Is this a scalable, performant version of one of PS5’s most demanding games?
And that’s my first takeaway: the basics are done right.
The ability to turn off letterboxing during cutscenes is also impressive.
This is aided by DirectStorage, though GPU decompression isn’t enabled.
Generally though, based on my testing so far Forbidden West on PC offers a smooth gameplay experience.
Take anisotropic filtering, which runs at 2x, 4x or 8x based on the surface on PS5.
Level of detail and terrain quality are also improved, with more detailed brush and level geometry.
Beyond that, the upgrades are less obvious.
Indeed, native 1440p or 1440p DLSS resolves more detail than PS5’s performance mode.
On top of image quality upgrades, there are also performance upgrades on PC.
In general, I think they are fine - with one caveat.
To achieve the targets set out in the spec sheet, dynamic resolution scaling is required for consistency.
Speaking of changes, there are some things that I would like the game to add in future updates.
These are smaller blemishes, but ones I noticed right away without even playing the PS5 version to compare.
Those are my initial thoughts on Horizon Forbidden West in its pre-launch state.
