It’s been a couple of weeks since Dishonored 2 was released and while we have been pretty busy in covering other PlayStation 4 Pro games, we finally got the chance to get our hands on the PS4 and Xbox One versions. From a gameplay perspective, Dishonored 2 seems pretty similar to the original but with enough tweaks to make it stand out against its fantastic predecessor. There is a lot of value in this package as it provides players the option to play through the game either as Emily or Corvo. Overall it’s a pretty decent game that will appeal to the fans of the original and possibly to newcomers.
Having said that how does the game performs on the PS4 and Xbox One? To begin with, Dishonored 2 runs on the Void engine which is based on id Tech 5. So unfortunately it isn’t using the latest version of the engine that ran DOOM earlier this year. Overall, the image quality comes off as a little dull at times on both the PS4 and Xbox One, more so on the latter. It seems that the PS4 version is running at a native 1080p resolution and the Xbox One at 900p, however there is a chance that both may be using a dynamic buffer. Performance wise, we are looking at a frame rate cap of 30 frames per second on both versions. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be the case every time. We witnessed some heavy drops on both versions including screen tearing. Overall, performance isn’t ideal. There are also texture streaming issues which is kind of expected given that this is running on a modified id Tech 5 engine.
As a whole, we are not quite pleased with Dishonored 2’s technical achievements. The game has some strange audio glitches, performance issues and image quality isn’t all that great at times. Yes, the game utilizes some fantastic art style along with higher quality core assets but it does seem like a title which was stuck in transition from last gen to current gen. Why Arkane didn’t use id Tech 6 for Dishonored 2 is something that we will never know but id Tech 5 is clearly showing signs of aging. Granted that the team was using only 20% of the original engine and bought in improvements in lighting and post processing effects, this was a game that needed to run in id Tech 6 in order to realize its full potential.
In the end Dishonored 2 is held back by its performance issues, glitches and bugs. And this is a shame because beneath the hood it’s a very good game and there is a lot of fun on offer here.
