#it can work! id rather a better game locked to 30 fps than one with realistic horse nuts but weak gameplay at 60

[thesaintelectric]

idgaf if starfield npcs look a lil goofy bethesda not forcing themselves into 1000% realistic next gen visuals is good other companies should do the same

[entergamingxp]

just how close to PS4 does it get? • Eurogamer.net

Over the last ten years, 4A Games has built a reputation for pushing technology to new heights – from the original, remarkable Metro 2033 to last year’s Metro Exodus – an open world showcase with beautiful ray traced global illumination. However, the firm also enjoyed success with their current-gen Metro Redux remasters, and now those titles are available for Nintendo Switch. Yes, it’s another Switch port we’re tackling but this time, the original developer has taken point on bringing the games across and as it’s 4A you know you’re in for something special.

For those unfamiliar, the first two Metro games are first-person shooters set deep within the radiation ravaged Metro system beneath Moscow. With limited supplies, players make their way through the underground (occasionally venturing to the blasted surface) while dealing with a wide range of foes. Stealth, combat and storytelling are all part of the experience, with both games offering a unique atmosphere quite unlike anything else on the market. It’s also the first time a Metro game has appeared on a Nintendo platform and it’s also the debut for the franchise on what is essentially mobile hardware. On top of that, the port hasn’t been handed off to a separate developer as is often the case – 4A rolled up its sleeves and dug in for this one, producing a fascinating piece of work.

To begin with, we can confirm that this is indeed the newer, more modern Redux version of the game – not a conversion of the last-gen Xbox 360/PS3 renditions, which may have been more suited to the power level offered by the Nintendo hybrid. Comparing Xbox 360 to Switch, the differences are stark. Redux offers improved textures and models, a new lighting and materials model and more detail all around. Metro 2033 is a very, very different experience all around, while the sequel – Metro Last Light – also enjoys all of the improvements made for its transition to PS4 and Xbox One.

Side by side, Switch Metro is remarkably similar to its current-gen console counterparts but the reality is that some compromises were needed – and this process starts with image quality. Yes, resolution is lower, but the full story is somewhat more complex. A lot has changed since the original release on PS4 and Xbox One. If you look back at older Digital Foundry content, matters of resolution used to be simple. In the case of Redux, you had a fixed pixel count of 1080p on PS4 and 912p on Xbox One. Both versions used a form of post-process anti-aliasing as well. It was the same story for many games early this generation – fixed pixel counts and basic post-process anti-aliasing made getting a handle on relative image quality a straightforward enough exercise.

Everything you need to know about the Switch versions of Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light. Impressive stuff!

However, in 2020, we’re moving into what is effectively the post-resolution era. A simple pixel count no longer tells the whole story and certainly doesn’t encapsulate the difference in visual quality. This has been the case for many recent games over the past few years but Metro Redux offers a remarkable stark comparison due to its earlier release on PS4 and Xbox One. The Switch lacks the hardware muscle to push through the same pixel count and simply running at a lower resolution with FXAA would produce a messy, aliased image.

The solution is what 4A calls temporal super resolution – which seeks to achieve clean edges while minimising artefacts. If you count pixels, the effective resolution seems to hang around 1280×720 docked, but pixel counts are only possible in motion when the TSR tech fails on specific edges. 4A itself pegs docked play at 1080p, but regardless, there are many variables that can lead to variations in image quality depending on what’s happening on-screen. It’s very dynamic, you can expect the current frame to vary significantly in terms of pixel count and the image you’re presented with at any point will, of course, include a lot of data reconstructed from previously rendered frames.

That said, the overall resolution target is clearly lower than PS4 and Xbox One, and there are some visible artefacts which lead to the perception of break-up in fast-moving areas. Alpha buffers also appear to deliver a quarter resolution output, so flames appear rather chunky in comparison to PS4.Still, this type of image reconstruction is becoming increasingly common to the point where there’s a very strong argument that pixel-counting is now becoming an academic point of interest rather than any kind of actual measure for image quality. In terms of Metro Redux on Switch, the basic reality here is that the picture is generally less than sharp than PS4 or Xbox One, but typical signs of lower resolution – edge aliasing and temporal shimmer – are not present.

Switch’s portable mode is a slightly different story. The primary pixel count seems to come in at 720p – a match for the display – but due to the same reconstruction techniques, it winds up looking extremely clean and sharp on the Switch’s internal LCD. Image quality is simply superb and much cleaner than other comparable ports such as Wolfenstein 2. It’s really one of the best presented Switch games in portable mode. The video on this page tells the full story, and it’s fascinating. Again, it is possible to detect countable pixel edges when the reconstruction technique fails, and it’s there were we can see what looks like 480p at the lowest count. However, these moments are uncommon and don’t adequately represent actual gameplay. Hopefully, the video and screenshots demonstrate that image quality holds up remarkably well.

Looking at both docked and portable presentations, I feel that the portable mode looks better overall but it has its own drawbacks. Metro is a very dark game that relies on a lot of deep shadows and empty space to increase atmosphere. It looks good on a CRT or OLED monitor, of course, but the Switch uses a mediocre LCD panel and the backlight glow is painfully obvious making it look somewhat less impressive and more difficult to see. So, that’s something to consider – this isn’t the kind of game you want to play in a brightly lit room, but it’s difficult to envisage how 4A could adapt to this without substantially revamping areas of the game.

Elsewhere, the port continues to impress. In terms of visual detail, the Switch version compares very favourably to PS4 with virtually everything carrying over intact bar, some of the higher quality textures. There are definite shades of Alien Isolation here in that almost every key elements transitions across from PlayStation 4 almost perfectly. In fact, Redux goes further in some respects. Alien Isolation received some criticism for additional input latency but 4A’s efforts here are crisp and highly responsive. Even though performance is limited to 30 frames per second, the team has perfectly tweaked analogue stick dead zone and sensitivity while ensuring fast input response. It feels fantastic to control with the Pro controller and it’s still superb on the Joy-Cons.

Metro also supports full 5.1 surround sound – a feature that is often missing in Switch games, I’ve found. Here, the game makes active use of all surround channels just like the other versions of the game. Audio quality is also top notch without any significant compression. The final area of change in Metro Redux is inevitable: frame-rate. On PS4 and Xbox One, Metro Redux runs at 60 frames per second and both consoles maintain that performance very well. It’s an extremely smooth, stable game. Meanwhile, on Switch, 4A opts for a properly frame-paced, pretty much locked 30 frames per second. It’s a compromise we’ve seen on many challenging Switch ports – especially the id Tech 6 conversions from Panic Button.

4A Games’ Metro Exodus is a simply phenomenal experience. With its supported for ray traced global illumination, this is a very forward-looking game.

There’s a big difference with this one, however: the performance is extremely solid. Starting with Metro 2033, I ran a full hour of gameplay through our tools and determined that the frame-rate was locked to 30fps throughout with only one or two rare missed frames or spikes. It’s remarkably solid. It’s the same with Metro Last Light too – it took forensic analysis of performance across hours of content to find any kind of hiccup to performance at all and even then, the effect is so fleeting it’s hardly an issue. It’s this aspect that sees Metro Redux stand apart from the other highly challenging Switch ports we’ve seen. Sub-30fps compromises are commonplace elsewhere but with Redux, it is essentially locked.

The same is true in portable mode, by the way, which also turns in a very stable frame-rate – most of the time. During the introduction to Metro 2033, I did note a moment when the game hitched resulting in a visible skip but it cleared up quickly. From thereon out, it’s business as usual. Compared to the various other FPS conversions out there, Metro Redux is perhaps the best yet. The consistency and fast input response make for a very enjoyable experience overall.

Up until this point, you may be forgiven for thinking that this port is nigh-on perfect, but there are a couple of areas where I’d hope to see some improvements. First of all, the rumble support isn’t exactly nuanced and as it stands, it detracts from the atmosphere the game generates – I turned it off. Secondly, loading times can be protracted on certain stages. In some cases, loading is slower than PS4 but still very reasonable and not a huge issue but elsewhere, it can take dramatically longer to load a stage than any other version of the game. In this case, I had installed the game to an SD card which is slightly slower than any other method so you may see subtle improvements when using internal memory or the game cart itself. The silver lining here is that loading upon death is very quick, which at least removes further frustration once you’ve back to playing the game.

The Metro Exodus DLC has been terrific as well – with The Two Colonels even refining 4A’s excellent ray tracing implementation.

Overall, looking at the package as a whole, this is an impressive release. The visual quality is comparable to the earlier releases of Redux and the average pixel count is higher than many other comparable conversions such as Wolfenstein 2 or Doom 2016. Meanwhile, seeing this game play out so well in portable mode really is a treat. Similar to other Switch FPS ports, the frame-rate is cut in half but it’s very consistent and input latency is very low so it still feels great to play. The sometimes extended loading times really are the only major issue I encountered during testing and even that is variable depending on the stage.

As for the games themselves, well, it’s interesting to revisit them after spending time with Metro Exodus. The stealth gameplay remains solid – clearing rooms of enemies and quietly working your way through is as satisfying as ever, but there’s also a lot of downtime. These games were released during the height of the ‘cinematic scripted’ shooter craze and you spend a lot of time following NPCs around as they perform actions or engage in conversation. Metro Exodus has its fair share of this too but it lets players off the leash more often. That’s the one thing I’d really like to see improve in whatever 4A does next: a game which leans into the atmospheric potential of this world while leaving characters on the sidelines. Even still, the games are both still engaging and interesting to play through today. Once you get through the lengthy introduction sequences, the gameplay opens up nicely as well and there are some absolutely fantastic moments to enjoy.

Metro Redux is a unique experience that has somehow managed to translate over beautifully to Nintendo Switch – and 4A Games’ reputation for technical excellence is demonstrated yet again. We’ll be talking to the developer soon about the process of bringing these titles to the Nintendo hardware, how the team utilises the Switch’s Nvidia-deevloped NVN low-level graphics API and how the team is preparing for the transition to the next generation of Sony and Microsoft consoles. Look out for that – it should be very interesting!

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/02/just-how-close-to-ps4-does-it-get-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=just-how-close-to-ps4-does-it-get-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[toptecharena]

The Lenovo Legion Y530 is the slightly smaller, slightly less powerful gaming laptop when compared to the rest of the Lenovo Legion lineup. The Y520 line is larger and starts at a lower price point, and uses that extra space for beefier components. The Y720 is more expensive, and follows the Y520’s approach of cramming faster components into the housing.

Not to mention, the new Y530 looks unlike either model. It ditches the mundane black and red housing found on the rest of the Legion line, opting instead for a black and white look. Then there’s a unique hinge that doesn’t line up with the back of the Y530’s housing, thus allowing for an even slimmer design.

With configurations starting at $749 (about £589, AU$1,035), the Y530 is an affordable entry level gaming laptop that competes with the likes of Acer’s Nitro 5 and Dell’s G3 15 – only with, perhaps, a little bit more style.

Price and availability

Again, the base model Y530 starts at $749 (about £589, AU$1,035). For the purposes of this review, we were sent a slightly more expensive configuration, currently priced at $899 (about £707, AU$1,244).

The difference between the two configurations is limited to a single storage drive (1TB hard drive) and a standard GeForce GTX 1050, compared to the model we are testing with an additional 128GB SSD boot drive and a GTX 1050 Ti. 

In the US, Lenovo offers configurations that include an Intel Core i7-8750H,16GB of memory, up to 2TB hard drive and 256GB SSD for around $1,300 (about £1,022, AU$1,799).

In the UK, Lenovo doesn’t offer any customization options, with the Y530 priced at £899. For that price, you get the same configuration we tested, save for a GTX 1050 (not a 1050 Ti) and a 300 nit display, as opposed to a 250 nit. 

For those in Australia, you’re given more customization options. The base configuration starts at AU$1,452 for the same model we are testing, and maxes out at AU$1,743 with an Intel Core i7-8750H, 16GB of memory, and a 300 nit display. 

All in all, those prices compare favorable with the Nitro 5, with a starting price of $749 (£899, about AU$1009), and the Dell G3 15, with the same starting price. The most notable differences in the starting point between the three different models is the G3 15 comes with a 128GB SSD in addition to a 1TB hard drive, whereas the Nitro 5 and Legion Y530 only have the 1TB drive.

Design

The first thing you see after unboxing the Legion is that the hinge doesn’t quite look normal. Instead of lining up with the back of the screen lid, as most laptops do, there’s roughly 1-inch of space between where the hinge is found, and where the back of the Legion is found. 

Looking at the Y530 from the front with the lid open, it looks just like any other laptop. There’s a full-sized keyboard with number pad – a growing rarity in 15-inch laptops – a trackpad, and a 15.6-inch display that has very scarce bezels surrounding it.

The keyboard is backlit with white lights, and isn’t customizable. The keys are soft, and respond accurately to rapid presses while typing or gaming. The trackpad is smooth and handles interaction without any hiccups, but we suggest finding a nice gaming mouse and using it for everyday desktop tasks along with intense gaming sessions. 

As for portability, the Y530 is a respectable 5.1 pounds (2.3kg), and measures 14.37 x 10.24 x 0.95 inches (365 x 260 x 24.2mm). Despite being over the 5 pound mark, the Y530 is deceivingly lightweight and comfortable to carry around. 

On either side of the housing you’ll find a USB 3.1 port, with a 3.5mm combo audio jack found on the left side. Where are the rest of the ports? That’s where the back of the laptop comes in.

An intriguing hinge

The rear of the Legion Y530 is home to two cooling vents and a myriad of ports. From left-to-right, you’ll find a USB-C port, mini DisplayPort, USB 3.0, HDMI, Ethernet and a charging port. 

With nearly all ports on the back of the housing, the end result is a cleaner look when you have multiple devices plugged into the Y530. Instead of cables coming out of each side, everything can be organized neatly behind the display. Then again, we can see this arrangement being problematic for those who work on a small desk where more ports on the side would be beneficial. 

Furthermore, the hinge allows for the display on the Y530 to open and bend back to 180 degrees. Keep in mind, the Y530’s display isn’t a touchscreen, and this orientation fails to trigger any sort screen rotation in Windows 10. We can’t think of any real reason why the screen can lay flat like this, other than ‘because it can.’

Display

It’s not often we see a laptop manufacturer list a display’s brightness, measured in nits, on the specification sheet. Yet with the Legion line, Lenovo lists the nits for every model we looked at.

The Y530 we reviewed has a 250 nit display, according to the spec sheet. Eventually, Lenovo will release a 144Hz panel with 300 nits, but as of this review that model is not yet available. 

Why is this important? Glad you asked. We find the display on the Y530 to lack in overall brightness and color quality. Even with brightness turned all the way up, colors look overly muted and leave us wanting more. Perhaps you’ll want to hold out for the 144Hz version of this laptop on account of this.

With any entry-level gaming laptop, expectations of low to modest performance should be set accordingly. You can’t go into a gaming session of Far Cry 5 at Ulta settings and expect an incredibly smooth experience at 120 frames per second (fps). Instead, you’re more likely to find a decent experience of 30 fps at Ultra.

In the case of Fortnite on the Y530, we let the game select the best performance settings on its own. That resulted in a Low setting with the frames per second capped at 60. At those settings, gameplay was smooth enough to get around the island. If we were any better at playing on a PC, rather than a Nintendo Switch, we have no doubt we could battle our way to a victory royale on the Y530. 

After a couple matches with the frame rate capped at 60, we bumped up the limit to 120 just to see how far the Y530 could push low settings. For the next few matches, we kept an eye on the fps counter and saw it consistently stay between 70 and 80 fps. 

With the game’s graphic settings to set to high, the frame rate stayed between 28 and 30. This is not the best experience, but it’s playable. 

Performance outside of gaming on the Y530 is impressive. Apps launch fast, and there’s no lag or stuttering when quickly switching between common tasks. The Y530 offers more than enough performance for any task, including gaming, It’s just more impressive when it comes to getting work done.

The Y530’s performance throughout all benchmarks shows a laptop that’s powerful enough for work and school, along with heavy video or photo editing, but can’t quite keep up with AAA games at higher settings. The Y530’s test results are slightly below the Nitro 5 and G3 15, despite the Nitro 5 using a standard GTX 1050.

Speakers

There are two speakers on the Y530, both of which are located at the front face down. The volume level is OK, with the sound somewhat muffled due to their placement.

We find it hard to discern the direction of nearby building or footsteps in Fortnite when using the speakers. 

In other words, you’re going to need a pair of headphones to do any serious gaming on this machine. 

Battery life

Gaming laptops rarely set any records when it comes to battery life, and the Y530 is no different. Our tests came back with 2 hour and 54 minutes in the PCMark 8 battery life test, and 3 hours and 38 minutes in our movie test. 

Neither result, backed up by our own experience, is terrible. Comparatively, the Nitro 5 registered 2 hours and 32 minutes and 3 hours and 20 minutes in the same tests, respectively. As for the Dell G3 15, it outperformed both laptops with 4 hours and 0 minutes, and 4 hours and 21 minutes. 

Software

While setting up the Legion Y530, we looked for the Nvidia GeForce Experience app, so we could make sure the graphic drivers were up to date. Only, we couldn’t find it. Keeping the GTX 1050 Ti’s drivers up to date on a gaming laptop is something every gamer will want to do, and the main tool used to update said drivers was missing on first boot. 

Instead, we were left to deal with the obnoxious reminders from McAfee to sign up for a subscription and to scan for viruses. Annoying is the only word that comes to mind. 

As far as customizing performance or adjusting settings for gaming performance, the only pre-installed app found is the Lenovo Vantage. Using the app, you can check your system resources, enable cooling boost and view your device info. It’s one of the most basic gaming performance programs we’ve seen, and overall it’s a letdown.

Final verdict

The Lenovo Legion Y530 is a laptop that’s designed with gamers in mind, but not for hardcore gamers. Whether you go with the base model, or a personal configuration, you’re still locked into a GTX 1050 or 1050 Ti.

Neither graphics option is bad, but they’re not going to push the limits of any AAA games. That’s OK, so long as you know what to expect the first time you launch your favorite game. 

Go to Source Author: Lenovo Legion Y530 The Lenovo Legion Y530 is the slightly smaller, slightly less powerful gaming laptop when compared to the rest of the Lenovo Legion lineup.