Digital Foundry hands on Halo 5 Beta.

Unfortunately, while there's some accomplished effects work at play in the Halo 5 beta, 343's choice to lock resolution at 720p for the beta draws unwelcome comparisons with existing titles in The Master Chief Collection. Resolution is just one element in terms of overall image quality, but as things stand, the 1080p remaster of Halo 4 is much easier on the eye - even shorn of its sequel's visual extras - and there are clear gameplay benefits too.

We're happy to have an open mind about final resolution choices, but the 1080p framebuffer employed in The Master Chief Collection exhibits clear advantages for a first person shooter where Halo 4's clean full HD output makes views across a large map like Ragnarok much clearer and useful to a player, for example. At the moment, there's no stage in Halo 5's beta rotation to match this incredible scope, but the glaring stair-step artefacts on the Breakout stage are already a clear sign that resolution is an issue that needs to be comprehensively addressed by release, ideally without pruning back the new engine's enhancements in the process. The question is to what extent 343 can up the pixel count without introducing the GPU as a bottleneck in the rendering process.

However, dips to the low end of 50fps are an issue with too many enemy Spartans on-screen - especially noticeable on the winding Regret stage. Meanwhile, tearing is introduced during these drops too, cutting into the top third of the screen, though hard to notice given that this is above its HUD (which, curiously, is also rendered at 720p).

That we're seeing frame-rate drops at all could be construed as a bit a of a worry, particularly given that we're only playing on medium-sized, vehicle-free, 4v4 slayer matches - where 16-player (or higher) big team battles are on the fans' checklist for the final product. Indeed, bearing in mind the 720p resolution, the appearance of any frame-rate problems at all is rather surprising.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-hands-on-with-the-halo-5-beta

There still time to fix the game,but is sad that even at 720p it still has problems,either way i think halo 5 will probably be 1360x1080p like COD was or probably 900p.

Drops to the low 50's in terms of FPS, doesn't strike me as "problematic". Granted it's happening at 720p in 4v4 games, but it's still pretty fluid (versus 30FPS or lower).

However the game is a year away. The devs have plenty of time to optimize performance, and that's likely what will happen. It's pretty normal for such an early Beta to not perform (or look) as good as the final product.

So you are saying it is awesome. Got it.

No question about that even with drops to 48 it is fluid.

Is not technically a year away Halo tend to come from september to November some have come in September other in November,Reach was launch In September 10 2010,Halo 3 on September 25,ODST on september 22,Halo 4 on November 6 and MCC In November 11.

It has probably between 8 and half and 10 months.

No one is freaking out even less for Halo dude.

It is gonna be funny as hell if the biggest xbone title of 2015 is locked at 720-792p when the game launches because they were unable to stabilize the title at anything higher. If the game loses 10 fps in a 4v4 and small ass maps, what will happen if resolution is increased by over x2 and you're playing BTB? 37fps incoming, prepare your packages!

Halo...Srsly who still cares?

720p unstable 60fps with lowest drop to 45fps on the smallest map, not to mention the game looks like something straight out of Halo 4, I honestly don't know how some people are ok with this lol. I'm betting the game will be 792p at launch at best.

Cross platform on 360 confirmed?

@Legend002: that's not happening. The 360 is done with halo games. It's time to move forward.

Let's remember that this is still a beta with the game still quite a few months out. 343 is also not sitting on their ass while the beta is being played too. The game will improve.

It's a beta for functional testing and gathering fan feedback, not a consumer demo. And months away from release. Though I have to admit I don't know much about how beta's typically perform at this stage so I have no point of reference.

This guy loves anything thats negative about Xbox One even tho its a beta smh. You try so hard to justify not wanting a xbox but I see more people trading ps4 for xbox than the other way around Halo is going to be better and have more replay value than all of those exclusive you buy for your system combined.

Let's be honest though Halo was never known for it's graphics.

Not that i care anyway, it's basically COD level for me now. Generic garbage.

Cry me a river when DC was demo in early stage didn't stop people like you from talking crap about its frames,just like The Order on E3 which you people also were fast to slam for a few frame drops a games that wasn't coming for another 8 or 9 months so spare me your hypocrisy.

Yeah you see more people trading PS4 for xbox one in your sad little fantasy island the same place where you pull your arguments about secret xbox one sauce.

But the beta build we are playing is pretty old - at least a couple of months - so yeah they pretty much do have a year.

Either way, I don't care.

But if what 343 achieved on 360 hardware with Halo 4 is anything to go by, halo 5 will look a lot better than it does now.

I wouldn't worry about any of that. Halo fans have more to worry about than just a few frames or a sub 1080p resolution. At this point they are just hoping for a game that's half decent, tough times in Xbox land

@tormentos: you still hollering about Secret Sauce but you the only one that its a secret from because its not on google thats your fault not ours. I never said anything about DC framerate at all, its a pretty straightfoward racer which some may like but if I'm on snow or rain I would like for my handling in the car to change which it doesnt in DC.

Can't wait. Halo has always been a fun series for me.

I dont know why digital foundry wasted their time. The game is around 11 months from release and graphics and optimization are the last major steps of development along with debugging.

The fact that you always use invented crap basically prove my point,i see more people trading their xbox one for PS4 prove me wrong...hahahaa

@GoldenElementXL said:

Because there is no point on owning an xbox this gen.

@tormentos said:

@GoldenElementXL said:

Because there is no point on owning an xbox this gen.

What if people enjoy Forza, Gears, Halo, Fable, Killer Instinct? I bet they feel there is a point.

Optimization is usually one of the last things done in game development, this beta is to test the gameplay and the servers/matchmaking/net code. They informed us a while back that 720p is only for the beta, and that the full game will be 1080. I don't see the point in worrying about performance when it is so far from launch.

@GoldenElementXL said:

@tormentos said:

@GoldenElementXL said:

Because there is no point on owning an xbox this gen.

What if people enjoy Forza, Gears, Halo, Fable, Killer Instinct? I bet they feel there is a point.

He's a massive fan boy and seems to hate anything to do with Microsoft. I have both consoles and love both. In fact I have a gaming pc and a wii u also.

I cant wait for Halo, gears and fable and xbox is the only place I can play them, I also love forza horizon 2 and sunset overdrive they are great games both not available on a sony platform.

Horses for courses, I love playing on TLOU and infamous at mo

hyped for TLOU2 which has just been leak announced through some guys twitter

I am not one of those any more..

Game doesn't feel like Halo at all. Sad panda. :(

• Looking at the performance videos on a frame-by-frame basis, it seems that various glitches can kick in at any moment - and don't necessarily seem to be caused by intense GPU work. We'd hazard a guess that the artificial drop to 720p has indeed removed the graphics hardware as an obstacle to the game's target 60fps for the most part, and that other bottlenecks and glitches in the work-in-progress pipeline are causing many of the issues in the beta code. For example, we see frame-rate drops caused by even simple actions like reloading and walking immediately after a respawn. Even picking up a gun and firing for the first time can produce performance dips. Other times, drops occur on a seemingly random basis, with no visible evidence of what might be the cause. All of these issues should hopefully be resolved by launch.

This was left out and is obviously relevant for DF to write it.

Seems the engine code is causing problems at this time they will sort it by launch im sure of it.

That happen in many games from COD to Alien drop while nothing is happening is something common in games,but i didn't stress those because obviously frame that happen during reloading or just walking when nothing is happening are bugs rather then problems with GPU.

The other frame drops they name are different you can see it on the video for your self,the game is holding 60 and when to many people is on screen it drop now that is a performance drop because of having to many things,those could also be iron out but are more difficult to fix than normal drops without nothing happening because you have to balance performance or optimize the code so that it run better and if it is in did GPU based the only solution is lowering effects or resolution and the game is already 720p.

I feel all the contrary in level design it feels bland and boring.

I had no problem with the level design.

You can quote me on this the final resolution will not be 720p. If I had to hazard a guess more like 900p multi player 1080 single

After Halo 4 and MCC, it's pretty obvious this is a franchise twilighting on store shelves.

the shit they need to sort out is matchmaking, if someone quits the lobby the game never finds a replacement and eventually everyone is booted to main menu. also there is no way u can back out of a lobby unless u exit the beta to x1 dashboard. still better matchmaking than failo collection

How did you come to this conclusion? lol.

You kind of answered your own question. Its a beta, The necessary menu's and option are not their yet and don't need to be for what they needed it for.

ive played betas before and they have all had basic options like leave matchmatching. its one of the reasons i just cba even playing it anymore, doubt any dev is stupid enough to do this by design

lol it depends on the progress and state of the game at which the beta is taken from, It's not like all game devs take a beta from the same progress period as other devs do from their own different games. And or like there is a how to on beta releases that must be followed.

If you believe them to be stupid then don't play it and save yourself some heart ache. Obviously this is how they designed it this time.

I believe 343i will find a way to run this game at 1080p60 with no downgrades. They did manage to run Halo 4, one of last gen's best looking games, at native 720p and locked 30fps.

The series are in really good hands, in my opinion.

It is a limit what you can do with a potato

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/2014/videogames/ref=zg_bs_tab_t_bsar#2

Number 25.... Single SKU. Released in November.

That's sales for the entire year of 2014. Sold more copies than COD AW on X360 in 2014 at the biggest online retailer.

Charted 10th last month in NPD.

Selling more copies than GTA 5 PS4 and X1 for January 2015.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/2015-01/videogames/ref=zg_bsnr_tab_t_bsar#2

Halo will do fine. It will chart in December NPD too.. on a console with 10-11 install base.

I would say.. There's some interest?

Its a Beta...

Shh.. let them continue. I like this thread. Self ownage is a treat to behold. You need to cherish these moments.

Oh i already stated that i think it will be 1360x1080p like COD probably or 900p.

Wow yet it sold less than Shadow of Mordor on PS4 WTF...hahahaa

Now claim that Shadow of Mordor came in April go ahead.?

Look at Mario Kart on a smaller user base in on number 6,shit now that is selling power...

January is starting dude is just 4 days so far..

But now that you posted that link there is some nice things i want to highlight..

The PS4 is the supreme leader in Amazon not only is on spot 4 when the xbox one is on spot 12 for the year but the PS4 also has 2 more bundles in,Destiny at 38 and GTA5 at 88 but there is no more bundles for the xbox one only the one on spot 12,so you can imaging how big the beating was on amazon in 2014 for the xbox one.

Again Mario Kart charted at 6 and the wii u has like 8 million units,also the xbox one has 11 million units since when.?

Oh wait shipped to retailers yeah that is possible...

So was drive club when it was shown for the first few times and you people slam it for frame drops,so did the order when it had some frame drops on E3 damn lemming be fu**ing linear..

The number of people thinking @tormentosis an idiot fanboy seems to be growing. Wait for it you will be getting accused of having multiple accounts yet. He simply cant hand the fact multiple people have a different view or call him up on his fake I know what I'm talking about posts.

almost 60 fps @ 720p.

Next Gen

You people?

I said nothing about DriveClub as im not a huge fan of racing games.

That being said, are you comparing showing the actual game to a beta?

If ANY game is shown to the public, people will nitpick it, even the gaming media.

Betas have always been the slight exception because they are expected to be buggy...........thats why you have a beta.........to find problems and fix them.

I do agree that it is stupid to stupid to bash a game early in development or that is a year out, but it is understandable in an Alpha or Beta.

DriveClub is a bit worse because it had a Beta AND it was still terrible, so i guess you are saying that the same could happen to Halo 5?

If so, then yea, that makes sense

720pbox