FPS Boost on Xbox Series X / S: we tested Battlefield, Titanfall and Mirror's Edge Catalyst at 120fps - technical analysis

FPS Boost on Xbox Series X / S

In recent days, Microsoft has multiplied its efforts in the campaign of applying FPS Boost technology to Xbox games, publishing the update to get 120fps in 12 Electronic Arts games (and 60fps in another title). This is, in fact, a bonus not to be underestimated for owners of the Xbox Series X | S, although there is a small flaw that we will cover shortly. Essentially, all Battlefield chapters released for Xbox One now run at 120fps on Series X, as does Titanfall and its sequel. And that's just the beginning.

You can find the full list of supported titles below, and as you can see, not all games on the list get an Xbox Series S update - some titles support 120fps only on the more expensive Series X. In the course of our tests, in fact, we discovered the price to pay for doubling the frame-rate on the most expensive machine: the improvements seen on Xbox One X (which usually manifest themselves in the form of a higher resolution) have been disabled. So, in essence, despite Series X offering twice the performance seen on Xbox One X, there is often a substantial reduction in resolution in order to achieve this result. FPS Boost, however, is not enabled by default - you need to go to the game's compatibility menu to enable it. So, in all likelihood, keeping 60 fps and getting a resolution more suitable for a 4K display in return remains the wisest choice.

The reduction in resolution, perhaps, explains why some games lack support for Xbox Series S - we can only assume they can't sustain 120 frames per second when the frame-rate is unlocked with FPS Boost. This, however, leads us to some strange disparities in support: Titanfall 2, for example, runs at 120fps on both consoles via FPS Boost but the first chapter only reaches that performance target on Xbox Series X.

The third wave of FPS Boost compatible titles focus entirely on 120fps gaming. Tom Morgan and Rich Leadbetter share their views.

Watch on YouTube. For the test sessions, we picked our favorite games: the three Battlefield episodes, the two Titanfall chapters and Mirror's Edge Catalyst. Battlefield 4 is an interesting title to start with. This is one of the launch games for Xbox One, limited to 720p resolution with a really disappointing anti-aliasing technique. Unfortunately, FPS Boost can't do anything to boost resolution but manages to deliver 120fps on both Series X and Series S most of the time. Extensive use of transparency effects can cause some slowdown, especially on Series S (especially in 64-player multiplayer) as the campaign runs at 120fps for most of its duration.

Battlefield 1 results too and Battlefield 5 are quite interesting. Support for Series S is out of the question but both the campaign and multiplayer of these two titles run at rock-solid 120fps on Series X. DICE has opted for dynamic resolution scaling for these two games, and although Series X leverages the original code to One S, we can finally get the most out of both titles: 972p on Battlefield 1 and 1080p on Battlefield 5. These are considerably higher resolutions than those seen on Xbox One at 60fps at the time. Staying on the DICE theme, Mirror's Edge Catalyst is another hit: it runs at around 936p and stable 120fps. This title has never benefited from the Xbox One X upgrade so there is no resolution deficit in this case. FPS Boost guarantees a doubled frame-rate compared to the original version but only for Xbox Series X owners.

Let's now move on to the two Titanfalls. The first chapter keeps the resolution at 792p but runs at a stable 120fps. This title also never received the Xbox One X update so there's no need to compromise to hit 120fps on Series X, but the absence of Series S support is a mystery. We can only assume that the experience offered by FPS Boost was not stable enough to pass quality control (which is strange, since the Series S GPU is 2.8 times more powerful than that of Xbox One). That said, the game runs beautifully at 120fps on Series X. Yes, it's a bit outdated visually but its gameplay is still very solid and we had no problem finding a match online.

Title Xbox Series X Xbox Series S Battlefield 1 120Hz - Battlefield 4 120Hz 120Hz Battlefield 5 120Hz - Mirror's Edge Catalyst 120Hz - PvZ: Garden Warfare 120Hz 120Hz PvZ: Battle for Neighborville 120Hz 120Hz PvZ: Garden Warfare 2 120Hz 120Hz Sea of ​​Solitude 60Hz 60Hz Star Wars Battlefront 120Hz 120Hz Star Wars Battlefront 2 120Hz - Titanfall 120Hz - Titanfall 2 120Hz 120Hz Unravel 2 120Hz 120Hz Titanfall 2 is perhaps the most suitable title to get FPS Boost support and supports both of Microsoft's new consoles. Resolution was measured at the high end of the DRS scale for Xbox One (810p, a marked step back from the 1512p seen on Series X before activating FPS Boost) but the game, which was already a galvanizing 60fps experience, it's even smoother and more fun to play on Series X | S at double the frame-rate. Titanfall 2 runs very well on both consoles at 120fps, except for a few times when the heavier transparency effects bring Series S into 90 / 100fps territory. A variable refresh-rate display could help improve this.

So overall, Microsoft is doing a good job of updating classic titles with FPS Boost technology. Aiming for 120 frames per second is interesting but we must keep in mind the limited diffusion of screens with support for 120Hz connected to the two consoles. It's also a bit disappointing that Series X owners are forced to reduce resolution drastically in order to benefit from the doubling of performance but this ensures sustained performance in almost any scenario (and improved experience in terms of smoothness and timing. response is quite transformative, especially for first person shooters).

Yet this test also had another merit: to remind us of the incredible qualities of Titanfall 2, a hilarious multiplayer game featuring one of the best campaigns for single player of the last generation. Whether you play it at 60 or 120fps, it is a highly recommended experience, one of the best and most underrated of the last cycle of consoles.