View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBnvES27Uas
Before we get into the issues - and there are issues - let's cover the positives. Many of the visual highlights we discovered in the PC version have made it to the current-gen console versions on PS5, and Series X. Ray-traced ambient occlusion is a superb extra that adds more realistic shading, especially noticeable in dark interiors, without any of the artefacting we'd see in a screen-space solution. Saints Row's lighting and volumetric effects are also spectacular, from the sand whirling behind cars in desert chases at dusk or the way smoke billows in front of headlights. Outside of story missions though, the city sandbox is the focus - the high vehicle count, destruction physics and AI provide potential for real carnage.
Despite these highlights, too often technical issues detract from the experience. Some of these appear to be design choices - like NPCs with low frame-rate animation at range that unfortunately stick out like a sore thumb on PS5 and Series X. Others present as more obvious bugs, little moments of oddness, like broken finishing moves that play out with noticeable gaps between your character model and that of the enemy.
Aside from the bugs, some rendering techniques do look a tad dated. Screen-space reflections on PS5, Series X and S, for example, stick out for running at a distractingly low setting - below PC's top preset. Any mirror image visible in lakes or rivers render at a low resolution and are easily distorted by character movement in the foreground. The rest of the world looks beautiful at a distance, but the SSR just sadly lacks the accuracy to match up to it. There's also noticeable shadow pop-in as you travel outside of the city, with a shadow cascade visibly fading in metres ahead of you. This is something that we spotted in the PC preview that hasn't been fixed for launch in any of the five modes available.
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