While the PlayStation 5 Pro won’t be available until November 7, developers are already rolling out title updates to their games to ensure gamers can take advantage of the new console’s added horsepower. One of the games I’m referring to is Alan Wake 2, and Remedy Entertainment has revealed just what players can expect from the horror game’s PS5 Pro-enhanced features.
The Quality and Performance Modes in Alan Wake 2 Are Upgraded With the PS5 Pro
According to Remedy, the horror game will be able to take advantage of the PS5 Pro’s “PSSR” (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) upscaling feature. Some of the changes from Quality and Performance modes available in the PS5 Pro that’s not possible on the base PS5 include:
Quality Mode
The PS5 Pro Quality mode features ray tracing, which isn’t available on the base PS5 version of the game.
- 30fps with ray tracing
- Ray-traced reflections (opaque and transparent)
- Output resolution 3840 x 2160 (4K)
- Render resolution 2176 x 1224
Performance Mode
Remedy says the Performance Mode on Sony’s new console will feature higher output resolution and visual detail compared to the base PS5. The overall image stability, fog, volumetric lighting, and shadow accuracy have been improved on the Pro.
- 60fps
- Using approximately the same render (image quality) settings as the base PS5 Quality mode.
- Base PS5 Performance mode version runs at lower render (image quality) settings
- Render resolution 1536 x 864
- Output resolution 3840 x 2160 (4K)
- Base PS5 version outputs 1440p.
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Remedy Reveals PS5 Pro Performance In New Videos
Remedy also released short clips of Alan Wake 2 running on the PS5 Pro’s Performance and Quality modes.
Alan Wake 2 Gets Ray Tracing Thanks to the PS5 Pro
When Alan Wake 2 was released in October of last year, it didn’t feature ray tracing. That’s about to change when the PS5 Pro is released. Players can expect ray tracing in Alan Wake 2’s Quality Mode on the PS5 Pro, which enables ray-traced reflections on opaque and transparent surfaces.
Remedy notes that their ray tracing work with Control Ultimate Edition back in 2021, which featured ray tracing on the PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X|S, helped, as it mostly boiled down to selecting desired effects and making PS5 Pro-specific optimizations. However, adding ray tracing to the game does come with a cost. The developers must trace each ray and its hit evaluated and shaded. Due to the nature of ray tracing, multiple rays must be traced to reach “noise-free” images per the studio. Remedy provides a lot of technical explanations on how the PS5 Pro helped their Northlight game engine achieve these new technical feats, which could be worth reading for those interested.
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Aside from the PS5 Pro enhancements, Alan Wake 2’s Anniversary Update, which adds new quality-of-life features, will be released tomorrow on all platforms.
If you haven’t played Alan Wake 2 yet and are planning on picking up a PS5 Pro, this might be the best way to experience Remedy’s horror masterpiece. Check out DualShocker’s spoiler-free review to gauge whether it’s your cup of tea or not.
13 years after the mysterious incident at Cauldron Lake, Alan Wake returns, this time accompanied by FBI Agent Saga Anderson as a string of ritualistic murders leads them down a rabbit-hole of overlapping dimensions and danger.
- Released
- October 27, 2023
- Engine
- Northlight Engine
