Deployed on April 25, the “next-gen” patch for Fallout 4 mainly aimed to offer a version worthy of the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles to the game released in 2015. What is it really?
With its “next-gen” patch, Fallout 4 is riding the wave of the success of the adaptation series on Prime Video. This makes it possible to offer, 9 years after its release, a native version for the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, with all that that implies. For those who already have the game on PS4 or Xbox One, this transition to the next generation is a free reminder. Does the game look better on current generation? The answer may not seem obvious at first glance.
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Fallout 4, a game worthy of PS5 and Xbox Series consoles?
With this major patch, Fallout 4 intends to offer everything we are supposed to expect on PS5 and Xbox Series. Namely a Performance mode favoring fluidity, and a Quality mode favoring high resolution. Taking into account that the game was released in 2015 and current consoles are significantly more powerful than back then, the constant 60 FPS should be ensured in both cases.
But did Fallout 4 take the opportunity to also offer a graphical facelift? This is where the problem lies. Aside from a notable improvement in sharpness, the aging version of the Creation Engine used by Bethesda on the title released in 2015 does not have what it takes to display fundamentally more beautiful graphics. That being said, the title has also received a host of fixes. As it stands, Fallout 4 is therefore presented in its best version… on consoles. This even though several bugs have not yet been corrected. Below is a comparison between the PS4 and PS5 versions, courtesy of our colleagues at Push Square.
This is unfortunately not the case on PC, where the next-gen patch brought more problems than solutions. Massively used mods, in place for years, are now incompatible. And the additions of the Creation Club update relating to the Enclave and crazy weapons are not enough to make things easier. Let's therefore hope that the situation around Fallout 4 will stabilize quickly, at the risk of causing a nuclear catastrophe among early fans who wanted to return to the title after the enthusiasm generated by the series.