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Hellblade 2 runs at 30 fps with dynamic resolution on both Xbox Series S and Series X according to GamePro (there are no graphics modes)

DF ignores all PS5 hardware advantages, ignores any negative impact from Series S existing, looks at just CPU and GPU, “gee I have no idea why the PS5 version is performing better, must be a bug”
LOL it's been that way for 14 years, why are you surprised

 

DeaDPo0L84

Member
Eh, this one's pushing visuals beyond anything the current gen has had though. It's understandable.
Someone photoshop an Xbox over the hearts.
aortOsI.jpg
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Why do you love Xbox so much ?

Hmm, a couple of reasons.

- Better controller layout, for me
- Quick Resume
- Game Pass w/ everything 1st party on it day 1
- Better versions of multi-plat games more often than not
- Backwards compatibility with basically all Xboxes and their relevant titles
- Generous as fuck Rewards stuff that gets me tons of free stuff
- Better VRR integration, it makes a genuine difference in games (Dragon's Dogma 2 for example)
- Phil's smooth balls
 
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ShaiKhulud1989

Gold Member
After watching all the previews I can honestly say WTF. Xbox. OK, let's pretend that Starfield and Redfall where all Bethseda-rooted oopsies stemming from bad engine design of management. Heck, Creation Engine in Starfiled is still choking my 5800x3d, I've checked specifically before wrtiting this.

But Hellblade 2? Look, the game is pretty, but right now a lot of games are pretty, thanks to UE5. Looking at you, Robocop.

Thing is, because of Series S Hellblade 2 is deliberately limited in scope. It is clear as day after reading the previews and watching some videos. Battles are 1 on 1, arenas are tiny, there are constant black bars, you can spot quite a lot of interpolation artifacts (meaning that even on SX it's not hitting anywhere near native res). Plus the footage is drowning in very grainy IQ with a lot of post-processing going on. OK, I get it, game is too heavy for some reason. But at least give people with X some sort of Series S unlocked options. It's also worth noting that Hellblade 2 is built around 'brutal fights' (if we believe the previews) and yeah, unlocked or 60 is a nice bonus for any action. Give us some options. With locked targets VRR on Xbox is just useless tech. My main gaming screen is LG CX and I adore that Sony is actually pushing the 40fps option which I choose all the time. It's a fantastic trade-off between IQ and speed while maintaining heavy tech like RT. SM2 with 40fps is something surreal to behold on a $500 box.

Anyway, Hellblade's 2 scope is not something unheard on consoles (The Order 1886 actually showed us all the same tricks back in 2015) and I don't agree that it's pushing anything tech-wise to justify the lack of any performance options. Especially when we have games like Rebirth (downright CG at times), SM2, R&C, FF16 (not good, but it's and option nonetheless), GT7 (VR+120hz!!!), HFW, Resident Evil 8/4RE (VR!) all pushing the fidelity and tech envelope while still giving us choice. While at the same time all of the above being vastly bigger games in terms of scale, scope, gameplay programming and number of assets/NPCs.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Aaron is the best:

9CyLpUg.jpg


Personally I'm nut surprised that they target 30fps for maximum eye candy but why not give people options?

- they can use Series S mode on Series X and that way it should be possible to run it around 60FPS (SX is almost 3x in power)
- they can reduce resolution and offer 40FPS mode

Why the fuck they don't give players choices? Unless game is low resolution already in that 30fps mode...

I wonder if that guy was intentionally trying to mislead people or if he's really that dumb.
 

Daneel Elijah

Gold Member
Jesus Alex and that “whatever” comment when he says PS5 has the more innovative and powerful hardware with the Pro

What a clown

Now they want to move away from AMD just to claim a power victory, yet that would be significantly more than expensive
Not to defend him as I think like you but Alex have been consistent in saying that Xbox allowing devs to make easy ports of PC games to Series S/X consoles led to non optimised games, in ray tracing notably. This is why Xbox first party games not doing stuff like 60 fps or Ray tracing is even more damning to some of us. If they don't show the way, how can they ask for third party to do the same? For Hellblade 2, the small studio can have a pass, as I think that like Redfall they are suffering from their association with Xbox more than anything else. But as Xbox is increasingly getting third party I am really curious to one day see this game on PS5/ PS5 Pro. This cinematic game seems to be the kind of game that could use the PS5 I/O pretty well for maximum graphics instead of the Series X raw power. If they do a barebones port it will be seen. But if they really try to make a great port we could be surprised.
 
I honestly had no issues with 30fps until I got an OLED, it's honestly an unwanted side effect that I wasn't prepared for. Using black frame insertion it looked a little bit better but the flickering and darker screen is too much of a downside.
Reject Oled. Return to Plasma where 30fps looks fine, films have true 24fps and motion is amazing.
 

nemiroff

Gold Member
The console warring over the last scrapes of the bottom of the barrel is lol.

Face it, "both" consoles are under-powered for this kind of UE5 fidelity at 60 flat (to be fair; also including a few PCs out there)
 
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I think it's necessary to redefine what "next gen" means. Hellblade will be beautiful but the environments are just a landscape you can't explore or interact with. The gameplay is as shallow as in the previous game. The talk about fps is silly, IMO. Who cares for fps in a game like this? You walk a straight path and fight enemies one-on-one in a game loop that already existed in high-budget mobile games 15 years ago. I wouldn't call this "next gen", nor the next Marvel game, same as we didn't call that to games like The Order or Detroit Become Human,.
 
I think it's necessary to redefine what "next gen" means. Hellblade will be beautiful but the environments are just a landscape you can't explore or interact with. The gameplay is as shallow as in the previous game. The talk about fps is silly, IMO. Who cares for fps in a game like this? You walk a straight path and fight enemies one-on-one in a game loop that already existed in high-budget mobile games 15 years ago. I wouldn't call this "next gen", nor the next Marvel game, same as we didn't call that to games like The Order or Detroit Become Human,.

If it's not really a "next-gen "game, then the devs shouldn't have any problem offering a performance mode of some kind....

I mean if the gameplay is shallow, and you can't explore anything, why should it be so demanding???

Based on what you say, it could run on Xbox One as well. And it actually has to run on Series S, so....
 
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Rheon

Member
This is where most fail to understand why some of us prefer 60 fps minimum: We like motion fluidity, it's also "graphics" for us. It's not only about input like, we want that look

Believe me, I'm also a 60fps evangelist.

I still maintain 60fps won't enhance the experience for this particular game by much though.
 
Because (GPU) performance depends on the fidelity of the assets rather than the complexity of the gameplay systems.

I'm really curious to check the quality of the assets on Series S then.....

It seems obvious they will be downgraded as well considering the RAM limitations
 
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Jimmy_liv

Member
Except everybody was trashing it so it wasnt allowed plus its not Cross Gen at all, its Multiplatform but its next gen only…The copium is the fact that in Hellblade 2’s case its fine because….Why exactly? Muh cinematic experience? Muh graphics? Two things that really dont matter when the gameplay is dogshit.
So is the gameplay dogshit? Played it have you?

And if you didn't like the first one then wtf are you even here for except for trolling and console warring.
 

makaveli60

Member
HFW: Burning Shores, Alan Wake 2, Rift Apart etc. all beat Hellblade 2 to that punch and offer a lot of performance options to boot.

So sorry, but you're coping.
Dude, coping, really? 🤣 I don’t even have any platform to play this on, so I just hope it will be indeed released on ps5 eventually. Among the ones listed the only game that definitely looks nextgen (current) is Rift Apart, which is also the only real nextgen game so far. Also what does this have to do with anything I said? Just because you can find a couple games that allegedly look better than this (in your opinion, also you haven’t played hellblade 2 yet), it doesn‘t mean that I’m not right in what I wrote previously. Also, there‘s different team sizes, talent, budget, etc. to consider in such comparisons. So yeah, you have to pay the price to have current gen graphics. Some bigger studios could maybe run this at 60 fps with some downgrades but here it was not the priority for certain reasons. So sorry, but your post makes no sense.
 

Roberts

Member
Hmm, a couple of reasons.

- Better controller layout, for me
- Quick Resume
- Game Pass w/ everything 1st party on it day 1
- Better versions of multi-plat games more often than not
- Backwards compatibility with basically all Xboxes and their relevant titles
- Generous as fuck Rewards stuff that gets me tons of free stuff
- Better VRR integration, it makes a genuine difference in games (Dragon's Dogma 2 for example)
- Phil's smooth balls

-Also auto-HDR and fps boost gives many older games a new life.
 
Again, Asobo which is also a small team, managed to come up with a 60fps mode that alleviated the pressure on the CPU.

But ultimately like all things in life it's about talent.
 

Bojji

Member
If we go by DF-logic this game must be heavily CPU-limited if it only hits 30 fps.

:)

No, game can be CPU limited ot GPU limited, or both - depending on the place you measure (starfield is like that).

This one looks like GPU limited game, why they don't offer options other than 30fps? Good question.

Hate for DF is super strong on NG but they clearly know how GPU and CPU bottlenecks work (unlike many people here).
 
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Gojiira

Member
So is the gameplay dogshit? Played it have you?

And if you didn't like the first one then wtf are you even here for except for trolling and console warring.
Funny I didnt bring up other consoles, and I was here to see the responses which have been incredibly COPE and hypocritical. Its funny, thats all. But glad it got under your skin enough to have a little paddy.
 

Mr Moose

Member
I’m fully aware Xbox did the same shit. It’s incredibly misleading as I stated multiple times now.

People come in to bash Xbox all the time for the same shit Sony does. But for some reason it’s as if people are getting paid to only call out one side of the same coin.

And also doesn’t this image support the exact same argument you were trying to use. It says gaming is 4K up to 120. And it says supports 8k HDR. lol
What 8K content is there out these days? Movies? Doubt it. What about Netflix and shit? Probably not.
Are there lots of 8K TVs out there?
This applies to both Series X and PS5. The content isn't available.

This is from PS5s FAQ back in 2020:
Will PS5 require a 4K TV? What resolutions are supported?

No, PS5 does not require a 4K TV. Supported resolutions are 720p, 1080i, 1080p, and 2160p. PS5 can output resolutions up to 2160p (4K UHD) when connected to a 4K display.

PS5 is compatible with 8K displays at launch, and after a future system software update will be able to output resolutions up to 8K when content is available, with supported software.

Will PS5 support 4K at 120Hz modes?

Yes, PS5 supports the HDMI 2.1 specification. HDMI 2.1 supports 4K 120Hz, but HDMI 2.1-compatible 4K TVs have not yet fully penetrated the market.

Click here for more information.
 
Honest question: how is Hellblade 2 pushing the Series X to its limits?

I'm not asking this because I think it's a bad looking game; in fact I think it's one of the best-looking games out there (or will be) by the time it launches. But it's also among company with quite a few other games that are at least as good-looking and are doing a lot more in terms of logic, physics, AI and game systems plus NPC interactions etc. more than Hellblade 2 will ever do.

So what is Hellblade 2 doing that's pushing Series X to its limits? Are you really trying to say the Series X is tapped out barely four years into the console generation with a game that's on-par visually with certain games released 3 or even 4 years ago for the other platform (PS5) that were also more ambitious in scope to boot AND offered performance options for 60 FPS?

That doesn't sound very good at all IMO. I also don't buy that excuse.
It's going all in on graphics and story telling. With the photogrammetry, lighting, animation, audio, and attention to detail pushes the game to the technical limits. We still haven't heard if the game has raytracing or raytraced lighting or global illumination. Not always does a game require advanced AI or physics to be a truly desirable experience. I've played the original and it was great for what it was with a fairly deep and intimate connection with the protagonist. As of right now, I have no idea what Hellblade 2 has to offer to really defend it other than what I've seen, but the animation is top notch and is rarely paralleled by most other studios.

Sony does a great job with their exclusives, I love their games also and I would agree that overall their production value meets and exceeds that of Microsoft's exclusives by a long shot. However, it seems that many peoples hate here isn't specifically with the game but with Xbox in general and fail to give Microsoft credit where it's due. Hellblade 2 looks like the game where it my need to be given the benefit of the doubt.
 

Bojji

Member
It's going all in on graphics and story telling. With the photogrammetry, lighting, animation, audio, and attention to detail pushes the game to the technical limits. We still haven't heard if the game has raytracing or raytraced lighting or global illumination. Not always does a game require advanced AI or physics to be a truly desirable experience. I've played the original and it was great for what it was with a fairly deep and intimate connection with the protagonist. As of right now, I have no idea what Hellblade 2 has to offer to really defend it other than what I've seen, but the animation is top notch and is rarely paralleled by most other studios.

Sony does a great job with their exclusives, I love their games also and I would agree that overall their production value meets and exceeds that of Microsoft's exclusives by a long shot. However, it seems that many peoples hate here isn't specifically with the game but with Xbox in general and fail to give Microsoft credit where it's due. Hellblade 2 looks like the game where it my need to be given the benefit of the doubt.

Game runs on UE5, it's obviously using lumen and nanite so you can say that RT is used in some form (software or hardware variant).
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
Believe me, I'm also a 60fps evangelist.

I still maintain 60fps won't enhance the experience for this particular game by much though.
I'm telling you, it's graphics for many of us, we want that fluid motion, it feels good to look at while gaming, is like you want 4K or more detailed materials, but I'm our case we want better motion resolution.
 

Bojji

Member
Which we all know are very intense on the CPU/GPU, leaving us with 30FPS.

Software lumen don't punish hardware that much, UE5 is CPU intensive (single threaded) but so far every UE5 game have 60fps mode on consoles (I'm not 100% sure about this).

I don't see anything super CPU intensive in this game so I don't know why they don't want to offer options other than 30fps. If they want to keep resolution as high as possible - ok, but series s will look like ass anyway so why don't offer options to people that will be fine with series s image quality but want higher fps?
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
It still surprises me how DF can be so unprofessional in their assessments. Especially Alex.
This guy does not have the stuff to be a professional, impartial, hardware reviewer.
And Rich really drank that TFLOPs kool-aid. That Crytek engineer several years ago straight-up said he didn't know any engineer who used TFLOPs as a definitive measurement for console's power and got shat on.

The guys at Microsoft really convinced Rich that compute is all that matters and now his brain cannot process how untrue that is.
 

damidu

Member
And Rich really drank that TFLOPs kool-aid. That Crytek engineer several years ago straight-up said he didn't know any engineer who used TFLOPs as a definitive measurement for console's power and got shat on.

The guys at Microsoft really convinced Rich that compute is all that matters and now his brain cannot process how untrue that is.
yeah lol, not sure what sort of indoctrination they went through at microsoft camp, but its funny how perplexed rich gets about the subject every time.
 

Topher

Gold Member
The vast majority of games released this gen so far have had 60 FPS.

Folks really need to stop being dumb and quoting that tweet from before the console even came out as a zinger 4 years later.

No....what was "dumb" was advertising in multiple official spaces that 60 fps would be "standard" for Xbox and then releasing first party games that don't meet that standard. Yes, people should absolutely hold corporate executives accountable to their claims. Last time I checked, console generations do not last "four years" so that "zinger" is perfectly valid to bring up as is the blog post that made the same claim.
 
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Bogroll

Likes moldy games
And here was me thinking everyone was dead as there has been barely anyone in the comparison threads in recent times.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
No....what was "dumb" was advertising in multiple official spaces that 60 fps would be "standard" for Xbox and then releasing first party games that don't meet that standard. Yes, people should absolutely hold corporate executives accountable to their claims. Last time I checked, console generations do not last "four years" so that "zinger" is perfectly valid to bring up as is the blog post that made the same claim.

Ok, but 60 fps has been the standard for most of this gen, with some exceptions. And many games have 120 fps support as well, the architecture allows it just like the tweet said.

I don't even know what the original tweet that response was for, since it has long been deleted.

Go play Dragons Dogma instead of replying to day-old posts Topher :p
 
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Topher

Gold Member
Ok, but 60 fps has been the standard for most of this gen, with some exceptions. And many games have 120 fps support as well, the architecture allows it just like the tweet said.

Yeah....but you are leaning on third party to meet the standard that Microsoft established and yet cannot achieve. Microsoft should be the standard bearer here. Absolutely nothing wrong with people calling them out for misleading consumers with bullshit claims.


Go play Dragons Dogma instead of replying to day-old posts Topher :p

Well your posts don't age well, I'll give you that. :messenger_grinning:
 

yamaci17

Member
Yeah....but you are leaning on third party to meet the standard that Microsoft established and yet cannot achieve. Microsoft should be the standard bearer here. Absolutely nothing wrong with people calling them out for misleading consumers with bullshit claims.




Well your posts don't age well, I'll give you that. :messenger_grinning:
it will be fun to see how xbox folks will spin the tale once the game lands on PC and mediocre CPUs like ryzen 3600 hit 60 fps with rx 6700 at dynamic 1080p
 
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yamaci17

Member
I know it will imo. its just a matter of resolution. I could get 50-60 fps in immortals of aveum with my 2700 (3.7 ghz zen+ cpu which is slower than zen 2 on consoles) provided I drop the resolution enough. I can easily get 60 locked in jusant, another game that uses lumen. robocop, easy peasy.

ue5 corridor level type of games are surprisingly easy to run on CPU. I don't see hellblade being an exception to this rule
 

winjer

Gold Member
it will be fun to see how xbox folks will spin the tale once the game lands on PC and mediocre CPUs like ryzen 3600 hit 60 fps with rx 6700 at dynamic 1080p

The Talos principle 2, also uses UE5, and already does that.
So we can be use that Hellblade will do the same. Or worse.

ybEV4EC.png
 

Shut0wen

Member
It boggles my mind how much epic fucked up with UE5, yeah its a beautiful engine but the engine is beyond current gen and its far to complex to programme, epic will never get the same success as UE4
 

Topher

Gold Member
I know it will imo. its just a matter of resolution. I could get 50-60 fps in immortals of aveum with my 2700 (3.7 ghz zen+ cpu which is slower than zen 2 on consoles) provided I drop the resolution enough. I can easily get 60 locked in jusant, another game that uses lumen. robocop, easy peasy.

ue5 corridor level type of games are surprisingly easy to run on CPU. I don't see hellblade being an exception to this rule

Everything shown looks GPU heavy to me. Obviously Ninja Theory has a hell of a lot of wiggle room between the XSX and XSS GPUs so even if 60fps were not achievable on XSX (doubtful) then at least a 40fps mode with VRR/LFC to smooth things out? Wouldn't that be a better alternative than strict 30fps?
 

BbMajor7th

Member
The shameless shilling they were doing back then is crazy !!
8GwvWDy.jpg


Are you shocked yet ?
Jez Corden is this generation's Patcher - if he puffs out his chest and makes a bold claim, you can bet your life savings on the exact opposite being true. His recent spellbinder was telling people back in January that MS first party games on PlayStation was 'Hopium'. It was less than a month before MS officially announced it. That's how desperately out of the loop he is.
 
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hyperbertha

Member
The game is gonna need to look way, WAY better than anything on the market to warrant 30 fps.

It is not open world, it really seems very stricted and scripted (even more than aw2), i don't see stuff that should bring a cpu on its knees (hundreds of characters on screen, advanced ia or destruction etc.), so it must be a gpu thing.
Remember it's held back by s
 
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