The improvements presented by the latest PS5 Pro model are substantial, particularly in the realm of ray tracing, overall performance, and support for 120Hz gameplay.
Performance Enhancements in Resident Evil Titles
When diving into the Resident Evil franchise on the PS5 Pro, the advancements become strikingly clear.
Our analysis covers five titles: Resident Evil 7 (2017), the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3, Resident Evil Village, and the more recent Resident Evil 4 Remake.
All these games run on Capcom’s RE Engine, which means they perform natively on the PS5.
However, the standard PS5 struggled with some performance issues, especially while attempting to achieve a steady 60 frames per second (fps) with ray tracing enabled, or maintaining high frame rates in 120Hz modes.
Fortunately, the PS5 Pro addresses these concerns head-on, thanks to its enhanced GPU capabilities and improved PSSR upscaling technology, paving a smoother path to meet frame-rate goals.
It’s important to distinguish between the upgrades: only Resident Evil Village and Resident Evil 4 Remake have received specific updates aimed at utilizing the PS5 Pro’s advanced features.
Meanwhile, while the other three titles benefit from performance boosts, they remain visually consistent with their PS5 counterparts.
On the PlayStation Store, you’ll find RE4 Remake and Village labeled as PS5 Pro Enhanced.
Once players launch these titles on the Pro, they will notice a new option for 120Hz.
This feature mirrors the existing 120Hz capabilities seen in RE2, RE3, and RE7, but it has been fine-tuned for the newer installations.
Detailed Game Analysis: Village and 4 Remake
Starting with Resident Evil Village on the PS5 Pro, it’s worth noting that this title introduces PSSR upscaling while maintaining visual settings consistent with the base PS5.
The game runs at a fixed resolution of 1536×864, which is then upscaled to 4K through PSSR across all modes—whether players choose ray tracing, 60Hz, or 120Hz options.
While the visual quality remains commendable, there’s a noticeable trade-off compared with the 4K checkerboarding found on the standard PS5, which results in a sharper image at 1920×2160.
This results in a somewhat parallel visual experience: although images on the base console are crisp, they also exhibit more artifacts due to the checkerboarding process.
The PS5 Pro, on the other hand, provides greater stability when rendering fine details, though flickering can occur during fast motion.
Static scenes benefit from enhanced clarity due to accumulated frame information, but quick movements might blur intricate details—a drawback the standard model does not face.
Ultimately, while improvements in frame stability are evident, certain visual aspects may fall short, with no major issues arising—a positive deviation from experiences with other RE Engine titles like Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Focusing on frame rates, the PS5 Pro allows Resident Evil Village to run at a commendable 60fps, even with ray tracing enabled.
This version comes equipped with ray-traced reflections, ambient occlusion, and improved lighting systems, which significantly enhance shadowing and indoor lighting effects.
In contrast, on the standard PS5, ray tracing generally holds a stable 60fps in ideal conditions but tends to drop into the mid-40s during intense gameplay.
On the PS5 Pro, the new 120Hz setting can almost always achieve its target 120fps when players disable ray tracing.
However, even with ray tracing active, frame rates typically hover between 55-90fps, providing a desirable option for gamers willing to forgo enhanced graphical fidelity.
Performance of Older Titles on PS5 Pro
Finally, we look at the older titles running on the RE Engine: Resident Evil 7, along with its remakes for Resident Evil 2 and 3.
While none of these games have officially received PS5 Pro upgrades yet, the enhanced GPU capabilities of the Pro still deliver noticeable automatic improvements.
This is most evident in Resident Evil 2 and 3, where activating ray tracing on the base PS5 resulted in severe frame drops, sometimes hitting as low as 35fps.
The PS5 Pro alleviates this issue, as it enables a more consistent experience around the 60fps mark, with only slight drops to about 48fps during particularly demanding sequences.
For players with VRR, the gameplay feels significantly smoother, while those without this technology can expect solid 60fps throughout most sections.
Our tests indicate a frame rate uplift of around 45% in Resident Evil 2, with similarly impressive performance in Resident Evil 3 at a targeted 60Hz.
Moreover, both remakes have seen significant advancements in their 120Hz modes, now achieving nearly perfect 120fps on the PS5 Pro.
As for Resident Evil 7, which debuted back in 2017, it maintained a relatively stable 60fps on the standard PS5, even with ray tracing enabled.
Consequently, there were fewer opportunities for noticeable upgrades due to the established performance of the original model.
Its 120Hz mode performed adequately on the base system, and this stability continues with the Pro version.
In summary, the PS5 Pro showcases upgrades that effectively address most performance issues observed on the original PS5 with ray tracing enabled across the five Resident Evil titles.
The combination now delivers reliable 60fps gameplay, and the 120fps functionality is solid in most instances—though Resident Evil 4 Remake shows a bit of a gap in optimization.
Interestingly, the potential for even more visual enhancements seems somewhat limited; aside from Resident Evil Village’s use of PSSR, the overall experience remains close to that of the base PS5.
Nonetheless, the PS5 Pro successfully rectifies lingering performance challenges, marking a significant milestone for Resident Evil enthusiasts.
Source: Eurogamer