But, obviously, better on Xbox Series X
We’re smack dab in the middle of the gulf between last-gen and new-gen consoles, as we have to account for what games look like on both sets of machines. Obviously, things look best on PS5 and Xbox Series X right now, but how much better? Is the upgrade really worth the immediate investment?
CD Projekt Red tries to answer that question with the game that’s probably making most folks consider buying new hardware. This morning, we got a Cyberpunk 2077 comparison video that shows how the game looks on both Xbox One X and Xbox Series X. It’s nearly 10 minutes of gameplay footage, chopped and screwed so as to not spoil any plot beats. Xbox Series X is running the game via backward compatibility because it’s technically the Xbox One version.
The takeaway? You could probably live with either version. The Xbox Series X has more impressive lighting and whatnot, but last-gen isn’t so gimped that it seems unplayable. It looks perfectly adequate. (Although, you might beg to differ when we know load times across the Xbox One’s HDD and the Xbox Series X’s SSD.)
It’s also worth pointing out that this is a highly manicured showcase that wouldn’t exhibit any real flaws in either version. It’s tough to get a feel for the performance, but we wouldn’t be privy to any big framerate dips if either console — likely the Xbox One — has problems with that.
However, this isn’t as good as it’s going to get on Xbox Series X. CD Projekt Red notes that it still has a free update next year that will bring true next-gen enhancements to Cyberpunk 2077 on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.
As for anyone left wondering how Cyberpunk 2077 will differ between PS4 and PS5, you can probably expect it to be highly similar to this Xbox breakdown. You don’t have to take my word for it. CD Projekt Red is releasing a PlayStation video in the coming weeks that will offer the same kind of comparison. Presumably, it’ll be different scenes, so at least we’ll get another hit of Cyberpunk gameplay before the December 10 launch.
Oh yeah, and the next episode of Night City Wire is on Thursday. That one’s All Keanu. Lotta Cyberpunk in the pipeline before the actual game launches in a little under a month.
