BioShock: The Collection gets upgraded for PS4 Pro and Xbox One X — and the results disappoint
BioShock: The Collection returns! There’s a Switch port on sale now (we’ll have coverage on this soon) but meanwhile, the existing console releases have been updated to natively support PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X, with the promise of support for both consoles’ 4K output modes. There are some improvements, resolution is boosted, but bearing in mind the vintage of the original games, we did expect to see a better turn-out.
Let’s get the basics out of the way. With BioShock: The Collection, we’re effectively looking at three separate games running on two different engines. BioShock and its sequel operate on a customised rendition of Unreal Engine 2.5, while Infinite leverages an enhanced UE3. This results in implementations for the enhanced consoles that directly relate to the engine used. So, for BioShock and BioShock 2, PlayStation 4 Pro renders at 1440p, while Xbox One X targets full 2160p — 4K. Curiously, with BioShock Infinite, 1440p is the standard for both machines. There’s a further wrinkle though for PS4 Pro owners: if your front-end is set to 1080p and super-sampling is disabled, all titles run at 1080p instead of 1440p.
Looking at the first two titles to begin with, even with its lower resolution, PS4 Pro at 1440p definitely enhances the game’s visual presentation by helping to bring out texture detail and reducing edge jaggies — it’s just that the Xbox One X does this in a much better fashion when you look at them back to back. However, pure pixel count is only one part of the equation: The first two games have very simplistic anti-aliasing implementations in place, so specular shimmer in motion is an issue, even on Xbox One X.
Also problematic is the very low level of anisotropic filtering deployed on both machines, which results in ground textures at oblique angles quickly turning into a blurry mess, something that happens very to the camera.
Bearing in mind how ubiquitous these textures are — and how often BioShock relies on repeating tile patterns, emphasising the issue — this goes a long way in offsetting the quality improvement you get from the higher pixel count. In the embedded video, you’ll see how the PC version with 16x AF looks dramatically better, but even 8x from the consoles would present a huge improvement, and I’m surprised that this isn’t implemented as standard. Interestingly, BioShock 2 seems to have a higher default level of anisotropic filtering than its predecessor, but there’s still huge scope for improvement here.
Watch on YouTube
Everything you need to know about the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X enhancements for the BioShock trilogy.
BioShock Infinite sees more modest gains: it’s difficult to fathom why Xbox One X is running at the same resolution as PS4 Pro, bearing in mind the glaring disparity in GPU processing power. Image quality still leaves much to be desired: the anti-aliasing is simplistic, resulting int image crawl and fizzle in motion that’s visible on both machines.
This is exacerbated by mediocre anisotropic filtering, though Xbox One X does seem marginally improved. On top of this, transparency effects seem to be delivered at a lower rendering resolution than the rest of the image — even on Xbox One X — and when these transparencies intersect with opaque geometry, it’s possible to see highly pixelated edges.
These negative points could be tolerable if performance were locked to 60 frames per second throughout, but unfortunately, that’s simply not the case. The best performer is, perhaps understandably, the original BioShock. It is 13-years-old at this point, after all. Across samples from the first hour-and-a-half of gameplay, both enhanced consoles held up fairly well — though layer upon layer of alpha transparency textures can very occasionally hit performance hard, more so on PlayStation 4 Pro. This isn’t too onerous, but the fact it’s visible at all may more egregious examples further on in the game.
With BioShock 2, the experience is less stable.
Even though I believe the original to be the better-looking game (with more real-time shadows), it clearly performs to a lesser degree, with both Xbox One X and PS4 Pro seemingly bandwidth-limited in specific scenarios where, again, alpha transparencies dominate the viewport. Unfortunately, this means performance drops kick in whenever you use the the drill melee weapon, where the explosion of gore invariably hits frame-rate. Bearing in mind that this is the first weapon in the game, and the iconic means of attack from the Big Daddy, it’s sad to see performance drop into the 40s on PS4 Pro when it’s used. The effect is even more pronounced on Xbox One X. Put simply, it’s not fun to see your frame-rate tank in the middle of combat using the most basic weapon in the game. This isn’t limited to the drill attack either — many transparencies cause issues, such as water splashes or electricity surges. In all of these scenarios, Xbox One X fares considerably worse than PS4 Pro — and if that’s the case, there is a case here for lowering resolution.
An attempt to show the stuttering issue of BioShock and its sequel running on Xbox One X. As you can see, taking your console offline fixes the problem.
In performance terms, Bioshock infinite sits in the middle-ground between these titles. In the first hour of play on both systems, frame-rate did not seem to be compromised at all by GPU limits. In fact, the only issue I noted is one that has been a problem since its launch way back in 2013 — loading stutter. Simple traversal through the world produces noticeable frame-time spikes — the game momentarily freezes as it waits for new data. It’s an issue in many Unreal Engine 3 titles of the era and it’s nothing new for BioShock Infinite, but it is disappointing to see that it’s still here seven years on from release. It’s a shame, because the overall outlook is of a locked 60 frames per second otherwise.
Ultimately, it’s difficult to avoid a lingering sense of disappointment. BioShock Infinite is fine overall, but the resolution boost isn’t that great, and other aspects of the presentation haven’t been cleaned up.
BioShock 2’s issues with alpha transparencies have a clear impact on performance that must surely have been noticed by the developer. Meanwhile, the first BioShock is fine overall but to see any performance issues at all — let alone poor texture filtering — on a game that hails from 13 years ago is disappointing to say the least.
The final problem concerns Xbox One X and the first two BioShock games. The new patch introduces a strange de-sync effect that adds a continuous stutter to the game, even when it is running at 60fps. What appears to be happening is that the game hitches every second, but world lighting still updates. This only happens on Xbox One X and is found exclusively in BioShock and its sequel, while Infinite is fine (PS4 Pro is completely unaffected). It is hard to understate how bad this looks — the game may be running at 60fps, but it looks nothing like it in practise. After producing our video, YouTube channel VGTech reported that taking the Xbox One X offline fixes the issue.
We tested this out with the same result (video embed above) so hopefully this can be easily patched for Xbox One owners — it’s an essential fix, but fundamentally, it’s just the start of the issues that need addressing. All three of the titles that compromise BioShock: The Collection are important games that deserve the best treatment in the interests of preserving them for the console generations to come. What we have right now is a step in the right direction, but the patches here come across more like beta code as opposed to a genuinely complete, polished product.
BioShock Collection Update Adds PS4 Pro Support and More
By
Jared Carvalho
2K Games releases update 1.02 and 1.03 in order to add PS4 Pro and Xbox One X support to BioShock: The Collection alongside Switch port.
It would seem that 2K Games doesn’t intend to leave BioShock: The Collection alone, even years after its release, and even longer since the last game in the series launched.
With these legendary games, along with a number of other 2K titles, coming to Switch, the developer has also launched update 1.02 and 1.03 to the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the collection.
The latest update to BioShock: The Collection seems to have added a few minor fixes, as well as implementing support for the PS4 Pro within the PS4 version of the game, as well as Xbox One X for Microsoft’s current enhanced console. This is especially surprising for fans when considering that the BioShock series skipped this console generation, meaning that the game had already finished development long before the PS4 Pro was even conceived by the engineers at Sony.
RELATED: BioShock Infinite All Infusion Locations
The patch notes only really state that the PS4 Pro support was added to BioShock: The Collection, but 2K hasn’t stated exactly what that support really means. Considering the aspects of the PS4 Pro that most players cared about when it launched, this likely means that the anthology now supports a 60fps frame-rate and 4K resolution.
This could make Rapture and Columbia look better than they ever had over the 10 to 20 hours per adventure that each BioShock takes to beat.
From what can already be seen of players returning to Rapture and Columbia with the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X enhancements, this update really has made all three games look incredible, even with older graphics enhanced from a previous console generation. This may also be the first look that players can get of BioShock 4, the highly anticipated next entry in the series being developed by Cloud Chamber. Of course, the next game will likely have updated graphics to meet modern, or Next-Gen, standards, but 60fps and 4K resolution have become the industry standard, with new consoles claiming to push past 120fps as well.
All of this is also a result of one of the best sci-fi games of all time, or rather three, coming to the Switch, which gave 2K the opportunity to continue working on implementing improvements on BioShock: The Collection.
Considering what this opportunity meant for BioShock, this could mean that more of 2K’s collection of games, especially those also coming to Switch, could receive these levels of updates for current and Next-Gen consoles as they continue to be ported. With any luck, more developers and publishers will continue to add this type of support to fan favorite titles.
BioShock: The Collection is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
More: BioShock The Collection: 5 Things That Should Change With The Nintendo Switch Port (& 4 Things That Should Stay The Same)
Source: Gear Nuke
The Collection does not allow you to stream gameplay to the
network
Owners of Bioshock: The Collection for PS4 and Xbox One have discovered one strange feature in this collection. This re-release does not allow you to stream gameplay to the network.
Owners of Bioshock: The Collection for PS4 and Xbox One have discovered one strange feature in this collection.
This re-release does not allow live streaming of gameplay directly from PS4 and Xbox One consoles. Publisher 2K has confirmed that this feature is available in the console versions of Bioshock: The Collection. However, the company did not provide any explanation.
“If you play BioShock: The Collection, then you will most likely want to stream your adventures in Rapture or Columbia to the network. Unfortunately, BioShock: The Collection does not yet have the ability to stream gameplay to the network. We will update you as soon as anything changes in this situation,» 2K said in a statement.
Bioshock: The Collection offers enhanced versions of the first two entries in the series, as well as a PC version of Bioshock Infinite. The bundle does not include multiplayer from Bioshock 2, but it does include all the add-ons for the story campaigns for the three games.
2016-09-16 18:16:00
Mikhail Shkredov (Thunder)
Bioshock: The Collection
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