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Reviews Zombie Army 4 - Switch vs PS4 - A Next-Level 'Impossible Port' - DF Tech Review

Dekuman

Dekuman

Bounty Hunter
Pronouns
He/Him/His


Summary:
  • Commented of good ports of the Sniper Elite games to Switch thus far
  • Based on same tech as Sniper Elite 4
  • DF spoke with staff at Rebellion, full interview here https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2022-zombie-army-4-the-making-of-an-incredible-switch-port
  • 6.4 GB install vs. 21 GB on PS4 , a must (likely for physical release). Removed duplicate/legacy data, improved compression
  • PS4 1080 30FPS, Switch 1080 docked dynamic (lower bound 918p) ; end result very competitive with PS4. DRS on edge cases during cut scenes.
  • Prioritized sharp image on Switch, avoided using dynamic resolution while optimizing (interesting approach), DRS used as a last resort measure for GPU spikes.
  • 720P target in handheld. Even fewer performance issues and DRS in portable mode. The devs optimized in portable first.
  • Shadows cut back on Switch and SSAO stripped back. No dynamic shadows. Resulting in a less complete scene but pay off in performance worth it.
  • Other subtle tweaks: geometry quality dropped in far distance. Effects reduced in quality. Smoke/dust/mist dropped radically.
  • With only 3.5 GB of RAM for Switch, the team avoided blanket drop in texture quality in-game, but targeted lower grade assets on some things, but on others, asset quality retained.
  • Screen space reflections (SSR) maintained accross big bodies of water, but on smaller reflective materials (puddles/marbled floors) SSR disabled and used cube maps instead.
  • 80-100 zombies possible on PS4 and matched on Switch. Had to be in place for gameplay parity. Proved to be most challenging on Switch
  • Maintained on Switch running with comparable AI.
  • Game holds practically locked 30 fps on Switch, same as PS4 from every spot tested by DF. Made the cutbacks worth it.
  • Occasionnaly 1 frame hitches , very rare case after big explosion or cutscene change. Resulting performance is very close to PS4. Docked play performance is great.
  • In portable mode is equally well optimized. Rebellion North routinely tested performance to achieve the performance.

TLDR;
Solid 1080p 30 fps docked (closely matching PS4) 720p 30 portable, Great performance docked and portable
Developers focused on image quality, avoided dynamic resolution scaling, used at the end of the dev process as a last resort to smooth out performance in some spots.
Similarly, kept texture assets the same on some things, but dropped on others to fit the 3.5GB
Smart trade offs and cut backs. Biggest cutback are shadows, SSAO and smoke and other effects.
Zombies /density maintained same as PS4
Great impossible port
 
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  • 6.4GB vs 21GB on ps4
    • duplicate data was removed and compression was improved
  • ps4 is 1080p/30
  • switch is 918p to 1080p, dynamic
  • fxaa and motion blur used
  • devs tried to avoid DRS as much as possible, used for extreme cases
  • 684p - 720p in portable
  • portable mode was the priority over docked
  • shadows and ambient occlusion is stripped way down
    • SSAO is a bit overdone on ps4
  • lighter, brighter, and lacking depth
  • aggressive lod
  • particles and alpha is cut down
  • the developers avoided blanket drop on texture resolution, lots of strategic cuts
  • SSR used, which is rare on switch
    • small bodies like puddles don't have SSR
    • uses cubemaps for puddles, improved over Sniper Elite 4
  • 80-100 zombies just like ps4, comparable logic
  • practically locked 30fps, solid frame pacing
  • among THE BEST switch ports
there's also an interview with the devs on the porting process
www.eurogamer.net

Zombie Army 4: the making of an 'impossible' Switch conversion

Rebellion North on bringing the 1080p30 experience to Nintendo's console hybrid.
www.eurogamer.net www.eurogamer.net
 
That's crazy impressive! I'm honestly surprised at how close and how much care they put into this version. Rebellion has been a sleeper huge supporter of Switch and I have no shame saying that their games didn't even crossed my mind. Going to buy their games when I have the chance to reward such efforts.
 
They did magic with the Sniper Elite ports, it's good to see they really put effort to match the experience for switch users
 
This looks more like a comparison between PS4 and xbox1. The switch definitely belongs to the same generation as those two, now that developers managed to properly work around it's limitations. Wreckfest was also in the same vein.
 
Bosintang said:
This looks more like a comparison between PS4 and xbox1. The switch definitely belongs to the same generation as those two, now that developers managed to properly work around it's limitations. Wreckfest was also in the same vein.
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I feel like a lot of devs on UE4 or Unity just play with sliders until they get a working game, which explains why so many look muddy and blurry. The devs that put in work to get desired results can still get amazing results. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter manages to get close to the visuals of the PS4 and Xbox and this was a visual showcase for both platforms.

DF did say they tend to find devs with their own engines tend to be able to get more out of the Switch in their Wreckfest tech analysis. Not surprisingly Doom, Wreckfest, Sniper Elite/Zombie Army, Crysis, Witcher 3 and many other impossible ports run on custom in-house engines
 
I feel like the switch allows developers to flex their muscles better than other consoles. This is because they have to optimize so much it pushes and challenges them in so many ways. I wish other publishers challenged their dev teams to do the same.
 
Bosintang said:
This looks more like a comparison between PS4 and xbox1. The switch definitely belongs to the same generation as those two, now that developers managed to properly work around it's limitations. Wreckfest was also in the same vein.
Click to expand...
if it was just the resolution differences, I would agree.

But the switch version does have shadows and AO turned down quite a bit. No dynamic shadows. Geometry in the distance is lower. Special effects like Smoke and dust are turned down significantly.

Still pretty damn good though, considering the performance is nearly identical and visual quality is identical otherwise.
 
ShadowFox08 said:
if it was just the resolution differences, I would agree.

But the switch version does have shadows and AO turned down quite a bit. No dynamic shadows. Geometry in the distance is lower. Special effects like Smoke and dust are turned down significantly.

Still pretty damn good though, considering the performance is nearly identical and visual quality is identical otherwise.
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Xb1 often had lower quality effects as well, though maybe not to that magnitude.
My point is that in motion, games like this or dying light feel that they run on consoles from the same generation, and that was the original promise of the switch. I hope that the next console will be as competitive with the PS5 and Xbox series, if not more.
 
Dekuman said:
I feel like a lot of devs on UE4 or Unity just play with sliders until they get a working game, which explains why so many look muddy and blurry. The devs that put in work to get desired results can still get amazing results. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter manages to get close to the visuals of the PS4 and Xbox and this was a visual showcase for both platforms.

DF did say they tend to find devs with their own engines tend to be able to get more out of the Switch in their Wreckfest tech analysis. Not surprisingly Doom, Wreckfest, Sniper Elite/Zombie Army, Crysis, Witcher 3 and many other impossible ports run on custom in-house engines
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To be fair, not every company is going to be able to afford a tailor made Switch port. Optimization is laborious and can often take a lot of time and workhours.
With the thin margins many devs operate on, going fully in depth for the port might just not be feasible.
 
Tron1 said:
I feel like the switch allows developers to flex their muscles better than other consoles. This is because they have to optimize so much it pushes and challenges them in so many ways. I wish other publishers challenged their dev teams to do the same.
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It's keeping them honest! Preserving the old ways of optimizing visuals and adapting code for extreme efficiency. It really is impressive.
 
ShadowFox08 said:
if it was just the resolution differences, I would agree.

But the switch version does have shadows and AO turned down quite a bit. No dynamic shadows. Geometry in the distance is lower. Special effects like Smoke and dust are turned down significantly.

Still pretty damn good though, considering the performance is nearly identical and visual quality is identical otherwise.
Click to expand...

It's certainly incredible. Even dropping the ssao, which is a pretty big difference, it still looks and feels recognizable as the same game. And it's lowest dynamic range is 900p? And it barely uses it as a last resort? With a game this graphically complex? Most impressive, hats off from me.

Personally, I would have taken lower image quality for SSAO and the large scale layered alpha transparency effects. But that's just me. I'm not particularly sensitive to lower iq, I'd sooner rather match effects.

that being said, the switch has been absolutely wild as a handheld for me, receiving actual ports, instead of the 'ports' that were actually completely different games under the hood trying to recreate the original game for different hardware to varying degrees of convincing (consoles), or turning a 3d game into a 2d sidescroller (handhelds).
 
Crusters said:
It's certainly incredible. Even dropping the ssao, which is a pretty big difference, it still looks and feels recognizable as the same game. And it's lowest dynamic range is 900p? And it barely uses it as a last resort? With a game this graphically complex? Most impressive, hats off from me.

Personally, I would have taken lower image quality for SSAO and the large scale layered alpha transparency effects. But that's just me. I'm not particularly sensitive to lower iq, I'd sooner rather match effects.

that being said, the switch has been absolutely wild as a handheld for me, receiving actual ports, instead of the 'ports' that were actually completely different games under the hood
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edit: misread.
 
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I'm playing through this currently (though taking a break to dive into Sunbreak) and not only is it very fun game which I highly recommend, but it's definitely one of the most impressive PS4-to-Switch ports to date.

Between its sharp image quality and texture work, PS4-grade lighting and materials, huge numbers of characters on screen, and rock solid framerate, there are genuinely times when I am taken aback that this is a Switch game.

Rebellion North truly are one of the best in the business when it comes to porting games to Switch from more powerful hardware, and I deeply hope that they can work their magic to bring us Sniper Elite 5 as well.
 
curl-6 said:
I'm playing through this currently (though taking a break to dive into Sunbreak) and not only is it very fun game which I highly recommend, but it's definitely one of the most impressive PS4-to-Switch ports to date.

Between its sharp image quality and texture work, PS4-grade lighting and materials, huge numbers of characters on screen, and rock solid framerate, there are genuinely times when I am taken aback that this is a Switch game.

Rebellion North truly are one of the best in the business when it comes to porting games to Switch from more powerful hardware, and I deeply hope that they can work their magic to bring us Sniper Elite 5 as well.
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Thank you for these words. Iā€™m going to download it tonight. Honored to support a team that put so much work in.
 
Seems like an easy buy for me then. It is been a while since a beated ugly looking creatures since doom eternal came out
 
Ok this is considered an impossible port but should it be considered one of the best looking switch games graphically?
 
Tron1 said:
Ok this is considered an impossible port but should it be considered one of the best looking switch games graphically?
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I don't think so, i think DF's analysis is more about how close it gets to the PS4. They did say for example that because it started with less effects to cut back on the PS4, it was somewhat easier to match on Switch.
 
Tron1 said:
Ok this is considered an impossible port but should it be considered one of the best looking switch games graphically?
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I wouldn't go that far; it's still a port of a demanding PS4 game and as such some sacrifices are necessary just to appease the laws of physics.

So I wouldn't quite put it up there with the best looking games tailored specifically to the hardware, but I would say it is one of the best looking "impossible ports" on Switch for sure.
 
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