Shadow of Tomb Raider patch tested on PS5 and Xbox Series • Eurogamer.net

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A surprise update recently arrived for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, bringing the best of both worlds to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles: high resolution that looks great on 4K screens, as well as a 60fps target. And if the frame rate consistency isn’t good enough for you, the old 1080p performance mode will remain. In our opinion, the revised Quality Mode is the one to play, and the differences in how the PS5 and Xbox Series X present it are interesting.

At the most basic level, Shadow of the Tomb Raider on Xbox Series consoles now has the official patch tag ‘Optimized for Series X/S’, indicating a native app, while the upgrade is still flagged as a PlayStation 4 title when played on PS5. However, it is quite clear that despite the new label on the Xbox, the game is still running on the older XDK – it has not been ported to the new GDK and therefore does not take advantage of the more advanced features of the RDNA 2 GPU. We can be sure of this simply because the game looks And it works just as it did with Microsoft’s FPS Boost upgrade: performance is identical, resolution is the same – 2016p in the X series, 900p in the S series. The difference for Microsoft hardware is that the progress error introduced by FPS Boost is now addressed. In fact, FPS Boost was made official by Square-Enix and the bug disappeared.

The changes made to the PlayStation 5 while playing the game in accordance with backwards compatibility are more interesting. Resolution mode works at 1872p with a 30fps cap on the PS4 Pro and until the patch arrived, it was the same on PlayStation 5. Now, however, Square-Enix has switched things up: the Pro still runs at 1872p but the PS5 does at 2160 pixels, with improved performance via a chessboard rendering accelerator. It’s an interesting choice by the developer – the suggestion is that 60fps cannot be achieved by keeping the original version. Checkerboarding reduces the number of pixels but allows the PS5 to offer a higher level of performance.

Here’s a fresh look at Shadow of the Tomb Raider, playing on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles as of patch 2.01.

Although the resolution mode targets 60fps – and does a good job overall – neither the PS5 nor the Series X can lock it, so 1080p performance mode still has a role to play, albeit a low-importance one. It basically removes all remaining GPU-level bottlenecks and gets a flat 60fps streak, the only remaining performance drops coming from minor cues associated with camera cut-offs during cinema. Many games do this: it’s a way to start showing effects like motion blur, and even physics effects, with additional frame buffering and ensuring that all frames are handled by TAA.

As for how the Series X and PS5 compare in their respective resolution modes, Microsoft’s hardware pushes far more pixels than its Sony counterpart, giving marginal improvement overall in image quality. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 5 gets pretty close to the 60fps goal, struggling only in areas with a lot of transparency effects — the flood sequence early in the game is the ultimate exercise.

The X series is basically the same, but with less stability and a further drop in performance. Once again, alpha effects are the main culprit: breaking waves and even areas of dense, transparent forest see the console running continuously into the 1950s. It’s nice to see the resolution on par with the Xbox One X version, but you can’t help but feel it’s paying for it – although if you’re playing on a variable refresh rate display, the effect is dwarfed.

For Xbox users, the new patch replaces the FPS Boost version of Shadow of the Tomb Raider. We’ve taken a look at that here, along with a slew of other FPS Boost titles released in the same batch.

When comparing the two precision mode controllers, we got an interesting contrast. There’s no doubt that the PS5 delivers smoother performance: 4K’s checkerboard technology works well and generally allows for tighter locking at 60fps. The X Series has a sharper picture – a picture that’s closer to true 4K in raw detail, but in motion, the detail disintegration you encounter with the PS5’s checkerboard rendering is disguised by in-game TAA and motion blur. It’s a powerful use of technology that makes it close enough to pass as a local presentation. The savings the PS5 gets in terms of frame rate might also be stark as well. At some points we’re seeing a progression of around 10fps in favor of the PS5, and that feels right as a more perfect 60fps experience.

Of course, we have to mention the Xbox Series S as well. The reality of this version is that it hits 60fps with absolutely no problem, at least from the first few hours. Even the hardest hit areas of the Series X don’t bother the Series S. It’s a great lock at 60 fps, but the 900p resolution is a bit lower: it doesn’t mean you get aliases or flicker, you just get a sharpening reduction. It’s a little tooblurry. The end result isn’t too great to be seen on a large 4K screen, although at least a smoother frame rate is secured. The 1080p60 option, though, was a good bonus.

In the end, this is an interesting patch. On Xbox Series consoles, Shadow of the Tomb Raider patch 2.01 essentially makes the FPS Boost upgrade official, providing identical performance but addressing the progress bug. Meanwhile, the changes to the PS5 are more substantial – it’s one of the few backwards compatibility upgrades we’ve seen that actually changes the resolution as well as removing the frame rate cap. Checkerboarding does well at lowering the resolution with minimal image quality while at the same time allowing the console to run to a mostly locked 60fps. Regardless of platform, a great game has received a better way to play – and if nothing else, it’s a new excuse to play it if you haven’t already, or revisit it if you have. The game still looks amazing and benefits greatly from the performance upgrade.

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