Just sounds like both versions are not optimized at all.
The Evil Within is a good game, possibly even a great one, but what's clear after a few days' testing is that it suffers from technical issues which prevent it reaching its full potential. Despite being built using id Tech 5, an engine conceived to deliver 60fps on all formats, the game has genuine issues even hitting 30fps - and that's factoring in the mammoth 'cinematic' borders that vacuum up almost 30 per cent of the screen real estate.
As we observed in our performance analysis, the game essentially operates at a native rendering resolution of 1920x768 on PS4 and 1600x640 on Xbox One, which is really just 1080p vs 900p with those large black bars inserted. The dynamic resolution scaling seen in Rage and Wolfenstein: The New Order is gone, so we're looking at a fixed framebuffer on both consoles backed up with what appears to be standard FXAA to tackle aliasing.
The basic anti-aliasing technique does a reasonable job eliminating edge aliasing, but on Xbox One the combination of an upscaled image with FXAA and heavy post-processing results in a rather blurry experience. A soft-focus depth-of-field effect is also utilised throughout, which also cleans up distant pixel shimmering. Its intensity varies scene to scene, but the effect creates an interesting juxtaposition between high-contrast foreground objects and soft-focus background elements. Combined with the narrow field of view, the game does indeed deliver on its cinematic aspirations with some beautifully framed sequences but, unfortunately, this comes at the expense of playability.
Then there's the issue with the Xbox One version we mentioned previously, which persists as of this writing. The game's renderer seems to be out of sync with the background simulation, producing a persistent stutter even when the frame-rate holds steady at 30fps. Anyone familiar with the frame-skipping issues present in a number of Bethesda-produced Gamebryo titles, such as Fallout 3 and New Vegas, will know exactly how frustrating this persist tic can be.
Looking at the PS4 and Xbox One versions side by side, the results are actually rather interesting. Ignoring the sync issues on Xbox One, the minimum frame-rate is often a touch higher than PS4. The moments that this occurs, however, seem to be tied to texture decoding where the PS4 appears to struggle a bit more. Once these hiccups are passed, performance between the two becomes closer. After playing through half the game on both platforms, we have to give the nod to the PS4 version when it comes to performance. Texture streaming can cause greater dips on PS4 but the overall performance is generally smoother, while the Xbox One version is stuck with a constant stutter that impacts any sense of fluidity.
The Evil Within is a good game, possibly even a great one, but what's clear after a few days' testing is that it suffers from technical issues which prevent it reaching its full potential. Despite being built using id Tech 5, an engine conceived to deliver 60fps on all formats, the game has genuine issues even hitting 30fps - and that's factoring in the mammoth 'cinematic' borders that vacuum up almost 30 per cent of the screen real estate.
As we observed in our performance analysis, the game essentially operates at a native rendering resolution of 1920x768 on PS4 and 1600x640 on Xbox One, which is really just 1080p vs 900p with those large black bars inserted. The dynamic resolution scaling seen in Rage and Wolfenstein: The New Order is gone, so we're looking at a fixed framebuffer on both consoles backed up with what appears to be standard FXAA to tackle aliasing.
The basic anti-aliasing technique does a reasonable job eliminating edge aliasing, but on Xbox One the combination of an upscaled image with FXAA and heavy post-processing results in a rather blurry experience. A soft-focus depth-of-field effect is also utilised throughout, which also cleans up distant pixel shimmering. Its intensity varies scene to scene, but the effect creates an interesting juxtaposition between high-contrast foreground objects and soft-focus background elements. Combined with the narrow field of view, the game does indeed deliver on its cinematic aspirations with some beautifully framed sequences but, unfortunately, this comes at the expense of playability.
Then there's the issue with the Xbox One version we mentioned previously, which persists as of this writing. The game's renderer seems to be out of sync with the background simulation, producing a persistent stutter even when the frame-rate holds steady at 30fps. Anyone familiar with the frame-skipping issues present in a number of Bethesda-produced Gamebryo titles, such as Fallout 3 and New Vegas, will know exactly how frustrating this persist tic can be.
Looking at the PS4 and Xbox One versions side by side, the results are actually rather interesting. Ignoring the sync issues on Xbox One, the minimum frame-rate is often a touch higher than PS4. The moments that this occurs, however, seem to be tied to texture decoding where the PS4 appears to struggle a bit more. Once these hiccups are passed, performance between the two becomes closer. After playing through half the game on both platforms, we have to give the nod to the PS4 version when it comes to performance. Texture streaming can cause greater dips on PS4 but the overall performance is generally smoother, while the Xbox One version is stuck with a constant stutter that impacts any sense of fluidity.
Does The Evil Within manage to rise above its performance issues and live up to its potential? Well, yes, it's a solid and interesting game. Of the two console builds, PS4 gets the nod - the higher resolution is welcome and the game simulation is more closely linked to the renderer, meaning less stutter than the Xbox One version. However, while improved over the Microsoft console, the PS4 game still feels highly under-optimised. Indeed, as things stand, with the possible exception of Thief, The Evil Within probably has more performance issues than any other title we've tested on the new wave of consoles - and that's a real shame, as there's a remarkably good game here let down by its surrounding technology.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-the-evil-within-face-off
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-the-evil-within-face-off
