The Cyberpunk 2077 trailer shown at the end of the Microsoft show was a highlight of this year’s E3 press conferences. There’s so much packed into its 1:40 run time that it can be overwhelming on first view. And that’s before you dig below the surface. Polygon took a close look at the hacking sequence at the beginning of the trailer and found a hidden message. Digital Foundry dug into the trailer’s technical presentation and uncovered a visual feast.
Resolution and performance are straightforward. The trailer plays at full 4K (3840 x 2160) and is capped at 30 fps. Full 4K marks an improvement over the 4K enhanced Xbox One X version of CD Projekt Red’s Witcher 3 which relies on dynamic resolution scaling to maintain frame rate.
The depth and detail present in every scene is one of the most striking aspects of the trailer. In one shot of a busy downtown area I counted more than 35 moving vehicles and pedestrians and I’m not at all sure I caught them all. Draw distance is ridiculous with people visible through shop windows that are deep in a scene.
This attention to detail extends to Cyberpunk 2077’s character models. Even peripheral figures are fully fleshed out with unique and highly detailed clothing, accessories and facial features. Clothing textures are varied and rich in fine detail. Small hand and body movements enliven characters in the background.
The raw visual content is brought to life with beautiful lighting. Cyberpunk 2077 uses a combination of global illumination, multiple light sources such as display screens and neon signs, and physically-based shaders for light reflection. As a result, skin, clothing, and surfaces made from different materials reflect light naturally. It’s both realistic and gorgeous. Add the game’s beautiful volumetric lighting effects and you get a visual suite that immerses you in Cyberpunk 2077’s fully-realized world.
All is not perfect, however. Digital Foundry noticed three visual shortcomings. First, anti-aliasing is inconsistent. Most edges are smooth and clean but jagged edges occasionally appear. Two examples can be seen beginning at about the 3:18 mark of Digital Foundry’s video. In addition, shadow quality is not as sharp as you would expect given the crispness of the rest of the presentation. Finally, a low-grade form of ambient occlusion makes shadowed areas blink in and out as the camera’s viewpoint moves through a scene.
While the trailer looks terrific, it’s not clear exactly what we’re seeing. “Game engine footage” flashes on the screen but we don’t know what kind of machine is running the trailer. We also don’t know if the trailer is being rendered in real time or if frames were pre-rendered on a much more powerful machine and then played back on a game engine.
Digital Foundry suggests there are reasons to think the trailer is console footage played on either an Xbox One X or a PC set up to model the next generation Xbox console. The inconsistent anti-aliasing mentioned above is a problem which can appear on current-generation consoles which may indicate we’re watching console footage. The 30-fps frame rate cap is another reason to think the trailer is a console build because higher and more attractive frame rates are possible with a PC. Finally, if the trailer is playing on a current console, it’s almost certainly a One X. The PS4 Pro doesn’t have the power to render the trailer’s detail-rich scenes in native 4K without checkerboarding or dynamic resolution scaling.
It’s easy to get excited by the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer but it’s good to keep in mind that the trailer doesn’t show any gameplay. Also, game developers have been known to show spectacular trailers that don’t accurately reflect what the game looks like when it finally appears.
It’s also important to recognize that Cyberpunk 2077 is being made by CD Projekt Red. If there’s any development studio that can be relied on to deliver what they promise, it’s CDPR. These guys don’t quit and they don’t cut corners when it comes to giving players state of the art games.
Cyberpunk 2077 will release “when it’s ready”. I wish it was ready yesterday.
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