Shadow of the Tomb Raider was one of the last generation’s best-looking games. However, it's unsurprisingly starting to fall behind modern AAA titles. Fortunately, a recent patch finally gave it 4K support, or close enough, on current consoles.
YouTube channel Digital Foundry recently reviewed the graphical update in a video that compares Shadow of the Tomb Raider on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Series S. Digital foundry tested the game’s most taxing scenes on various settings to get an in-depth look at its performance. The results show an upgrade on all three consoles, though each platform and some clear strengths and weaknesses.
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One thing worth noting is that Shadow of the Tomb Raider still doesn’t run 4K natively. This is to be expected on the Series S but is also true on the higher performance consoles. The PlayStation 5 achieves 4K through checkerboard rendering. This leaves behind a few visual artifacts, though the game does a fair job concealing rough edges behind motion bur and anti-aliasing. Meanwhile, the Xbox Series X renders Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 3584 × 2016 pixels, just shy of the 3840 × 2160 of true 4K HD. In this regard, Series X attempts to sacrifice some resolution for performance. This means it doesn’t need to rely on checkerboard rendering, preventing the rough edges found on PS5. However, Digital Foundry notes it’s a marginal improvement.
PS5 and Series X users can run Shadow of the Tomb Raider on either High Frame Rate or High-Resolution Mode. The former caps the resolution at 1080p but offers a smooth 60 fps for nearly the entire game. This puts them in the same league as the Xbox Series S, which lacks a High-Resolution mode. All three consoles run about the same in High Frame Rate Mode, with only occasional dips below 60 fps. Some players might notice the occasional freeze-frame during certain cinematics, but it remains the best option for players that value smooth frame rate.
Alternatively, the High-Resolution mode renders the game in 4K, but with some noticeable dips in frame rate. The Series X suffers the most in this area, with occasional plunges into the mid-40s. However, that only happens during the most graphically taxing moments, such as the flood set-piece early in the game. This is offset by the Series X’s variable refresh rates, though only on compatible 4K monitors and TVs. Noticeable but much less extreme dips also occur in Shadow of The Tomb Raider’s denser jungle regions. The PS5 also lost frame rate at many of the same points, though the effect was not as severe, with FPS never dropping below the 50s.
In short, the three consoles are about equal when running Shadow of the Tomb Rader on the lower resolution High Frame-rate mode. However, checkerboard rendering on the PS5 makes it the clear winner on the High-Resolution setting. Regardless of which is best, the player should still experience a noticeable upgrade on all three systems.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox One X/S.
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