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[Digital Foundry] Performance Analysis: Assassin's Creed Syndicate

If Battlefield 4 was 1080p60fps then this discussion would be comparable.

Black Flag was 1080p30fps (and solid at that).

Black Flag is not as impressive as Syndicate or Unity, hence the drop in resolution. I would have totally get the resentment if AC4 was never updated from its 900p on PS4, the game would not justify that.

I believe both Unity and Syndicate do, and I also believe Unity justified its performance on PC, like AC4 did bearing in mind DX11.
 
Eh, MGSV on consoles has a pretty brutal draw distance for lights, character models detail, and objects. Even when they are LOD 0, they are not particularly high poly (though fantastic artstically and shading-wise IMO).

We already know this engine puts a lot of pressure on the GPU so that its world can be as dense as it is. I think it is justifiably 900p.

Still seems odd that the Xbox One is hitting 900p without a huge difference in performance at the same settings. That's the confusing part to me.
 
Still seems odd that the Xbox One is hitting 900p without a huge difference in performance at the same settings. That's the confusing part to me.

Isn't is usually like 4-5 fps lower when the going gets tough though? The DF footage shows the xb1 dropping frames a lot more than ps4.
 
Isn't is usually like 4-5 fps lower when the going gets tough though? The DF footage shows the xb1 dropping frames a lot more than ps4.

I guess I'm just very disappointed in the IQ in general since Ubi's open world games have held up pretty well in that regard. I'm fine with 900p in 60fps titles and Watch_Dogs actually had good AA implemented at 900p but it just shows more here. I've always felt like the AC games benefit from IQ improvements more than other titles due to their cityscapes.
 
And this is strange because it's even worse than Unity. Same engine, same hardware, cut back in graphics.

Perhaps now they changed the game's load profile behind the scene. Less pressure on CPU and relationally more on the GPU... hence how it scales that way.

Just a hunch.
I guess I'm just very disappointed in the IQ in general since Ubi's open world games have held up pretty well in that regard. I'm fine with 900p in 60fps titles and Watch_Dogs actually had good AA implemented at 900p but it just shows more here. I've always felt like the AC games benefit from IQ improvements more than other titles due to their cityscapes.

They definitely do not have great priorties on consoles IMO regarding IQ for the game. I would personally want to have it be native resolution and for them to tone it down a bit. The game does use some form of TAA as the ghosting shows... I guesss we will know more when the PC version comes out.
 
Perhaps now they changed the game's load profile behind the scene. Less pressure on CPU and relationally more on the GPU... hence how it scales that way.

Just a hunch.


They definitely do not have great priorties on consoles IMO regarding IQ for the game. I would personally want to have it be native resolution and for them to tone it down a bit. The game does use some form of TAA as the ghosting shows... I guesss we will know more when the PC version comes out.

Far Cry 4's PS4 version really impressed me. Great draw distance and great IQ overall with solid performance. I was hoping they would carry some of those priorities into AC. I do think that with so many different engines and teams Ubi is falling behind a lot of other major publishers in tech. EA's unified Frostbite development has been extremely impressive to me.
 
Back to Black Flag's lighting, but lower resolution on PS4?

Why in the world are they pushing parity? Black Flag got 1080p on PS4 and was awesome. They drop the fantastic Unity lighting, shrink the crowds, and still keep its weaknesses in IQ?
 
Perhaps now they changed the game's load profile behind the scene. Less pressure on CPU and relationally more on the GPU... hence how it scales that way.

Just a hunch.

If not fixed by a patch, than it has to be something like that, yes.
But it seems strange as one would think that the cut back stuff should also reduce load on the GPU.
 
If not fixed by a patch, than it has to be something like that, yes.
But it seems strange as one would think that the cut back stuff should also reduce load on the GPU.

They did make the TOD dynamic so shadows no have to update pretty often along with being able to move. So... idk

lol
Far Cry 4's PS4 version really impressed me. Great draw distance and great IQ overall with solid performance. I was hoping they would carry some of those priorities into AC. I do think that with so many different engines and teams Ubi is falling behind a lot of other major publishers in tech. EA's unified Frostbite development has been extremely impressive to me.
Yeah, I get that feeling as well. Perhaps the production schedule was too quick and they overshot too late in the game, hence why the games perform the way they do. I think the engine is completely fine, the pc version proves as much, just scaling to lower hardware seems to be its breaking point.

Either that or designers are not being reigned in enough by engineers who should know better. I really do not think sub 30 should ever be acceptable.
 
Back to Black Flag's lighting, but lower resolution on PS4?

Why in the world are they pushing parity? Black Flag got 1080p on PS4 and was awesome. They drop the fantastic Unity lighting, shrink the crowds, and still keep its weaknesses in IQ?

Maybe it isn't parity? Not everything is some conspiracy, guys.
 
Yeah, I get that feeling as well. Perhaps the production schedule was too quick and they overshot too late in the game, hence why the games perform the way they do. I think the engine is completely fine, the pc version proves as much, just scaling to lower hardware seems to be its breaking point.

Either that or designers are not being reigned in enough by engineers who should know better. I really do not think sub 30 should ever be acceptable.
I agree. I'm also much more critical of the tech side of things on the megafranchises like this than I am of other titles as well. AC is the one that still hasn't gotten to the level I expect from such a big team with a big financial backing.
 
For sure, it's pretty obvious to see just how much load this game could be putting on the GPU if you have an eye for these things. Most people just look at the overall aesthetics and think if some other game looks better then this one should be able to match that when it's not that simple and engine requirements are different.
 
Whats the excuse for 900p on ps4 this time and the xbox one version having worst performance than ps4. According to them isn't the xbox one more powerful because of the cpu.. lol
 
The PS4 version is better due to performance but Ubisoft really need to stop with yearly release and work on a better engine, Syndicate isn't really a looker and it struggle to achieved a perfect 30FPS locked or 1080p.
 
Sub 1080p and 30 fps don't bother me anymore. All of our HD gaming are now hooked up to our Toshiba 30" HD CRT in a "gaming area" so even 600p Cod looks fine.
 
The PS4 version is better due to performance but Ubisoft really need to stop with yearly release and work on a better engine, Syndicate isn't really a looker and it struggle to achieved a perfect 30FPS locked or 1080p.

I guess and hope they have a dedicated team for engine development so that wouldn't change much.
 
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Ouch.

Unity was the worst for frame rate tanking cutscenes.
 
Black Flag lacks some of the more recent rendering features of Unity and Syndicate (had HBAO though) but it still looks much more polished overall thanks to the clean 1080p SMAA T2x image quality, good anisotropic filtering, excellent shadow quality and solid framerate.

If UBI built on that solid launch-game foundation with improved character art, PBR workflow and minor touchups to stuff like particle effects and closeup geometry LoD they'd be in a much more impressive position now.

edit: Black Flag had dynamic time of day like Syndicate and great weather effects.
 
DF editorials are such a joke. "Parity + downgrades = Great job, Ubi!"

But there is not parity. The xb1 game runs quite noticably worse in the video they posted.

edit: just check out the image above.
You can bet they will be. At best we PC guys will get much better LOD and draw distance, but I don't see them offering the option of cranking up the number of NPCs.

Sigh... you are probably right.
 
Yea, when you do get 900P from other developers at least the game runs much better with a good IQ and it looks far more appealing visually, like with Battlefront, I can't really compliment Ubi on this one.

It seems that they don't even have the headroom to apply decent post processing algorithms. Black Flag had headroom to use SMAA t2x, Unity and Syndicate have to make do with FXAA.
 
Didn't know about the dynamic day/night cycles. Really glad to hear that.

Excited to play this on PC next month.
 
How is there parity when one of them runs at a noticeably worse frame rate. Do any of you even understand what parity means?

If they'd cut detail from the Xbone version to get a stable frame rate you'd probably just be complaining that the PS4 version isn't as well optimised tbqh
 
Maybe it isn't parity? Not everything is some conspiracy, guys.

The answer is in this thread, posted by dictator.

It's one thing for PS4 to be 900p, it's another when it is visually identical to the system with a weaker GPU, following last year's release when the studios implied intentional parity and trouble with CPUs rather than GPUs (which led to visually identical Unity releases that performed slightly better on Xbox One). To top it off, the year before Unity, they released an entry with definitively better visuals on PS4.

Why is it identical now? If PS4 is 900p, where is the compromising we normally see on the Xbox One version in regards to its weaker GPU that we see with other games, like Watch Dogs and Black Flag? Why is Assassin's Creed now one of the only examples of current gen parity, particularly in consideration for the GPU gap demonstrated by other games? Why did performance flip to the opposite of the Unity situation? Why is there visual parity when most games don't stop at visual parity thanks to a higher GPU ceiling on PS4?
 
But there is not parity. The xb1 game runs quite noticably worse in the video they posted.

edit: just check out the image above.


Sigh... you are probably right.

Why would it matter? There is no reason to have the same crowds as Unity, the setting does not call for it. They also had plenty of issues even on PC.
 
But there is not parity. The xb1 game runs quite noticably worse in the video they posted.

edit: just check out the image above.


Sigh... you are probably right.

To be fair, most games look and run better on the PS4 compared to the Xbox One version. Syndicate looking the same, but running a little worse is still closer to parity than we're used to.
 
What does it matter if "last gen tech" looks better than the results they have achieved with Syndicate?

Specific details don't look anywhere near as good. However, you would be correct in criticizing them for not considering the experience on the whole.
 
What does it matter if "last gen tech" looks better than the results they have achieved with Syndicate?
This is the problem a lot of people seem to be having. Just because it's more advanced, doesn't mean it actually looks better when playing. Simpler and polished is usually better than advanced and rough.

If you're going to put something out that's rough, like Shadow of the Colossus was, it'd better do some pretty damn uniquely impressive stuff.
 
So how the XboxOne's GPU handles the pressure as good as the PS4 than?

It doesn't - the game runs noticably worse on xb1.
To be fair, most games look and run better on the PS4 compared to the Xbox One version. Syndicate looking the same, but running a little worse is still closer to parity than we're used to.
Did DF post framerate averages? If one just ran the percentage difference it could be pretty close to the theoretical difference between the two.

edit: like here for example
diffa8syz.png
 
And what would you be saying if the pushed the PS4 version to 1080p, but it dropped more frames than the Xbone version?

no... read my reply.

id rather have cleaner LOD and 1080 @ solid 30 with whatever sacrifices they had to make (which would still look better than Black Flag, and black flag looked great... but no they over promised and now everyone is expecting visuals that arent achievable from ubisoft.)
 
This is the problem a lot of people seem to be having. Just because it's more advanced, doesn't mean it actually looks better when playing. Simpler and polished is usually better than advanced and rough.

If you're going to put something out that's rough, like Shadow of the Colossus was, it'd better do some pretty damn uniquely impressive stuff.

Agree completely, Syndicate just looks rough, it's not pretty and you can't really appreciate the tech behind it, and it's not even running amazingly well at least (on PS4, on XB1 it even runs pretty badly), only OK, that's why it's quite a failure technically in my eyes, at least on consoles, PC version might do it some justice.
 
To be fair, most games look and run better on the PS4 compared to the Xbox One version. Syndicate looking the same, but running a little worse is still closer to parity than we're used to.

I think you can probably count the games that run better on the X1 than PS4 on one hand.
Hell I can't think of any at the moment?

Evolve?
 
Personally I find this kind of thread a bit embarrassing - exemplifying a console warrior mentality. It seems really strange that for some the actual content or quality of the game is distantly secondary to having the version of the game for their console being technically superior in a category or two. It seems clear from the review that the PS4 version runs smoother, but this isn't good enough. Not buying the game will send no message either - such people are in such a tiny minority that they won't even register as a blip on sales charts.
 
It doesn't - the game runs noticably worse on xb1.

Did DF post framerate averages? If one just ran the percentage difference it could be pretty close to the theoretical difference between the two.

But last year's entry (which had visual parity but less dropped frames) had it implied and assumed by many to have been because Xbox One had a CPU advantage and Ubi didn't otherwise push the game on a GPU level. People figured the performance issues that PS4 had over Xbox One were CPU.

So now that it has reversed this year, you are suggesting they've somehow been setback on Xbox One and PS4 has the advantage in framerate this year likely due to GPU?
 
I think you can probably count the games that run better on the X1 than PS4 on one hand.
Hell I can't think of any at the moment?

I think that Dragon Age 3 had a slight edge performance wise on XB1 (but ran at 900P compared to 1080P on PS4), and of course the infamous AC:Unity, at least at launch, after patches they were almost equal (res included), but obviously almost equal with a slight edge in favor of the XB1 (even if by little) is still pretty embarrassing.
 
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