Killzone: Shadow Fall's Framerate Isn't Locked at 60, And Here's Why

Whereas a game like Call of Duty: Ghosts prides itself on running at 60 frames per second at all times, Killzone: Shadow Fall doesn't always manage to sustain that mark in multiplayer -- but, according to the game's developer, that really doesn't matter.

Shadow Fall, the PlayStation 4-exclusive first-person shooter from Guerrilla Games, runs at 60 FPS in multiplayer "a lot of the time," the developer stated at the Eurogamer Expo today. Lead designer Eric Boltjes told Eurogamer the reason behind that particular detail is "tricky."

"Running 60 has become this Holy Grail. Suddenly people think if you run 60 your game is better. Technically, that's not really true," he explained. "But what it does do is it makes decisions go from input to on-screen a lot easier. So, having a constant 60 is not actually better than having a 'lot of the time' 60. It sounds weird, but it's actually true. Because usually in the moments where we're going to drop framerate, either you're already dead or it's too late anyway."

Guerrilla decided to forgo the constant 60 FPS framerate in order to ensure the graphics looked as good as possible; it wasn't willing to sacrifice resolution or certain visual effects to lock the framerate at 60. The result, in Boltjes' mind, is that Shadow Fall "looks a lot more detailed and vibrant than a lot of the other games we are in direct competition with."

The single-player in Shadow Fall runs at a noticeably lower framerate -- 30 frames per second -- as a result of the visuals being taken up another notch, complete with additional levels of destructibility, as compared with multiplayer. Guerrilla decided having a higher framerate, thereby allowing for faster reaction times, was not as critical to single-player.

"We analyzed what 60 brings," he said. "60 in multiplayer is really important because your reaction time is a lot shorter. In single-player it's actually a lot longer. It's not because our AI is stupid, but because you simply have more time to react. We said we don't need 60, and we want the graphical push."

IGN got to go hands-on with Shadow Fall's multiplayer at Gamescom and walked away impressed. A Season Pass consisting of map packs and expansions to both competitive multiplayer and co-op will be available for $20. The game itself will launch alongside PlayStation 4 on November 15 in the United States and November 29 in Europe.

Chris Pereira is a freelance writer who spends his spare time agonizing over the final seasons of The X-Files. Check out what he's saying on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com