Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 – Is 30 FPS on Xbox Series X/S a Showstopper?

Ninja Theory's sequel in the Hellblade series is the latest to run at "only" 30 FPS on Xbox Series X/S to a mixed response.

[Obscure_Observer]

Not for me. Hellblade II is my most anticipated game of the year.

Hellblade II is not powered by some old gen tech like UE4. This is a rich feature UE5 game. A true current gen one.

Many of us grown accustomed with old gen and crossgen games running at 60fps, even 120fps in a few cases.

But its past time to face reality. Those consoles aren´t powerful enough to run true current gen AAA games powered by UE5 at 60fps without some major cutbacks.

Not even a 4090 can come close to run Immortals of Aveum at native 4k/60fps.

So I can wait to see the faces of the hypocrites talking crap about 30fps for current gen games by calling it unplayable and unacceptable, when GT6 finally drop next year. They´re in for some major shock.

[Minute Man 721]

They are probably using "Nanite" in Hellblade 2

[raWfodog]

I’ve always preferred performance over resolution in my gaming. Given the choice, I would choose higher fps over better visual quality. But with that being said, 30fps is not a deal breaker for me. I’ve enjoyed far more 30fps games in my life than 60fps. Maybe I’d notice it more if I gamed primarily on PC with higher fps, then played the same game on console at a lower fps.

[GamerRN]

If they can hit 40 I'll be ok, it usually solves the control latency issue. But I'll be honest, 30fps night look pretty but I find it unplayable

[Abear21]

I just want options, 30 fps is not unplayable or unacceptable, and you are right about GTA6, but that game will be re-released on the next two consoles and eventually be 60fps like gta5.
Hellblade 2 could have easily offered a performance mode, giving them the pass is laying down as a consumer.

[XBManiac]

You want a PC.

[andy85]

I mean yeah if you're going Native 4K. I'd still never do that on PC compared to using lower and DLSS. 150 fps with DLSS on with an image that's practically identical to native 4K. Or using 4K at below 60 fps. I know what I'm picking. Immortals is a poor option to pick anyway to make a point of hiw difficult it is to run well. Even a 2070 is getting 60 fps on that game with DLSS on

[Barlos]

Yeah but come on be honest with yourself. You won't actually be buying it anyway will you? You'll just rent it from GP.

[I_am_Batman]

"Those consoles aren´t powerful enough to run true current gen AAA games powered by UE5 at 60fps without some major cutbacks."

That may very well be true, but 30 fps is a major cutback compared to 60 so why not offer the alternative for people that prefer responsiveness and motion clarity over high fidelity assets and static pixelcount. If they add a performance mode via patch, will that make it less of a "true current gen AAA game" even if the 30 fps mode remains untouched?

Rockstar will probably have a harder time implementing a 60 fps mode in GTA 6, but people are expecting that game to set a new benchmark for open world simulation, so it might get away with it. Hellblade 2 is a short, hyper linear, slow paced game, so I doubt it's facing the same kind of challenges, especially as far as CPU load goes.

[Sonic1881]

"Hellblade II is not powered by some old gen tech like UE4. This is a rich feature UE5 game. A true current gen one"

Unreal engine 5 has been used since 2021 and probably before that 😂 and some of these games had a 60fps option. Sure they probably had to lower the resolution. Btw alot of games can run in native 4K 60fps on a rtx 4090. The 4090 can run most New games in 4k well above 60 fps, unless you put some crazy amounts of Anti-aliasing or if it's using DLSS and it's also up to the developer. Keep the lies going though. That's what you're good at. You should have said most CPU intensive games struggles in 4K 60fps on all the RTX cards. *Every game* is not cpu intensive.

https://gamerant.com/all-co...

https://www.ign.com/games/f...

[Elda]

It's a visual cinematic game, it'll most likely run fine at 30fps.

[z2g]

Not even a little bit.

[Einhander1972]

All this shows is how biased the gaming media is towards Microsoft and how much money/control they are exerting.

You have sites and people who were skewering games like Gotham Knights and other 30 fps games and writing how it was unacceptable ect. now writing articles defending this and making every excuse under the sun to convince people 30 FPS is the best thing ever.

Could you imagine if Spider-Man 2 had been 30 FPS, all these same sites and people would have been saying PlayStation was doomed all it's developers are incompetent ect.

But the truth is 30 FPS just shows that Microsoft really doesn't care about quality, there is no reason this game shouldn't have a 60 fps and other graphics modes other than Microsoft didn't want to take the time it would have taken to optimize develop both 30 and 60 fps versions, and it probably didn't help that they actually have to make 4 versions since they have the series s dragging everything down.

Let me remind you that every PlayStation game this gen from the launch with Miles Morales, Demon Souls ect. and all their remasters like Ghost of Tsushima TLOU and Uncharted, Death Stranding, and every other game that has been published or was a console exclusive like Final Fantasy, Rise of the Ronin, Stellar Blade has had multiple graphics modes even Bethesda's own Deathloop and Tokyo Ghostwire had 60 FPS modes. It was only after they started working with Microsoft did you start having Redfall whatever that was and even Starfield that only had 30 fps.

But of course no website is going to write that..

[Chevalier]

Weird that the narrative is that the Xbox has the most powerful system according to Xbox fans, but, 4 years in games run worse than Playstation versions in general and their own studios can't even make their own hardware work well. Yet there's articles explaining how it's time for Nintendo saying they need a new system and just last week articles about how some developers saw no need for the Playstation 5 pro. But Xbox gets a pass? Weren't all those Xbox fans singing praises at the top of their lungs at how superior the Series X was?! Now those same people who made this idiotic statements are making excuses? Really?! Lol

[darthv72]

...spider-man 2 does have 30fps for those who prefer the highest visual fidelity. I have to say it looks DAMN gorgeous when set to quality mode but its too fast of a game to be hamstrung to that slower fps. This game... seems perfect for 30. Especially since the first one was mostly played at 30 as well and only later was upped to 60 for anyone who wanted to play it that way.

[Einhander1972]

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has performance, performance RT, and fidelity graphics modes, as do all Insomniac's PS5 releases.

And it's not strictly that this game has a 30 FPS mode the problem is they didn't take the time to make 60 fps modes.

If you keep defending this all you're going to accomplish is giving Microsoft a pass to crap out games with the least possible effort instead of taking the time to make fully polished and finished games like PlayStation.

[darthv72]

"And it's not strictly that this game has a 30 FPS mode the problem is they didn't take the time to make 60 fps modes."

Did you ever play the first game? Did you know it too was only 30fps at first? The 60fps mode wasnt added until the release of the mid gen systems. which is to say the majority who played it did so at 30fps because sales of the Pro and one X were significantly lower than the base systems. When the 5/Series were released, many tried it again at the faster speed. So your assessment of them not "taking the time" is wrong. You don't know if they have something similar planned for the next gen hardware release. So stop with the concern, which we know you dont really have.

[Einhander1972]

Darth... your using a PS4 game as the example, and you made a poor argument when you pointed out that the mid gen version had a 60 fps mode, this is a next gen game and next gen games should offer 60 fps.

And again you guys made excuses for Redfall then you made excuses for Starfield, apparently you guys just want to stay gaming at 30 fps forever...

I'd think after all this time you would start to realize that Microsoft is just going to keep being bad for the industry when you guys keep defending them.

I was reminded about what a rip off xbox ssd's are by that other article today. They are on sale but charging more for a 2tb SSD than I paid for a 4tb that's twice as fast and compatible with PC. Or the xbox controller which is the same controller they have been using since the 360, but it's not even as good as the 360 controller they are way cheaper build quality yet about the same price as a PS5 controller which offers so much more and actually had two generations of innovation.

People like to claim that xbox is keeping PlayStation in check but PlayStation and never done anything but try to set the highest quality standards for gaming, it's PlayStation that is keeping Microsoft in check. Microsoft just wants to get PlayStation out of the business so they can offer the cheapest crap for the highest price and eliminate ownership despite what propaganda they might spout.

I'd like to remind you that the terrible idea that was the xbone didn't fail because Microsoft realized they were on the wrong path, it failed only because consumers had another option PS4, if PS4 hadn't been there you would had already lost ownership and resale and trading and been strapped with a Kinect and no matter how much customer complained they would have just kept on that path. And I can look wo Windows there Microsoft ignores everything that consumers say and keep making buggier and more bloated versions of windows since Windows 7, the only truly stable version of Windows they have ever released. And they only made Windows 7 stable because so many people were so sick of XP that Mac was actually starting to gain significant market share.

You guys are going to ruin this hobby we have all enjoyed for our whole lives.

[DrDoomer]

Wha happen to all dem terrorflops?

[dRanzer]

They flop

[anast]

It's not a deal breaker for most Xbox gamers because most of them have the S, but if I were one of the very few that own an SX, I wouldn't be happy.

[IRetrouk]

Not a deal breaker, disappointing though.

[Barlos]

No it's not, but being digital only definitely is.

[VincentVanBro]

Buy on PC, problem solved.

[Psychonaut85]

A showstopper? No. I don’t think so. Maybe for some of us. But I don’t think your average Joe really cares all that much. It still won’t sell a staggering amount regardless. I think for me it more bothers me that they tried to play it off as a solely artistic decision when we know that’s not the case. Maybe a part of it, but certainly not all.

[BlaqMagiq1]

Weird. Didn't Xbox say 60fps was the standard at the beginning of the generation? I guess with that logic Hellblade 2 is a below standard game.

[DeeJayQc]

If you answer yes to that... get a life.

[CrimsonWing69]

No

[Skuletor]

Developers choosing to push visuals at the expense of a higher frame rate on consoles isn't a new phenomenon, it's been happening for generations.

[Dixiedevil]

I was very eagerly anticipating this game but on a 75” TV 30 fps is practically unplayable. Just a jittery, eyeball killing mess. I’ll wait and hope a performance mode is added.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

I'm used to 15fps on my laptop with 15 year old games so 30fps would be revolutionary for me.

[jwillj2k4]

“Current gen consoles aren’t hitting 60fps” I hate that Sony gets lumped in with Microsoft’s failures.

[XBManiac]

O_O

[XBManiac]

No Tameem, no fun.

[YourMommySpoils]

Here with the popcorn.

[Gamefiend2020]

Done with 30 frames. They can claim all the tech advancements they want. They promised us 4k 60 on most games as a selling point for the new gen console. I am going to hold them to it. You have no idea how disappointed I was when a plague tale requiem came out at 30fps. I played one stage and uninstalled it. Later they bumped it to 60 and that has brought me back in. They just need to make an Xbox PC with mid tier specs that is optimized properly. I would pay $1299 for that just so 30 fps will be a thing of the past.

[VincentVanBro]

Already exists, its called a PC lol Hellblade 2 launches same day on Steam. In fact everything Xbox launches same day on PC. For the price you mentioned $1299 you can get a PC equipped with an i9, 16 gb of RAM, 1 TB SSD, and a 4060 TI. With DLSS & Frame Gen you will easily achieve 60+ FPS in Hellblade 2.

[zacly]

Jesus cant MS do anything right.