Topic: Infamous Second Son is a beast on PS4 Pro

I've just got my pro and hooked it up to a 4k tv. I've got to admit, it looks outstanding - this is with hdr turned off! This is the next gen look I was expecting when I bought the original ps4, simply put this is the best looking game I've ever played.

The original ps4 played this game well, but now Seattle feels wet, really really wet. The effects work is really pronounced with Delsins smoke hands looking crazy realistic and the gameplay is running at a higher frame rate than my original play through as the animations look so cohesive. Tiny little details immerse you a ton into the game and the image is so clean with no weird edges, I'm unsure on the terminology but I'm so used to seeing buildings shimmer and weird stepping effects on graphical edges, that seems to have been completely eliminated. I've been purposely looking for issues and there is annoying pop in with distant cars, but I think this is an issue with the npc cars original programming / graphics as the cars lighting in the distance seems weird too, with this weird red hue which is unrealistic compared to everything else I've witnessed so far.

Otherwise I'm well impressed, Infamous was never on my must play list. I never thought it could stand out as much as the original launch. But it has blown just about everything else away graphically I've ever played. Great job developers!

@themcnoisy: I wasn't too blown away with it, even the HDR implementation was underwhelming, although on the higher frame rate mode there are no improvements to the graphics over the base version as i understand? The new TV probably helps make it look better in general, though!

@kyleforrester87: There definitely is an improvement and its night and day. I've played it on my ps4 scrubs upstairs 1080 earlier on and it looks rubbish in comparison. I cant find much info online about the upgrade but it runs at 1440 with checkerboard taking it to 4k / 50-60fps on ps4 pro - that's a significant upgrade in pixels and as any game ive played in the last few years has been 1080p or less I can see a huge improvement. It looks cleaner and clearer. Second son ps4 scrubs was 1080p locked 30fps or 1080p unlocked which usually only hit 40fps and had loads of performance issues. Obviously I'm looking for improvements to warrant the effort in setting it all up but it looks and plays really good to me!

When in doubt, digital foundry seems to be the place with in-depth technical analysis.

They say (they lumped first light and second son together in one heading):
"Developer Sucker Punch delivers a solid Pro upgrade here with benefits not just for 1080p display users, but also for owners of original hardware with HDR-capable screens. The principal improvement comes in the form of a much higher resolution - the base 1080p of the original releases is boosted to 3200x1800 via checkerboarding. It's a really successful implementation, with very little in the way of noticeable artefacts.

Frame-rate holds its own at much the same level as the original game (perhaps a touch slower in less busy scenes, funnily enough) but there's also the option to trade pixels for performance via a secondary mode that runs the game at a slightly unstable 60fps. Both titles also support high dynamic range rendering, with First Light's neon power effects looking particularly superb here. Along with HDR upgrades on other titles, this particular feature rolls back to standard PlayStation 4 hardware too."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-playsta...

Again, from digital foundry (they do a ton of great PSPro coverage, really worth keeping tabs on them)

Resolution: 1800p checkerboard
Additional features: Super-sampling down to 1080p or unlocked frame-rate at native 1080p
HDR: Yes

That's the Pro specs for Infamous, which suggests you get native 1080p at "unlocked" framerate or 1800p at 30fps - personally I much prefered the 1080p unlocked framerate as it seemed to sit around 60fps for the most part but it will essentially look just like the base game running on a standard PS4 in that mode..only smoother owing to the higher framerate, but it's still native 1080p.

That said, I'm playing Tomb Raider at the moment and the "unlocked" framerate mode is way better than the 4K or enhanced graphics modes!

I found this on the playstation blog direct from sucker punch;

" In both games, the Seattle city streets are filled with incredible art from our hard working art team. Signs, coffee cups, puddles, fall leaves – this world is filled with little touches waiting to be noticed. With PS4 Pro’s increased resolution, those touches are even more crisp. You can see detail on bricks and signs that previously went unnoticed.

When we created the Seattle landscape, we had a goal to make everything wet. That means reflections of those details on every surface. It also meant a fair amount of specular aliasing. The increased resolution improves this and many other alias issues. And if you don’t have a 4K TV, you’ll still see a smoother image as the PS4 Pro will scale down to match your 1080p TV."

I think this is what Im seeing on my set up. The Aliasing (hopefully thats the word I've been searching for) issues have disappeared so it must be running at a higher resolution. Combined with the smaller details invisible on a standard ps4 it just feels more immersive. Thanks @Mega-Gazz for the link, interesting stuff. Im dubious about the digital foundry coverage though due to the ambiguous statement on trading pixels for frames - we are presuming its 1080p upscaled but I've read elsewhere its 1440 native checkerboarded upwards in the frames unlocked mode and 1800 in the locked 30fps mode. Surely digital foundry should have confirmed this analysis with some proof of concept, maybe comparing the 2 options but there's nothing there, they've concentrated on the 1080p presentation which is fine but not what Im seeing on my TV.

@kyleforrester87 what games would you say make the most of pro so far? I'm pretty intrigued to see if this can be bettered!

I think Tomb Raider hands down has done the best job of using the PS4 Pro the right way. They should be the blue print moving forward.

I just finished that, and I actually preferred the enhanced visuals. I found them quite noticible, the vegetation in particular.

Yeah, inFAMOUS is ridiculous on the PS4 Pro. Can't wait to see what Sucker Punch are cooking.

@get2sammyb:
Hopefully another inFamous.

@Splat: Agreed, though the lack of HDR support is a shame.

@Mega-Gazz: Yeah the vegetation looks fuller - it's nice to switch between the modes when you come into a new area for that reason.

@themcnoisy: It's hard for me to say what my favorite is because the only games I played on both systems are Skyrim, Infamous and Ratchet and Clank. From what I've read, Last Guardian probably benefits most from PS Pro support as it runs pretty badly on the standard PS4.

But more than increased frame rates and resolution it is really HDR that is making the biggest difference to my games, and this is available on the standard PS4 as we know. The below comparison isn't entirely fair to the standard mode as the sun was more visible on the screen lol. But even the lighting on the back of the boy and the darkness of the hole to the left of him look great.

@Gamer83: YES PLEASE.

Second son is still top 5 for me in terms of just sheer fun playing a PS4 game. It was what sold me on the system at E3, too. I REALLY want another one.

@ztpayne7: It is fun, although I do wish delsin had a lock on for firing his fire hands, Taking down drug dealers ain't easy when you fire your weapon like the dude off pulp fiction against Samuel l Jackson.

I've played more and the graphics are way better than a quick tweak here and there, the particle effects look heaps different with particles flying everywhere and clothing looks like its real clothing. I've studied a number of lesser websites and what some so called experts have said about the pro and I'm amazed that the majority don't think its a worthwhile upgrade yet. You can trade in your ps4 £150 with a game or 2 and pay the extra £150 to get the new console which plays games at a way higher resolution, with a bigger HDD and a new pad - its a no brainer. I kind of understand resolutions - and just like the jump from sd to 720p, the jump from hd to 1440+ resolutions is a game changer - its that much of a difference. You can see the difference as its right there slapping you in the face like a Wrestling fan with one of those foam hands. You need a 4k tv to appreciate the difference, 1080p just isn't the same - its insane. The next batch of games coming out from Sonys studios in 2017 are gonna look incredible.

@themcnoisy: To be honest I think the only reason it's not worth the upgrade, potentially, is that while the improvements are clearly there not enough games are taking advantage of the new hardware yet. 6-12 months and it'll be a different story.

Since my last post I got annoyed with the unlocked framerate in Tomb Raider so set it to 4K 30fps and after getting used to it I think I'll play the rest of the game like this, looks lovely.

@kyleforrester87: How did FF15 shape up on pro? I got really frustrated with shadow pop in on ps4 scrubs. It really got on my nerves and there was tons of aliasing issues with distant objects. The game is obviously my goty, but those graphical issues really detracted from the experience.

I think the reason Ive started this thread is a number of issues I have come to expect with every iteration of the last 4 or 5 console generations since 3d became the big thing; graphics merging / meshing / popping / shimmering / glitching / plastic looking / foggy / unclear etc can all be eradicated on this hardware as evidenced by Infamous second son - and if not this hardware then definitely on ps5! More pixels especially on a 44inch screen makes everything clear and clean. I will continue my mutterings in the other pro thread as and when I play more games RaC, Mantis Racing and in the future Wipeout Omega are all on my radar.

@kyleforrester87: I tried this tonight and I think you should too! Id pretty much played through the first couple of areas to unlock 2 fast travel locations so you know roughly where I'm upto. Then I thought sod it, lets adjust these settings and see what happens.

So I set Infamous to locked 30fps at low resolution.

It looks awful. That's the old ps4 recommended implementation. There is shimmering and weird stuff going on with the graphics like every other game on ps4.

Then I set infamous to unlocked framerates and high resolution.

It looks bloody marvellous. There's no way its running at 1080p, No way on earth. Its why I'm struggling to understand what the hell digital foundry is going on about.

So there are 4 options not 3;

1080p - locked 30fps (what most of us have played the original release at and the worst way to play)
1080p - 60fps
1440 - unlocked framerates (40-60fps in my experience this sits at 60fps most of the time)
1800 - 30fps

@themcnoisy: Will have a look again when I install it At any rate, there's a lot of conjecture and I think an element of "wanting" to see differences, certainly not suggesting that's what's going on here but the answer is developers need to be more forthcoming with the improvements we are getting!

BTW Pick up Tomb Raider. It's awesome.

@kyleforrester87: Honestly mate the difference is huge. All the aliasing issues are gone, you can basically swap the options on the fly and thats when the penny really does drop. I will pick up tomb raider, I've actually got TR definitive version on my shelf which I may play after infamous.

@themcnoisy: I'll second Tomb Raider - IMO just plain better than Uncharted in the "Indiana Jones Wannabe" category, but I don't want to start a flame war

Rise of the Tomb Raider is (IMO) the best use of the Pro. 4k/30 is stunning too but the fact it gives us options and can swap on the fly is great. The only thing missing is HDR which would elevate the visuals to a whole new level.

I can understand why some may think the Pro is currently not worth the upgrade - only 5% of games are actually enhanced by the extra power and the rest play exactly the same as a standard PS4. 1080p TV owners don't get much benefit in some cases - yes its often a downsampled image with less shimmer but the game still plays the same. What annoys me the most though is people that pick up on the 'not native 4k' and are critical of that. I know there are quite a few games that run in Native 4k but even those that don't are running at 1440p or above. At 1440p that's nearly twice as many pixels being drawn each frame. So many say the Pro isn't a true 4k gaming console but I want to know how many games need to be 4k before they say it is? Its not just 'indie' or 'old or remastered' games either as Fifa17 proves - released this year and delivers a native 4k/60.

I haven't returned to Infamous yet as I have platinumed that game so doesn't really offer much in the way of motivation. I may pick up First Light but I am not paying that much for a standalone DLC. Infamous was enjoyable but I much preferred the older games and they also offered more too. I felt 2nd Son was more a tech demo for PS4 in a few ways although the game wasn't a 'demo' in length. It was still short and easy to platinum - unlike the others.