Star Wars: Battlefront 2 beta – a big visual upgrade and a big performance downgrade – report

With the Star Wars: Battlefront 2 beta hours away from shutting down, it’s time to look back at how it performed on consoles.

The Star Wars: Battlefront 2 beta is of course available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Being a DICE game, it’s always interesting to see what techniques the developer utilised to design the look of the game, and how well it runs on consoles.

Digital Foundry‘s recent analysis explores resolution, frame-rate, and all other details unique to each version. Starting off with resolution, thanks to the many visual upgrades, it is no longer fixed to 900p (PS4) and 720p (Xbox One). Instead, what we get is a dynamic resolution on all console versions.

On PS4, this ranges from 972p to 1080p, whereas Xbox One has a bit of a lower end at 900p to 1000p. The use of temporal AA makes for a sharper image, even if it’s overall a little soft, according to the report. Graphics quality is near identical on both platforms, though there are some standouts such as softer shadows on Xbox One and a lower reflection resolution.

On PS4 Pro, dynamic resolution produces anywhere from 1440p to 1296p with the rest of effects quality intact, albeit with some upgrades to ambient occlusion, and a slight push to debris quality. Being built on the Battlefield 1 engine, the game’s visuals show a substantial upgrade over the 2015 Battlefront, with richer environments and the return of the Photogrammetry technique that recreates surfaces and textures as seen in the films in unprecedented realism.

As far as performance, it has sadly taken a hit. On PS4 – and compared to the near locked 60fps of the original – there’s definitely been a downgrade. The console’s frame-rate is the worst on Galactic Assault with drops in the 40s. Strike has its share of frame-rate drops but they weren’t as severe, with Starfighter Assault seeing the least drops. The same goes for Xbox One, though Microsoft’s console suffers from more frequent drops that induce judder.

Hopefully the final version will bring a smoother frame-rate, even if the golden 60fps target may not be adhered to as strongly this time around.

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is out November 17 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.