Far Cry 5 PC Performance Review

Graphical Quality Comparison – Part 1

Far Cry 5 is an unusual release, so much so that we had to second guess our findings more than once. What we found was that in many cases, each of the game’s graphical presets offer a minimal difference in graphical quality, presenting changes that would be difficult to spot outside of a side-by-side comparison. 

The most significant changes can be found when moving from FAr Cry 5’s Low settings to its Normal preset, where we can see that Normal/Medium settings add reflections to the surface of the water, draws shadows on distant trees, terrain and vegetation and offers some higher resolution geometry and textures at a distance.  

Moving from Low to Normal offers a substantial visual impact, so much so that we wouldn’t recommend that anyone plays Far Cry 5 settings. You will see on page six the performance impact of the change, which will help you see why we make this recommendation. 

(Low VS Normal)

  

Moving from Normal to High, you could be forgiven for thinking that there is no visual difference between both of our images. If we look closely, we can see more detailed geometry in the bottom right of the picture, more diffuse reflection in the water and increased levels of detail on the player’s pistol. 

Looking at the player’s weapon, we can see that it now has a shinier appearance and in certain areas, the firearm has a more 3D look. These same changes apply to most other guns used in the game.   

(Normal VS High)

  

 

At Ultra settings some of the biggest changes can be seen in reflection quality, with the distant reflections in the lake appearing much clearer, allowing the clouds above to be seen on the lake’s surface. 

In all the visual differences here are minor, though they are worth taking advantage of if you love the appearance of these high-resolution reflections on the water’s surface.

(High VS Ultra)

  

 

Moving up to Ultra the only visible change that we can see is the addition of TAA, a Temporal form of Anti-Aliasing. This technique has a notable impact on the distant bridge, creating a clearer image by removing some of the stairstep aliasing that was present before. This effect has a larger impact when playing the game at lower resolutions, where Aliasing is a lot more visible on straight line geometry.   

At Max settings, we have turned on motion blur, which is not visible in this static screenshot, though ultimately most players will turn this effect on or off depending on their preference, as it has a minimal performance impact. 

(Ultra VS Max)