Five Resident Evil games tested on PS5 Pro – and the upgrades are significant

Of all the PS5 Pro upgrades we’ve tested to date, the Resident Evil series has some of the biggest benefits running on Sony’s new hardware. In order, we have 2017’s Resident Evil 7, the RE 2 and 3 remakes, Resident Evil Village, and most recently, Resident Evil 4 Remake. Of course, Capcom’s own RE Engine forms the technical basis for all five games, and each runs as its own app on PS5. Except that their performance on the base PS5 has often been an issue – whether it’s running RT features at 60fps in some cases or enabling 120Hz HFR mode in others, chances are they won’t be fully implemented on the base hardware . PS5 Pro delivers on all fronts with increased GPU power and more advanced PSSR scaling, so there’s now a real means of closing the gap to those frame rate targets.

Before we get into performance, first the basic facts: of all five games, only RE4 Remake and RE Village are actually updated with Pro support. The other three games still get a performance boost on the PS5 Pro, but the features and visual tweaks remain the same as the standard PS5. RE4 Remake and Village feature a PS5 Pro Enhanced symbol on the PlayStation Store pages, and of course the upgrade is evident when you boot up the PS5 Pro, where each now features a new 120Hz switch. This essentially works the same as the 120Hz switches already present in the RE2/RE3 and RE7 remakes, but it’s a Pro-exclusive feature for the latter two games.

Let’s start our review of the series updates on PS5 Pro with RE Village. This is the only game to feature PSSR scaling, with the core visual settings otherwise remaining the same as on the base machine. The PS5 Pro runs at a fixed resolution of 1536×864, which is upscaled to 4K using PSSR in every mode – whether you have ray tracing enabled or disabled, or running at 120Hz or 60Hz. The result is decent, although there is a trade-off here compared to the 4K checkerboard method used on the base PS5, which is rendered at a native 1920×2160 resolution. Visually, this makes it more of a departure: the base PS5’s image is sharper and sharper, but with more pixelation artifacts due to the checkerboard approach. Meanwhile, handling of similar fine details on the PS5 Pro is generally more stable, although it is subject to its own causes of flickering depending on the moving content in the frame. However, static shots produce a relatively sharp 4K image as the information is accumulated over multiple frames using PSSR, and the only other downside is that fine hair detail becomes motion blurred (not an issue on the base PS5). It’s a mixed bag, with time stability improving slightly at times and worse at other times, although thankfully there are no other visual side effects as we saw in Dragon’s Dogma 2, another RE Engine game.

Moving on to the frame rate testing, running RE Village with RT enabled provides a much more reliable 60fps experience on PS5 Pro. Here we get RT reflections, background occlusion and GI shape, improving in-game shadows and local bounce lighting for interiors. Looking at the performance of the base PS5 in this RT mode, it usually holds a solid 60fps, and with the VRR display it looks almost perfect – except for the most demanding moments in the game, where the frame rate can drop into the mid-40s. . As for the new 120Hz high frame rate gaming mode on the PS5 Pro, it almost flawlessly hits the 120fps target if RT is disabled, and even with it enabled, the game typically runs at 55-90fps. Overall, this is an excellent result if you’re willing to sacrifice the ray tracing option.

Resident Evil 4 Remake has a more significant performance boost, although it’s also a more demanding game overall once you turn on all the visual bells and whistles. Surprisingly, the PS5 Pro doesn’t make any major visual changes – and PSSR isn’t present here either – instead using checkerboard-style rendering, much like the base PS5. Resolution mode runs at 2160p, and performance mode runs at around 1944p again. RT is optional, adding RT reflections when enabled, and there is also a hair strand option. Finally, there’s a new 120Hz HFR mode on PS5 Pro. Looking back on the base PS5, running the game in resolution mode with RT proved to be a recipe for disaster, with frame rates of 40-60fps dipping below the ideal VRR window at times. The solution for basic PS5 users is Performance mode, which runs at 55-60fps with RT.

PS5 Pro users don’t have to make that sacrifice; Now you can run this resolution mode And RT combined (and even a hair lock option if you’re so inclined) where 60fps is locked almost constantly. Impressively, compared to the base PS5, this equates to a relative 30-40 percent increase in frame rates on Sony’s new machine during respective combat and cutscene tests. On the other hand, the fate of the new 120Hz option on Pro hardware is a little more ambiguous. It’s honestly impossible to stick to a 120fps lock even with all the visual niceties turned off. Speeds range from 85-105fps in performance mode (with RT disabled) to 70-90fps in resolution mode (with RT enabled), which shows the absolute best and worst cases. In Performance mode, 120fps is technically achievable in interior environments and cutscenes, so HFR mode is viable in some areas, although a VRR display is recommended for the best experience.

Finally, let’s look back at RE Engine’s three other releases: RE7 and the remakes of RE2 and RE3. At the time of writing, neither of these games have received an official update for the PS5 Pro, but the extra GPU power on the PS5 Pro means the games still benefit from automatic improvements. This is especially true with RT enabled in RE2 and RE3, which caused the frame rate to drop to 35fps on the base PS5 machine. The PS5 Pro realizes the untapped potential of this mode, with the game running at 60fps most of the time, with one instance dropping to 48fps. In this case, it’s right within the VRR range, although those without this display technology needn’t worry: the PS5 Pro still realistically runs at a locked 60fps 99 percent of the time. In relevant scenes, we recorded a 45 percent frame rate improvement in RE2, with a similarly large margin in RE3 with a target frame rate of 60Hz. That being said, the 120Hz mode in each remake also sees a similarly bold boost, replacing the 90-120fps range we saw previously with a near-perfect 120fps lock today on the PS5 Pro.

As for Resident Evil 7, a game that debuted the RE engine back in 2017, there are far less exciting prospects. In short, on the base PS5 it typically ran at a locked 60fps – even with RT enabled – meaning there’s no room for the Pro hardware to wow us with such a dramatic improvement today. Likewise, the game’s 120Hz mode worked well on the base machine and continues to work on the PS5 Pro.

Looking at all five Resident Evil games, the PS5 Pro fixes almost every instance where the base model failed to hit 60fps with RT. The good news is that this is now a truly viable and performant combination, and 120fps works equally well in every game except RE4 Remake. This perhaps speaks to the lack of optimization of these RT options on the base PS5, especially in RE2 and RE3 – and a 30fps cap might make more sense in these cases. However, the silver lining is that Capcom’s use of the unlocked framerate at the time results in a solid 60fps on Pro hardware today. The only major criticism is that there is limited ambition beyond boosting frame rates. In addition to the transition to PSSR in Resident Evil Village, we are given visual features that match the base PS5. At the very least, the PS5 Pro addresses the performance issues that the series has faced over the years, which is why its update to the Resident Evil series is considered one of its biggest successes.