Digital Foundry: Just Cause 4 Analysis: Every Console Tested: Xbox One X vs PS4 Pro, PS4 vs Xbox One

[chandoog]

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Yes, Just Cause 3 had some pretty severe performance issues - and Just Cause 4 ups the ante with far more ambitious physics and severe weather conditions. Can the current-gen consoles cope? To find out, we tested them all.

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TL;DW:

- Most of the engine is coded with performance in mind, while introducing dynamic resolution scaling.

Resolution & Graphics:
- XBX: Native 4K to 1440p
- PS4 Pro: 1440p to 1080p
- PS4 OG: 1080p to 720p
- XBO: 900p to 720p
- Enhanced consoles also have higher resolution textures and SSR effects.
- Besides XBX, the other consoles seem to spend more time closer to their lower resolution limits.

Performance:
- XBX stays close to 30 FPS with minor drops, holds up fine most of the time.
- PS4 Pro hands the most consistent 30 FPS performance on consoles with only a single drop registered during testing.
- OG PS4: Generally 30 FPS with small drops, frame rate holds up generally well
- XBO: More performance drops than any other consoles, generally the worst performing version

Result:
- XBX is the best looking, Pro is the most smoothest but XBX's visual advantages are more prominent more over.
- Pro might have more of an overhead in later areas of the game, but for the tested scenarios: XBX -> Pro -> PS4 -> XBO

 

[NSA]

Man, the performance of 3 really turned me off.. but will give this a chance.

 

[SJRB]

Man, the performance of 3 really turned me off.. but will give this a chance.

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Rewarding bad behaviour is not a good strategy.

 

[Loudninja]

Of course, this is the first Just Cause title to arrive within the lifespan of the enhanced consoles too, both of which feature significant CPU frequency upgrades over their vanilla equivalents - along with much more GPU power. In terms of core spec, Xbox One X takes point here, delivering a top-end 3840x2160 but more often settling in 1440p territory when the game engine is under significant load. Square-Enix tells us that the scaler here can drop as low as 1080p but if this does happen, it's very rare - it's by far the cleanest presentation out of all of the console releases. PlayStation 4 Pro scales between 1080p and 1440p, but we found that the lower end of the scale is more common in action scenes.

Square-Enix also says that we're looking at a maximum 1080p and 900p on PS4 and Xbox One respectively but both of these machines can hit a 720p minimum - and it happens frequently enough to give both a very grainy presentation for much of the duration. PS4 has a resolution edge - as the comparison shots on this page demonstrate - but it's a clear step-down in clarity for both machines compared to JC3. Resolution is the price to pay for smoother Just Cause performance then and the key trade Avalanche has made, but it's surprising that out of our pixel-count samples, only Xbox One X actually delivers a wide range of different resolutions from the DRS system.

I'd say that the price to pixel-count is worth paying overall as the performance boost over JC3 is profound. The smoothest version of the bunch is PlayStation 4 Pro, which barely budges from the 30fps target, no matter how intense the on-screen action. This is closely followed by Xbox One X; yes, it has a big visual advantage over the Pro and while it is mostly locked at 30fps, occasional dropped frames do crop up - mostly invisible during the course of the action. The base PlayStation 4 game follows next. As you would expect for a machine with the highest installed base, this one is effectively the lead platform and in performance terms, it mostly holds up as well as the enhanced machines, with only occasional slow-down.

This leaves the standard Xbox One, once again set apart at the bottom of the pile. The base Microsoft machine still delivers a big, big improvement over Just Cause 3's frame-rates however, but do expect to see frequent performance dips. You may expect the drop in resolution to be more than enough to equalise performance with the PlayStation 4 version of the game, but handling high bandwidth effects in a performant manner practically demands the use of the ESRAM, which is in vanishingly short supply for the demands of the latest games.

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https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...st-cause-4-performance-tested-on-all-consoles

 

[DionardoLicaprio]

Man.. watching 2 minutes of this footage and get two things:

- I thought I was looking at JC3 footage with downgraded graphics;
- Even the XB1X version looks bad.

 

[Stefarno]

I skipped 3 after seeing how absolutely terrible the performance and loading times were but based on that summary I'll pick 4 up once the price has dropped a little.

 

[Detective Loki]

Result:
- XBX is the best looking, Pro is the most smoothest but XBX's visual advantages are more prominent more over.
- Pro might have more of an overhead in later areas of the game, but for the tested scenarios: XBX -> Pro -> PS4 -> XBO

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Don't notice much of these visual advantages when textures never wanna load

 

[Odesu]

Rewarding bad behaviour is not a good strategy.

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How is buying a new game where they fixed the performance problems they had rewarding them for fucking up the previous one?

As someone who absolutely hated JC3 due to its performance and progression I'm kinda falling in love with 4. With all of its physics systems and destructible environments and objects it is to me one of the most technologically impressive games this year and I'm back to having fun the way I had with JC2.

 

[Nooblet]

Game runs on a whole different level than JC3 while pushing physics even more. There were bound to be sacrifices elsewhere as you can't have everything.

Regardless the devs should be commended because they acknowledged their mistake and made full effort to improve it in the sequel but watch as this thread blows apart with comments on how this is horrible and low effort work or that the game looks like crap while we have games like RDR and what not. Completely missing the context.

Edit: Oh I see we've already begun and calling it "rewarding bad practices" for buying the game where they actually improved upon their past work. Alright I'm done here

 

[SaiyanRaoh]

Strangely, I'm good with the subpar graphics. PC here. It's performance that's most important with a game like this. I'm having an awesome time with the game, which is what truly counts. I've had no crashes and no frame rate dips when playing at 1080.

 

[severianb]

Most important point I got from this is something I've suspected all along: Developers have to put in extra work to use the ESRAM on the OG Xbox One and Xbox One S. Now that the X1X has the same memory subsystem as the Playstations, they are simply optimizing for that and no longer spending time working around the ESRAM.

It makes a lot of sense. A subpar Xbox One port isn't going to get a lot of bad press these days when the X1X version is what everyone is concentrating on. Also, most console users who are really passionate about performance (or even notice) have upgraded to the X1X.

Anyway, expect more and more Xbox One OG/S versions to perform even worse than you would expect compared to PS4. Your choice will be to live with it or get a new console.

 

[Kemono]

I can live with the graphics. The physics are just fucking awesome in this game. So much havoc.

Chaos reigns. Just cause is back.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Damn impressive results after their last game.

Man.. watching 2 minutes of this footage and get two things:

- I thought I was looking at JC3 footage with downgraded graphics;
- Even the XB1X version looks bad.

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????

Not sure you remember what JC3 looked like..this game is doing way more AND running better.

 

[Nexus2049]

I'll take the performance over the graphics. Will be picking this up for X1X.

 

[Maneil99]

The tech demos and trailers looked so much better than what we got...

 

[Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric]

I know it's a minor difference but it annoys the shit out of me that the Pro gets the better frame rate, even by a tiny margin, given the superior hardware in the X.

Still really enjoying the game.

 

[Derrick01]

People wanted smoother performance well here you go lol.

Supposedly they're working on patches for the next couple of weeks that will do this

https://square-enix-games.com/documents/development-update-message-just-cause-4-team

• Fixes to some motion blur rendering issues
• Add a motion blur toggle to the options menu (following user requests)
• Improvements to the overall visual quality on both Xbox One and PS4
• Fixes to some texture mapping issues
• Other graphical improvements, such as smoother vegetation transitions
• Various stability fixes
• Lighting updates to some cut scenes

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[Deleted member 10629]

Maybe I need an eyecheck but the graphics on X1X seem fine to me.

 

[VaporSnake]

I'm not sure what everyone is talking about (df included) when they say that this game is doing so much more than 3. I'm pretty sure JC3 had a more in depth physics simulation, sure it didn't have a gimmicky tornado, but I'm fairly certain JC4 is a step back in a lot of areas, physics and destruction being the main offenders.

 

[SJRB]

How is buying a new game where they fixed the performance problems they had rewarding them for fucking up the previous one?

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You answered your own question.

Even though they released a terrible product they never finished and never patched to even remotely acceptable performance, you bought their next game anyway.

 

[NSA]

Rewarding bad behaviour is not a good strategy.

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I meant the video, not the game. :)

But the video made it seem like they fixed the issues.. at least on the X/Pro..

 

[Nooblet]

Damn impressive results after their last game.



????

Not sure you remember what JC3 looked like..this game is doing way more AND running better.

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Tbf JC3 does do some thing better like water specifically. The water in JC4 is quite poor for current standards whereas the one in JC3 is quite nice even by today's standards. The warmer colour tone of the lighting in JC4 looks better and more advanced to me but I can also see it being less pleasing to look at than the colourful tone in JC3. Everything else though yea JC4 does it better and when it comes to physics and weather effects it's far beyond JC3.

 

[Loudninja]

I'm not sure what everyone is talking about (df included) when they say that this game is doing so much more than 3. I'm pretty sure JC3 had a more in depth physics simulation, sure it didn't have a gimmicky tornado, but I'm fairly certain JC4 is a step back in a lot of areas, physics and destruction being the main offenders.

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Umm no not from what I seen.

 

[Fastidioso]

Xbox one X clearly advantage my balls...seems sub 1080p even there. The IQ is awful everywhere. They really should do something for their AA solution.

 

[Loudninja]

double post

 

[Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric]

You answered your own question.

Even though they released a terrible product they never finished and never patched to even remotely acceptable performance, you bought their next game anyway.

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By your logic, I shouldn't have purchased DMC3 because DMC2 was a massive misstep in the franchise.

We can all agree JC3 was an epic and monumental clusterfuck but the developers took those criticisms to heart and made a better game this time.

So I'm perfectly comfortable rewarding them for doing it right.

 

[Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric]

I'm not sure what everyone is talking about (df included) when they say that this game is doing so much more than 3. I'm pretty sure JC3 had a more in depth physics simulation, sure it didn't have a gimmicky tornado, but I'm fairly certain JC4 is a step back in a lot of areas, physics and destruction being the main offenders.

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Have you played it?

Because this is objectively false.

 

[Gestault]

Considering the performance issues in JC3 on consoles, this is an excellent set of results.

 

[Ryuhza]

People wanted smoother performance well here you go lol.

Supposedly they're working on patches for the next couple of weeks that will do this

https://square-enix-games.com/documents/development-update-message-just-cause-4-team

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Couldn't get a motion blur toggle through the whole of JC3's lifespan, and here we've got news of one within a week. I guess they've learned, but man, JC3's shit post-launch support (besides DLC) still stings.

 

[Odesu]

You answered your own question.

Even though they released a terrible product they never finished and never patched to even remotely acceptable performance, you bought their next game anyway.

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They did patch the console versions but never got close to the locked 30fps mark in heavy action situations because the way that game was built just fundamentally didn't work on a baseline Xbox One for example. '

This one does. Video Game companies are not my children, I don't have to put them into a silent corner after they fucked up with their engine. If they try again, fix the issues they had and put out a well-performing, fun product I want to play, then I'm gonna enjoy that game. Did you not buy DMC 3 or 4 because of DMC2? Have you abstained from Halo 3 because of Halo 2's ending? Ignored Platinum's and Sega's games because of Bayonetta's PS3 port? It's OK to have principles but that one, I feel like, doesn't hold a lot of water, especially when you want to tell other people about why they shouldn't actually buy the game neither.

I also think, even with your mindset: First paying for a broken game and then not paying for the well working one a few years later won't send the message you probably want it to.

 

[Fastidioso]

​

TL;DW:

- Most of the engine is coded with performance in mind, while introducing dynamic resolution scaling.

Resolution & Graphics:
- XBX: Native 4K to 1440p
- PS4 Pro: 1440p to 1080p
- PS4 OG: 1080p to 720p
- XBO: 900p to 720p
- Enhanced consoles also have higher resolution textures and SSR effects.
- Besides XBX, the other consoles seem to spend more time closer to their lower resolution limits.

Performance:
- XBX stays close to 30 FPS with minor drops, holds up fine most of the time.
- PS4 Pro hands the most consistent 30 FPS performance on consoles with only a single drop registered during testing.
- OG PS4: Generally 30 FPS with small drops, frame rate holds up generally well
- XBO: More performance drops than any other consoles, generally the worst performing version

Result:
- XBX is the best looking, Pro is the most smoothest but XBX's visual advantages are more prominent more over.
- Pro might have more of an overhead in later areas of the game, but for the tested scenarios: XBX -> Pro -> PS4 -> XBO

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Visual advantage it means higher resolution? I could be wrong but I doubt aside pixels the X has other graphic improvement compared the Pro.

 

[chandoog]

Visual advantage it means higher resolution? I could be wrong but I doubt aside pixels the X has other graphic improvement compared the Pro.

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Yes, visual advantage is mainly due to resolution. The higher resolution of the X also lets the post process effects be less grainy compared to Pro with its lower resolution. Later in the video they say the higher resolution textures the Pro/X have over OG PS4/XBO are also a bit more prominent on X because of the consoles higher resolution output.

 

[ApeEscaper]

Base PS4 seems fine

That performance on Xbox One S, so should be even slightly worse on OG Xbox One

Overall an improvement over Just Cause 3 but I wonder how the loading is and also if performance could get worse through updates like they did with previous game instead them fixing they just add more dlc

Edit, almost forgot is there a motion blur toggle setting for consoles? If not PASS.

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

Great results, looks like they really improved the engine for performance on consoles.

I'll still be playing on PC for 60fps but it's good to know people can play it on console at playable framerates, unlike JC3.

 

[Loudninja]

Base PS4 seems fine

That performance on Xbox One S, so should be even slightly worse on OG Xbox One

Overall an improvement over Just Cause 3 but I wonder how the loading is and also if performance could get worse through updates like they did with previous game instead them fixing they just add more dlc

Edit, almost forgot is there a motion blur toggle setting for consoles? If not PASS.

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Overall though, what I've played of Just Cause 4 so far suggests a game that delivers on its promises of more ambition, more variety and more physics-driven destruction, without the compromises to performance that marred its predecessor. The icing on the cake? Loading times are vastly improved too compared with swift 10-15 second transitions between levels - and no lengthy waits if you fail a mission.

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.

 

[Xbox Live Mike]

I streamed this on XB1X on Tuesday and I ran into weird graphical glitches, the water was a bad texture and flat. Still better than JC3 and a lot of fun but probably not worth $60 IMO.

 

[severianb]

I know it's a minor difference but it annoys the shit out of me that the Pro gets the better frame rate, even by a tiny margin, given the superior hardware in the X.

Still really enjoying the game.

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They say that, but I must have blinked because I didn't see them acutally SHOW an area where the X1X dropped frames. Honestly, it seems to me like DF makes far more of deal of absolutely *imperceptible* frame rate drops on the X1X just to placate Sony viewers. I mean, this supposed couple of frames dropped in rare areas on the X1X is "annoying the shit" out of you when the fact is you would probably never notice it if DF didn't say it exists.

On the other hand, the X1X version is running at a much higher resolution which *is* noticeable ALL THE TIME.

The two things shouldn't be given even close to equal consideration, yet DF kinda does. It's a false equivilence and it's been kind of blatant in a lot of DF videos, in my opinion. The choice with this game isn't between the PS4 Pro with great performance and the X1X with great resolution. It's between the PS4 Pro with much lower resolution and the X1X with much better resoulution. Judging from the evidence presented in the video, the performance isn't different enough to even consider.

 

[ThisIsBlitz21]

Yes, the graphics are a downgrade, but it's not Avalanche's fault that the consoles have cpu's from 2012 laptops.

Overall, the tradeoff seems to worth it to get better performance.

 

[eso76]

People wanted smoother performance well here you go lol.

Supposedly they're working on patches for the next couple of weeks that will do this

https://square-enix-games.com/documents/development-update-message-just-cause-4-team

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Looks like those would fix most issues people have with the graphics.
Haven't watched the video yet

 

[chandoog]

Base PS4 seems fine

That performance on Xbox One S, so should be even slightly worse on OG Xbox One

Overall an improvement over Just Cause 3 but I wonder how the loading is and also if performance could get worse through updates like they did with previous game instead them fixing they just add more dlc

Edit, almost forgot is there a motion blur toggle setting for consoles? If not PASS.

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There isn't one yet, but that's one of the first things they'll add in with a future patch.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/a-message-from-the-just-cause-4-team-development-update.85483/

Xbox One & PS4

• Fixes to some motion blur rendering issues
• Add a motion blur toggle to the options menu (following user requests)

 

[eso76]

You answered your own question.

Even though they released a terrible product they never finished and never patched to even remotely acceptable performance, you bought their next game anyway.

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By the same logic I should buy JC3 even if it performs awfully and isn't fun because JC2 was awesome.

 

[Lucifonz]

People wanted smoother performance well here you go lol.

Supposedly they're working on patches for the next couple of weeks that will do this

https://square-enix-games.com/documents/development-update-message-just-cause-4-team

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That's great. Motion blur toggle is huge to me. I'll hold off until January sales then, hopefully the update isn't too far off.

 

[Fastidioso]

They say that, but I must have blinked because I didn't see them acutally SHOW an area where the X1X dropped frames. Honestly, it seems to me like DF makes far more of deal of absolutely *imperceptible* frame rate drops on the X1X just to placate Sony viewers. I mean, this supposed couple of frames dropped in rare areas on the X1X is "annoying the shit" out of you when the fact is you would probably never notice it if DF didn't say it exists.

On the other hand, the X1X version is running at a much higher resolution which *is* noticeable ALL THE TIME.

The two things shouldn't be given even close to equal consideration, yet DF kinda does. It's a false equivilence and it's been kind of blatant in a lot of DF videos, in my opinion. The choice with this game isn't between the PS4 Pro with great performance and the X1X with great resolution. It's between the PS4 Pro with much lower resolution and the X1X with much better resoulution. Judging from the evidence presented in the video, the performance isn't different enough to even consider.

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Game drops between 29/30 fps on the X when on pro it's locked. I don't know how you missed it. Said that even DF says the same things of you, I'm not sure where you heard all that Sony support. IQ however is shitty on the X too. If you follow the face off just to hear a prize for the better machine because it beats the cheaper weaker counterpart, you missed the point of such video.

 

[Brown Intruder]

Game drops between 29/30 fps on the X when on pro it's locked. I don't know how you missed it. Said that even DF says the same things of you, I'm not sure where you heard all that Sony support. Said that, IQ is shitty on the X too. If you follow the face off just to hear a better machine beats the cheaper version counterpart, well...

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1 frame here or there is nothing.

What he says is basically true. That 1 frame difference is hardly worth mentioning

 

[Jaxar]

I'm really surprised to see the resolution running that high on the 1X. It certainly doesn't look like it in game.

 

[Fastidioso]

1 frame here or there is nothing.

What he says is basically true. That 1 frame difference is hardly worth mentioning

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It's a video analysis. Not an xbone X spot.

 

[SJRB]

By the same logic I should buy JC3 even if it performs awfully and isn't fun because JC2 was awesome.

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What the-

That's exactly what happened..! JC2 was great, so people bought JC3.Except we didn't know JC3 would perform terribly beforehand, and we didn't know it would have gabage-tier support afterwards.

And because JC3 was so bad, people shouldn't buy JC4. Because that sends a wrong message: you mistreat your customers but we'll buy your new stuff anyway.

 

[pswii60]

I'm really surprised to see the resolution running that high on the 1X. It certainly doesn't look like it in game.

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Well you did say..

I'm playing on the 1X and I swear it doesn't look any higher than 1080p. I've been hoping for a Digital Foundry article to drop so I can see for sure.

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[Fastidioso]

I'm really surprised to see the resolution running that high on the 1X. It certainly doesn't look like it in game.

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That's the real point. IQ is shitty. Of course is better compared the Pro. The hardware specs are well known. But is still shit, that's a shame. I don't know how Richard can find it enjoyable. I care relatively if it's better of the Pro. It seems the X has released just to win the face off over the Pro and nothing else.

 

[Deleted member 34239]

This game has low-key terrible graphics.