Fallout 4, the long-awaited open-world action game set in a world in the aftermath of nuclear war, runs slightly smoother on PlayStation 4 than Xbox One, if an early performance analysis is to be believed.
A Digital Foundry article, which examines how smoothly Bethesda’s latest open-world epic runs on home consoles, suggested that both systems render at 1080p, usually at 30 frames-per-second, with VSync enabled.
However, the analysis also claimed that “the Xbox One version that has a tangible disadvantage,” due to an occasional stutter issue that appears to be linked to problems with the console pulling data from the hard-drive at speed. Internal playthroughs at GameSpot would suggest this graphical stammer is not frequent, but not avoidable either.
Considering the infrequency of these stammer issues, their importance to players is a matter for debate.
The review continued: “When you put the controller down, you think about the friend you betrayed to benefit another, the shifting tide of an incredible battle, or the moment you opened a drawer and found someone’s discarded effects, making you wonder how they felt before the bombs fell. In moments like these, Fallout 4 can be an intoxicating experience.”
Pete Hines, a representative for publisher Bethesda, has defended Fallout 4’s performance on both home consoles.
Interacting with fans on Twitter, he suggested that the PlayStation 4 graphical issues have only been aired by one voice in the press. A series of messages, posted by Hines, can be found below.
@DavidMo92898701 no they aren’t. they regurgitated one thing one person said. game runs well on PS4.
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 9, 2015
@JamesWatch ? I told you my experiences. Article says “Fallout 4 does hold 30fps as a general rule”. So… — Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 9, 2015
Meanwhile, a subsequent Digital Foundry article suggested that if fans hook up their Xbox Ones to a solid-state hard drive, and then port the game files over, the stammer issues will decrease considerably.
Fallout 4 released on Tuesday November 10 across the UK, Australia, and North America. On its launch day it broke concurrent user records for a non-Valve game on Steam.
