With Ninja Theory keen to push Unreal Engine 5 and the Xbox Series X|S consoles as far as possible with Hellblade 2, it’s been confirmed that the game will run exclusively at 30fps on console, and employ a dynamic resolution to do so. There will be no performance mode.
This technical detail was confirmed by German outlet GamePro as they previewed the anticipated sequel, with visual effects director Mark Slater-Tunstill confirming to them that this was to offer a “cinematic” experience to players. Players on a high-end PC will, however, had settings to tweak graphics and try to get a higher frame rate.
Thankfully GamePro didn’t feel like 30fps hampered the game, which featured slow and weighty combat. And in fairness, given the graphical ambitions of the game, with the raw fidelity of the in-game scenes being truly stunning through all of the moments shared in trailers, 30fps was always going to be a likely limit for the title. Unreal Engine 5 is being leveraged here alongside extensive motion capture for both cutscenes and combat, while the game environments will be stuffed with detail that has been scanned in using photogrammetry for both the Icelandic landscape, and the props and costumes.
Three and a half years into the Xbox Series X|S generation, we’re at the point now where the Xbox Series X could have been considered cutting edge. Even at launch the specs were relatively mid-ranged (though certainly cost effective) while cross-generation games flattered to deceive with enhanced frame rates and resolutions. As developers have been able to throw off the shackles of the Xbox One, and also lean more and more heavily on upscaling techniques like FSR, we’ve seen a lot of games pushing the current crop of consoles very hard and making 60fps less viable, even with significant cuts to resolution – see also Starfield being a 30fps game. If games are CPU limited, then not even switching to a Series S mode will significantly improve performance.
In other news, this wave of previews has also led to the news that Ninja Theory founder and Hellblade writer-director Tameem Antoniades has left the studio. No reason has been given, but this has been confirmed by an Xbox spokesperson, with Hellblade 2 having three creative leads in the form of environment art director Dan Attwell, visual effects director Mark Slater-Tunstill, and audio director David Garcia.
Hellblade 2 is coming out for Xbox Series X|S and PC on 21st May.
TSBonyman
I’ve enjoyed plenty of 30fps cinematic games, shouldn’t be an issue.