The Guerrilla Games studio has rolled out an update for Horizon Forbidden West. It focuses in particular on the Performance mode. And it’s day and night compared to the output rendering.
Since its launch in February 2022, Horizon Forbidden West offers two display modes: one allows 4K graphics with exemplary fidelity, the other focuses more on performance, with a guaranteed 60 fps framerate. I remember very well my first minutes testing the two options offered on PS5, to quickly make the following observation: the Performance mode was simply missed.
Certainly, we gained in fluidity, but at the cost of a very, even too important sacrifice on the overall rendering. Besides the loss of detail linked to a logically lower definition, everything flickered and it was not very pleasant for the eyes. So much so that I did not hesitate to note “The disappointing Performance mode” in the negative points of my test.Horizon Forbidden West on PS5. In my eyes, it did not honor the titanic work of Guerrilla Games on the art direction, until becoming a real flaw.
And then the studio rolled out a new update for Horizon Forbidden West, formalized on the occasion of the State of Play broadcast on the night of June 2 to 3. Might as well admit it frankly: the Performance mode has nothing to do with what it was before.
Praise be the final patch of Horizon Forbidden West
“ We’ve reworked temporal anti-aliasing to improve visual fidelity in Performance mode on PS5 and rendering on PS4 Pro Guerrilla Games said in a statement posted to PlayStation Blog on June 3. Praise the improvements, because the visual experience is now sumptuous. With this patch (free, let’s remember), the Performance mode is very close to the rendering offered by the Loyalty mode. You really have to pay attention to small details (foliage for example) or depth of field to detect differences. It’s amazing, especially since the framerate at 60 fps does not weaken, proof that the developers have managed to optimize successfully.
We would almost want to (re)discover the entire hearty adventure Horizon Forbidden West in these ideal conditions and, above all, ultra comfortable. Because if the Loyalty mode remains the most beautiful, the lower framerate tends to hang a little, which is not always very pleasant. Above all, after tasting 60 fps, you simply don’t want to go back. Do you want proof ? Watch this comparison video proving the benefits of the 1.14 update:
This bodes well for the future of the PS5, a console capable of running very nice games with welcome fluidity. It’s just a shame to wait so long after launch to enjoy it.
Our comparisons (good luck spotting differences at first glance) :
Please note that Guerrilla Games will continue to to lean on Horizon Forbidden West in the future. On the program: a variable refresh rate (better synchronization between the number of images generated by the PS5 and that displayed by your television) and a 40 fps mode. The latter could be an excellent compromise between quality and performance. Be careful, however, not to multiply the modes under penalty of transforming the PS5 into a PC.
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