On the face of it, the limited pixel count gives Dead Rising 3 the familiar jagged look of almost any current-gen title you'd care to mention, not helped by the studio's decision to push for broader draw distances where distant details are obfuscated by the lower-resolution window.
Our captures show the game upscaled to 1080p by the Xbox One - with results that are expectedly unkind to thin objects and flickering alpha elements like trees or fence-work. It's a bit of a disappointment in this sense, and continues to dangle a question mark over the capabilities of the console's hotly contested specs when it comes to titles striving for full HD.
Accepting that some compromises go with the territory of developing a launch title, the question remains: has this technical trade-off been well-judged? Certainly, the zombie horde looks impressive in its increased numbers, and the boost here means the game's core appeal - the flourishes of fantastical violence - are ratcheted up another notch. (...) though textures still visibly stream in after covering ground too quickly in vehicles.
Explosions and smoke effects are a mixed bag, however. Some appear crisp and defined, but ploughing through a busy zombie crowds brings out distinctly blocky, sub-HD alpha that doesn't sit well with our image of next-gen gaming.
Inevitably, much of this comes at a price; specifically to the frame-rate. When dealing with the signature scenes involving uncountable enemies on-screen, we're left with some very sluggish motion, while the streaming system also seems to spike CPU, resulting in lost performance. The statement from the team is that a locked 30fps is targeted here, but in the build we saw there's a huge gap to be bridged in this regard; drops to 20fps are consistent and sustained when outdoors, with 16fps being our record low during some of the biggest explosions.
Ouch.
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