The PC version defaults to a locked 30fps refresh, which it actually selected for my system after telling me that it had "optimized" performance for my rig. At the very least, we figured we could answer at least one question: what can PC gamers expect with a little more headroom beyond MS' recommended spec? And, thanks to the overclock, at least the CPU's clock speed exceeds MS' recommendation of an i7-6700K processor, though that's obviously not the only performance factor. That system held up incredibly well when testing two other recent UWP freebies- Forza 6 Apex and Halo 5: Forge-at maximum settings in UHD resolution (meaning, 3840×2160 pixels), and it exceeds the "recommended" spec that Microsoft advertises for FH3. My testing PC includes an i7-4770K CPU (overclocked to 4.2 GHz, which is a particularly safe and stable OC thanks to the fan system in place), a GeForce GTX 980Ti video card (specifically, a factory-overclocked EVGA model), and 16GB of DDR3 RAM. I was the sole tester, since Ars' Jonathan Gitlin currently lacks a decent Windows rig. To be clear: this is not a definitive guide to FH3's performance on Windows 10 systems (and FYI, Windows 10 is required to run this "UWP" application). We eventually DID upgrade our drivers, so these impressions do NOT include any of our experiences with this earlier driver. Should you try to launch the game with outdated drivers, you'll get this message. As with other games in the new "Xbox Play Anywhere" initiative, buying a digital copy of the game unlocks both platform versions, and, for many PC gamers, that means dreams of even better performance on PCs that exceed the Xbox One's 1.31-teraflop performance rating. While we had earlier access to the game's Xbox One version-which sticks to a rock-solid 30 frames-per-second refresh in what appears to be full 1080p resolution, or at least something very close to it-the developers at Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios withheld access to the Windows 10 version until after our review published. FH3, on the other hand, isn't just an open-world game it's an outright romp that begs its players to kick up trails of dust, water droplets, and tree branches while competing against tons of AI-controlled opponents in no-rails races. That Apex release was probably easier to optimize for high-end PC performance, since it forced players to stick to specific racetracks (and could therefore limit on-screen elements like draw distance and geometry at any given moment). gosh, 16 years! The company's last retail PC racer was 2000's Motocross Madness 2, while this year's sim-minded Forza Motorsport 6 Apex doesn't count because it was an experimental freebie-albeit an amazing and surprising one, at least in terms of performance. We don't normally return to games after their releases to analyze performance, and certainly not only three days after a review publishes, but FH3 just so happens to be the first PC racing game sold by Microsoft in. Short version: it's a damned good continuation of Forza's wilder half, and while its physics system felt looser and lighter under the wheel-controller hands of cars editor Jonathan Gitlin than he expected (even based on FH2, mind you), he still believed it deserved a spot at the top of the current open-world racer ecosystem. Our Forza Horizon 3 game review from earlier this week took a long, hard look at Microsoft Studios' latest open-world racer. Playground Games / Turn 10 Studios reader comments 54 with
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |