The summary of ‘Helldivers 2 – PlayStation 5/PC – The Digital Foundry Tech Review’

This summary of the video was created by an AI. It might contain some inaccuracies.

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The video provides an in-depth review of "Hell Divers 2," focusing on its engaging multiplayer gameplay and high technical standards. The game features a third-person perspective where players, in squads of four, battle hordes of enemies using an array of weapons. The graphics, enhanced by modern features such as volumetric lighting and dense environments, are praised despite some minor issues with foliage and reflections.

The video discusses the game's use of the modified Autodesk Stingray engine, showcasing impressive visual effects in combat, destruction, and terrain deformation. Two visual modes are evaluated: a quality mode with high resolution and a performance mode aiming for smoother gameplay at 60fps, each with specific strengths and drawbacks.

The PC settings analysis highlights options like texture and shadow quality but notes that the game misses advanced PC technologies like DLSS and FSR 2. Despite this, the game delivers a satisfying experience across both PS5 and PC platforms, especially in its cooperative multiplayer mode. While not content-rich, its $40 price and engaging gameplay mechanics justify its value. The speaker concludes by recommending the game for its novel co-op experience and encourages viewer engagement through likes, subscriptions, and Patreon support.

00:00:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses “Hell Divers 2,” highlighting its refreshing and straightforward multiplayer gameplay set in a third-person perspective focused on shooting bugs. The game offers simple objectives, a broad range of armaments, and the fun of battling hordes of enemies with a four-person squad. The segment also delves into the game’s visuals and performance on PS5 and PC, noting its effective use of modern graphical features like volumetric lighting and clouds, as well as environmental density with scattered rocks and foliage. Although some animation issues with foliage are observed, the overall lighting and high-resolution shadow maps contribute to distinct, visually appealing environments despite some minor flaws in close-up lighting and shading.

00:03:00

In this segment, the discussion focuses on the graphical fidelity and engine use of the game “Hell Divers 2.” The reflections in the game employ a mix of screen space reflections (SSR) and cube maps, with SSR showcasing some notable issues, such as large skirts around trees and a lack of ripples when walking through water. The game uses a modified version of the Autodesk Stingray game engine, which aligns with the graphical features observed. The segment highlights the game’s impressive visual effects in combat scenarios, where bullets cause blood, smoke, and disintegration of enemy parts, enhancing the action experience. Buildings can be dramatically destroyed, and terrain is deformable. For image quality, the game offers two visual modes: performance (1080p) and quality (1728p), with no dynamic resolution detected in either mode.

00:06:00

In this part of the video, the focus is on comparing the visual quality and performance modes of a game. In stationary shots, the quality mode is noted for its clean, sharp appearance, whereas the performance mode has a lower resolution similar to 1080p, with a less clear image and HUD on a 4K display. The quality mode uses techniques like FSR1, which results in slightly painterly image characteristics and better-defined ambient occlusion due to higher rendering resolutions.

The video discusses an anti-aliasing setting in the game that, upon examination, seems to make no discernible difference in image quality. Additionally, there’s an adjustable image sharpening setting; at zero sharpening, the performance mode looks soft, but increasing sharpening boosts clarity, albeit with more artifacts. The quality mode also shows similar behavior but to a subtler extent due to its higher resolution. For demonstration purposes, the sharpening level is kept at the default 75.

Performance-wise, the game’s performance mode generally runs smoothly at 60fps, though it can dip into the 50s during intense scenes. The quality mode targets 30fps but suffers from frame pacing issues, resulting in varying frame durations that disrupt smooth gameplay, especially under heavy load, occasionally dropping to the high 20s.

00:09:00

In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses the PC settings for a game, emphasizing that while the initial options might not appear exciting, they include typical settings like texture quality, shadow quality, and volumetrics quality. They highlight that the low preset significantly reduces visual detail and should be avoided, while medium and high presets progressively add more detail and improve shadows. The ultra preset is similar to high but with extra shadow detail. Performance-wise, only the low preset yields a significant FPS boost. Specific settings such as volumetric fog and anti-aliasing work correctly on PC, unlike on PS5. The game doesn’t utilize advanced PC-specific technologies like DLSS or FSR 2, opting instead for a spatial image upscaler resembling FSR 1. This results in improved performance at lower resolutions but with noticeable visual artifacts. Overall, improvements over the PS5 version are minimal, with higher resolutions and slightly better shadow details but persistent aliasing issues.

00:12:00

In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the performance of a game when played with settings fully maxed out at 4K resolution, noting that it provides decent performance but may require resolution scaling for high refresh rate displays. For mid-range PCs, dropping to 1080p resolution can achieve a stable 60 FPS, although AMD GPUs might need further resolution reductions. The footage shows Shader precompilation that ensures smooth gameplay once completed. The game, Hell Divers 2, offers enjoyable multiplayer experiences with flexible and tactical gameplay, especially fun with friends due to special abilities and constant friendly fire. While it lacks comprehensive content, its $40 price tag justifies the omissions. Both PS5 and PC versions offer a good experience, though additional PC features like temporal upscaling and frame generation would be beneficial. The PS5’s 1080p resolution in performance mode is deemed a reasonable compromise.

00:15:00

In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the game Helldivers 2, noting its challenging nature at high resolutions and highlighting it as a compelling multiplayer package. They recommend it for players seeking a novel co-op experience. Additionally, the speaker encourages viewers to like, subscribe, press the notification bell, and consider joining their Patreon for exclusive and early access content. They also mention social media as a way to get in touch.

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