Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus has garnered praise for how good it looks on the PS4 Pro. However, the game falls short in the area of performance. Designed to run at 60 fps, it frequently fails to reach its target. Is the performance problem solved on the more powerful Xbox One X? Does an already great-looking game look better on Microsoft’s graphical powerhouse? Digital Foundry compared Wolfenstein II on the One X and the Pro with mixed results.
Resolution
Wolfenstein II makes use of dynamic resolution scaling on both consoles. However, the Pro locks maximum resolution at 2560 x 1440 while the One X maxes out at full 4K (3840 x 2160). The tradeoff is that resolution is much more variable on the One X. The Pro rarely drops below 1440p while the One X changes resolution frequently.
The One X’s changes in resolution never bring it down to the level of the Pro, however. The One X maintains a 100% to 225% resolution advantage over the Pro through most of the game. The lowest resolutions Digital Foundry recorded for the consoles was 1656p for the One X and 1296p for the Pro; a 63% advantage for the One X.
The results for resolution are clear. Wolfenstein II looks much sharper and clearer on the One X.
Graphics quality
Digital Foundry looked at features that affect graphics quality by comparing the One X with a high-performance PC. The results were surprisingly similar with little or no difference between the two platforms on features like lighting quality and post-processing effects. The One X did fall short on shadow quality and anisotropic filtering.
Comparing the One X and the Pro revealed that both consoles appear to use similar settings for shadow quality and ambient occlusion. Also, in some scenes shadows that are visible on the PC are absent on both the One X and the Pro.
The One X has a decided advantage over the Pro in texture filtering, probably because it’s consistently running at a much higher resolution. In some scenes, textures are markedly better on the One X while in others both consoles look the same.
Performance
Wolfenstein II looks better on the One X, but does it run better? Does the One X hit the 60 fps mark that the Pro frequently misses? In a word, no. Bummer.
Both consoles run at 60 fps much of the time, but both range between 50 fps to 60 fps during busy scenes. Sometimes one console does better than the other but across the board they’re fairly similar.
Why isn’t dynamic resolution scaling on the One X used to maintain a 60 fps frame rate? Resolution scaling comes into play when the GPU (Graphics processing unit) is stressed. It doesn't help when a processing load is placed on the CPU (Central processing unit). Frame rates drop during intense scenes because the number of enemies and the demands for calculating the physics of many moving objects stress the CPU.
The One X uses an 8-core AMD Jaguar CPU running at 2.3 GHz. The Pro also uses an 8-core AMD Jaguar CPU, but it runs at 2.1 GHz. The small difference in speed isn’t enough to separate the two consoles in circumstances where CPU load drops frame rates.
Conclusion
The conclusion for Wolfenstein II is straightforward. The game looks great on both consoles, but it looks markedly better on the One X. If you want the best-looking console version, the One X is clearly the one to buy.
There are no major differences in performance between the two consoles which is a disappointment. Wolfenstein II struggles to maintain 60 fps as frequently on the One X as it does on the Pro. If you want Wolfenstein II to look its best and run at 60 fps, PC is your platform.
If you are interested, here are more Xbox One X comparisons.
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