Arkane Studio’s “Prey” made headlines this week when it finally received support for the PlayStation 4 Pro. The update was supposed to make everything better, but the analysis from Digital Foundry reveals otherwise as there's a strong argument that the new patch now represents a retrograde step.
“This is, without a doubt, the worst instance of irregular frame delivery we’ve encountered, giving the illusion of a much lower frame-rate,” says Digital Foundry. “Taken as a whole, Prey no longer feels smooth to play.”
What happened?
This week, developer Arkane Studios dropped the version 1.04 patch on Windows PC and PS4.
The patch hasn’t been rolled out on Xbox One yet, although it should arrive this week.
Generally speaking, Ps4 Pro support on “Prey” hadn’t totally wrecked the game. In fact, experts at Digital Foundry reported that game looks “much closer to the PC version running at 1080p” when played on the PS4 Pro. However, the supposed improvements paved the way to more serious issues, such as screen tearing and stuttering.
Analyzing the issues, Digital Foundry says this may have been a result of attempts to improve input latency, an issue “Prey” has been plagued with since its demo phase. When reports of the in-game lag arose, Arkane retaliated with the version 1.02 patch, which hadn’t done anything improvement-wise.
In 1.04’s patch notes, there’s no mention of input lag. Instead, “input drift” has apparently been addressed, which presumably is a fancier term for the underlying issue. What’s interesting is that avid players report to not seeing any difference. Forbes’ Paul Tassi, for instance, wrote, “I didn’t realize that the Pro update wasn’t even in place for the duration of my 40 hour playthrough.
And now that I’m seeing the 'Pro support' patch launched, I can’t tell a difference.”
Digital Foundry’s advice
Sony’s current-gen console is undoubtedly one of the most sophisticated pieces of technology the gaming industry has ever seen and experienced. However, latency issues have put a dent on it.
Meanwhile, Xbox One owners will be getting the patch anytime this week.
“Prey” runs at 900p on Microsoft’s console, and because of this, there is a possibility it doesn’t have to struggle to hit 1080p like the PS4 as this results in better controls and a smoother experience.
Arkane Studios is getting its hands busy looking into the reported issues, game's community manager confirmed in the forums. “Prey” was released less than a month ago, on May 5. Considering it’s technically an infant, we can expect it to further improve and bring more satisfying experience to the gamers.
