In our review for Alan Wake 2, Magnus shared a ton of positive thoughts and opinions about the game's story, audio-visual presentation, and the gameplay systems. But he also specifically noted that while performance seemed to be pretty great, experts on the matter will likely have something further to add on that front.
To this end, the folks over at Digital Foundry have taken Alan Wake 2 for a spin on PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, and come to the conclusion that the game is fantastic and a "real visual accomplishment, delivering well-calibrated graphics even on Xbox Series S."
But just because Remedy's title performs well doesn't mean it's perfect. Digital Foundry notes that the game suffers from some bugs, cutscene audio sync errors on Xbox versions, has questionable image quality at times, has problems with screen-space reflections leading to a grainy appearance, and that often the Xbox Series X version outperforms the PS5.
Specifically, Digital Foundry states: "PS5 doesn't fare quite as well. Certain areas really struggle in the performance mode, with an unstable feel in typical play in the affected areas. The frame-rate delta against the Series X is surprising, with the PS5 consistently failing to reach its frame-time target in some missions. The same is true in the quality mode."
They continue: "The PS5's GPU is being pushed a little too hard here, without the necessary headroom to keep up in more difficult segments. In contrast, Series X has far fewer of these problems, though load times can be a few seconds longer."
Digital Foundry does also note that while both Performance and Quality modes on both consoles work well, there is a noticeable difference in global illumination, volumetric lighting, fog quality, texture filtering, texture detailing, shadows, screen-space reflections, and more, when favouring the higher frame rate option.
So, while the console versions all work well, Digital Foundry does affirm that "The premier Alan Wake experience is undoubtedly on the PC platform." We're told that the lighting, image quality, potential for high frame rates, all best the console editions significantly.
What platform have you been playing Alan Wake 2 on?