Today, in gaming: One more reason to worry
about Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and it has
nothing to do with "historical accuracy."
This is SVG News, and we know why you're really
watching.
"Viking boobies!
Yeah!"
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is a highly anticipated
game, but it continues to give gamers one
surprise after another.
Some of these surprises have turned out to
be less enticing than others.
Recent reports related to Assassin's Creed
Valhalla indicate that the Xbox Series X version
of the game will run at a much lower frame
rate than previously expected.
According to a statement Ubisoft released
to IGN, the game will run closer to 30 frames-per-second,
rather than the expected minimum of 60 FPS.
"Oh, that's low…"
Yeah, 30 FPS is low!
Ubisoft's reasoning?
Well, as they told IGN:
"Assassin's Creed Valhalla will run at a minimum
of 30 FPS.
On Assassin's Creed Valhalla, we are committed
to offer the best experience to our players
by immersing them in the most beautiful worlds
and environments we could create, and leveraging
not only the graphics enhancements offered
by the next generation of consoles, but also
faster loading times and the new architectures."
This comes as a major surprise, especially
considering the fact that Microsoft had previously
stated that the Xbox Series X was expected
to play games with a performance rate of,
quote, "4K at 60 FPS, up to 120 FPS."
It's difficult for fans not to see this new
figure as something of a major downgrade.
"Oh!
Now that you mention it…"
According to Xbox Games marketing GM Aaron
Greenberg, this whole 30 FPS kerfuffle doesn't
mean that other games won't feature that sweet
sweet 60 FPS. Greenberg said on Twitter:
"Developers always have flexibility in how
they use the power, so a standard or common
60fps is not a mandate."
In other words, it's up to the developers
whether or not a game needs to or even can
run at 60 FPS or higher.
As pointed out by TechRadar's Adam Vjestica,
having a frame rate of 30 FPS essentially
means that Assassin's Creed Valhalla will
be operating with the same level of power
as the franchise's last entry, Assassin's
Creed Odyssey.
In other words, it's kind of difficult to
suss out why an Assassin's Creed fan would
see the new game as any kind of upgrade from
the current experience with Odyssey.
We already know that Microsoft is using compression
technology to lower the file size of games.
In addition, Greenberg's comments tell us
that the system could support higher frame
rates, so it's unclear why Valhalla would
take a hit in the graphics department like
this.
It's especially frustrating when one considers
Phil Spencer's comments regarding frame rates
in previous months.
Back in January, Spencer, the current executive
vice-president of Gaming at Microsoft, made
it sound like a higher frame rate for games
would be one of the main considerations going
forward with the Xbox Series X. Unfortunately,
it looks like fans are off to a rough start
in that regard.
This isn't the first uproar connected to Assassin's
Creed Valhalla in recent weeks.
The game isn't due to be released until much
later this year, but fans of the series have
already found things to complain about.
These include the fact that the game features
an optional female viking protagonist.
Some fans feel that this has impacted the
series' grasp on historical accuracy, even
though, y'know, sword maidens, basically,
badass Viking women, were totally a thing.
"Researchers concluded that it was rare to
find evidence of high-ranking female warriors,
not because they didn't exist, but because
of sexism in scientific research."
The waters were muddied on this issue when
the game's narrative director, Darby McDevitt,
told fans that the series' canon is somehow
unaffected by the dual protagonists.
As McDevitt said, quote, "Both choices are
canon, but we're not going to spoil how we
managed that trick until you play the game."
Other fans are taking issue with some of the
other story elements seen in the game's trailer
and marketing materials.
Ubisoft is talking up the game's massive battle
scenes and a focus on RPG-style gameplay mechanics.
This has made some longtime fans feel like
the series has strayed too far from its roots
as a stealth action game franchise.
Still, it's encouraging to know that Ubisoft
is being upfront about the game's frame rate.
Fans have already complained about seeing
more trailer footage than gameplay, so hopefully
this transparency will go a long way towards
setting expectations for Assassin's Creed
Valhalla.
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