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Battlefront

Star Wars Battlefront is going to be a big bargain. This long-awaited follow up to the PS2-era franchise is set to launch within a month of Star Wars Episode VII, and the nostalgia lonely volition inevitably propel the sales sky loftier. Over the last couple of days, EA has been running a beta test of across the PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and I've been watching information technology closely.

At present that the public has had an opportunity to come across get-go-hand what DICE has been working on, let's examine how this beta holds up from a technical perspective. Of grade, the terminal release may exist significantly unlike, so accept everything here with a grain of salt.

Allow's start off with the bad news: the PS4 version is merely running at 1600×900. It'south definitely disappointing, but as yous can see above, the end outcome still looks fairly solid. The visual allegiance is roughly on-par with the "loftier" settings on the PC build, merely the pop-in is substantially more noticeable on the PS4.

While the game still can't quite maintain a solid 60fps frame rate in some areas, there is hope. The dips are smaller than nosotros've seen in previous builds, and it's not unusual for developers to be optimizing performance right up until release twenty-four hour period — sometimes months after release equally well.

Weirdly, the split up-screen multiplayer actually halves the target frame rate to 30fps, and renders ii views at 1920×540 (making a complete 1080p picture show). Afterwards spending and then much time enjoying Metal Gear Solid Five at 60fps, I'k a fleck spoiled. I think I'll pass on this mode all together.

If y'all want a better look at how the game holds up on a small map, check out this extended footage I captured directly from the PS4. Only brand sure to creepo the quality setting to "1080p60" on YouTube for the all-time results.

Over on the Xbox Ane, the situation isn't quite every bit pretty. Information technology's stuck at just 1280×720, and the Digital Foundry breakdown shows exactly how poorly it stands upward to the PS4 version. While the lighting effects and textures are nearly identical across platforms, the significantly lower resolution on Microsoft's console is a hindrance when you're dealing with long-distance enemies.

Even with the compromised resolution, the Xbox 1 version still drops frames more than often than the PS4. Keep in mind, this is all the same just a beta. It's theoretically possible that DICE will be able to offering a rock-solid 60fps past the time the November 17th release date rolls around, just I'll remain skeptical until I see information technology for myself.

Equally for the PC version, our own Joel Hruska recently examined how well this beta performs in the real globe. As long equally you're using fifty-fifty a pocket-sized discrete GPU, y'all won't have much of a problem running at 1080p. Apparently, you'll need to invest in college-end cards if you want to play at higher resolutions, merely these results seem promising.

Technical issues aside, how does the game hold up? Exactly how'd you lot'd expect. I played effectually online and offline, and I didn't much enjoy myself from a gameplay perspective. The visuals continue to impress (especially the way the engine handles light), but the moment-to-moment gameplay feels a little dated to me.

It doesn't aid that this genre isn't my cup of tea, but this beta doesn't play as well as other contempo first-person shooters either. The mobility improvements we've seen with Advanced Warfare and Titanfall aren't fully represented here, and so the motility always felt a little sluggish in comparison. Just if you've been waiting a decade for a Star Wars shooter, this seems to exist a competent — if slightly bland — execution on that idea.

Every bit information technology stands, I can't recommend pre-ordering this game — specially on the Xbox One. Await until reviews hit, come across what problems still exist on solar day one, and then make your purchasing decision. After the buggy nightmare that was Battlefield 4, you tin't exist too conscientious, right?