Frame generation technology has arrived on consoles, amplifying frame-rates and potentially transforming experiences. We shared initial thoughts earlier this week via DF Direct, but we've gone further now - testing out Immortals of Aveum's FSR 3 frame-gen implementation across all supported consoles. In all cases, the promise of a high frame-rate experience for 120Hz screens has been delivered - and what's fascinating is that it's Xbox Series S that gets closest to delivering 120 frames per second.

Before we go on, let's circle back and cover the basics. AMD's brand of frame generation tech is similar in principle to Nvidia's pioneering work with DLSS 3, the difference being that there's no hardware tie-in here - AMD does it all with software whereas Nvidia demands the use of RTX 40-series cards. Either way, two frames are generated in succession and then a third - an interpolated frame - is sandwiched between the two and so it goes on. What you're getting is like a concertina effect of standard generated frames and interpolated frames, strobing at high speed.

In a very best case scenario, you can effectively double frame-rate but more typically the gain is lower. Frame generation isn't 'free' - there's a computational cost. The GPU needs to process the interpolated frame and that takes time. In a purely CPU-limited scenario, you may see cases where there are spare GPU cycles, allowing you to basically double output frame-rate but that's not the case here in Immortals of Aveum. In the recent DF Direct, we showed some clips of Series X Aveum and this particular cutscene from the beginning of chapter three - a proper stress point - shows the vast improvement in frame-rate. Across the board, it's a 72.3 percent boost.

Read more

Another week, another episode of DF Direct Weekly (hence the name) and this episode was actually split into two recording sessions. Normal filming occured on Friday morning, but at around 3pm, Ascendant Studios in association with Enduring Games, finally released its AMD FSR 3 frame generation upgrade for Immortals of Aveum. Initial testing from myself and John Linneman confirmed that it's in, it's working and it's well worth talking about, so I put together some data and assets and we added a second part to the Direct. And here it is!

As a proof of concept for console frame generation, Immortals of Aveum is compelling, but let's first deal with the basic details. Similar to Nvidia DLSS 3 frame-gen, AMD's take works on buffering up an extra frame, on top of the one last rendered, then inserts an interpolated frame between them. In a best case scenario - basically when you're CPU-limited with GPU cycles to spare - you'll double the frame-rate from the host system, so a 60fps game becomes a 120fps game. However, when you're GPU-limited - as is almost certainly the case with Aveum - gains will be lower.

The plus points are obvious though. In the case of Immortals of Aveum, which tends to run at between 40fps to 60fps, the experience moves beyond the 60fps limit and into HFR (high frame-rate) territory, making the game more compelling for those with 120Hz displays. However, there are minus points. Interpolated frames - particularly those sandwiched between two very different frames - will lack the fidelity of standard frames. Also, the process of buffering up an extra frame adds latency... and that will be the time taken to generate the extra frame along with the time taken to calculate the interpolated frame.

Read more

Hellblade 2 leads the new games coming to Xbox Game Pass this month, alongside Soulslike Lords of the Fallen.

The sequel to Senua's Sacrifice, Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga will be a nightmarish visual feast when it's added to Game Pass on day one, though it only runs at 30fps on Xbox consoles. PC specs have already been released.

Lords of the Fallen released in October last year and has since received a large number of updates to improve its performance on both PC and console. Its most recent, and final, update adds modifiers for a rogue-lite challenge.

Read more

It continues to be a difficult time at Ascendant Studios, the developers behind last year’s magical shooter flop Immortals of Aveum, as it’s claimed that the studio have now furloughed most of their staff - only a matter of months after almost half of their employees were laid off.

Read more

Immortals of Aveum is a game which will continue to be discovered by players for "years and years" like Dead Space, according to its director.

Ascendant Studios founder Bret Robbins, who also served as creative director on the first Dead Space game, made the comment in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz reflecting on the launch and future of the developer's debut game.

Despite initial poor sales and lacklustre reviews for Immortals of Aveum when it released in August 2023, Robbins said he believes the game's future will be successful like Dead Space. "People were discovering [Dead Space] for years and years," Robbins stated, "I think Immortals will be the same."

Read more

Immortals of Aveum saw a very rough debut last summer, with the first-person magic-shooter from new studio Ascendant and EA reportedly suffering poor sales and mixed reviews - resulting in almost half of its developers being laid off mere weeks after its launch. Despite being a reported $125 million flop that “no-one bought”, its director believes that it could still go on to find an audience yet.

Read more

Magical first-person shooter Immortals Of Aveum launched last August and by the following month half its development team had been laid off due to poor sales.

In a new report by IGN on widespread industry layoffs, developers who worked on Aveum say it cost around $125 million to make and "no one bought it."

Read more