If you’re the kind of person who lets out an audible groan whenever you see the words “console parity” meet in a sentence, and who sighs heavily when you hear talk of the ongoing struggle for developers to reach that 1080p sweet spot, then I feel for you. It wasn’t so long ago when the term frame rate wasn’t even in our lexicon, but now it seems to be the subject of the most discussion on every gaming website out there.
However, while I would firmly agree with those who argue that a high resolution is no match for great art design (Super Mario Galaxy remains one of the prettiest games I’ve ever experienced, and that wasn’t even in HD), I’m also of the belief that frame rate is of huge importance, and I’m a little disappointed that this is something developers are still struggling with in this current console generation.
The recently released Assassin’s Creed Unity has some well-documented performance problems, with it reportedly playing fluidly on high-end PCs (go figure) but struggling on PS4 (despite being the less powerful console, the game allegedly runs much more smoothly on the Xbox One). Digital Foundry submitted a video that showed evidence of this, with the game even falling below 20 frames per second in some segments on the PS4.
Not just a bunch of numbers
For my money, frame rate isn’t just a frivolous batch of numbers that only pedantic shut-ins obsess over. A frame rate that falls below 30fps is noticeable and frankly, with the more powerful technology granted to developers in this current console generation, unacceptable. Two of my most anticipated games of this generation have fallen victim to sub-30 frame rates, leading to performance issues that have left me a little irritated by the clear lack of time put into making sure that the games were technically optimized.
The games in question were Alien: Isolation and The Evil Within. While the former only experienced frame rate issues in cutscenes (which stuttered considerably, standing to dampen the immersion in an otherwise solid sci-fi story), the latter has frame rate dips all over the place.
The Evil Within was let down by a consistently poor frame rate that sought to bring players out of its menacing world.
Playing on the PS4, I found myself immediately propelled out of its foreboding environment as the game began to stutter with every other turn of the camera. Making use of the id Tech 5 engine, previously used to great effect in Rage and Wolfenstein: The New Order, while the game certainly looks good (in a horrifying kind of way), all of that is for naught when protagonist Sebastian is occupying a world which jitters as though it has consumed too much caffeine.
As previously mentioned, while I would prefer a higher resolution in my games playing one in 720p is in no way a turn-off, whereas when a developer announces that a game is set to run at 30fps I immediately become wary. Though 30fps is perfectly manageable, it seems that the majority of recently released games aren’t locked at that frame mate, meaning they can fall far below the mark and, in some cases, dip below the 20s. Even if you aren’t a frame rate aficionado, it’s impossible to not notice the difference.
Is it really more “cinematic?”
Prior to the release of Assassin’s Creed Unity, Ubisoft went on record to say that presenting the game at 30fps made it more “cinematic.” To put it bluntly, that’s a fallacy. For my money no game is more “cinematic,” whatever that actually means, than The Last of Us, and in The Last of Us Remastered the game was bumped up to a 60fps frame rate and it ran like butter.
Ubisoft says that 30fps makes a game more “cinematic,” but we strongly disagree.
Not once did I pause the game and ponder about how I wished the camera was a little more sluggish, or how I hoped that in particularly crowded areas the game would notably struggle. This is the way that games should play in 2014, I thought, though I do not expect that this should always be the case, at least not for another year or so.
With that being said, I do expect that games that launch on current-gen consoles to not fall below that 30fps mark. While Assassin’s Creed Unity certainly looks beautiful, with it featuring wonderfully detailed environments and tons of unique character designs for the populace of its world that simply wouldn’t have been possible on the PS3 or Xbox 360, for my money all the time spent making its environment looks pretty is severely undercut if players are forced to deal with a jerky frame rate that can bring the game down to a snail’s pace.
Related: Official Xbox One Assassin’s Creed Unity Bundle Giveaway!
Though you may think that those who shout about console parity, resolution and frame rate until they go blue in the face are dullards, I’d strongly suggest that you pay closer attention to information regarding the latter. As someone who was never previously concerned all too much by the technical aspects of games, I certainly am.
