Can Kingdom Come Deliverance's tech deliver its ambitious vision?
Every console version tested, with Xbox One X on top.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2018-kingdom-come-deliverance-console-analysis
Visually speaking, the situation is straightforward on console, where both base and enhanced PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles share similar strengths and weaknesses. There's a decent degree of cross-platform conformity here: texture resolution is identical, as is shadow quality, and motion blur sampling. A real issue with the console releases is the presence of low resolution art in some cases - a problem that manifests right away on the title screen, just as it did on the notorious CryEngine-powered Lichdom Battlemage. Equally, low resolution assets show up across the game on the whole, if you stop to look too closely.
Speaking of loading, it's worth making a quick point here. This being an open world game in the vein of Grand Theft Auto or The Elder Scrolls series, you'll be sitting through a lengthy initial loading screen. The problem is, you'll be waiting up to two minutes to just get to the title screen on a standard PS4, before selecting your save from there, which sets off another lengthy wait. PS4 Pro cuts the initial wait down to 1.5 minutes, Xbox One lands at one minute, 13 seconds - while Xbox One X fastest at just 53 seconds.
This sequence follows if you actually load a game too, but thankfully you don't have to wait quite as long. Frustratingly this means another 28 seconds wait on an Xbox One X, and up to 44 seconds on the worst performer - again, the PS4. As a one-off it's not that bad, given the world is one, seamless sprawl you can walk across, from end to end. However, supposing you use a fast travel system in the game, this is roughly the sort of time-frame you can expect on each console - and that could affect your experience of it.
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Overall, there's a simple pecking order if you're choosing to play Kingdom Come Deliverance on consoles. Xbox One X delivers the highest resolution - a 77 per cent boost over PS4 Pro, in fact - and smoother performance on top of that. However, between the sub-30fps drops, the obvious texture and geometry pop-in, and long loading times, it's fair to say that no platform is covered in glory here. It could be a simple matter of optimisation through patches that improves this situation - and we hope that these improvements are eventually delivered. Beyond the surrounding furore, Kingdom Come Deliverance actually has some great ideas behind it. It's a decent alternative to the Elder Scrolls, with some amazing backdrops and an interesting historical hook to its story - it's just the technology at its heart that's struggling to keep up. With this in mind, the PC version may be the way forward for those considering the game, and it's something we're planning to look at shortly.