Horizon Forbidden West has made its way to PC courtesy of Nixxes, the studio behind recent PC ports of PlayStation games. The game shines on consoles, but how does it hold up on PC? Let’s dive into the comparison between the PS5 and PC versions.
The Sky’s The Limit
When it comes to graphics, the top of the line RTX 4090 can handle everything at native 4K. The game offers various image options like DLSS3, FSR2.2, and Intel’s XeSS to enhance the visuals on PC. Texture filtering, shadows, and object details are all optimized for a superior experience compared to the PS5.
Asus
Asus TUF GeForce RTX 4090 OC
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 allows for maximum settings at 4K in Horizon Forbidden West on PC. A high price tag is the only drawback here.
Additional features like depth of field, level of detail, and extended field of view add to the immersive experience. The game’s developers shed light on the enhancements made over the PS5 version, including improved shadow quality and detailed objects.
In the words of Michiel Roza, Principal Optimisation Programmer:
“In previous ports we converted and expanded on existing ray-tracing implementations. We’ve considered it for this title, but adding this from scratch to an open world game of this size with dozens of hours of cinematics would be a huge undertaking.
“We did improve on the shadows compared to PS5 on the Very High setting by increasing resolution and enhanced filtering and adding more detailed objects.
The AO in this game is already bleeding edge with multi-bounces and good denoising.
For the very low end, there’s an option to turn it off.”
Wood For The Trees
PC gamers can enjoy improved image quality with DLSS and other reconstruction solutions, although some aspects still outshine the PC in the game. FSR 2.2 and XeSS offer good results but fall short in foliage-heavy environments compared to DLSS.
When comparing DLSS and other solutions, DLSS Quality mode stands out with improved stability and sharpness over the PS5 4K mode. Various updates to DLSS and XeSS have improved image quality and stability, providing PC gamers with a range of options.
The game is optimized for various hardware configurations, with the RTX 4050 offering superior image quality and performance to the PS4. The Steam Deck also holds its own, showcasing the game’s quality on mobile hardware.
Overall, Nixxes has done an impressive job porting Horizon Forbidden West to PC. The game retains its visual quality, performance, and scalability, showcasing the developer’s attention to detail and dedication to delivering a top-notch gaming experience on varying hardware configurations.