60fps is transformative, but the Sony console lacks visual effects.
In light of that, the update of The Division 2 for next generation consoles should be quite simple to describe, with results that are totally predictable. Similar to titles like God of War and Days Gone, the state-of-the-art code base is updated with the game aware that it is running on new hardware, unlocking the frame-rate in the process. The end result should be a limited experience of 30fps now running at 60 frames per second – or close to it – with little or nothing changed in the process. This is effectively what you are getting on the Xbox Series X, but something is definitely wrong with the PS5 version, which is lacking important graphics effects – visuals that are not only present on Xbox consoles, but also on PS4 Pro.
But still, the headline is that all versions now run at 60fps, raising the 30fps limit on the next generation experience. It’s much smoother, of course, transformative for a third-person shooter, and there are improvements in loading times as well – in addition to improved texture filtering on Xbox series consoles. In terms of resolution, The Division 2 maintains the game’s impressive temporal reconstruction technique, which means we had to jump a bit to discern the actual native pixel counts. Dynamic resolution is at stake on all systems, which means that the 60fps action is delivered with a resolution range of 900p to 1080p on the Xbox Series S, increasing to a range of 1800p-2160p on the X Series. , the PlayStation 5 operates with a much wider range – 1080p is apparently the lowest recorded resolution, increasing to a maximum of 1890p.
The graphics settings on Xbox consoles appear to be similar to those on the next generation Xbox One X, but the move to solid-state storage and enhanced CPUs increases the efficiency of background streaming systems, with minimized texture and pop-in geometry to some extent – good things! In fact, Xbox series consoles essentially get the game-changing momentum in frame-rate combined with additional visual refinements, mainly provided by the set of back-compatible features at the system level and the raw power of the new hardware.
The Division 2 next generation update is the latest title to be tested by the Digital Foundry team.
It is when we look at the PlayStation 5 more specifically that the situation changes to the strange. If there are problems with the cross-platform SDK or simply bugs that have somehow gone through quality control, it is clear that this version of the game is not exactly where it should be. In short, we are seeing a regression in the visuals that are present on Xbox consoles – and, more importantly, these visual effects are still present in PS4 Pro, which is running on the same code base. The most dramatic change is the complete omission of volumetric lighting and atmospheric rendering: the fog effect that flows from the lamps is removed on the PS5, something that the Snowdrop engine is famous for. There is a fog of smoke. In addition, the interiors lose volumetric lighting. The PS5 is now a 60fps game, but you are losing a lot of the atmosphere and it is hard to believe that this is an intentional effect.
Not so important for the presentation, but still worth noting, is the fact that reflections of the screen space are also absent on the PlayStation 5. Again, they are present on the PlayStation 4 Pro and other systems. Instead, you will see only simple, static cube map effects – usually just the fallback for reflections when screen space data is not available. The final mystery concerns loading times – we get a dramatic improvement on Xbox Series consoles compared to Xbox One X, but interestingly, the PS5 is a few seconds behind other high-end machines when loading the same content. It’s a little mysterious because, normally, the Sony console is at the same level or at least faster.
The good news is that the 60 frames per second update is well done on all systems and perhaps because of its slightly lower resolution and reduced effects, the PlayStation 5 remains more stubborn in its 60fps performance target. Meanwhile, the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles seem to lose frames when there are a lot of transparency effects working on the screen. The junior S-series has a third of the overall computing power, responsible for only a quarter of the target resolution of the X-Series, so that means the lower spec box can provide a more consistent level of overall performance than its big brother, but there’s not much in it really.
Altogether, the experience of 60fps is excellent and in common with similar updates of last generation, it is difficult to go back. It is a simple way to take advantage of the power of the new machines, but it is also the most powerful update that Ubisoft could have provided. If you’ve upgraded to the new consoles and own the game, we highly recommend taking a look – but we hope that Ubisoft can examine the PS5’s problems and restore the game’s full range of effects.