Two years on from launch, games developed just for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series hardware are still a relative rarity, an event to be savoured. Asobo Studio’s A Plague Tale: Requiem certainly hits the mark though: an absolutely beautiful game that does actually feel like a generational leap over its predecessor. We’re looking at the console versions today even though PC pushes the game even further – but we’re waiting to see what the forthcoming ray tracing upgrade will deliver before going deeper on that version.
Technically, mechanically and even narratively, Requiem is a massive improvement over the already impressive debut game. The mix of stealth and puzzle-solving returns, but it’s more robust and varied, offering you larger areas to carve your own path than the original. The visuals are an immense improvement with an extraordinary level of detail, phenomenal materials work and absolutely sublime lighting. Then there’s the series’ signature hoards of rats. In the original, Asobo’s engine rendered 5000 rats on-screen at once, their detail scaling down the further you go into the distance. But now? In the sequel it’s pushed to a quite excessive 300,000 – with the team altering their movement to look more like a tidal wave as they burst through gaps.
There has been a debate about Requiem being just a 30fps game on PS5, Series X and S. It’s capped at 30fps on 60Hz displays specifically on console – or 40fps capped if you have a 120Hz display hooked up to any of them. Either way, some are disappointed it’s not running at 60fps by default. To an extent it’s understandable. Bear in mind the original game – A Plague Tale Innocence – ran at 60fps on PS5, Series X and S, it’s a step backwards of sorts. However, this is the price we have to pay for the level of enhancements delivered by this game – and based on a cursory look at the PC version, it’s pushing CPU and GPU hard, meaning that simply reducing resolution for a higher level of performance isn’t going to work.
