In our Battlefield 1 review, we observed that “when the action gets intense in multiplayer with a large number of players battling it out, [frame-rate stutters] do become noticeable.” It turns out that we weren’t the only ones to spot the frame drops, with Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry division using their know-how to monitor the game’s exact performance.
That said, when the action heats up we do see more significant drops in performance, which lower frames down to low 50s or high 40s. Much of the time, both consoles are affected to a similar degree, particularly when there are plenty of alpha effects on-screen or during physics-based destruction. It’s not a major problem, though it does mean that the action doesn’t always appear silky smooth.
Battlefield 1 is curious in how it handles resolution, as it doesn’t stick to one specific number. As scenes change in complexity, resolution will dynamically scale to maintain a smoother frame-rate.
The baseline resolution comes in at around 1000p on PS4, dropping down to 900p, with pixel counts adjusting up and down in smaller increments. By comparison, resolution on Xbox One stabilises at 900p, falling to 720p in demanding scenes. This leads to a consistently sharper image on PS4, where intricate texture details resolve more cleanly. In fact, at 1000p the presentation often looks very similar to a native 1080p image.
When it comes to resolution and sharpness, the PlayStation 4 comes out on top. In the frame-rate department, however, when comparing similar scenes across both consoles, the Xbox One is smoother.
In the case of the console versions, the switch to a dynamic resolution delivers a marked improvement in image quality, and while the PS4 still has the edge here, the Xbox One can match Sony’s system on occasion. Performance favours Xbox One though, and gameplay comes across as smoother on the console in both campaign and online multiplayer modes. That said, frame-rates during the epic 64-player operations mode could be smoother across both systems, with unwelcome dips down into the 30fps range that distract at various points across both consoles.
Below you’ll find the full gameplay comparison for every version of Battlefield 1, along with an explanation of how each platform performs.
What do you make of Battlefield 1‘s performance? Is the mix of resolution scaling and a smoother-than-30fps frame-rate a good combination? Let us know in the comments.
