"Horizon Forbidden West" might look absolutely amazing on the PlayStation 5, but even the original PS4 from 2013 is still pretty good at running it.
horizon forbidden west screen
Guerilla Games' latest open-world adventure was recently tested on the base PlayStation 4, and it was revealed that there aren't a lot of major differences in terms of performance or visual quality. This means that you won't explicitly need a new console to enjoy the beauty of Aloy's next adventure.
According to The Verge, the base PS4 version of "Forbidden West" looked pretty much identical to that running on a more powerful PS4 Pro and a PS5. They argue that the differences were "negligible" in terms of pure visuals unless you're actively looking for them.
Their tests concluded that the PS4 version of the game only suffers from a handful of graphical issues. For one, the textures on the PS5 are much sharper and more detailed, and there's the obvious bump in the game's frame rate. Furthermore, the PS4 version of "Forbidden West" does exhibit some pop-in from time to time, but you won't even notice it, especially if you're running fast through the game's massive open world.
Developer Guerilla Games recently shared the first gameplay capture of "Forbidden West" on a PlayStation 4, after constant trailers showcasing it prominently on the newer PS5. Here is one video showcasing Aloy fighting one of the new machines, called a Tremortusk, which was shared on Twitter:
Get ready to.... FIGHT! 🏹
See Aloy take on a Tremortusk in the wild, captured on PS4! #HorizonForbiddenWest #RiseAboveOurRuin pic.twitter.com/DOPzxdpdH0— Guerrilla (@Guerrilla) February 10, 2022
The game runs at a solid 30 FPS on the base PS4 with a so-called "checkerboarded" 1080p resolution, as mentioned in a tech review by IGN. As for the PS4 Pro version, it runs at a checkerboarded 1800p, while the PS5 runs the game at either native 4K (Resolution mode) or checkerboarded 1800p (Performance mode) like the PS4 Pro:
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How Is 'Horizon Forbidden West' Doing This On The Base PS4?
The answer to the question is simple: Guerilla Games didn't deliberately forget about Sony's last-gen console during development.
In fact, it was revealed in an interview with Game Informer that much of "Forbidden West's" development was done with the PlayStation 4's hardware in mind. That includes the original console and the more powerful PS4 Pro:
What Guerilla likely did here is something amazing, considering some of the most visually stunning games of the current generation (i.e. "Cyberpunk 2077") ran like absolute garbage on the base PS4 when it first came out.
But in order to achieve the technical feat, the developers at the studio had to make obvious compromises. For one, the PS4 version, while still looking incredible, lacks ray tracing and the brand-new "hero lighting" technique that makes Aloy's body "pop" in both gameplay and cutscenes:
"Horizon Forbidden West" comes out on February 18th.
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Story posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce
