NE X BATTLEFIELD 3 IMAGE PRO
We know from DICE's technical presentations that the Pro version is using checkerboard rendering, and bearing in mind the relative technical specs offered by the X, it stands to reason that the same technology is in place for the Microsoft console too. A look at Battlefield 1 on Xbox One X in both campaign and multiplayer, along with PC and PS4 Pro head-to-heads. In the most complex scene we could match up on both machines, during the tank drive in the Steel on Steel mission, it's 3456x1944 on X, next to 2304x1296 on Pro - a 2.25x increase in pixel count favouring Xbox One X.
That's a 82 per cent increase for Xbox One - not trivial given the relative increase in GPU power next to Sony's hardware. In another paired gameplay scene that pushes the renderer harder, Pro's 2560x1440 gets an equivalent 3456x1944 on Microsoft's enhanced console. In matching scenes, a native 4K resolution on X goes against 2816x1584 in the same spot on Pro. Similar to other Frostbite titles, the scaling compared to PlayStation 4 Pro is impressive. Temporal anti-aliasing softens the scene anyway, making resolution transitions virtually impossible to notice, and the overall presentation impresses on a 4K screen throughout.
NE X BATTLEFIELD 3 IMAGE PATCH
In common with Pro, DICE employs dynamic resolution scaling, ramping up to the full 4K promised by the patch notes but also dropping from the target under load, where resolution can dip to 3456x1944 in more intense scenes (a 90 per cent resolution scaling on both axis) while one measurement saw the scaler drop further to 3360x1890 - the lowest resolution we saw during a 64-player conquest mode skirmish. And so, by extension, X's visual feature set is a match for the PlayStation 4 Pro upgrade. As things stand, however, the X patch delivers a resolution bump and little more. Stacking up the console BF1 experience against the fully enabled PC game, it's clear that there's much that could be added: improved textures, more detailed terrain rendering and more GPU-accelerated particles just for starters. With PlayStation 4 Pro support, the lack of RAM and memory bandwidth saw DICE pursue a checkerboard resolution bump only - but with Xbox One X's more lavish spec, the door is open to incorporating some of the PC's more lavish features - and veering closer to PC's ultra preset would be a huge win for the console. Perhaps DICE is gearing up for Battlefield 5 support later this year by using its predecessor for proof of concept work, but regardless, the options open to the developer with this one are mouthwatering.
NE X BATTLEFIELD 3 IMAGE UPGRADE
Quite why BF1 is getting the upgrade treatment at all is something of a mystery, bearing in mind its vintage.
Patch notes from the developer only mention support for "full 4K resolution" - an upgrade that is by and large delivered, though there is a sting in the tail: at the time of writing, the game's signature multiplayer mode isn't working quite the way it should be. Three months shy of its second birthday, Electronic Arts surprised gamers with news of an Xbox One X enhanced upgrade for Battlefield 1 earlier this week, the full 5.8GB patch arriving the following day.