Digital Foundry Uncovers Performance Hiccups in Metal Gear Solid Delta on PlayStation Consoles
As the highly anticipated remake of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater draws closer to release, Digital Foundry's Thomas Morgan has offered a detailed technical breakdown, confirming what many already suspected: while the game is remarkably faithful to its 2004 original in structure and feel, its performance on PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro leaves much to be desired.
Running on Unreal Engine 5, Metal Gear Solid Delta showcases significant visual enhancements. Character models, environmental effects, textures, lighting, and overall detail have been brought up to modern standards, creating a visually impressive experience. Crucially, the placement of objects in levels and even the motion capture in cutscenes remain true to the original game, preserving its iconic identity. However, as Morgan points out, one critical area appears to have been overlooked: performance optimization.
Base PS5 Performance: Compromises and Inconsistency
On the standard PlayStation 5, players are presented with two distinct display modes: 'Quality' and 'Performance'.
- The 'Quality' mode targets a stable 30 frames per second (fps). It features dynamic resolution ranging from 1080p to 1584p, and when upscaled to 4K, it delivers a notably sharper image. This mode also boasts superior draw distance, higher quality shadows, and improved global illumination.
- The 'Performance' mode aims for 60 fps. However, this is where significant issues arise. Its dynamic resolution hovers between 720p and 1080p, and the console struggles to maintain its target. In dense jungle environments, framerates frequently drop into the 40-60 fps range, and during underwater sections, they can plummet as low as 30 fps. This mode also exhibits more graphical artifacts compared to the 'Quality' setting.
Interestingly, all cutscenes, regardless of the chosen mode, utilize the visual enhancements of the 'Quality' preset and are capped at 30 fps on the base PS5, effectively eliminating any visual difference in cinematic sequences between the two modes.
PS5 Pro: A Mixed Bag of Upgrades and Downgrades
The situation on the PS5 Pro is, surprisingly, not a clear improvement. Konami has chosen not to offer separate display modes, instead attempting to combine the best aspects of both base PS5 modes: a 60 fps target with high resolution. While the PS5 Pro benefits from all the visual upgrades present in the base PS5's 'Quality' mode – including enhanced vegetation shading – its performance is inconsistent.
Digital Foundry found that the framerate on the PS5 Pro can, at times, even fall behind that of the regular PS5. Performance tends to be better in enclosed indoor environments, but the open jungle areas still present significant challenges. Unlike the base PS5, cutscenes on the Pro version run at a smoother 60 fps.
A key difference on the PS5 Pro is the activation of Sony's proprietary PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) upscaler. This system operates with a dynamic resolution between 756p and 1152p. On paper, this is an improvement over the base PS5's 'Performance' mode in terms of raw pixel count, though it doesn't quite match the pixel density of the 'Quality' mode. PSSR does a commendable job with image reconstruction in motion, reducing egregious artifacts and flickering during movement.
However, PSSR also introduces its own set of problems. In static scenes, the overall detail can appear lower resolution, with distant fine details looking sharper on the base PS5's 'Performance' mode than on the PS5 Pro. Furthermore, PSSR sometimes struggles to clean up noise correctly, leading to noticeable flickering in global illumination. Morgan concludes that the Pro's improvements are hard to celebrate, as its advantages are often offset by new drawbacks, and players are denied the flexibility to choose alternative display or scaling methods.
Digital Foundry's Recommendation and Outlook
For players with a compatible display, Morgan strongly recommends utilizing VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) to achieve a smoother gameplay experience, particularly when framerates are fluctuating.
Despite the performance concerns, Thomas Morgan praises Metal Gear Solid Delta as a remake, stating that "Konami has carefully balanced respect for the 2004 original with modern graphics and controls." His confusion lies in the game's release with such performance issues, especially on the PlayStation 5, expressing hope that these will be addressed through future patches.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is slated for release on August 28th for PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, with Russian subtitles included. Deluxe Edition owners can gain early access starting August 26th. Digital Foundry plans to conduct further tests on the PC and Xbox Series versions in the future, which may offer a more consistent experience.
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