Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 impresses on Xbox Series X/S, but flags on PS5
Plus: 30fps and 60fps modes compared.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is out today, pitting you as a defender of the Imperium against hordes of Tyranids and wiley Chaos Space Marine foes. The game has been well-received by all accounts following its initial preview outing, but it also offers a bit of a curveball when it comes to the usual balance of power between PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. With 30fps and 60fps modes on the table, what's the optimal way to play, how do PS5 and Series X compare to the PC version, and finally how does the Series S version fare?
First things first. On PS5 and Series X, you have a choice of a 30fps quality mode or a 60fps 'speed' mode, while Series S locks you into a 30fps experience at settings largely similar to the speed mode on other platforms - though the settings differences here are incredibly minor, all things considered.
In quality mode on the premium consoles, expect a dynamic internal resolution from 1080p to 1440p, scaled to a 4K display with FSR2. Speed mode has a lower internal resolution in the push to 60fps, ranging from 720p to 1080p, with the same FSR2 upscale to 4K. Series S has the same internal resolution range, 720p to 1080p, but scales to 1440p instead - a common output resolution for the 4TF machine.
At 30fps, both PS5 and Series X manage to deliver an exceptionally stable performance, with only slight frame-time hitches during camera cuts in cutscenes and the odd blip as the dynamic resolution system springs into action to balance GPU load. Series S isn't quite as perfect, with drops to around 26fps that aren't seen on the other consoles, but the experience is still quite playable.
In testing Space Marine 2 on PC, it's clear that the game's encounters with alien swarms pushes the CPU hard - and at least as of patch 1.02, that results in lop-sided performance on consoles in the 60fps speed mode. Series X typically outperforms PS5 by around 10 to 15fps, despite both machines using the same settings and resolution targets. The lowest drops come when taking a flamethrower to the encroaching horde, where PS5 drops to the mid-30s while Xbox Series X is in the mid-40s.
As well as having a higher average frame-rate, the Xbox version also benefits from the platform's wider VRR window of 40 to 60Hz - versus 48 to 60Hz on PS5. Combined with the higher average frame-rates, you get a noticeably smoother output on VRR-compatible displays.
That makes Space Marine 2 much easier to recommend on the Microsoft box than on Sony's machine for those with the luxury of choice, though neither delivers what we'd call close to a locked 60fps - dips are quite commonplace in the campaign, especially as the enemy count climbs. For that reason, the stability and increased fidelity of the 30fps quality mode is worth considering.
We have seen similar performance differentials in both directions in the past, with some games running better on PS5 and others on Series X, but it's possible that the PS5 version could be improved by a performance-focused patch in the future. Given that dynamic resolution scaling is in play, increasing performance could also boost image quality in less demanding scenes where the consoles already hit 60fps.
Our Space Marine 2 PC coverage will follow in due course, including Alex's optimised and console-equivalent settings - though with the game's heavy CPU dependence, increasing performance to a subtantial degree may require a hardware upgrade!