The Ascent for Xbox/PC: The Digital Foundry Tech Review

Created by a core staff of just 12 developers, The Ascent is a visually stunning title shown in various forms as a next-gen showcase - but it's actually built to straddle the generational divide, and to deliver ray tracing via DX12 on PC! See how this game looks running on all Xboxes and PC in John Linneman's tech review.
Join the DF Patreon for pristine video downloads, behind the scenes content, early access to DF Retro, early access to DF Direct Weekly and much, much more: bit.ly/3jEGjvx
Subscribe for more Digital Foundry: bit.ly/DFSubscribe
Want some DF-branded tee-shirts, mugs, hoodies or pullovers? Check out our store: bit.ly/2BqRTt0

[@rsjet]

Great overview, but the line that most excited me w as that it has"LOCAL CO-OP" !! Wow. This is so great to hear because there is a serious lack of new good local co-op games. I dont always want to play online, I want to play with my wife or friends over in person! Please developers, add more local co-op!

[@DarkReturns1]

I agree 💯

[@Alketbi93]

totally agree

[@JudeTheYoutubePoopersubscribe]

Any game with online Co op should absolutely include local Co op. Even if 60fps games have to go down to 30fps for it work I'll happily take that to be able to play with my brother on the couch instead of us having to set up 2 different xbox and tv's.

[@Tryton4551]

Goddamn that last gen loading time is an annoying issue, SSD is a must nowadays

[@5izzy557]

meh.

[@maratah]

SSD is the normal since nearly 10 years on pc, 5400rpm hdd isn't a thing anymore on 2021.

[@5izzy557]

@@maratah I have a 1 tb 5200rpm drive for MANY of my games. it does the job since these consoles are the lowest common denominator. So you're just wrong.

[@5izzy557]

@MonsterGames Meh....Meh

[@Helderjfl]

​@@maratah Its not. Even though I have bought my first SSD in 2011, I know that it was not common for the majority of people. It was just from the last 2~3 years that I started to see non-tech people starting using SSD on their PC.

[@OneStepToDeath420]

Absolutely love the environmental destruction. Even today, many big AAA games only have very static environments. It really adds a lot.

[@2KOOLURATOOLGaming]

This is something that can't really be noticed instantly but it adds so much more immersion. BF1 has amazing destruction but nobody seems to think of it as an example to use despite basically everything being destructible.

[@SimonBuchanNz]

There's good reason for that static environment: baked lighting. Even here the destruction is only surface level, but I think being isometric really helps even that, in first person you would get weird lighting around the edges either before or after. I'm really hoping we see a lot of developers do cool stuff now that they can do real time lighting.

[@ivofixzone6410]

For me AAA games are finished. I don't support them anymore.

[@MLWJ1993]

Kind of interesting how we sort of never really went forward with that aspect since like the PS2 days (Black)? 🤔

[@dontlookatmeBNS]

Boss spawning a duplicate of himself is an awesome bug lol.

[@nighttimestalker]

"is this a bug or a feature?" "Yes"

[@ClapperDan]

Boss: I didn't even know that I can do that... Awesome!

[@dannonyogurt98]

A note out of RE2's book, Mr.X style.

[@773soccer]

I hope they don’t patch it lol

[@Stop_Elitists_Wars]

True, don't patch it.. Can think of other games a double boss would be awesome in.. Evil Twin bosses, I like it.

[@METR0lD]

Loading screen competition is my new favorite sport.

[@dannypassion]

Lol 👍😆

[@glenmcl]

You get loading screens? XSX baby

[@sadstormtrooper]

22:26 That's just Dark Souls difficulty mode John

[@jhonrock2386]

Jeezz!!! Fallout 1 and 2 remade like this? It would be fantastic!

[@mr.rigormortis6234]

Shadowrun would be fantastic like this too.

[@CyborgSodaCollects]

That would be amazing!

[@phrozac]

Holy crow, yes! Or any old top down game. Icewind Dale, Diablo 1(!), Blood Omen...I can't catch all my drool.

[@husseinali-ei6ft]

First thing came to my mind when i saw the reveal

[@coyote571992]

Wasteland 3 may be able to scratch that itch, if you haven’t tried it!

[@vinnydu8554]

Can’t believe that this graphic created by a 12 men team holy moly

[@PantherCrane]

Now imagine when the Coalition release Gears 6 with UE5!

[@theblackswordsman9951]

12 men! Really? I thought this was AA at least. Crazy. How long has it been in production?

[@Nonx47]

@@pedrocanas470 no one said it was?

[@shyamkumarsasi3577]

Gears 6 will be the geatest game of all time with the best graphics ,storyline and character building ,it will be an epitome of gaming in gaming history

[@malecrium8665]

Boi have you not seen the 1 man creation of bright memory? It'll blow your mind how good dem graphics are

[@ShadyFurball1]

The new way to measure load times....it takes three Sonic 2 levels to load.

[@rayharvey1330]

...the same amount of time it takes to change a PS5 SSD expansion.

[@martinandersson9712]

Not with an external SSD, if people still using the spinning drive on Xbox one S and X for games, they can suit themselves, there is a remedy and it's called SAMSUNG T5 / T7

[@wv11989]

I'm on series x takes 10 seconds from main menu then I haven't really noticed it after that

[@julien2231]

That loading times gameplay was hilarious

[@ZionWings777]

I've been playing this since day one and I can say the bugs are nothing compared to the overall quality of the game... Graphics and sound / music are supperb. Gameplay is so fluid and satysfying. Shooting and exploding things feels real.

[@brennanIX]

It's hard for me to hate on this game, if only for the massive achievement it was for a team that size. It looks great, too. I haven't really ran into any bugs in the few hours of single player. However, this game has to have these absolute WORST menu navigation, map, and waypoint system I've ever seen. Also, the RPGish equipment stat system is overly complicated, adding more frustration with the menus. If those things were fixed, it would be amazing IMO.

[@ZionWings777]

@@brennanIX I need to agree with you... Menu navigation is weird because there are a lot of "blocks" that seems the same and the RPG parts of the game would really benefit for a more simplified stats system for sure... Speaking about the size, there is also the price of the game too. Totally worth it for less than 30 bucks... It's impressive what the achieved... I really hope we receive a sequel or another titles from them soon...

[@DorianFr1992]

@@brennanIX Also there appears to be a bad blurring (which bothers my eyes) when moving around or in combat. I thought I was going crazy but my friend played with me yesterday and noticed the same. I think the dynamic res varies a lot :/

[@DarkCloud360]

The DX 12 dips are still there with the day 1 patch.

[@RakiLmRash]

Yes, and the DLSS isn't there. At least for me on the Gamepass version.

[@theanimerapper6351]

Seems like the devs don't know anything about programming for PC smh

[@cheesyriceo4]

Easy now. A very small team made this game

[@tonyungfat]

I barely even notice any dips....??? If they are there its not effecting the gameplay at all. This is a great game and it looks and runs smooth to me......

[@johnkeane320]

@@cheesyriceo4 its true that its made by a small team but seriously the gamepass version is completely bugged. It runs in dx12 the entire time regardless of what is selected, dlss isnt an option despite being present on the steam version.

[@philth7587]

Likely just due to the isometric perspective and future setting, this reminds me of Crusader: No Remorse which I remember loving as a kid. Will try it tonight :D

[@ridiculous_gaming]

I was madly hooked on Crusaders back in the day. A shame that it took 20 years for something as impressive!

[@-aexc-]

the perspective shifts in the game and it looks phenomenal when it does

[@philth7587]

@@-aexc- yeah it looks amazing close up or pulled back. Super impressive for such a small team.

[@_Volt_Ron_]

God damn right! I got to play a little bit tonight. As I was playing this it I started remembering Crusader : No Remorse and No Regret. That was one of my favorite games back when it new, many years ago. Had a blast playing it. Looking forward to playing some more. And it has 4 player couch co-op!

[@kylerobinson6102]

I actually just bought a copy of those two games on GOG last month. Love Crusader from my childhood.

[@BillyNeverDies]

This is the first time in 20 years that a game has reminded me of Crusader. Love it!

[@MrStrangermoon]

bought cheap to sega saturn eu verion boxed. the box and manuel huge. ı found one more smilar game on mega drive called skeloton krew. its look like this game more than crusdarer bcouse of gameplay very simlar.

[@Clouds4Cheap]

thanks for covering this game. looks like a gem for ARPG fans and i cant wait!

[@MarcusHedenberg]

Love the attention you’re paying to small indie devs!

[@bmdshred77]

Well considering it’s better than the triple A’s that have come out lately

[@w0mblemania]

"Indie" in 1991: one or two guys in a bedroom, writing their own engine and game. "Indie" in 2021: 11 guys (who have worked on Bulletstorm, Gears of War, Wolfenstein and Doom) + investment company + Epic Games grant money + Unreal Engine 4 + "assistance from support studios" "Indie" in 2041: 1000 guys working in a studio owned by DisneyApple.

[@nazrac3449]

11 people is still small y'know... Just because they are experienced and have a prebult engine doesn't make it less impressive and doesn't make it less indie, they're just using a modern method of making games.

[@w0mblemania]

@@nazrac3449 The point is that the concept of "indie" has shifted substantially. 11 guys with investment funding and an Epic deal is a long way from the classic idea of 1 or 2 guys in a bedroom. Extrapolate it: exactly what will be "indie" in 10 years?

[@nazrac3449]

@@w0mblemania i think indie is much more wider of a definition than you think No, 1000 people has not and will not be considered "indie", but 11 is still small, small enough to be considered "indie". Do you wanna limit it to the smallest of groups and make other's accomplishments look insignificant? Because truth be told, things are growing in size, in 1991 games were very simple, small and could be done by a small team Nowadays, technology has evolved and developers have bigger plans too, when it comes to the scope of this game, and the small team behind it, its a remarkable achievement especially compared to what MUCH bigger games with bigger budgets have done.

[@w0mblemania]

​@@nazrac3449 As I said, the definition is changing. I was an indie game developer for 20 years. Back in the Shareware days. 1 person, then 2 people on the team. 11 people + investment isn't quite the same idea of "indie", but times change...

[@nazrac3449]

@@w0mblemania and I agree that times change, and I can also see where you're coming from. Didn't actually know you were around for that long tbh, I respect ya. As for the "1000 people indie team" idea, I personally think we have reached the limit on what could be considered "indie", so don't expect those types of numbers soon... Nice chatting with ya btw!

[@pherron7471]

That loading time on 1X is straight scary. This video singlehandedly made me stop what I was doing, go to Best Buy, and buy a Series S (of course no Series X seen anywhere). As soon as I get a Series X, the 1X is getting retired. I'm so happy I watched this video and didn't start The Ascent on the 1X.

[@accychap5533]

I installed it on the external SSD that's connected to my one X and it loads as fast as the series S and X thereabouts and even gameplay wasn't at all jittery. Wish it ran at 60fps 1080p though. It should be able too as forza horizon 4 does on the one X with ease

[@pherron7471]

@@accychap5533 Thanks for the info. I'll get one. I don't regret the Series S though. It feels like when you upgrade your PC with faster parts.

[@Omie-Wan-kenobi]

I have a ssd installed inside my original Xbox one, it takes 37 seconds to load.

[@SaigonBrit]

Absolutely. The loading times comparison is a little misleading. With my xonex and a. Samsung t3 I got loads of 33s max. Their comparison is not apples to apples- a bit sloppy really.

[@jcfan1979]

@@SaigonBrit got the same numbers on mine. 33sec to start of cut scene.

[@funkam0nkey]

Played a couple of hours and I’m loving it. Looks amazing on SX.

[@andrezunido]

Thank you for the zooming in for phone viewers, this is very appreciated for comparisons! Although this time I'm watching this in a big screen, I very often watch DF content on the phone, and have to say that without the zoomed in details I cannot see the differences 😅

[@minus3dbintheteens60]

I will never say a word about GTA5 loading times on PS3 ever again

[@sqlevolicious]

GTV loading times were fixed recently thanks to a very simple fix that a modder found, R* implemented it officially. GTV now loads in no time.

[@peternash7104]

No one remember MGSIV on PS3? Took literally 30 minutes, I would watch a episode of anime and Snake would still be smoking on the load screen.

[@itsawinnerfereal]

@@sqlevolicious modder that sorted that bug got paid for his troubles which is nice

[@Hopkins955]

@@sqlevolicious GTA V loading got better but is still too slow in my opinion.

[@erebusrealm]

The open world in this game is stunningly immersive. I will use the photo mode to explore at eye level sometimes. An over the shoulder combat camera would have been an awesome counterpart to the overhead cam

[@METALFACEDOOMXXXX]

Its ruiner on steroids absolutely love this game its gorgeous!

[@donizettilorenzo]

And Satellite Reign :p

[@parasolo89]

This game went under my radar. Looks stunning for being made by such a small team. Definitely gonna check this out.

[@kraenk12]

Reviews are very mediocre.

[@phrozac]

Playing now! The visuals have me rock hard. ROCK. HARD.

[@TykoBrian7]

Lol

[@theryan519]

An entire 4 inches!

[@phrozac]

@@theryan519 C'mon now, don't be rude. 4.3! Erect. BOOM

[@theryan519]

@@phrozac My mistake! Everyone hide your wives and your daughters! 😱

[@iparz44z]

The game looks good

[@BBIAJ]

What's up with the Xbox Series X Store listing mentioning HDR10, right up until the game was released, now it's been removed from the listing, the game doesn't run in HDR10, and doesn't even have Auto HDR. Also, the fan shadows are lovely and all, but the player character is lit so brightly that the shadows seemingly aren't being cast on him, taking them out of the scene somewhat.

[@angryeeyore291]

I too am trying to find out why HDR has been removed. This game absolutely needs it. All the gorgeous lighting and neons would be stunning in HDR.

[@anthonyclayton8283]

Ive resorted to using hdr effect picture mode on my oled.. Such a shame they dropped hdr support.

[@kraenk12]

They also advertise raytracing but the game uses no RT on Series consoles. Typical misleading marketing.

[@Until_It_Is_Done]

@@kraenk12 it has Ray Tracing now after patch.

[@TheFirstRealChewy]

As a Game Pass subscriber, Microsoft throwing so many games at me right now, and a bunch of then look quite good.

[@MorrisseyMuse]

Makes a change really, they usually give us 2-3 good games and 90+ mediocre and shovelware each month

[@achandab]

@@MorrisseyMuse or really. Most gamepass games are 70+ metacrtic

[@K.R.X]

@@MorrisseyMuse Disagreed.

[@TheMusic4Soul]

@@achandab but not this game, its 64 xD

[@achandab]

@@TheMusic4Soul well me and my mates are having a blast with it mate. But you keep wanking over metacritic while I enjoy playing games with friends lmao

[@Hazmatt36000]

From Deaths Door right to this game. Some great gaming right now.

[@TheMusic4Soul]

@kayna PC

[@jaeehovaa]

@@TheMusic4Soul both

[@DarkReturns1]

How is Death's Door? I just added that to my wish list on Steam

[@Hazmatt36000]

@@DarkReturns1 it’s a fantastic game. So pretty much think of it like a new top down Zelda game. It’s a bit shorter than the zelda games but every bit as high quality. More difficult combat but not by much. Just requires a bit more skill. Nothing unfair. You have the hook shot and bombs and the items your used to from Zelda and the music is amazing. Bosses are challenging and fun and the dungeons are spot on. It’s really just a nearly flawless game if your into its type. When I realized I had paid only $16 bucks cause it was on sale from the $20 and it was as good as it was, I actually felt like I did not pay enough and that does not happen often. I would have paid $30 or more to have a game of this type and quality compared to some games I have paid $60 for and didn’t like as much as this.

[@MMoer]

@@Hazmatt36000 I loved the remake of Zelda link's awakening on the switch. Will I like deaths door in that case?

[@Espedals]

As of 12 April 2022 turning on ray tracing still tanks performance, regardless of resolution and DLSS settings. It also does not matter if you turn on simply one RT feature or all three. On a 3080 Ti @ 1440p, I go from 200-250 fps to 40-60 fps. Frame pacing also gets a bit wonky, with frequent stutters and a 99 % fps that can hit 20 fps at times. There's a great reddit thread that gives instructions on how to fix RT in the game somewhat. Haven't tried it yet, but people seem to be happy with that solution from what I can tell.

[@Mospen]

Wow, what a great video. Thank you for going into such detail. I had my eye on this game and will definitely be picking it up on Series X. Your content continues to impress and inform at the same time. The loading comparison in this video sets a new standard across the industry. Truly magnificent! Keep up the great work!

[@colteastwood]

John's love of Gaming is so apparent here! Great review! The Ascent is enjoyable but needed some testing with RPG fans for some improvements.

[@joemikami]

64 on Metacritic though.

[@jyotiwaghmare4100]

@@joemikami 😒🤣🤣

[@carlosalvarado7887]

@@joemikami yea, the majority of the reviews say it’s a bit repetitive and the story is not that great either. But the graphical fidelity is impressive. Go figure.

[@trebm3]

Well said Colt!

[@PantherCrane]

@@joemikami I guess you won’t be buying this game huh?! 😐

[@kelownatechkid]

This is like Alien Shooter... anyone remember that? such a blast

[@benjaminzipser6021]

They should totally remake that!

[@PapaTanduo]

was hard for me at last to get used to the isometeric play but after I got a hold of this, I absolutely love the game, it's great !

[@kirkden71]

Super pumped for this! Looks gorgeous!!

[@vandammage1747]

-The Ascent -Deaths's door -Flight Sim 3 exclusives In less than 10 days and the rest of the year is packed. Crazy

[@blackbeardddd]

All average games for an average game service van cabbage.

[@TheMusic4Soul]

cheap indie money hats for gamepass

[@mardino2267]

I remember when every sony fanboy said "XBOX dont have exclusives" and know they talkin trash because we got so awesomr exclusives !

[@Donodabet]

@@blackbeardddd Keep crying

[@ps5hasalreadywon269]

Enjoy your 30fps games 😁

[@technik27]

The loading screen competition is hilarious!

[@mat7540]

14:40 fantastic test, i want more of this in future reviews please!

[@wallacerigby4393]

This game is soaking in atmosphere! I just lost myself in the lore & environments. Solid gameplay just pushes me forward. Don’t sleep on this gem from the small team.

[@kizzgizz]

Started this last night with a friend who I knew isn't really into these sort of games. We were up til the early hours and he didn't want to stop at 2 in the morning. We're both in our 30s lol. Game pulls you in, awesome.

[@wollow417]

Can't wait to play it tonight.

[@Fahrenheit38]

Wish the new dark alliance looked this good and had this camera

[@ActNasty5]

Tru

[@blazbohinc4964]

I think you should start uploading 4k footage upscaled to 8k to get that additional bitrate. KZbin is doing quite a bit of compression, even at 4k. Can't have a proper 4k image at 25mbps. Movies I watch sometimes run at 150mbps or 200.. Really - consider it.

[@rotor13]

You need to subscribe on their webpage to get the videos in an uncompressed format

[@Saturn2888]

It'd be great to take a look at the ray tracing now that the game's hopefully had all DX12 performance issues ironed out. I know this wasn't a big release, but now I don't know how ray tracing affects the game. You noted it's got "excellent ray tracing effects", but it looks extremely subtle in screenshots and videos.

[@ollysherratt4220]

Imagine if we got fallout 1/2 remakes with graphics and gameplay like this on current gen and pc.. what a dream that would be

[@matttillyer8046]

Absolutely loved this game. Still hoping for more content 🙏

[@Ray3D]

this is a game that will age like fine wine.

[@Healcraft]

milk

[@jonpro9637]

@@Healcraft I sense salt

[@basedplants]

A 75 consensus score makes it completely average, so it'll age as well the cheapest boxed wines from the convenience store.

[@joaovictornascimento1922]

@@basedplants where in the hell 75 is "completely average"? it's good. Not gangbuster amazing, not great, but good. What's the problem with good?

[@basedplants]

@@joaovictornascimento1922 In the reality of statistics. Find The Ascent on Opencritic. Click the 74 score, then click "Switch to chart view," and you'll see that a 74 puts it at a mediocre 60th percentile. So many games score around that spot that 40% of games are better, not 26%.

[@3KPK3]

Your review actually increased my interest in this game. Good stuff DF!

[@trentimus5700]

on my 5900/3080 Ti I am experiencing extreme stutters when an explosion happens while using the DX12 version of the game. :\ Also my 3440x1440p does not seem to be getting UW support.

[@glenndaniels4092]

Not only on DX 12 , I also have stutters when explosion or when I use an Augment on dx11 Always at the beginning of the level . I have a 5800/3070rtx

[@trentimus5700]

@@glenndaniels4092 funny enough the game runs silky smooth on my Xbox Series X. After watching this video I turned off DX12 and RT. Still stuttering with explosions. Hopefully the devs can fix this. I am really enjoying this game other than some of the technical hang ups. IMO this game is not worth playing on an Ultra Wide monitor. It destroys your FOV. On Xbox I feel like I see 3x as much of the play space as I do on my PC.

[@babylorvbeats]

That 120 FPS on P.C is everything. The smoothness of those bullets coming out of those guns are so refreshing. 😍😍

[@lordrichard6616]

This game is gorgeous

[@Overonator]

There is still hitching issues in DX12 on a 6800.

[@PhoticSneezeOne]

Ok, the time has come for a new Bladerunner game....

[@brettchase7870]

That Sonic R music in the background, perfection 👌

[@tworains2]

So glad I was an early adopter of the Series X

[@annbene6972]

Same here!

[@TristanTheVRGamecat]

The fact that you have to mention it makes me think you have to keep tricking yourself into thinking that......

[@musty8748]

@@TristanTheVRGamecat oof

[@tworains2]

@@TristanTheVRGamecat imagine being this cringe why you watching a video about an Xbox exclusive my guy😂😂😂

[@DoubleCrosserForte]

Same here man

[@Harley411]

The graphics is jaw dropping, with living world.

[@jch010]

Crazy how good the quality still is on Series S

[@thefacts8089]

The image quality is not great

[@Nonx47]

@@thefacts8089 considering it's on a one S...

[@jch010]

@@thefacts8089 If still have a 1080p panel, like my 2013 plasma then the image quality is pretty great.

[@ShadowExile89]

Yea the Series S is so worth it if you cant get hold of an X or PS5. If this Semi conductor issue persists can see the Series S selling more and more.

[@kurtkrienke2956]

As of today, my rig (2080ti, Ryzen 3700x, 48GB Ram) runs it on max specs at very consistent 60fps. Love the game as well.

[@Beaut_Beau]

18:04 Try not to imagine John in the bedroom lol...

[@Selxis]

What's wrong with you!?

[@you2be839]

"Beautiful"?! It's absolutely dead gorgeous!! I really like the atmosphere/ambiance that is presented, very moody... shout out to the artistic/design team, and I hope it becomes a trilogy!!!...

[@Ashassin1981]

Put Diablo to shame with there bland level design just made to throw enemies at you. A few studios could learn a thing or to from these developers. Cracking job well done.

[@Phoenix-gz9xb]

Diablos level design fits for the games environment timeline. I mean...what more do you expect for a time with virtually no technology vs a game in the future? Lol

[@pqfire0950]

Game runs pretty well on my rig. (9700k) Its annoying that ray tracing doesn't seem to be working and that dlss is gone currently but hopefully they'll fix that soon.

[@EvoCarl]

Keyboard and mouse support for the consoles? 🙂

[@blightviolin7322]

🙂

[@Spydiggity]

Get a pc

[@wgo523]

@@Spydiggity chill

[@EvoCarl]

@@Spydiggity I have one thanks. Xbox in the front room and the pc is in the mans cave upstairs.

[@UltraCasualPenguin]

Would be good for game like this.

[@anubrakahn2970]

The Bubsy/Sonic playthrough commentary was great! It really helps to illustrate how ridiculously long a 3 minute load time is.

[@hillbeast71]

Thanks for the Video John (and Audi) loved the loading screen challenge. This looks awesome and really looking forward to a great co-op experience after the disappointment of Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance.

[@danielclifton6140]

The game is absolutely stunning and reminds me of loaded and reloaded

[@JeremyLouisGaming]

This game looks so damn good!

[@LXIVGOLD]

I've been playing this on PC with an RTX 3090, TR-3970x, 64GB of ram and a PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD and the loading is virtually non-existent. That said, I have noticed the bug that occasionally effects framerate in DX12 mode (mentioned @7:22) still exist so hopefully the team gets that cleaned up soon because wow this game truly pops with everything cranked up to Ultra at running at 120+fps!

[@TerraWare]

Yeah I'm experiencing the random stutter here and there on a 6800XT/5900X/32GB Ram. Are you playing the Steam or Game Pass pc/Windows 10 Store version. The Game Pass PC version hasn't got an update yet and me and other people are experiencing the same DX12 stutters on DX11 as well suggesting the game is loading DX12 libraries. It's what I read online and can attest these issues exist. Ray Tracing is also broken, turning it on doesn't turn it on. Another issue although this isn't a bug is that the Game Pass PC/Windows Store version of the game does not have DLSS support, for some reason. It's intentional too. Anyway that said I'm having a blast. I don't experience the stutters that frequently but if fixed this game is a blast to play.

[@LXIVGOLD]

Nice rig! Yeah I'm playing the steam version, I've always noticed steam tends to get better builds and priority on patches over win10 store. Harsh reality is the game is built around consoles first so us PC users kinda got shafted at least for now. That said I've been having a blast with the game I've noticed both DLSS and RTX working fine in the steam build and runs on DX11 without a hitch.

[@chimeron260]

God dangit now I gotta get gamepass again :I Edit: also would be interesting to see the loading time differences in this game between mechanical, sata, and nvme drives. looking forward to the eventual PC benchmark video :D

[@KineticCalvaria]

Can't believe this was made by a team of only 12 people and multiple outsourcing studios to bring the total well above 100 people. Outstanding.

[@DrTurdsley]

It looks like I'll be able to play on my launch (base) XB1, that is good news.

[@volsavious2319]

A relic of times past. In surprised it still works!

[@thel1355]

And you'll have time to brew a cup of tea while waiting for it to load as a bonus.

[@julien2231]

My og xbox takes 5 minutes to boot... never played in 3 years.

[@ryanschindler923]

On my PC with the game running on a NVME with the Day 1 patch the load times are around 7-8 at most. The DX12 version has some stutters but nothing bad. With the game maxed out and HDR on it's a really beautiful game and a joy to play.

[@mackinblack]

It even looks phenomenal on the One X.

[@andreatoppi5627]

3 minutes loading/28fps. Great console, huh.

[@kostasbousbouras2654]

It looks almost the same like Series X/S, actually it has higher resolution than Series S. The difference of course here is the 30fps.

[@heh2k]

Top notch review. I'm impressed the camera jump was noticed and determined to not be a frame drop.

[@NeThZOR]

Frame time graphs. nuff said

[@arbiter-]

This game is beautiful, wish I could run it. Chip shortage needs to end!

[@usofdenmark]

Can you pleas talk about what the "Indent mode" in the audio settings does i cant finde info on it anywhere

[@stonedmanatee3373]

Whats up with all the trolls in the comment section?

[@lucasmelo968]

Just another day on the internet

[@kiisseli1337]

Xbox trolls are salty

[@polishsausage1827]

It's the internet 🤣

[@nighttimestalker]

Most Sony fans live like that. 80% of the PlayStation player base are just no life people. And purposely search out anything that has to do with Xbox so they can so spread their copy paste troll comments

[@waltzraghu686]

Mention the name Xbox, and they will appear

[@danieljames6503]

No HDR or ray tracing for xbox series consoles and digital foundry does not say anything about it very strange. The devs are also not talking about it . Maybe there thinking if we don't say anything no one will notice

[@thebhoy8561]

Absolute bullshit. I uninstalled it as soon as i realised. How can you release a game Like this with out hdr?

[@kraenk12]

Of course they don’t. It’s MS.

[@flaminx0r]

I'm glad it's smooth on the One X - will be playing at the weekend... Edit: loading times are extreme though

[@nighttimestalker]

Put it on am SSD. They're not that expensive for a base 1tb sata with a converter cable.

[@Hybred]

@Steps they do improve loading times noticeably I've had one on my base xbox one forever. Not as much as it would be if I put that SSD on PC but still fast

[@leonfrancis3418]

@Steps Various tests have been done, and you can look them up on this very site. It makes enough of a difference for someone who wants to make a dent in loading times. I imagine it would likely shave a minute off at least of that 3 minute load.

[@UltraCasualPenguin]

@Steps Actually they do. Xbox One S and One X have USB 3.0 so they can take full advantage of SATA SSDs. You just need SATA to USB converter.

[@P.au.lo--Cesar]

Graphics are awesome. Thank you, DF. Edit: 14:37 lol

[@TheCivildecay]

Not only does it look great, its also a blast to play

[@CADstruction]

Interesting before launch, ppl were mocking series s and how the one X is better. Just shows how important the CPU is.

[@chadachee3446]

But series s is not native 4k like one x

[@CADstruction]

It won't be native 4k when next gen games gets released. No flight simulator

[@chadachee3446]

It states native 4k in the microsoft store xbox one x would play next gen via cloud gamepass

[@CADstruction]

@@chadachee3446 ☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

[@infinitysynthesis]

Another little gem for game pass : D

[@shyamkumarsasi3577]

True

[@Delb9891]

Metacritic doesn’t look that great on Xbox and pc

[@Delb9891]

@Gunther Defarriiu not true , if a Sony game sucks they don’t get a 90 overall score. I think you’re being biased here

[@pixeljauntvr7774]

@Gunther Defarriiu How can Metacritic be biased? It's an aggregate site.

[@Delb9891]

@Gunther Defarriiu MS Flight Simulator got a great score because they got it right! Look at the reviews , the game is not nearly finished and full of bugs. Hope they fix it tho

[@damienkrawczuk1435]

There you go you've just proven all loading screens need mini games, be great to see mini games that relate to the main game, say collect so many rings / change colour of ammo in the main game, something like that, that'll be cool, or some kind of buff/debuff, well you get the idea, that'll be great to see loading screens become useful, great rundown and review on this 👍 another think I'm real happy about this is coming to PS4/5 so excited about that 😎

[@darthkermit4617]

If you played the new systems I dont see how you go back. The ssd makes loading times so much faster that the old systems are obsolete.

[@MisterReen]

Loading times and framerate. That’s the two main advantages since the release and I’m very happy with it. Cool that we can expect even more when the new gen becomes the standard in development.

[@yaboirichard591]

Getting a lil taste of pc gaming

[@2709rahulravindran]

@@yaboirichard591 lol yea fr. :)

[@johnnyblue07]

Welcome to midgrade PC gaming with your prebuilt PC.

[@therealbalto24]

@@yaboirichard591 yeah I remember like 5 years ago trying to get friends into pc and they would say shit like "graphics don't matter and load times don't matter" etc but now the console wars is just comparing graphics and praising ssd like it was invented yesterday.

[@ThePortugeezer]

A mini DF Retro within a Tech Review...pretty cool! I do hope those loading times get fixed in future patches...

[@XgamerdaveX]

I’m downloading this right now with gamepass.

[@exVengeance]

During the loading screen retro games, I was *singing* the Sonic music to myself the whole time, including ending screens and boss music. Doing that helped sink in JUST how long that game takes to load, I felt like I had been going ages.

[@blabla1177-r7u]

14:10 Haha. I actually finished Contra III for the first time on SNES just last week.

[@flojd574]

I like to play games like this sometimes. Somehow Iappreciate games made by smaller studio/indie more. And you know they put their heart to it and really pushed themselves to make a game like this.

[@Nonx47]

This game is awesome

[@Nagi40]

easily the best game of 2021 so far

[@Odine777]

That Boss bug is awesome in new game+

[@CobraF1]

As always a fascinating review for another performance and tech junkie like myself! The "let's play a game during load time" challenge was really fun and hilarious haha

[@Liberty_Prime_Is_Online]

Syndicate Wars needs a modern remake or a sequel

[@glenmcl]

Or the original Syndicate from way back on PC. That was greatness.

[@Liberty_Prime_Is_Online]

@@glenmcl both, it has so much potential

[@kalelalves]

A bug a got that ruined some side quests for me was that if I'm in a middle of a mission, and I die or have to turn off the game for some reason, and that mission involves going through some locked door, when getting back to the mission, I can't pass the door anymore. That ruined a lot of missions for me. I hope they fix this problem.

[@mr.rigormortis6234]

Fuck that. I can't go back to last gen. I'm gonna be on this and Death's Door all weekend SX BABYYYYY.

[@julianandresful]

same

[@bajarekn]

The playing old games with a guest while loading bit is very funny.

[@RobsRemixes]

Anybody’s Series X start hitting you with the 100% fan speed while playing this game ?

[@glenmcl]

Can't hear the fan but my Series X did shut down once by itself after playing it 16 hours straight....

[@paugarciabcn]

Its an amazing piece of art. I’m addicted to its visuals, taking screenshots every few minutes.