Sony knows that 1080p is not only a game-seller, but a console-seller at this stage in the PlayStation 4’s life cycle. Every time they claim another native 1080p title, a puppy dies over at Microsoft.
Killzone: Shadow Fall was the first PS4 game to feature this hoped-for industry standard. Guerilla Games had the technical prowess to deliver a launch title that will still be considered state-of-the-art in 2015 and perhaps onward.
Despite Sony’s claims to the contrary, however, it has been discovered that Shadow Fall’s multiplayer does not run at 1080p natively, but instead with a 960 x 1080 frame buffer. This allows a higher frame rate for those high-stakes death match situations where player reflexes determine the outcome. Single-player campaigns run as advertised, but with a lower frame rate.
The fact that nobody has noticed this until now is evidence enough the negligible difference. Competitive players will always choose frame rates over pixels, and other gorgeous games like Battlefield 4 and Ryse: Son of Rome run at 900p.
All said, Shadow Fall’s multiplayer runs at around 50 fps, which is some of the most spreadable butter around. A recent report by Eurogamer goes into much more detail, for those who like that sort of thing.
Incidentally, a free download of Killzone: Shadow Fall’s multiplayer experience will be available for PlayStation Plus users from Tuesday, March 4 through March 11–Titanfall’s launch day.
