Game News Horizon Forbidden West: Sumptuous on PS5, but also on PS4 and PS4 Pro?
After the media pileup of Cyberpunk 2077, satisfying on PS5 / Xbox Series – without the next-gen patch – but close to unplayable on PS4 Fat / Xbox One, cross-gen titles do not really have the coast. And with the announcement of such a nature for Horizon Forbidden West, concerns began to be heard: what, the title is not going to take full advantage of the PS5? What will the game look like on an almost nine-year-old machine? Here is our answer.
Find in auto-play our video comparison of the PS4, PS5 and Horizon Zero Dawn versions of Forbidden West.
Since Cyberpunk 2077, cross-gen is scary and that’s normal. On the one hand, players are worried regarding seeing their games dragged down. On the other hand, players like PlayStation have no interest in leaving 116 million of the PS4 around the world, while sales of the PS5 – 10 million in total at the latest news – are still shaken by the effects of the shortage. Sony and Guerrilla Games have therefore chosen to release Horizon Forbidden West both on PS4 and PS5. A bold choice for a very ambitious open worldwhich intends to supplant in all respects the already very good Horizon Zero Dawnreleased in 2017 on PlayStation 4. Believe it or not, but this sequel might make cross-gen scares a distant memory.
Exemplary cross-gen work
Whether on PlayStation 5, PS4 Pro or PS4 Fat, Forbidden West delivers an equivalent experience that takes into account the pros and cons of each platform. In our case, switching between versions felt like we were having the same adventure but tuned to different settings, much like a well-optimized PC game. That is to say in 1080p / 30fps on PS4 Fat, 4K – probably upscaled – and 30 fps for PS4 Pro, then 4K / 60 frames per second or native 4K / 30 frames per second on PS5. It is certain, the new generation of machine is the ideal support for Horizon Forbidden West, especially via the Performance mode. The latter allows you to enjoy a nice fluidity (mine nothing important for such a dynamic action game) without compromising the resolution, which remains very good.
In concrete terms, the PS4 version has more aliasing than the others – this is normal when going from 4K to Full HD – and some additional slowdowns than on PS4 Pro. And on both of them, the loading times are logically longer compared to the PS5, and we can also note a slightly slower responsiveness for accessing the menu. That is just regarding everything. The best part of it all is that despite a graphic rendering that necessarily changes from one version to another, the artistic direction of Guerrilla does not suffer more than that. Whether on PS5, PS4 Pro, PS4 Fat, this feeling of fascination and awe in the face of huge metal carcasses remains intact, and stands out perfectly thanks to the different color schemes. Regardless of the platform, Horizon Forbidden West remains an exceptional adventure.
Left: Horizon Forbidden West on PS4; Right: Horizon Forbidden West on PS4 Pro
Still a few bugs to fix
But the technique of the title is not irreproachable for all that. Even on PS5, there can be a rather surprising presence of aliasing, especially in heavily vegetated areas, but also in the background of certain cutscenes. Nothing too bad, just like the other problems present in the state. Horizon Forbidden West does indeed suffer from some sound and collision bugs, and sometimes even inaccuracy, as when Aloy is faced with a lot of hooks in the climbing phases. But future patches should fix the problem. Guerrilla’s title, already excellent, should therefore improve over time.
Pre-order Horizon Forbidden West on PS4 for €54 at E.Leclerc
Pre-order Horizon Forbidden West on PS5 for €64 at E.Leclerc
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By IndeeJournalist jeuxvideo.com
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