Although Crimson Desert promises to be a visual masterpiece, and the number of players waiting for the premiere on Steam alone has already exceeded 3 million, the first tests of the console version bring bittersweet news.
Technical analysis conducted on the most powerful console currently on the market, PlayStation 5 Pro, reveals that maintaining constant image smoothness at such a high level of detail is a huge challenge. Although the game can enchant you with its graphics, in the most intense moments the smoothness of the animation leaves a lot to be desired.
A report prepared by Digital Foundry shows that the performance mode, which is supposed to provide gameplay at 60 frames per second, suffers from drastic drops. In sequences filled with a large number of enemies, such as attacks on fortified outposts, the frame rate can drop well below 40 FPS, and sometimes even approaches the limit of 30 FPS. These issues persist despite the use of image upscaling technology from a lower base resolution, suggesting that raw graphics power is not the only challenge here.
The main cause of these difficulties appears to be the console’s processor. The Zen 2 architecture on which the PS5 Pro is based becomes a bottleneck in situations where the game engine must simulate the behavior of large crowds and complex object physics. This is confirmed by the fact that modes targeting 30 and 40 frames work much more stably in the same demanding scenes. It seems that the processor simply cannot keep up with transmitting instructions at higher frame rates, which is visible in any location with a high density of units.
Despite the noted problems, experts point out that Crimson Desert still offers an impressive experience, considering the gigantic scale and ambition of the project.
Developers plan to implement a newer version of PSSR 2 technology around the premiere, which is supposed to improve visual quality, but the processor barrier may mean that fans of perfectly smooth 60 frames will have to be prepared for some compromises during the biggest battles.
