We’ve already discussed the improvements to the Assassin’s Creed Anvil Engine and the transformative impact of real-time global illumination – but how does this technology scale to lower-end hardware and how well does the PC version run more generally? More to the point, can that brilliant RTGI be enjoyed on a mainstream PC in a world where you need a PS5 Pro to run the effect at 60fps?
First up, let’s talk about the PC version in a more general sense, kicking with a look at the user experience and options. Starting the kick sees a brief shader compilation burn occur, lasting about 30 seconds on a Ryzen 5 3600, with no signs of further compilation during gameplay. This is a good showing – maybe not up there with, say, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, but impressive nonetheless. You can get an idea of how Ubisoft handles this by checking out our recent interview with the developer, but suffice it to say, it shouldn’t be a problem, so on the CPU side, even a relatively ancient CPU like the Ryzen 5 3600 should hold its own in delivering 60fps for the majority of content.
On this now very limited chip, I did notice that entering towns or transitioning to new map zones can cause some frame-time spikes – and those spikes are still there, but much diminished on a more capable chip like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. It would be nice if they were not there at all of course, but they are not exactly peppering the experience and they are rather distant from one another usually. If they bother you, I recommend a frame-rate cap or even standard v-sync, which tends to limit their visual and measurable severity. Even with that aside, frame-times tend to be pretty OK in this new AC game – not bad bearing in mind the series’ legacy of high CPU utilisation on PC.
Another well handled aspect are the menu options: these are well presented with useful scaling, plentiful options and meaningful preview imagery. One of my favourite options in the menu conceptually is how dynamic resolution is handled, with it being able to be combined with DLSS and other upscalers, where the quality settings of the upscaler affect the minimum and maximum resolutions, where 25 percent on the scale for example represents the ‘performance’ mode of the scaler. The DRS itself is a touch slow to react in comparison to other games, but it is still useful and highly recommended in concert with optimised settings.