you use the new “Enriched Graphics” mode that includes the RT reflections. See the video comparison from ElAnalistaDeBits.
The difference between 30 and 60 FPS is more significant than the lack of accurate reflections. In the new Enriched Graphics mode, reflections are not the only feature that has been retouched. Other aspects of the visuals like god rays, ambient occlusion, and anisotropic filtering have been improved as well.
If you are willing to take the hit to 30 FPS, the game can be experienced with the best possible visuals on the Xbox Series S and X. It runs at a dynamic 4K resolution on the Series X and 1080p on the Series S.
If you want to get the best frame rate, you can drop down to the FPS mode which runs at 120 FPS. This is a dynamic 1080p resolution that manages to hit 120 FPS on the Series X. If you want to retain the 60 FPS performance while maintaining the 4K resolution, you can also opt to settle on the resolution mode.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is available now for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC.