One of the big problems with the original “The Evil Within” was the infuriating forced aspect ratio, This and the inconvenient fact the game’s frame rate was pretty crappy. For this reason if for no other, the latest game-play analysis of the new PS4 Pro sequel to the original, “The Evil Within 2”, is looking considerably smoother, literally, mainly terms of frame rate performance but as long as you’re playing the new version on a PlayStation 4 Pro console that is.
The horror sequels tech specs have been broken down with particular attention to detail by the gaming pros at Digital Foundry and what their analysis uncovered is a PS4 Pro console sequel which delivers some very rigid and decent 30fps gaming performance when played on the Sony console even in scenes that require some serious graphics processing kick. The original version of the game, played on the original PS4 definitely fell short of these performance metrics in some really important places. You can take a look at the full “The Evil Within 2”/PS4 Pro performance breakdown by Digital Foundry right here on their Youtube video for the game:
This isn’t to say that the new game, or the console it’s meant for aren’t without their flaws. Evil Within 2’s performance on the PS4 Pro platform is definitely awesome and smooth in boost mode but one crucial feature that’s lacking here is the 4K resolution that the new PlayStation device was most heavily promoted for having. Thus, at least for “The Evil Within 2” 4K UHD graphics support is out and you’re basically stuck with 1080p visuals. This does have its benefits though. As we said (and the Digital Foundry video analysis above shows) Evil Within 2 runs wonderfully at that particular resolution despite its more intense overall graphic refinements (aside from resolution enhancements) and we’re assuming that the game’s developers decided that the tradeoff was worthwhile, especially considering the fact that the PS4 Pro is not exactly known for delivering a truly robust 4K gaming experience. Furthermore, as long as other game graphics are kept clean and flowing nicely, the difference between native 4K UHD and 1080p on most TVs running the PS4 Pro will be only marginal.
Incidentally, this forsaking of native 4K graphics in favor of better overall frame rate performance seems to be a more general tendency of game design studios which are building for the PS4 Pro. Other developers have been doing the same thing and the PS4 Pro’s iffy native 4K performance chops might just be a strong reason for why this is the case.
Gamers who want a true and reportedly very smooth native 4K console gaming experience will probably be better off going for the upcoming Xbox One X console from Microsoft. It’s internal specs nearly put the current PS4 Pro to shame in their overall power and it’s expected to be the first ever TV gaming console with genuine 4K capability.
As for “The Evil Within 2” it’s been available for order and shipping as of Friday October 13th, 2017, so grab your copy here if you’re interested despite the lack of native 4K UHD support.