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Alone in the Dark - PS5/Xbox Series X/S Tech Review - A Survival Horror Classic Revamped



The original Alone in the Dark - hailing all the way back from 1992 - is re-imagined with Unreal Engine 4. The story and puzzle elements are dramatically overhauled, where PS5, Series X and S strive for 60fps gameplay in a decent performance mode. However there are technical rough points to this release which detract from what could be a much better game.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
- Built on Unreal Engine 4
- Current-gen only, no last-gen versions
- Visual designs praised but the game has bugs, rough spots etc
- Effects like blood and fire are notably low quality
- The game also crashed in DF testing on Series S (adams note: I can attest to the game being crash-prone)

- All consoles have Quality and Performance modes
- Besides resolution, no visual changes in any settings

Quality Mode:
- PS5 / SX DRS from native 4K to rare drops to 1836p in cut-scenes
- Series S: Typically 900p
- PS5 and SX are identical in visual settings like textures and shadows
- Series S has lower resolution textures in many places.
- HUD on Series S runs at 1080p

- Quality mode targets 30 FPS but has inconsistent frame-pacing issues
- All 3 consoles suffer improper frame-pacing, however the frame rate is locked to 30

Performance Mode:
- More dynamic DRS which can range from 1080p to 2160p
- Often solid frame-rate with streaming hitches, SX has some more frequent streaming hitches compared to PS5
- Some cut-scenes and combat can drop frame rate to mid 40s on both, general traversal is mostly 60
- Series S DRS from 450p to 900p, typically 684p
- Series S has the least FPS drops during combat
- However it still has some drops in cut-scenes and streaming stutters like SX
 
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- Built on Unreal Engine 4
- Current-gen only, no last-gen versions
- Visual designs praised but the game has bugs, rough spots etc
- Effects like blood and fire are notably low quality
- The game also crashed in DF testing on Series S (adams note: I can attest to the game being crash-prone)

- All consoles have Quality and Performance modes
- Besides resolution, no visual changes in any settings

Quality Mode:
- PS5 / SX DRS from native 4K to rare drops to 1836p in cut-scenes
- Series S: Typically 900p
- PS5 and SX are identical in visual settings like textures and shadows
- Series S has lower resolution textures in many places.
- HUD on Series S runs at 1080p

- Quality mode targets 30 FPS but has inconsistent frame-pacing issues
- All 3 consoles suffer improper frame-pacing, however the frame rate is locked to 30

Performance Mode:
- More dynamic DRS which can range from 1080p to 2160p
- Often solid frame-rate with streaming hitches, SX has some more frequent streaming hitches compared to PS5
- Some cut-scenes and combat can drop frame rate to mid 40s on both, general traversal is mostly 60
- Series S DRS from 450p to 900p, typically 684p
- Series S has the least FPS drops during combat
- However it still has some drops in cut-scenes and streaming stutters like SX

Thanks! I was getting ready to @ you lol.
 
- Built on Unreal Engine 4
- Current-gen only, no last-gen versions
- Visual designs praised but the game has bugs, rough spots etc
- Effects like blood and fire are notably low quality
- The game also crashed in DF testing on Series S (adams note: I can attest to the game being crash-prone)

- All consoles have Quality and Performance modes
- Besides resolution, no visual changes in any settings

Quality Mode:
- PS5 / SX DRS from native 4K to rare drops to 1836p in cut-scenes
- Series S: Typically 900p
- PS5 and SX are identical in visual settings like textures and shadows
- Series S has lower resolution textures in many places.
- HUD on Series S runs at 1080p

- Quality mode targets 30 FPS but has inconsistent frame-pacing issues
- All 3 consoles suffer improper frame-pacing, however the frame rate is locked to 30

Performance Mode:
- More dynamic DRS which can range from 1080p to 2160p
- Often solid frame-rate with streaming hitches, SX has some more frequent streaming hitches compared to PS5
- Some cut-scenes and combat can drop frame rate to mid 40s on both, general traversal is mostly 60
- Series S DRS from 450p to 900p, typically 684p
- Series S has the least FPS drops during combat
- However it still has some drops in cut-scenes and streaming stutters like SX
Series S is aging like milk! Who could have guessed it 3 years ago? the bigger consoles renders about 4 times the pixels here with better textures.
 
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rofif

Can’t Git Gud
This game looks so ugly.
I want to paly this because it could be a good game... but it does seem like forever backlog game
Also ... Series S res ok, I get it... but textures too? christ
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Series S is aging like milk! Who could have guessed it 3 years ago?


On the flip side, it's the best playing version with the least drops :p

This game looks so ugly.
I want to paly this because it could be a good game... but it does seem like forever backlog game


Get it on rent or on a deep discount, I played the PS5 version last week similarly. IMO DF underplays the streaming stutters, I encountered them a *lot* during my play.
 
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Bojji

Gold Member
This game looks so ugly.
I want to paly this because it could be a good game... but it does seem like forever backlog game
Also ... Series S res ok, I get it... but textures too? christ

It isn't ugly, I just completed it on PC today. Game is full of high res artwork and textures, models are high quality too and lighting is baked and quite good most of the time.

It has typical UE4 problems like stuttering, animations are also quite bad. HDR is very good on the other hand.

It's a decent game overall, I enjoyed it. 7/10.


Series S version is a joke, 900p GFX mode vs native 4K on other consoles and 450p performance...

damn-mad.gif
 
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On the flip side, it's the best playing version with the least drops :p




Get it on rent or on a deep discount, I played the PS5 version last week similarly. IMO DF underplays the streaming stutters, I encountered them a *lot* during my play.
That's not what they said on the video. There are maybe less drops during shooting + transparencies (because of the ridiculous low resolution, so it looks pixelated during those moments as they said in the video) but more I/O related drops when moving fast like on XSX.

except rapid movements is more on series X I've noticed. It seems streaming assets between areas of the mana produce more hitches and frame-rate dips overall... in effect this manifests as larger clusters of drops frames on series X just as we approach any new room... It's an extra distraction that the game doesn't really need...[about XSS framerate] albeit with similar blips and hitches to series X along the way

So according to them XSS runs better than on XSX but not better than on PS5 overall.

Geez I wonder why there would be less I/O drops on PS5 during gameplay? And they have no informed opinion about the matter as experts? Because when XSX runs 20% better in compute / bandwidth bounded scenes they do have plenty of opinions about it.
 

Bojji

Gold Member
Geez I wonder why there would be less I/O drops on PS5 during gameplay? And they have no informed opinion about the matter as experts? Because when XSX runs 20% better in compute / bandwidth bounded scenes they do have plenty of opinions about it.

Game actually using PS5 I/O hardware and software? PC version drops like Xbox when new areas are loading.
 
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Alan Wake

Member
This is actually a pretty good game. Great atmosphere, mostly good looking and decent puzzles. Played it on Series X, btw.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
I guess we know the reason games simply don't offer a quality mode on series s.

Performance mode, you mean?

Also ... Series S res ok, I get it... but textures too? christ

The vast majority of games have had lower texture settings in the Series S versions than the flagship consoles. MS themselves stated this when discussing the Series S targets and its RAM setup.

But you already knew that, since it’s a staple in any DF analysis since the gen began.
 

Darsxx82

Member
So according to them XSS runs better than on XSX but not better than on PS5 overall.

Geez I wonder why there would be less I/O drops on PS5 during gameplay? And they have no informed opinion about the matter as experts? Because when XSX runs 20% better in compute / bandwidth bounded scenes they do have plenty of opinions about it.
It's funny, because in XSX here there are example that you describe and I also don't see that he has mentioned or offered an informed opinion about it, despite the fact that there is a 10-11fps advantage in the same scene... Imagine that they would have ignored that if it had that advantage on PS5🤷🏻🙃

Perhaps he has simply limited itself to reporting frame drops at the times where they occur in each version without even assessing differences or reasons. Or that giving opinions on advantages and disadvantages in IO is tricky when in many cases these problems are usually solved in XS in successive patches. Or that the PC version has similar problems....

But hey, being prejudiced towards DF is what It does. See only some things and not others.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
That's not what they said on the video.

It would help if you actually timestamp the right section in the video.

The combat area, where both PS5 and SX drop to mid 50s seems to run locked at 60 on SS.


ft8qQ3i.jpg






--


Secondly, I'm very surprised the usual Tom detractors are so quiet here to point out the things he didn't say in the video


The cut-scenes can run up to 14 FPS higher on Series X.


MmEbtfX.png


7AtPxkt.png
 
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