Silent Hill 2 finally came to Xbox last month after a year-long wait, and its release was quickly followed up with some brief Xbox Series X|S comparisons. Now though, the tech experts over at Digital Foundry have delivered their verdict - and despite the Series S version being "noticeably cut back", both Xbox ports are present and well here.
In short, Xbox Series X is basically a match to the base PS5 version from 2024, which isn't entirely surprising given how closely matched the two systems are. As usual, Series S presents its own challenges - and developer Bloober Team has opted to cut the 60FPS mode and par back the 30FPS quality mode to bring a decent version of the game to Microsoft's digital-only system.
"Series X, meanwhile, appears to mostly match base PS5 in resolution and performance aspects. Its 30fps quality mode employs DRS to operate between 1224-1512p - the same range as base PS5 - and enjoys a mostly steady 30fps refresh, with the exception of certain traversal stutters and alpha-effect resolution dips while the DRS system kicks in to return the refresh to a 30fps cadence [...] Its 60fps performance mode renders at a range of 864-1152p - again, identical to base PS5,
Bloober Team has opted to limit Series S to only one visual mode, which not only locks the frame-rate at 30fps but also renders natively at 1280x720 - with no noted adjustments via dynamic resolution scaling (DRS) [...] More noticeable are Series S's lower-resolution Lumen-based effects. In motion, reduced reflection resolution and poor signed distanced fields (SDF) accuracy combine to add a noticeable, constant flicker to reflections on surfaces like puddles and wooden floorboards. And while a form of global illumination (RTGI) remains enabled on Series S, its light-bounce setting is drastically reduced compared to other consoles' 60fps performance modes. The Series S cuts continue in other settings, including significant drops to texture fidelity and geometry tessellation."
DF ultimately sums things up by saying that going down the 30FPS-only route on Series S may have been done to preserve "Silent Hill 2's fog-lined, Lumen-dependent aesthetic", and that this move means the game "retains enough of its character" on Series S. Series X is as expected of course; a similar match to PS5 with two gameplay modes on offer.