Benchmark Results & Conclusion
Test System and Software
We have summarized our our standard test system's hardware and software configuration in the following table:
Alphacool Water Cooler (Nexxxos CPU Cooler, VPP655 Pump, Phobya Balancer, 24cm Radiator)
| Drivers | |
|---|---|
| AMD | Crimson 16.11.5 |
| Nvidia | GeForce 376.09 (GameReady) |
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1920x1080 @ Ultra & Very High Presets
The following charts only include cards that could muster at least 30 FPS, since anything under that just isn't playable. Given how taxing this game can be, it's surprising to see how many cards are able to handle the Ultra detail preset at 1920x1080.
There’s not a lot of difference between the Ultra and Very High presets when it comes to graphics quality. Performance, on the other hand, is affected dramatically. Stepping down generally yields at least 10 percent-higher frame rates, and this rises all the way to 15 or 20 percent during less-challenging workloads, depending on the graphics card and scene.
2560x1440 @ Ultra Preset
If you want your graphics card to keep up at 2560x1440, then you’ll need at least an AMD Radeon R9 Nano or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of GDDR5. The 3GB version doesn't make the list because it runs out of memory and generates unplayable frame rates. For all results below 50 FPS, we recommend switching to the Very High preset rather than trying to push Ultra.
If that’s still too much for the graphics card, then the High or Medium preset might seem preferable. At that point, though, dropping your resolution and sticking with a higher preset could be a better option.
3840 x 2160 @ Very High Preset
Enthusiasts who don't have a problem with console-class FPS from their GeForce GTX 1080 can try the Ultra preset at 3840x2160. You may not enjoy the game as much, though. Realistically, the Very High preset is as good as it gets from a single-GPU configuration. But Watch Dogs 2 does support AMD's CrossFire and Nvidia's SLI technologies, so there's room to experiment with a second graphics card.
Conclusion
The first few hours of playing Watch Dogs 2 were compelling, both from a graphical and gameplay perspective. The settings are plentiful, varied, self-explanatory, and, most important, they actually have a significant impact on visual quality. However, there were also a few things that left us scratching our heads.
The most annoying aspect of Watch Dogs 2’s graphics was the ever-present aliasing. Some settings help reduce it, but this comes at the price of performance and sharpness. On the plus side, this game features the best-looking water we've seen in a long time. Vehicle handling comes straight from the arcade, but that style fits the often-cheeky dialog and everything-but-stiff characters.
We can forgive the problems with the anti-cheating tool that just won’t die, and causes issues with being online even if you really thought you were offline. However, crashing straight to the desktop every so often is just annoying (even if our benchmarking doesn't represent normal gaming behavior).
To be fair, we penned our summary right after many hours of intensive benchmarking, when emotions are still running high. Even if the game doesn't deliver all that gamers were hoping for, we have to credit Ubisoft for serving up a finished product. Sadly, this is far from the norm these days. For instance, Mafia III shipped with problems that were bad enough to make it partially unplayable.
Gamers who put some time and effort into figuring out the best detail settings for their PCs, and who own modern graphics hardware, will find a lot to like about Watch Dogs 2.
The open world looks nice, is entertaining to explore, and provides lots of fun.
Overall, this makes Watch Dogs 2 a solid game, which is a nice change from some of the half-baked releases this year. For our part, we’re just happy to finally be able to write this in a conclusion again.
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