Watch Dogs 2 might be having a tough time of it at launch, but it’s a great game and one that’s only going to be made better when it releases on PC on 29th November. The game has integrated NVidia’s Gameworks middleware that, while frustratingly proprietary for those who lean towards AMD’s GPUs, will make the game look absolutely amazing… if you have one of NVidia’s top tier GPUs in your system, that is.
So there’s no FPS cap, 4K textures and incredible looking “Raymarched Poylmetric Fog” for everyone, while Nvidia specific features include HBAO+ ambient occlusion for more convincing contact shadowing, and Hybrid Frustrum Trace Shadows are a form of ray tracing that allows for more realistic real time shadows in general. NVidia’s ANSEL photo mode has also been integrated.
Sammy
Character models look “meh” but the environment, and especially that fog, look amazing!
camdaz
Looks really good but I’m very happy with 4K on PS4 Pro.
Severn2j
Nice, I went a bit crazy the other day and pre ordered this on steam (after the mess the first game was in on PC too).. Not sure my 980 is up to getting it that pretty, it’s not quite “top tier” anymore but still meaty. ?
bunimomike
Same here with the 980. Priced up the new 1000 series cards but simply not enough grunt to them to justify me thinking of leaving my 980. It’s still knocking it out of the park on everything to be fair.
Stefan L
The Gameworks stuff should still roll back to the 980 quite happily. Of course, you can fiddle to your heart’s content, but at 1080p, you’ll be able to turn on some of the bells and whistles missing from the PS4 version, definitely.
bunimomike
Of course, fella. With me running at 1200p there’s bags of power to enjoy most (if not all) of the bells and whistles. Then again, I’m in no rush to play the game and will pick it up in a sale – maybe Steam’s Christmas Sale.
I’ll also pick up a new card maybe early next year so could easily hold off. No rush. :-)
camdaz
You can get Watch Dogs 2 free with the purchase of a Nvidia GTX 10 series card.
Severn2j
1200p is an interesting resolution.. But yeah, Im the same, cant really justify the upgrade yet.
bunimomike
Cam – I don’t want to upgrade to a card (for a certain cost) where the bump-up in spec is so damned close to my GTX 980. I researched it a little while back and it’s way too close. I’ll be patient. :-)
Severn – Aye, it’s 1920 x 1200 (16:10) which is a godsend for my graphic design work. I’d really miss that extra inch – ahem. Although, replacing the screen will be a swine. 16:10s are not in plentiful supply. Oh, well. :-)
Actually, Cam, I tell a lie. Just checked out the prices on the 1070 and they’re getting there. Maybe in the Q1 or Q2 2017 and I’ll snag myself something. :-)
tactical20
I can’t deny that SF and the game look fantastic, but as I near the end, I’m finding more and more things I don’t like about the gameplay. If anyone is looking for a GTA style open world game, I’d recommend Mafia 3 over Watch Dogs 2.
leeroye
Mafia 3 – really? There are about 3 different things to do in that game and you do them over and over and over again.
Kennykazey
As an AMD user: Goddamn it!
gazzagb
Lovely stuff.
Still doesn’t look as good though as Watch Dog 1’s E3 reveal haha. How long will it be until we see those E3 graphics running on consumer components do you think?
JR.
Wow. And I thought the PS4 Pro version looked good. First open world game I’ve played in aaaaaages that I can actually see myself finishing. Maybe even platinuming? Platininimuning? Platting? Plat. Ing?
What the hell is the plural of that word?
freezebug2
Platinum trophies?
I’d go for ‘achieving the platinum trinket by actively acing every single trophy requirement needed to complete the list of goblets’ :P