Yesterday’s availability of patch 1.5 pour Cyberpunk 2077 lets the Xbox Series X|S and PS5 versions of the game shine brighter than ever. With two different graphics modes, the game is now officially optimized for the latest consoles available, and here is the video comparison.
Is Ray Tracing really necessary?
The Xbox One version of Cyberpunk 2077 released in November 2020 has only one graphics mode while the version of the game on the latest consoles has a performance mode and a Ray Tracing mode. The video below compares these three versions on Microsoft’s latest four consoles, namely Xbox One, Xbox One X, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series S.
What we notice easily is that it is indeed the Xbox One version which is the least well off with details well below the other consoles. Then come the Xbox Series S and Xbox One X versions, which are neck and neck, and finally the Xbox Series X version which, quite logically, supplants all the others with its dynamic 4K definition.
Of course, the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S versions have an advantage of their own, which is that the loading times are very fast, around 12 seconds compared to one minute on the old consoles. This was expected given that these new consoles come with SSD storage.
Finally comes Ray Tracing. As mentioned yesterday, this is only available for certain shadows in the game, not direct light or reflections. It is for this reason that it is sometimes very difficult to see a graphical difference between the Ray Tracing mode at 30 FPS and the performance mode at 60 FPS. The PC version of the game remains clearly ahead on this point, and we rather recommend playing on consoles in performance mode at 60 FPS to take advantage of a better framerate rather than some better managed shadows. Finally, remember that the Xbox Series S version of Cyberpunk 2077 does not have a Ray Tracing mode or a 60 FPS mode.
Reminder of the two graphics modes on the latest consoles on the market
Xbox Series X et PS5
- Mode performance
- 60 FPS with some framerate drops
- Dynamic 4K resolution
- Medium SSR quality
- Mode Ray Tracing
- 30 FPS stable
- Localized ray tracing on shadows
- High SSR quality
Xbox Series S
- Mode performance
- 30 FPS stable
- 1440p resolution
