Horizon Forbidden West offers a Performance as well as Resolution mode on the PS5. How well does it compare between the PS4 and PS5?
Horizon Forbidden West press embargo was dropped today so a set of comparison videos and reviews are already available to view online. We have confirmation of the resolution and frame rate of the game running on the PS4 and PS5.
Based on the technical analysis, we learn that the game appears to run at a checkerboard 1080p resolution on the PS4. The actual resolution is below 1080p but checkerboard tech is used to render it closer to 1080p, but obviously, the result is not as great as native 1080p on PS4. This is also slightly downgraded from the original Horizon which ran at native 1080p.
PS4 Pro appears to fare better at 1800p checkerboard resolution for Horizon Forbidden West. This is again a downgrade from the 4K checkerboard resolution of Horizon Zero Dawn, but considering the improved visuals, it appears to be well suited to run the game at 30 FPS.
Lastly, we have the PS5 version that appears to offer two performance modes for Horizon Forbidden West. One of these is the Resolution mode that runs at native 4K with a 30 FPS frame rate. This version also bumps up the quality of the reflections and offers slightly better draw distance and shadows.
Next, we have the Performance mode on the PS5. This drops the resolution down from native 4K to a checkerboard 1800p setup. This is the only major visual downgrade though, as most of the effects remain identical. The game runs at 60 FPS, which should work out a lot better in terms of controller response.
Horizon Forbidden West will be released on February 18, 2022, for the PS4 and PS5. The game is available to pre-load now on the PlayStation Store. You can also have a look at its world map.
