Performance Analysis: Assassin's Creed Unity
First impressions and metrics from Digital Foundry
Given the immense graphical upgrade on offer, this isn't so surprising, but what comes as a bit of a shock is that the Xbox One version frequently out-performs the PS4 game in more detail-rich areas, such as locations littered with NPCs in the packed Parisian streets.
The opening clip in our video below perfectly demonstrates the difference between the two consoles. Wading through dozens of NPCs in a crowded square, performance drops down to around 20fps for a sustained duration on the PS4 while the Xbox One achieves a 5fps lead.
In a later gameplay test traversing the rooftops, we see frame rates regularly fluctuate between 25-30fps across both consoles, but here the Xbox One game sticks more closely to the upper end of that spectrum than its Sony equivalent.
Combat is also mostly solid too, although some scenes see frame-rates slightly impacted on the Xbox One while remaining stable on the PS4 - a curious about-turn on the busier exterior scenes.
Cut-scenes are the one area where the Sony platform hands in a consistent performance advantage over its counterpart when the game fails to hit its 30fps target.
The results are certainly interesting, and totally unexpected - enough for us to double-check that the day one patch is installed (it is) and to try the game on another PlayStation 4 (the results are much the same).
Barring a few glitches here and there, overall image quality looks like a match between both PS4 and Xbox One. A 900p resolution is confirmed, while anti-aliasing, NPC count and other factors that may impact performance appear to be a complete match.