Tweet
Insomniac's Spider-Man was one of the highlights at this year's E3, with Sony showcasing the game running on PlayStation 4 Pro, hooked up to a top-end Sony ZD9 UHD TV - one of the best HDR sets on the market. The extended demo sequence shown off by the developer takes us through combat atop a partially constructed skyscraper to an epic helicopter chase through the New York skyline. It's a carefully chosen slice of gameplay taken from one of the main story missions, giving us a first look of what to expect from the game in terms of sprawling environments, large set-pieces, and how the core gameplay mechanics allow for some impressive physics-based action. It also looks quite stunning - if this is the standard of second-gen PS4 Pro titles in the pipeline, users of Sony's 'super-charged' console have much to look forward to.Digital Foundry sat down with the developer at E3 to look at the game, and outside of the gameplay demo, details were sparse about the core nature of the title - is it open world or not? Insomniac simply said that it 'wasn't talking about that' - which as a media-handling tactic, isn't exactly helpful. However, the session was useful and exciting in that we can confirm that the title's beautiful E3 gameplay demo at the Sony media briefing is indeed entirely representative of real-time gameplay, and an excellent endorsement of the 'smart' GPU rendering techniques that allow PlayStation 4 Pro to produce some outstanding imagery for ultra HD displays.
Just like Ratchet and Clank, Insomniac is using a technique called temporal injection to simulate a 4K image, where four million jittered samples are used to reconstruct a 2160p frame. It's not native 4K, but results hold up on a UHD screen at close range with the presentation appearing smooth and refined. We're not looking at crystal clear, pin-sharpness here, but the game is aiming for a CG-like aesthetic, which traditionally delivers a slightly soft, but smooth look that still features plenty of fine detail. Integrated with Insomniac's excellent post-process pipeline, the results here are convincing enough to simulate native 4K, and the game's cinematic look is quite striking, with a blend of hyper-realistic and natural qualities across characters and environments.
Read more…
More...