Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was originally only available on the PS5, but with the PC release this month, fans are likely interested in knowing how the console version stacks up against it.
The PC version of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart supports improved features over the PS5 version, though they can be quite demanding and require reasonably capable hardware. This includes graphical options for higher quality ray-traced reflections and the brand new addition of ray-traced shadows and ray-traced ambient occlusion.
As such, with these settings enabled, the PC version delivers more physically accurate shadows, reflections, and ambient occlusion, though the quality of reflections is inconsistent. As a result, they are of a lower quality in some areas compared to the reflections seen in the PS5 version. It’s also worth mentioning that Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart lacks a real-time day and night cycle. Therefore, the traditional mix of baked and real-time shadows on PS5 (and with ray-traced shadows disabled on PC) also gives great results here.
Other shortcomings in the PC version include missing transparency effects, incorrect opacity levels, and non-working texture filtering on some surfaces. Additionally, the game’s much touted portal transitions are slower and not as smooth on PC as in the PS5 version regardless of GPU and SSD configuration, even when running at PS5 equivalent graphical settings. On the plus side, the PC version offers better image reconstruction options, including DLSS, XeSS, and FSR. DLSS 3 Frame Generation along with Nvidia Reflex are also supported.
On the whole, the PC port of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart delivers a worthwhile experience, with the addition of ray-traced shadows and ray-traced ambient occlusion, but it falls short of the PS5 version in some areas. This may or may not change via future updates.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a 2021 action-adventure game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
