Though Naughty Dog stated their aspirations for hitting a steady 60fps for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End at E3 last year, co-lead designer Anthony Newman admitted during yesterday’s extended E3 demo stream that they are the latest in a long line of studios to fail to hit that mark and that the single player story will be locked to 30fps.
It’s a story that has played out regularly across the industry, but Newman said that for the framerate had to be cut for this to be “the game we wanted to make, to make the best game possible.” Thankfully, he didn’t then say that it would feel more cinematic, but did add that “To me, a locked 30 is better than a variable 60.”
There was a feeling that if anyone could drag the performance out of the PS4 to achieve Uncharted 4’s obvious visual prowess at 60fps, it would be Naughty Dog, but this isn’t all that surprising. It is, however, more important to have the responsiveness of 60fps when playing online, and to that end Newman did say that this was still a goal for the company.
Of course, Anthony Newman is somewhat unfortunately named to be the man to deliver such bad news, because now all I can really think of is this guy and his dastardly schemes:
Source: Twitch via Games Radar
ron_mcphatty
Shame for those who want 60fps but for me this is perfec. I much preferred The Last Of Us in 30fps mode, it gave the game a more cinematic feel. I’d say save the big frame rates for driving games and shooters, I’ll take a big budget adventure at a stunning looking 24 or 30 frames any day :)
ron_mcphatty
And it’s a shame that ‘cinematic’ has sort of become a dirty word :(
adf86
You can blame the likes of Totalbiscuit and Jim Sterling for that (Totalbiscuit especially) they were the ones who mocked developers (particularly Ready at Dawn) for saying they wanted a game that was “cinematic” hence the FPS is 30. Totalbiscuit is the worst for that because he likes having a dig at consoles whenever possible largely because he has a $5000 PC.
beeje13
I do like cinematic games but when I flipped the fps switch in The Last of Us I found it really jarring to be honest.
You are getting half as much detail to your eyes, and then there’s the latency argument.
Having said that I’m confident that UC4 won’t be a run of the mill 30fps.
dave87fez
Haha. “Newman!” *clenches fist*
I’m a little surprised. I would’ve thought if anyone could, NaughtyDog could. For me, they are the ones that have set the benchmark for almost every generation of PlayStation so far.
Having said that, I still think Uncharted 4 is going to be THAT game that future PS4 games will be compared to, as in: “It was great, but it was no UC4”
cam_manutd
Kind of surprising because they managed TLOU porting it over with the option of 60fps which worked like a treat. Having said that, this isn’t any ordinary dev studio and ND 30fps will be top of the range 30fps.
It isn’t what I am buying the game for. Other elements such as the narrative and gameplay in games should be the deciding factor rather than the framerate or pixel quality.
Gareth Chadwick
The “best game possible” would have been more responsive, because it’d be 60fps. Disappointing.
bunimomike
But at what cost? Sod that. The visual fidelity they can achieve with it locked to 30 will help deliver visuals we’re already gobsmacked over.
There’s always a trade-off.
JustTaylorNow
I must be the only one that clearly don’t give a dam about this 30fps crap, I look at the game of how pretty it is, when people bring these 60fps, I have no clue what to look for on my screen. All looks the same to me
cam_manutd
Its noticeable if you play TLOU when you have the option to switch between the two. However I do agree with you. If the game is anything like the others it will be awesome. I’m sure it will be more of a continuation of the series rather than anything drastically different.
Avenger
You’re not the only one. 60fps is really very nice, but there’s naught wrong with 30fps, and in my opinion, it’s only PC crazed elitists who will groan over the difference.
I can’t help but comically highlight the inevitable announcement of Uncharted 4 Remastered though, running 4K@60fps.
double-o-dave
Hang on… I must of travelled forward in time some how a month or two ago, then returned to the present, as I was under the impression this was common knowledge and announced before June time. ;)
I even remember sitting in the pub with my mate discussing how we don’t mind the single player being 30fps, but being impressed the multiplayer should hopefully reach 60fps.
When you look at the detail and destructible environment etc, I’m not surprised it’s 30fps. The Order ran at 30fps and seemed really smooth to me. The only thing which is a tad annoying, is the movement in the cutscenes of the TLOU in 60fps looked incredibly realistic. Really enjoyed watching the cutscenes.
bunimomike
I can’t get on with 60 fps cut-scenes at all. Feels very weird to me.
TSBonyman
Not surprising really given the sheer spectacle of what’s on show in that E3 demo. Not just the visuals alone but all that destruction physics must come at a cost too.
Kennykazey
I do prefer a solid 30 over a variable, somewhat higher framerate. Consistency is key.