Yesterday, Microsoft released FPS Boost, a new compatibility feature with previous versions for Xbox Series X and S. FPS Boost will … dramatically increase the framerate in specific, older games when you play them on a latest Xbox generation. After playing a bit with FPS Boost, I’m excited and impressed. This could be a big change in the way we experience old console games.
Microsoft has big plans for FPS Boost, promising to support many more games in the future, but for now, only five media can take advantage of it. These are Far Cry 4, New Super Lucky’s Tale, Sniper Elite 4, UFC 4 and Watch Dogs 2. Two of these titles, The new Super Lucky story and Sniper Elite 4, are currently on Game Pass. So I downloaded them to see how well FPS Boost worked.
My first impression was not great. I started Sniper Elite 4 and there were no 60 frames per second. It still worked at 30, with drops below that. Then I started The new Super Lucky story and it was the same. Run at 60 fps, not the promise of 120. A quick Google search seemed to show others who have this problem. (Currently, there is no icon on the screen that tells you that FPS Boost is enabled, and there is also no way to disable or enable it. It comes in a system update this spring.) restarted Xbox Series X and I started the games again and luckily FPS Boost started working. But I’m glad it didn’t work at first, because I was able to better compare the games before and after the feature was activated.
Folks, they are very, very impressed.
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Sniper Elite 4 it was slow and thick before FPS Boost. It was hard for me to play. With FPS Boost, it now runs at 60 fps almost locked. I played throughout the entire level and saw only a few minor dives, which I think most people in most situations won’t even notice. Doubling the framerate greatly improves the game. Aim, shoot, move, everything feels better. Case in point, I didn’t intend to play the whole level, but I did it because I was too happy to stop.
One thing to keep in mind is that while FPS Boost seems like magic, capable of doubling performance in older games, it’s not a miraculous feature that improves everything. The resolution, textures and HUD on the screen found in Sniper Elite 4 I’m still the same as on Xbox One. On my big, dumb, 4k OLED screen, this is visible, but the smoother performance still makes a huge improvement to the overall experience. I’ll probably get to play the other levels now.
The new Super Lucky story it is more interesting. Microsoft claims that FPS Boost will eventually double the framerate in many games, and even a few 60 fps titles will benefit. Eloquent case Lucky’s story, which now runs at 120 fps. This will be something you can only see if you have a TV or monitor that supports 120Hz. This big, stupid and expensive TV that I mentioned earlier, supports 120Hz and holy, The new Super Lucky story feels great in FPS Boost mode.
Before FPS Boost, The new Super Lucky story I felt good and he looked pretty nice. But, running at 120Hz, everything feels faster and more responsive. Even turning and opening menus feels better at this frequency. Running and jumping benefit from a ton of doubled performance. I felt like I had more control over the character and, combined with the improved Xbox Series X loading times, it made it hard not to play again. That Sniper Elite 4I’m excited to come back and play more of this delightful platformer. I was worried that I was playing Lucky’s story immediately after playing the new relaunch Super Mario 3D World it wouldn’t be right with the poor fox. But now, I’m worried I’m going back to Super Mario 3D World.
What is impressive about FPS Boost is that, according to Microsoft, these improvements require little or, in some cases, zero from the developer. This means that older, less popular games, which are unlikely to be remastered or receive state-of-the-art patches, could still see radically improved performance in the future if Microsoft selects them for the FPS Boost treatment. This is also interesting for games that have never been released on PC and are locked on consoles like Xbox One. Without PC ports, such huge performance improvements were unlikely. Now, things have changed. We could see Red Dead Redemption finally runs at 60 fps? I’m not going to bet my life on this, but I’m glad to say yes, that now seems like a possibility. The future is exciting.