Eurogamer tested backward compatibility on PlayStation 5
Backward compatibility is one of the important components of PS5, and yet until today the ban on publishing reviews was lifted, we knew very little about it: how good this feature is, whether old games are improving on the new system, and so on. The details were revealed thanks to Digital Foundry.
In some scenarios, the functionality rude and does not offer a whole range of advantages that Microsoft has implemented in similar cases on the Xbox the X the Series. But PlayStation 5 improves old projects where necessary: if the game runs at an unlocked frame rate or has the option to turn off the 30fps limitation, the same improvements are enabled as on the Xbox Series X. In fact, the performance increases significantly more on the PS5 on PS4 Pro versus Xbox Series X versus Xbox One X (which makes sense since Xbox One X is more powerful than PS4 Pro). On top of that, there is a huge boost in processor power, which in many cases allows PS4 Pro games to run at a solid 60fps.
And this is without considering the fact that Sony has begun rolling out updates for the PlayStation 5 for its key games. This includes Ghost of Tsushima from Sucker Punch Productions, which runs almost flawlessly on the PS5 at 60fps; and Days Gone by Bend Studio – the same 60fps on PS5. Of course, the appearance of a similar update for The Last of Us: Part II is only a matter of time.
Often the weak cores of the old console did not allow for maximum frame rates on the PS4 – now in such cases, there will always be a maximum impact. For example, in the high frame rate mode in Rising of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the PS4 Pro, there were sometimes strong frequency drops. The same was the case in the unlocked frame rate mode in Final Fantasy XV in Graphics Mode Lite, or when launching the Paris location in Hitman. Or Dark Souls 3. Now in all these cases, we are talking about a solid 60 frames / s. And in Just Cause 3, with big explosions and effects, a weak processor sometimes lowered the frequency to 20 frames / s – the PS5 always demonstrates a solid 30 frames / s.
Crysis Remastered has a 1080p performance mode for PS4 Pro that drastically lowers the render resolution and unlocks the frame rate. The PS4 Pro often dropped below 30 fps in the second mission, and the PlayStation 5 played the game at a stable 60 fps. I would also like to see the unlocked frequency in the heavier modes of this shooter.
From a GPU perspective, the math looks promising. The PS4 Pro has a GPU with 4.2 teraflops, while the PS5, with its 10.3 teraflops, delivers 2.45x theoretical graphics performance without taking into account new technologies. That’s more than the gain in Xbox Series X over Xbox One X.
There are many other games shown in this video. For example, Knack delivers 60fps in a high-res mode where the PS4 Pro is just above 20fps. But Sony is still inferior in backward compatibility to Microsoft. There is no analog to the groundbreaking Xbox Auto HDR technology (automatic high dynamic range in games with standard dynamic range), as well as hardware anisotropic filtering 16X. Sometimes the console will display warnings when launching games like Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition or DOOM Eternal (both games worked great at this).
Some games clearly can’t use the full power of the PS5. For example, the disc version of Assassin’s Creed Unity with an unlocked frame rate delivers flawless 60 fps on the Xbox Series X. And on the PS5 in heavy modes, it sometimes produces a little over 30 fps.
Of course, all games that were targeting a solid 30fps on the PS4 will work pretty much the same on the PS5. But overall, the prospects are good. The PlayStation 5 offers very good backward compatibility with previous-generation games, comparable to the newer Microsoft consoles. Sony’s solution lacks the finesse and sky-high resolutions that Series X does when playing the Xbox One X versions, but it certainly has its advantages. The key takeaway is this: PS4 users looking to upgrade to PS5 can relax. Their older PS4 games will work and, at times, much better (even without taking into account the speedy SSD).