Digital Foundry has released its technical analysis of Atomic Heart. Mundfish’s uchronic FPS has been available for a few days and today it is the performance on the different versions of the game that are detailed by the experts.
A rather visually successful game
Unlike most of the latest released games, Atomic Heart doesn’t offer graphics modes to select from. The game uses dynamic resolution on all consoles, and aims for 60 FPS on Xbox Series X|S and PS5.
Generally speaking, the game runs most of the time at 2160p, and adjusts its resolution according to the scenes on Xbox Series X and PS5, as announced by the studio before the game’s release. Digital Foundry evokes a visually interesting title that sometimes offers lovely light effects and a welcome diversity in its different rooms.
The Xbox Series S runs in dynamic 1080p, and with lower graphics than the Xbox Series X and PS5 versions. The textures, the filtering of the shadows and the density of the vegetation are notably revised downwards on the small console from Microsoft.
The PS5 offers better performance
When it comes to performance, however, the PS5 has a clear advantage over the Xbox Series X; the Sony console offering a generally stable framerate at 60 FPS in the gameplay phases. Drops deemed minor by Digital Foundry are nevertheless noted here and there, and more pronounced slowdowns can occur in certain cutscenes.
In comparison, the Xbox Series X suffers from frametime issues, with significant slowdowns during combat and camera movement. It is also specified that the framerate can drop up to 30 FPS in certain scenes.
Digital Foundry also says the game can maintain its framerate at 60 FPS most of the time, but frametime and framerate issues are intrusive and make the experience “much less stable” than it should be.
Xbox Series X | S versions in withdrawal
Frametime issues are less pronounced on the Xbox Series S version, but the framerate is more unstable there than on Xbox Series X.
The experts also evoke several concerns specific to the Xbox versions, in particular at the level of certain “animations” of the screens in game, completely absent compared to the PS5 version. Texture and menu trigger bugs Pause are also raised on Xbox Series X|S, and community feedback seems to indicate that other issues are affecting these versions.
As was the case lately with The Callisto Protocol or more recently Hogwarts Legacy, Digital Foundry concludes that the Xbox versions need more work from the developers. PS5 and PC are recommended for the moment to enjoy a better experience, while the full analysis can be found below.
Atomic Heart is available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC as well as Xbox Series X|S and PS5. If you want to try the game, it’s also available on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. Hopefully future updates will improve the experience on Microsoft consoles.