The Matrix Awakens Tech Analysis + PS5 vs Xbox Series S/X Performance Analysis

Alex Battaglia, Rich Leadbetter and John Linneman convene to share their impressions and reactions to the incredible Matrix Awakens demos - plus we've interviewed Epic Games and can share much more about the technologies on display here. Find out more from that interview right here: www.eurogamer.net/articles/di...
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00:00:00 Introductions
00:00:55 Initial impressions
00:04:30 Hardware-accelerated Lumen GI
00:07:35 How Nanite works in The Matrix Awakens
00:12:55 Open world construction and streaming
00:17:52 Character rendering and MetaHumans
00:20:54 What is real and what is not?
00:23:15 Open world AI (MassAI)
00:25:44 Chaos Physics and how it is used
00:28:42 Temporal Super Resolution + post-processing
00:33:07 Console comparisons and performance
00:41:52 What are the advantages of hardware lumen more specifically?
00:44:56 Final impressions

[@Shieftain]

I was hoping DF would do a breakdown of this as soon as the demo was revealed. Didn't expect to see it this fast though! Well done team, well done.

[@MichaelDoesLife]

No need for a breakdown. This demo is shallow AF.

[@otherprisma7354]

@@MichaelDoesLife Its a tech demo dude, not a whole game.

[@chaoticshdwmonk]

They said at the start of the video that DF got a copy of it ahead of release so it's not as fast as you think

[@Shieftain]

@@chaoticshdwmonk Right, good point.

[@crazyworldoutthere4379]

@@otherprisma7354 Dude is a hate baiter

[@marcuslee1684]

Easily one of the most exciting tech demos ever. The glass during the shooting shifting about oddly gave me goosebumps

[@MichaelDoesLife]

Weird. It looks and plays like shit.

[@marciamakesmusic]

@@MichaelDoesLife replying to every comment, why are you so mad people like things you don't?

[@kahnsealable]

@@MichaelDoesLife Do you honestly sniff glue to believe the things you say?

[@saputrasaputra3347]

ah so promising.. the future of gaming , 1080p 20fps as expected of weakbox and weakstation 5

[@marcuslee1684]

@@MichaelDoesLife I think if you look past the framerate, you'll be greeted by the art.

[@Deprece]

Imagine this engine on a game that isn’t open world. The detail would be beyond belief

[@dazza2350]

We've seen something like that with the tech demo with the girl exploring the desert ruins from last year

[@ryanod9845]

Last of Us 3 👀

[@jitensi]

Hellblade would exactly be that

[@statcous]

@@ryanod9845 Naughty Dog is developing their own engine for this gen, so sadly no.

[@CR00K__Gaming]

@@statcous I wouldn't say sadly. Naughty Dog has always done very well with their own engines. Guerilla Games included. We'll just have to wait and see.

[@troyphillips6481]

Honestly, unreal engine 5 deserves industry-wide applause for actually pulling this kind of technology off in general, not to mention on consoles. This is truly groundbreaking.

[@SC0RPI0NFURY]

This is all carefully planned by the top leaders at Sony, MS and Epic Games and probably other big companies involved as well. They wanted Epic Games to show this tech first as they are in the best marketing position to do so for the whole entire gaming industry. This is a huge selling point to push the sales of next gen consoles/hardware forward. I can guarantee that Sony, Rockstar, EA, Ubisoft, Activision etc are all in developement of true next gen titles using nanite and lumen technology. The most impressive part in this demo for me is the Meta-Human technology which alone has a price tag of 1 billion US dollars. I'm super impressed with the whole demo though and i agree they deserve industry-wide applause

[@TheChallenger1000]

The consoles this gen are pretty powerful, so that part isn't much of a shock.

[@mrjones29]

not just consoles, but the two top end consoles. why you surprised?

[@sharathvasudev]

imagine my happiness. after a long search battle, managed to buy a series x on Dec 7 and the next day this drops

[@mrjones29]

@@sharathvasudev great buy and stroke of luck lol

[@MrHonwe]

This demo is another meta way of demonstrating the concept of the Matrix, outside of the previous Matrix games.

[@f44had]

Another 'meta' way??? lmfao.. ok.

[@astroman310]

we like to see this how it will look like on my potato pc

[@f44had]

@@nope4620 I don't think that's what he meant by 'Meta'. Anyway I appreciate the rest of what you said

[@gdoumit]

This tech demo is so incredible. If they don't make a Matrix game with this, it would be absolutely criminal. We NEED a Matrix game with modern tech so bad.

[@localgames1]

You're living in that game right now.

[@ProtoNoah]

@@localgames1 oh fuck

[@mohammadreza199]

@@localgames1 Read this with morpheus's voice

[@UberNoodle]

Well the joke's on us. We're all existing in a matrix game right now.

[@FigmentHF]

I don’t know how you can make this whole incredible city and not throw in a random “Lady in a red dress”, a black cat that appears twice, maybe a small % chance of seeing Neo flying off in the sky. Just a bunch of little Easter eggs to find. You can’t convince me that any of this stuff would take more than an afternoons work.

[@hi_its_jerry]

20:45 that was the highlight. The movement, the detailed closeup on Keanu's face and the dim lighting/soft shadow. It's 99.9% perfect.

[@astroman310]

my metahuman looks good on Ue5

[@morbid1.]

in Demo itself most impressive for me was draw distance and fact that every car had "soft body physics" which can create quite realistic damage model

[@Ayoul]

I haven't tried to do comparisons, but my gut is that some of that isn't all physics, but very good shading work or some kind of blend of baked assets similar to that bridge. Like there's a clean car and damaged version pre-computed and they smoothly blend between the two at points of impact. The reason why I think that and I guess I should play more around with it to check, but it didn't feel systemic to me. It didn't feel like it was 100% doing what I was expecting it to do and it doesn't get worse and worse at every impact as if there's a limit. There's also no "little damage" as we can see in the video. If you do a small impact, you'd expect a small bump but no there's often nothing.

[@aggelostsirepas444]

@@Ayoul cut the crap troll. The demo using chaos physics engine

[@nolram]

@@aggelostsirepas444 Chaos is a rigid body solver (seen on the cached bridge for instance). Afaik it does not have a Softbody solver; and indeed, I don't think the car deformation is a real-time calculation, but I am not entirely sure. Haven't tried the demo myself yet.

[@Iamfirebird360]

These three guys talking games tech is so enjoyable. Its just like 3 best friends discussing their passion.

[@Case_]

Which is essentially exactly what it is.

[@astroman310]

if you like this on consolle you will chill on your pc low end like mine with gtx1050ti

[@AdiusOmega]

The most important aspect of these technologies are simplifying an existing workflow made difficult due to man-power/time restraints. Crafting an open world while still utilizing traditional LOD models is so incredibly time consuming. To balance that ratio of pop-in, fidelity, taking into consideration the multitude of console variations, PC hardware. Nanite completely rids of that necessity for static environment assets. Lumin? Same thing. Crafting a world that looks accurate in dynamic lighting conditions is another balancing act that just simply won't be needed in the future.

[@darrylrobson4376]

@@StringTheory365 They aren't easier to make. The tools are better sure but the games are also far more complex and require bigger development teams than they used to, which of course need to be paid.

[@iniside]

@@StringTheory365 You don't consider the amount of R&D going into technology. Well at least at Epic.

[@PortfolioPL]

@@StringTheory365 That is nonsense. Making AAA open world games are significantly more difficult than it was 5-10 years ago. The amount of iterations needed to raise the level of each feature and system to shippable level is insane . The tools are much more complex and we expect a lot more from GDs and LDs than in the past (they visual script important systems which were hard coded before). The tools got better, but the expectations are much higher (no one wants to end up like Days Gone which was made in UE4). Look at the GTA Definitive trilogy to see how difficult even to port an already existing game while maintaining the cohesion of art, gameplay, music, etc. Look at how Cyberpunk guys could not make the systems work as their engine is not on the required level (e.g.: there are no police chases as there is no driving system in the open world).

[@VariantAEC]

@@iniside R&D happens everywhere for every developer even tiny ones that do one slightly unique thing for their title.

[@megaxrobertson759]

@@darrylrobson4376 70 dollars is a garbage price point. 60 was fine. Stop worshipping your corporations you dolt.

[@joker927]

Interacting with this Matrix demo was the coolest thing I have seen in tech in years. Excellent discussion DF.

[@astroman310]

imagime the engine playable on entry level gpu

[@darrenchilds5034]

@@astroman310 series s

[@Pedr4m]

I love that Winamp makes an appearance in the video around 18:22 playing an mp3 from the Matrix soundtrack downloaded from Kazaa. What a great 90s throwback!

[@ThaMobstarr]

LOL defintely could‘t be more retro! Winamp is a program I haven’t heard of in ages. Although this would probably be more early 00s to me. :D

[@TylerNessss]

Hell yeah baby! This was just pure nostalgia.

[@astroman310]

just look at what this gen of consolle is capable of

[@Shezmen88]

About the dodging the bullets scene, I think all they used from the original movie was the textures for the environment (the building and the city). In the original movie Keanu was shot over a green screen thanks to a circular rig of synchronized cameras surrounding him. The cape too was real and blown back by a wind machine. Even in the movie, you can clearly see that the environment is fake, although really well done for the time. What we see in this Unreal demo was a real time CG recreation, which to me was the only scene that looked not convincing at all. Everything else was absolutely mind-blowing. Especially when the eyes are covered with sun glasses, which eliminates even more that "uncanny valley" problem of cgi.

[@DeadPixel1105]

Holy shit, you used the phrase "uncanny valley" properly. Lately, I keep seeing KZbinrs and game reviewers use the phrase improperly - much like the term "literally" the last few years. For example: I've seen several KZbinrs refer to the goofy, cartoony character models of GTA Definitive Edition as "uncanny valley" - when that is the exact opposite of what "uncanny valley" means. Pointless rant, I admit.

[@Zach_Films]

I think they were only saying that Warner Brothers had a digital neo asset from the movies that was used and updated for this scene, not that it was necessarily used in that shot(s).

[@troelsmller2970]

Neo's jacket is CGI, maybe that's what they meant

[@Shezmen88]

@@Zach_Films yes it could be that!

[@mrn234]

@@DeadPixel1105 I think the GCI character Ron Perlman plays in one of the horrible 2 "Harry Potter" movies with Newt Scamander falls under uncanny valley

[@cwehden]

the way the characters walk breaks the illusion in a big way..

[@MiggeX]

This is true

[@undeny]

Eyes are glassy not looking with ''intent'' as a human being would and mouth as well as head movements during speech look like puppets or bobble heads.

[@samiboy1368]

It was a problem on the last demo too

[@PersonPlaceThing1]

it's because they're in a simulation. It's lore accurate lol

[@antonioviramontes7619]

And the horrible pedestrians lol

[@37Kilo2]

I was absolutely stunned with this demo. Flying up to the top of skyscrapers and zooming into the rooms, and textures, gargoyles, etc., looking for any flaws, and finding very, very few. Now I need a game that takes place in this city, it's amazing and gorgeous.

[@UnjustifiedRecs]

You need to play it for longer, we found so many fucked up things with the building haha, not saying it's not impressive but we found a looot of weird ass things

[@deathtrooper2048]

It's not impressive outside of the first cutscene

[@UnjustifiedRecs]

@@deathtrooper2048 that's not fair, it is impressive, but it's still riddled with faults

[@HugoStiglitz88]

Finding very few? Lol are you blind?

[@HugoStiglitz88]

@@UnjustifiedRecs exactly bro. Not only that but just the general scene looks like the low budget demo that it is, not a full fledged game People are overrating this demo like crazy just because it's UE5 when in actuality it doesn't even look better than Spiderman

[@NikHem343]

As a teenager I wondered if it will ever ever be possible at all to achieve photorealistic games. 15 years later and we are almost there. Mind bending.

[@Blottski]

Exactly this. I really am looking forward to when the current gen consoles ditch the old gen and can fully move towards what this Matrix tech demo shows us. I remember at the start of the PS4/Xbox One gen I thought BF4 was an impressive looking game....man how far we have come even since that time.

[@DimitriosChannel]

When I was a kid I collected every PC magazine and I still have the old one from MAXIMUM PC where the Nvidia CEO stated we almost have TOYSTORY graphics and he also stated in 15 years or so you wouldn't tell the difference. This article was made 1999 I think I gotta find it in my pile at my parents attic. I'm not joking I have 2-3 ft worth of PC Tech magazines. Ia also saved the Demo CD's as well! Even the DOOM demo.

[@NikHem343]

@@DimitriosChannel That was an impressively accurate statement then

[@Sinn0100]

@@michalthekind What?! No, this demo is playable on a 500 dollar console right now. I'm as middle class as you can get and we (fiancee and I) have both 9th generation consoles that I picked up at launch. We just played the demo not 10 minutes ago and thought it was amazing. I played on the Series X and she on the PS5 *physical. Addendum- The only reason it took so long for us is I thought the demo was just a glorified trailer for a movie. I had no idea what I was missing...

[@astroman310]

@@Sinn0100 my gtx 1050ti will run this at 25fps

[@TheKafairy]

I’ve been waiting for an example of a Next Gen game unhindered by past technology considerations - this is really cool

[@MichaelDoesLife]

Maybe learn how things work before running your mouth and making a fool of yourself. Last of Us 2 looks better. And that ran on 2013 hardware. Get real, bro.

[@gavinderulo12]

@@MichaelDoesLife is the last of us 2 open world, does it have dynamic lighting? This demo shows way more than you think it does.

[@Departure4885]

@@MichaelDoesLife I gave you a thumbs down not just because you’re wrong, but also because how rude this comment is.

[@kylelochner5686]

@@MichaelDoesLife last of us 2 textures look low res on the rocks and most of the assets. It looked good at the time but these new games look better in every way.

[@frankjoz2803]

@@MichaelDoesLife It doesn't look better. Facts

[@MrSTVR]

I love tech demos and hope they're more readily available on consoles like this

[@hovdog]

Man...this so much...

[@walrus-splice-renewable]

Why though? I would like try to games implementing the new Unreal Engine, I don't give a fuck about tech demos.

[@MrSTVR]

@@walrus-splice-renewable well they're free and you don't have to wait 3 years for them to release

[@hupekyser]

@@walrus-splice-renewable it's great for people who like technology. Which is part of the point of a technology demo.

[@prateekpanwar646]

@@walrus-splice-renewable Well then you'll have to wait 3 years atleast. When any new console comes out, It needs atleast 2-3 years to fully utilise the hardware. See forza horizon 2 on Xbox one and forza horizon 4. Same console, But bump in quality is exceptional.

[@jaymac7203]

This was the first time my series x actually felt like it was being utilised. Awesome demo.

[@devo229]

So true

[@bluebrawler3558]

agreed! i’ve been waiting for a game to truly wow me!

[@NextgenPL]

Of course! ... Before this it was like big crossgen nonsense!!!! From now we start a true next gen experience! Amazing time!

[@sevn8757]

@@bluebrawler3558 Ive been waiting for a series x to actually be in stock

[@RareManga]

Nah don’t forget about the greatest game…Halo

[@nico5179]

I played this on my PS5 on my 4K HDR monitor and it was just mind blowing. I honestly never seen this level of realism in a game like ever, and I have been gaming on the PC for over 2 decades now. Just amazing!

[@TheAltafir]

You haven't seen a graphic like this 20 years ago? What bullshit you played

[@nico5179]

@@TheAltafir not even today with modern gaming PCs have I seen graphics like these. I have a Ryzen 7 5800X and an RX6800XT gpu for your information!

[@pilouuuu]

It's a real shame this demo is not on PC.

[@ShatteringKatana]

@@pilouuuu It's a good call in the sense that people can't claim "oh, this runs on an overspecced PC" (that's what the team claimed). I would like to play it on PC though, as it's totally capable of doing so.

[@ArtVandelayOfficial]

Wait till you see it on OLED

[@drztopgun]

I checked out this Unreal Engine 5 demo on my series X last night. I couldn't believe my eyes and the prospect of this being the future of gaming.

[@MichaelDoesLife]

It looks horrible

[@eSKAone-]

Yea 30fps again the future of gaming, great.

[@eSKAone-]

Now we really need PS5 Pro

[@sprintingsnail9492]

@@eSKAone- why?

[@SoumyadeepChanda]

@@eSKAone- Do you expect a 3090 in a $500 console?

[@Balthazar2242]

The beauty of using The Matrix for a tech demo is the whole thing makes sense in-universe. Any glitch, any inconsistency, even the fact that you are manipulating the world, works as part of the Matrix. It's like you're an AI constructing the world.

[@andymontanez56]

Someone definitely needs to make a new matrix game

[@andyward8430]

Yes it is the perfect setting for an open world game with very “gamish” mechanics and flaws.

[@skid6641]

@@andymontanez56 insomniac would do a good job

[@andymontanez56]

@@skid6641 thatd be cool. Think I would prefer remedy more though for this game

[@weaverquest]

@@andymontanez56 A Naughty Dog Matrix game would have been a dream imo. They already got the state of the art motion capture and very realistic animations, action set pieces from Uncharted as crazy as the action sequences from the Matrix movies, the visceral gunplay and melee from tlou 2, and with a graphics tech like this would be mind-blowing.

[@Omikron1011]

The detailing in this demo is absolutely absurd! So many building and other assets, rooftops and stuff, it is mind blowing!

[@richwong403]

It would be better if they put environment reflections on their black glasses.

[@astroman310]

woul this playable on the gtx or ati with raytracyng?

[@1ChilledDude]

I knew from the moment I'd laid eyes on the in-game visuals and playing this tech demo, I was witnessing a game changer. Your analysis of the tech is a vindication. This demo is truly revolutionary given how closely it mimics in real-time what was once considered only the realm of pre-rendered CG. This genuinely looks like the pre-rendered scenes from the actual Matrix movies and each of those CG scenes took literally days to render! I was equally astonished at how smooth everything ran on the PS5. If this is a taste of what this generation of consoles has to offer, the future is looking very bright indeed. If they can maintain this level of fidelity for VR experiences developed with UE5, the immersion level will be beyond mind blowing!

[@1ChilledDude]

@@faultyservice There are companies that have released procedural building creation tools on Unreal's Marketplace before, but it looks like EPIC's internal devs have taken this to a whole new level in this demo. The rule sets that govern how structures are populated within the environment seem quite sophisticated.

[@astroman310]

my gtx is ready for this or i need a better configuration for the 2023?

[@dogeatinghomework]

30fps VR would be absolutely sickeningly unpleasant man. The current gen consoles have nowhere near the horsepower for a proper VR experience at this level of graphical fidelity. Even 60hz VR is unpleasant.

[@cmo5807]

@@dogeatinghomework You are aware the new ps5 vr unit will run 90 and 120.... Yes I understand you mean the power of the consoles but Im just pointing out at least this Playstation vr unit will not be as bad as the last. But yes the games will not be this good looking but I expect by the midlife of the VR unit the games will look good.

[@GameDynastyPro]

This tech demo was insane definitely wasn't expecting the graphics to be so realistic.UE5 is true beast of gaming engine

[@override7486]

I guess you meant graphics engine. Because there's not much game of any sort, except the visuals and rendering solutions running on all cylinders. And as workforce is limited, you have to kinda decide what to spent your time (and money) for. Find balance between jaw-dropping visuals and VFX all over screen versus gameplay and "fun" part of the game itself.

[@attemptityourself5662]

@@override7486 well its an engine demo soooooo. Most gameplay elements of any game are tailored by the game makers. Sure epic will include a trove of stock assets and animations but every engine, even those made by studios for in-house production, will have bespoke elements created for an individual game from that studio when compared to another by the same studio on the same engine. You're splitting hairs on pedantics to be contrarian. Additionally on the workforce front they literally talked about multiple points of using the engines ai for world creation allowing smaller studios to dream bigger and also about improving performance across the board. For an unoptimized demo to showcase the abilities via real-time rendering on console(not pre rendered cgi on a pc) it is pretty mindblowing and delivers on the "next gen" everyone was hoping to see.

[@GameslordXY]

Yeah and framerate sucks from what I can see . For now. Question is, how well can consoles maintain THIS level of visual fidelity targeting smooth stable 30 or so , never mind 60 or more fps at this or higher resolution. 4K60 for example . Or 1080p120 Dynamic even .

[@GameslordXY]

@@attemptityourself5662 Word bespoke is reserved ExclusivelY for the members of Digital Foundry team. And YOU ARE NOT it. Best replace it with something else. 😜😜😜😝😛😛🤪🤪🤪

[@gamer123ab]

@@GameslordXY LOL!!!!!

[@zhaf]

Keanu Reeves: “What is real? How do we know?” DF: Oh we know….. we analyzed the shit out of it.

[@frogbelly45]

HAHA 😄 🤣

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

69 likes Niceeee

[@akenney1234]

Superb video team! Well done and huge achievement and well done to Epic too. Thanks for sharing 🙏

[@SpontaneousWeasel]

This really blew my mind - loved how closely they got to a truly photo real version of the original movie's introduction of neo waking to his pc from the matrix rain effect. I wasn't sure what to expect from the teaser countdown but this really cemented what the new console hardware can do!

[@-1nterruption-960]

Played this on my Series X for a few hours just flying around looking at the detail on everything. Just Amazing

[@v1kt0u5]

Beautiful in HDR/DV and smooth rendered by this machine.

[@marcuspierce124]

I haven't seen the DF crew this enamored with a tech demo in a long time. Sidenote: Would anyone else love to see a Virtua Fighter-esque Matrix fighter using this tech?

[@LarnelleChambers]

obviously i wanna see that. pleaaase hurry up

[@jayclarke777]

I would just like a new Virtual Fighter altogether

[@beingatliberty]

would there be much point? nanite is making city scapes possible in such detail, a couple of characters fighting would barely touch the sides of this technology. ;)

[@LeonidThe90sKid]

Hey Marcus Pierce, are you a bit FGC as well? :) i’m to find developers for a fighting game using this tech (or similar tech in the near future). Some companies seem to not want anything to do with fighting games at the moment (probably from looking at fortnite numbers and comparing them with fighting games).

[@baronsengir187]

If it can keep 60 fps

[@guitarzilla555]

I hope you guys do another video and go into even more detail. Really put the engine to the test, show us behind the curtain. Excellent analysis as always, cheers!

[@antjarvis]

The cross over in tech from games to movie production and back again is fascinating. The last 3 big commercials I worked on, all featured Unreal in some form or other. It is becoming as ubitquitus as the camera, and has enabled the widespread use of LED volumes. Surely they are up for the Science and Technoloy Oscar?

[@XPuntar]

That is for sure! In the end credits of the movie The Matrix Resurrection there is a mention of Unreal Engine 5!

[@astroman310]

we need this with ati or nvidia partneship

[@r.o.6180]

Tried on my Xbox Series S (24" 1080p display) and PS5 (4k 55") it's an amazing demo. I was shocked!

[@braiaposts]

Me too, it's Very good. But remember, it's a bad optimized demo. Ue5 optimized games will be awesome

[@JasonZakrajsek]

24 and 55 foot TVs? Incredible!!!

[@TerraWare]

@@JasonZakrajsek OP is ahead of all of us it seems lol

[@UserInterface00]

After it was announced at the Game Awards that this went live, I’m sure all of us were waiting for the Digital Foundry tech review

[@v1kt0u5]

Exactly my thoughts.

[@bighams69]

For the first time since we were teenagers, my friends and I watched this trailer together and our jaws collectively dropped. We also said the words we used to say back then: "Graphics just can't get any better than this"

[@astroman310]

on my teenage this was to look on ps6, but it will work good on my rig, considering i can upgrade my videocard

[@xPORTALWALKERx]

Thanks guys! You answered a couple of my speculations and now I feel secure in what I can do with this in the future.

[@lohitpeesapati3846]

I played it yesterday on a 1080p screen, on my XSX and it still looked remarkable. Thanks for the great analysis as always, was waiting for this! I hope Epic updates this demo with any future improvements.

[@mrroachclip8444]

I got a series x quick question..how can I play it?

[@GotSawst]

@@mrroachclip8444 push Y and search for the Matrix in the store. 🤔

[@mrroachclip8444]

@@GotSawstthanks

[@CrashBashL]

That's because the game is still rendering in 4K in the VRAM then it gets downscaled to the TV's native resolution , thus keeping a much higher quality. It's not the same for playing a game or this demo directly in 1080p on an 1080p screen. Then it will look bad.

[@sharathvasudev]

@@CrashBashL exactly. I play on my 1080p monitor than my 4k tv. it always looks better on monitors. monitors definitely come with better tech unless you buy very expensive TV from a big brand

[@mtdubdachamp6917]

Seeing this running on my PS5 was jaw dropping. I haven't been this impressed with something in a long time.. if this is the future of the next gen systems and PC then I'm glad I'm already on board. UE5 is a true beast. I can only imagine how flawless this looks on PC..

[@griffgames9538]

... with adequate CPU/GPU and crucially storage speeds.

[@landfillao4193]

As a PC player imagining is all I can do as well because we didn't get the demo. lol. Sounds like it'll come as a free update in Unreal Engine 5 but I'd like to play it without needing to download the whole engine. But whatever. I hope to try it at some point.

[@mtdubdachamp6917]

@@landfillao4193 damn I thought it was on PC as well.. well I can tell you it was jaw dropping imo. Just beautiful.

[@colemin2]

@@griffgames9538 A slow ssd will be fine for UE5 games.

[@paul1979uk2000]

@@mtdubdachamp6917 Sounds like it might be with the engine on release but clearly they wanted to try and impress with the new consoles first. Once games target PC and the new consoles only whiles using newer game engines to take advantage of them is when the real true next gen gaming begins because for now, games are cross gen whiles using engines that are designed for the last gen consoles. Still, I have to wonder what they could deliver on the PC if this is the results they are getting on consoles in an unoptimised form.

[@TylerNessss]

Great job guys. Excellent analysis! What exciting times we have ahead of us.

[@El.Duder-ino]

Quality DF analysis as always, thank you folks - much love! UT5 is truly next gen engine platform and its going to be amazing what can be created with it.

[@genfactor3390]

When Series X and PS5 came out I struggled to figure out what the big deal was. It took a year but I'm finally impressed.

[@apimpnamedstepback1431]

Supply issues are holding this generation of consoles back.

[@WllKiedSnake]

@@apimpnamedstepback1431 And this hold back of this generation is why we have so many cross gen and remasters going on recently. Very easy to do those vs the bigger games.

[@andymontanez56]

Really? The jump was obvious at the beginning

[@rogerm4a1]

@@andymontanez56 not this obvious though.

[@GeniusCenaa]

You didn’t watch the UE5 demo they showed in 2020 did you?!

[@thomashewitt8104]

Played this on PS5 last night and it was incredible. I’m especially impressed with Nanite, I spend a good hour just zooming in on random props on the street and architectural features on buildings and just being absolutely blown away by the amount of geometry, and how seamlessly the level of detail changes as you move closer / further from it

[@kc-me6wl]

same dude...lost 30minutes just walking around the streets...was a point when i caught the sun coming right down a street and it just bounced off the character so incredibly felt as though as i was basking in the sun myself... if metaverse VR captures details like this were screwed lol

[@halcyondaystunes]

One of the best DF analysis videos I've ever seen. Fantastic job guys 👍🙂

[@NightfallAgent]

I love the Winamp Kazaa throwback (Clubbed to Death, matrix OST lol). The bespoke levels of this video are off the charts. Thank you guys!

[@M.W.H.]

This is probably the biggest move forward in visuals technology in video games since the days that ushered the 3D graphics. Most impressive indeed, let's see where this will go.

[@neilranson4185]

Seems the holy grail of gaming graphics has now been met being what looks at least like infinite detail abs photo realism. I knew these consoles could do a LOT more than what we have mostly seen so far but even then I was shocked I couldn’t tell what was real life and what was real time in engine visuals

[@M.W.H.]

@@neilranson4185 this also proves that the publishers/developers were lazy.

[@jayroman3384]

@@M.W.H. it doesn’t. At all. Unreal engine 5 is brand new. It takes time for games to start being made with the engine. I think the only confirmed game that’s being developed in it so far is Black Myth: Wukong

[@alexbrown5658]

@@jayroman3384 Hellblade II is also confirmed to be running on UE5 and we just saw that at the TGA. It looked absolutely nuts.

[@GratefulDave93]

@@jayroman3384 Star Atlas is being developed with UE5

[@griffgames9538]

Remember: *This is an extreme stress test of Unreal Engine 5 on these MSRP $299-$499 consoles* with a sprawling seamless open world packed with activity and effects. Yes, the frame-rate buckles under that pressure but *this is due to sheer volume of geometry, assets, AI, and effects work pushing the consoles* Now, dial it back a bit. Very few Unreal Engine 5 games will go for this raw scale. Imagine "wide linear" games like Halo Infinite, Far Cry, etc. running on UE5. Imagine smaller scope yet densely packed and detailed games like Control on UE5. The consoles can certainly brute force through more conservative scope game designs on UE5, and 60fps is absolutely still on the table. We need to keep the demo's massive scope in perspective when criticizing the relative performance/frame-rate. There's no need to jump to conclusions like "the new consoles are back to 30fps now!" because we'll obviously see many different game types/world complexity in future UE5 titles on Series and PS5.

[@icqpimp]

Great post. Only the top tier companies will (obviously) develop these games smartly to run properly with this new engine. Looking forward to it. Playing this thing on PS5 Friday I was just like: "This is THEE actual first-time next-generation game I've played on my console." Even the best first party games from Sony can't touch this. Not even Spider-Man Remastered, Miles Morales, or Last Of Us Part II.

[@icqpimp]

I hear you. This game/demo has put all other games into perspective. They're all gonna be cross-gen. I can't do that. I'm not looking forward to that.

[@julien2231]

Dont use logic. Its not welcome here.

[@AngryChineseWoman]

Can't wait for the PS5 Pro and the RTX 4 series

[@LucDutra92]

Totally. Just check out the latest Hellblade II trailer. Though it doesn't seem quite as impressive as the reveal trailer (maybe that was CGI afterall) it's still a huge evolution compared to past gen games.

[@LordRaydenTube]

Really liked the arguments at the end. Great talk!

[@VoiceLess-HV]

The exact video from the exact channel I was exactly waiting

[@Rawnchie14]

The fact we can get this running on a console - before the improvements and optimizations coming with a new engine - is astounding. It's going to also guide PC performance and quality for games to sky high levels if console is squeezing this out.

[@MichaelDoesLife]

It doesn't't look that impressive, dude. Chill.

[@azziek3246]

@@MichaelDoesLife Ok dude

[@paul1979uk2000]

Do have to wonder what developers are going to be able to do with this engine on the PC, especially once the engine gets more optimized with this level of results on consoles.

[@harlenkelly7331]

This is just the first year of the consoles, developers will be able to get more out of the consoles as they get more accustomed to their intricacies.

[@LauritzenLucas]

@@MichaelDoesLife It's the best looking game ever made currently dude, chill.

[@LonghornsLegend]

It was such a great surprise seeing this and being absolutely blown away. Just incredible. Can't recall the last time I've played a game and was visually blown away

[@decki86]

Thanks for the explanation which is what this awesome tech demo needed for the laymen and the enthusiasts

[@thekradeht]

Thanks for this great video. It puts into perspective exactly why that Unreal Engine 5 / Matrix tech demo was so impressive!

[@jeremygreisz4111]

matrix resructions was complete shit show hell matrix 2 and 3 were better than this resurections trash!!!

[@JimmyZeng]

I'm really impressed XSS could hold up that well.

[@ryanschindler923]

This demo and seeing Hellblade Senua 2 are making me super excited for the future of games

[@marty8370]

Hellblade 2 looked boring as hell

[@hog33333]

Already excited now playing halo infinite and forza horizon 5! The future is now! Haha

[@gavinstrangeakajamfactory9746]

Brilliant deep dive, thanks so much!

[@alamisalami2002]

This was such a phenomenal review!

[@TheWeeky]

seein Neo so real as a GAME character was actually unreal, the whole demo is insane but how realistic they made Neo is actually amazing

[@FinerSide321]

U r correct it is unreal .....unreal engine 5 xD

[@raijinn5139]

its not a game

[@fafski1199]

@Transistor Jump It's not exactly AAA or even indie quality though. It's just a showcase tech demo, with a couple of basic and simplistic gameplay elements added.

[@dragonskull473slayer9]

This tech demo was insane definitely wasn't expecting the graphics to be so realistic

[@sharathvasudev]

I lost it when they said the initial scene neo opening his eyes was rendered. I thought it was video playing.

[@astroman310]

It s still insane did you deleted it?

[@Nielo_Gan]

Anyone who isn't totally blown away by this doesn't understand the tech involved. There are lot more at play here than just 3D visuals. I'm still collecting my jaw off the floor. The physics alone is 👌. And all running on 500 dollar consumer hardware. 🤯

[@jazzycup9274]

Hit 130mph on the freeway circle, saw Epic themselves couldn't keep their engine from bogging down, said "neat" and turned it off. It was cool, but we aren't going to see anything using it to its *full potential or seeing a consistent 60 or 120 frames until Xbox "whatever" and the PS6. *We will definitely see badly optomized games come out before then though.

[@stop965]

Hell 400

[@HugoStiglitz88]

Except tech isn't everything. Who gives a shit how advanced the tech is if it doesn't look as attractive as something else?? There are plenty of games with more advanced tech than Demons Souls but that doesn't change the fact that demons souls is by far the best looking game money can buy right now.

[@HugoStiglitz88]

@@jazzycup9274 exactly. Ue5 is an unoptimized mess and still doesn't manage to look better than many last Gen games let alone current Gen LOL

[@Nielo_Gan]

@@HugoStiglitz88 When you boost visual realism, you also need to boost animation, physics, AI, etc. If you don't, you get disjointed mess, which basically the bulk of current games. Look pretty, makes great screenshots, falls flat at everything else. This is the first playable content I've seen that brings it altogether. Hence the overwhelming praise by many. Impossible to pull off on last gen. UE5 is still in development, this was developed by small team with limited budget & time. Can't wait to see what this engine can do once its properly set loose.

[@Jmanisalive]

That was an enjoyable conversation and I'm not a tech guy. Thanks guys.

[@jal.ajeera]

I played this on my PS5 and it looks absolutely stunning!!! Frame rates are wonky though. But if the future is even 60% of this, it's going to be amazing!

[@dom4591]

I tried it on Series X yesterday and I think the low frame rate ruined the demo. Everything else was impressive though.

[@krono5el]

if you mess with the density setting it can run great.

[@MichaelDoesLife]

I hope the future is nothing like this. Game looks like garbage.

[@saputrasaputra3347]

ah so promising.. the future of gaming , 1080p 20fps as expected of weakbox and weakstation 5

[@krono5el]

@@dom4591 yeah but it doesnt stutter as much

[@frostyone182]

This tech demo was absolutely stunning. Parts of it looked nearly indistinguishable from real life. I am so excited for this engine and the future of gaming. The only issue is the NPCs, once you start walking around. They kind of ruined it. Even then, the buildings look super realist and the sense of scale is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I didn’t feel like I was a small person walking around a model city, like in every other game ever made. I actually felt the size of the buildings. If that makes any sense.

[@seangalvin3196]

I agree. It made me excited for it's use in something like a Spider Man game. It looks so real that you would be nervous about jumping off something like a building. When it looks this real it's all feels so much more dangerous. I hope I'm explaining that right. Very exciting indeed! Oh yeah, I wonder if it will be more nerve racking and emotionally intense to fire a weapon at an NPC at close range when they look so real. Lots of interesting questions.

[@autotropicplaybench1819]

True but as a demo it seemed clear to me that they focused mostly on showcasing how well the Lumen lighting system scales on such a big area with a vast amount of buildings, traffic and rendered people over long distances all at once more than anything else - after all there's not much collision/physics mechanics other than the cars you drive ingame that don't explode for example, so it's clear making effort to add even more real NPCs wasn't the priority on the demo. Which is fine because that can always be refined by proper devs, and regardless of what people think of Epic (I myself still will not bother to get an Epic Games Store account), their Unreal Engine 5 demo is technically impressive

[@izzyarland5304]

My eyesight is poor but yours must be worse. NPCs as you say look like anything out of a five to ten year old Assassin's Creed. Frame pacing is crap, no physics on anything that's not scripted, jaggies everywhere. Real life? I don't think so. But it's nice they made it free, obviously a good marketing move considering Warner Bros. paid Epic a bucketload of money to do this.

[@johnlake2545]

Nanite and Lumen were able to achieve such hyper realistic visuals for the city that MetaHuman, no matter how impressive it is, ends up looking like mammoth turd and irritating the hell out of the uncanny valey sense.

[@pilouuuu]

We need more A.I. Lots of it.

just the discusion I was looking forward to hear about the matrix awakens tech, my mind was blown away when I saw the clip

[@playstation5147]

Simply beautiful demo, great video 🙂

[@sneakkyz3696]

You gotta love and respect digital foundry for this stuff especially for the fact they get videos out so fast.

[@MichaelDoesLife]

They need to get a real job

[@nickabbott319]

Absolutely

[@mixey01]

Finally. The only tech analysis the whole gaming community has been anxiously waiting for 😊🙏

[@HipnotikHylian]

Not really lmao. I didn't give a fuck about this

[@Beaut_Beau]

@@HipnotikHylian Yet here you are commenting on it...

[@RokkieSparrow]

@@Beaut_Beau right 😬

[@awesomegtadude1752]

@@HipnotikHylian lmfaoooo christ

[@TheSolidfoxhound]

@@HipnotikHylian Here's a lollipop 🍭 for you kiddo

[@mikeligammare5773]

Great Review! As someone who works with UE4 in the film/TV industry. The one thing that I noticed playing the demo, which wasn't mentioned. Is that in the opening sequence they hit the uncanny valley pretty hard. It's especially noticeable with Carrie-Anne Moss. I think we are going to see a lot more of this as more photo real games come out. All and all though I am excited about UE5 and next gen!

[@cookieface80]

As soon as I saw the demo I knew there would be a DF video.

[@chinodigitalbath]

Let's hope this tech transfers into future projects...its really very impressive and extremely surprising to see this kind of playable tech demo on consoles. Finally some true next gen software running on the new machines...

[@alexsilva28]

Hope? Lol what do you think they will use this tech on? Ofc it will be used in future projects

[@chinodigitalbath]

@@alexsilva28 Well, after there have been quite a lot of disappointing releases in the last couple of years, it for sure doesn't automatically mean that UE5 and this tech demo in particular is the saving grace of video games now...especially not if upcoming titles focus on graphics & presentation only 😉 there are big differences in the industry, especially budget wise. UE actually only is a "set of tools", it doesn't make the actual job of creating something obsolet... you still need a skilled team and millions of cash nowadays, in order to create a true next gen (blockbuster like) title, which looks, feels, runs and plays great...all at the same time and across different machines.

[@sasukegodmode7213]

@@chinodigitalbath Because Ps3 and Ps4 were never good.

[@rowns814]

Playing this blew me away. Can’t wait to see what the future holds.

[@MichaelDoesLife]

Miles Morales looks just as good on PS5. Get real.

[@rowns814]

@@MichaelDoesLife I have MM on PS5, no it doesn’t. Go cry into your PS3. 🤣🤣

[@maciekan]

@@rowns814 I was thinking the same thing though, take miles on a walk and it's quite better with rtx, only difference i see is less vehicles.

[@rowns814]

@@maciekan it’s not just the walking around the city segment. It was mainly the car chase scene for me. That was next level immersion, I was gripped. Remember this is only a tech demo. I’m purely saying imagine what games will look like in 10 years with this kind of tech fully developed and optimised. People need to chill out.

[@addidaswguy]

@@rowns814 seriously, It's unbelievable! The fact that there was no visible pop-in, and you could see a building WAAAAAY out and just continually drive towards and it stays visible the entire time, I can't remember that in anything ever in a big city or world setting. Can't wait to see the future in 5-10 years. Also this makes me want a Spider-Man, Batman, AND a Superman game in a badass city like this.

[@wheelwrightpl9429]

I am excited about the flexibility of this engine: with those vast aerial shots it appears to be just as capable to render from distance as it is from close-ups. Perfect for flight sims like DCS and IL-2, which stagnated so long with their old engines, with glacial pace of development and continued inability to implement promised features (I am looking at you DCS).

[@Bummilmy]

great analysis - thank you so much!

[@caiop.4972]

This demo allayed my fears about Xbox Series S not being able to run true next-gen experiences.

[@Rawnchie14]

It may not be the prettiest, but the features will be there, which is excellent news down the road as Series S continues to provide a pathway for gamers to next gen at a lower price tag.

[@blenderguy2598]

I honestly have no horse in the console wars but it worries me also. I have a feeling it’ll hold back Xbox exclusives for this whole generation sadly. Meanwhile playstation devs only have one set hardware to work with. Time will tell though and maybe some Xbox exclusives will still blow my socks off down the line!

[@supermadkid]

@@blenderguy2598 he said allayed his fears I.e. he's not worried about it anymore. Basically he's impressed at what the little machine is achieving in this highly demanding game. I am too. It's got 1/3rd the GPU power of series x and half of the ps5 but is producing almost identical results. Like nobody outside of DF could have noticed these differences even with a side by side except the obvious resolution differences. It only bodes well for the future of the machine.

[@blenderguy2598]

@@supermadkid lol whoops, you are correct I completely glossed over his word choice and assumed. My mistake, that’s what I get for leaving a comment right before bed. Thanks for pointing out my error, I still stand by what I said that I still have my doubts about it. That being said, for this demo, the fact that series S is running it definitely does blow my mind too!

[@richardtucker5938]

@@supermadkid its more like 2/5 the power of ps5 right? All the teraflops metrics are talking about peak calculations for each system.

[@voodoovibes1909]

I love the fact that Epic got The Coalition (unreal masters) to help with this project. Can't wait to see how Gears 6 will look.

[@marwanyousif7456]

Yeah gears of War 6 will be UE5 for sure

[@jayclarke777]

They needed to get The Coalition because the PS5 runs better on average. That 12Tflops has been outdone once again.

[@Suavellous]

@@jayclarke777 how does it run better??? 😂 oh, you’re just fanboying. Like the ppl on twitter showing buildings rendered in on ps5 and not xsx, then didn’t bother showing buildings rendered in on xsx and not on ps5🤦🏻‍♂️

[@idflr1]

@@jayclarke777 one fps advantage. Watch the video again...

[@animetodamaximum]

@@idflr1 In one scene too lol.

[@Beaut_Beau]

Incredible graphics demonstration, flying through the city at night is simply amazing.

[@RockNRolla1212]

How did you turn on night mode?

[@Mrdeniro100]

Can't wait for the Switch version.

[@galaxy_freezer8293]

Regarding Series S and objects in the distance: Nanite tries to show every mesh with a tessellation level where every polygon equals one rendered pixel. Less rendered pixels => lower mesh resolution. More rendered pixels => higher mesh resolution. Therefore the difference in mesh quality for distant objects.

[@jemandetwas1]

That's really unfortunate for 1080p gamers.

[@lumking972]

I can't wait to see companies holding back and not using the full potential of Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 just for the game to be able to run well on Xbox Series S.

[@ehsanghazavi470]

@@lumking972 Last gen is what's going to hold back these consoles not the series s. This is such a stupid take

[@Zakurablade]

@@lumking972 they have been doing it to pc for years. Your argument is so flawed that it should hit you back.

[@superioritymelee]

@@lumking972 It won't hold them back cuz games will be designed with scalability in mind. So when developers go full next gen you'll see that PS5 and Series X will get all that 4k textures and stuff and Series S will be running those games with lower texture quality and resolution. And this kind of optimization is easy enough due to all consoles sharing same architecture.

[@autisticwhale2968]

Was waiting for this!

[@CNM3]

I noticed the amazing detail levels in the objects in the world besides the buildings but I didn't even realize the chain link fences were all 3D that is truly impressive and is good indicator of how absolutely massive this jump in technology provides computer generated graphics.

[@alphacompton]

NEO SLEEPING BY THE PC IS REALTIME UE5????? OMG I was positive that's ripped from the movie. That's insane. This way above anything out there.

[@daeraloth1115]

For the price, that series S is one impressive little box.

[@Deedric_Kee]

We just got an amazing demo,but I know they have so much more and I can't wait to see the first party games that we'll get from this phenomenal engine 🙌

[@tinyentropy]

thanks for this great video!

[@DarthRaver-og7qq]

This demo only scratches the surface of what will be possible in games in the coming years. Really exciting stuff.

[@Hirnlego999]

Yes, but the problem is that a lot of studios won't be able to afford to do this level of graphics

[@kajmak64bit76]

@@Hirnlego999 actually it's opposite... these stuff make making good graphics easier and faster... so it's actually gonna be cheaper and easier so... uhh.. yeah... that happend apparently

[@Hirnlego999]

@@kajmak64bit76 Fast and easy is marketing talk. Bioshock Infinite cost 100 million USD to develop and it's nowhere near this complexity

[@kajmak64bit76]

@@Hirnlego999 exactly... because all the realietic lighting is fake... manually crafted by the developers... Lumen and Raytracing is just flipping a switch... and voila... realistic lighting... the devs only place light sources.. props... and proper textures... flip raytracing on... and boom good lighting... while previously they had to manually craft and make raytracing knock off lighting with regular non raytracing way aka rasterization ( i think that's what it's called not sure ) So yes it's more simpler to make and more cheap

[@Hirnlego999]

@@kajmak64bit76 LOL no, the textures and a lot won't pop into existence from out of nowhere. But sure, raytracing lightning will be faster but it's gonna be many many years until the average person has enough RT power so that will be the only way things will be created. Don't expect this to happen fast.

[@sachoslks]

Nice! I was waiting for this video, i knew you guys would be excited! Only thing i have to say is that i was expecting a little bit more indepth talk about the negatives of the presentation too, for example why there is so much flickering with geometry at times (Nanite bug?) or the temporal ghosting artifacts you can see in the back of cars or shadows, i guess thats Lumen not updating the GI fast enough or is it part of Screen Space artifacts? Also, this was made by a 50-70 people team?? Imagine what a real game with 300+ people would look like on this with a 3 years dev cycle, damn.

[@teehundeart]

The temporal super resolution blew my mind. When the demo switched TSR on and off the difference was huge.

[@bartfratze9529]

much better as the blurry mess TAA Temporal Anti Aliasing

[@MichaelDoesLife]

Regardless of what tracks they have up their sleeve, it's still muddy 1080p. Sad. You can't play the demo without connecting to the internet first. They're going to eventually pull it.

[@NeoTechni]

The temporal stuff is always terrible

[@NeoTechni]

@@secoTheSonicFan all temporal effects look terrible. Control looked the worst.

[@Patr1ck2332]

@@bartfratze9529 infinite 👀

[@power_of_the_creator]

Love when u guys use this music, thanks;)

[@Dribin]

I've been waiting for this vid :)

[@ReginaldVannison7777]

With these visuals, I think it’s safe to say next gen is finally here. It’s about damn time too.

[@adk4986]

I dont like it, as so far its sacrificing a lot of performance

[@ReginaldVannison7777]

@@adk4986 yeah that’s a huge cause for concern. I’m starting to wonder will the FidelityFX Super Resolution make a difference now.

[@loitersquad93]

The screen tearing and dropping frames was not it for me

[@leonthesleepy]

Playing this blew my mind. Its the first time i've genuinely seen anything that made me think "oh this is next gen"

[@MrInuhanyou123]

Amazing, the character models look on par with the cg character models of matrix revolutions which was professional grade movie production, one of the most expensive movies of its time

[@SC0RPI0NFURY]

I agree it's amazing. That Meta Human technology Epic Games showcases in this tech-demo has currently a price tag of 1 billion US dollars and it's still under developement

[@astroman310]

the stream from the ssd ps5 did a good job on this demo

[@tacoface7047]

it looks incredibly close to uncanny valley, but the fact they've come so far to actually pass the curve is just amazing, it'll only get better from here on

[@FryCanon]

Been waiting for this one!! Let's gooo

[@JVIoneyman]

If they fix the frame times, and the odd ghosting from what I am assuming is the upscaling, this will be a huge leap ahead.

[@wingedhussar1453]

Ghosting is worse then frame rate.30 fps is ok

[@TheCoolDave]

I tried this for the heck of it last night.... completely blown away. My Series X is connected to a TV with HDMI 2.1 Had to come here to see your thoughts on it. Very impressive.

[@satellite964]

Finally after many years the jump in tech feels like that of PS2 -> PS3. I was giddily watching the demo, felt like a kid again.

[@chimaera6234]

Was waiting for this👌

[@garnetnelson1419]

The first time EVER I been excited for next gen. Epic is standing up to their name as well as the Unreal engine name. 🙌🏽👍🏽🔥

[@vinciere3594]

Wow, the nostalgia of that Winamp reference @18:20..... That took me back!

[@TheGabrielbowater]

I spent half an hour just zooming in and out on building details trying to catch out the Nanite LoDs. Its extremely impressive