Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Boasts Impressive Performance on Consoles

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is poised to deliver a strong performance across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms, offering players a range of customizable settings to optimize their experience. Read on to explore KCD2's performance across all platforms and the various settings players can tweak.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Performance: A Cross-Platform Analysis

Photorealism Powered by CryEngine

Early tests and reports indicate impressive performance for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (KCD2) across various platforms. PlayStation and Xbox consoles smoothly handle both 30fps and 60fps options, with the PS5 Pro showcasing enhanced graphical capabilities. KCD2's distinctive photorealistic rendering sets it apart, a testament to the power of CryTek's CryEngine.

Warhorse Studios' continued use of CryEngine, following its success in the first game (KCD1), allows for familiar development and enhanced feature exploration. PC Gamer highlights CryEngine's unique approach: prioritizing performance through old-school rendering techniques, emphasizing basic lighting and shaders over complex effects.

Despite this simpler approach, KCD2 achieves remarkable photorealism thanks to its physically based materials. Eurogamer notes the effectiveness of CryEngine's Sparse Voxel Octree Global Illumination (SVOGI) in realistically simulating indirect light bounces, creating convincing lighting effects on surfaces like metals and enhancing the overall atmosphere.

PlayStation and Xbox Console Options: Fidelity vs. Performance

PS5 and Xbox Series X offer two modes: a fidelity mode (30fps at 1440p) and a performance mode (60fps at 1080p). Xbox Series S users will only have access to the fidelity mode. The PS5 Pro, however, offers a single 60fps mode at 1296p, upscaled to 4K using PSSR.

Fidelity mode enhances visuals on PS5 and Xbox Series X, featuring improved foliage, shadow casting, and ambient occlusion, particularly noticeable in outdoor scenes. The PS5 Pro further elevates the experience, building upon the fidelity mode improvements with sharper visuals, enhanced ambient occlusion, superior object detail, and overall improved image quality.

PC Upscaling: Player Choice Reigns Supreme

True to PC tradition, KCD2 provides extensive upscaling options, allowing players to tailor their settings to their hardware. PC Gamer points out the availability of FSR and DLSS for upscaling from lower resolutions, but notes the absence of XeSS (for Intel cards), sharpening options, and frame generation features.

While CryEngine's performance focus is evident, running KCD2 at 4K with maximum settings will still demand significant GPU power. Fortunately, the game offers five highly scalable quality presets (low, medium, high, ultra, and experimental), ensuring a playable experience across a wide range of PC configurations.

KCD2 also provides a detailed system preparation guide, assisting players in checking their specifications and understanding the CPU, RAM, GPU, and storage requirements before launching into the game.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 launches February 4, 2025, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Visit our Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 page for more details.