Editor’s be aware: Dell India offered the Alienware m16 R2, and Nvidia India offered a PC copy of Black Fantasy: Wukong to IGN India for this efficiency evaluation.
Black Fantasy: Wukong launched on August 20, 2024, amid a lot hype and anticipation, particularly given the sport’s gorgeous visuals primarily based on Unreal Engine 5.
The sport delivers impressively on presentation, with distinctive character designs and a richly detailed world. At IGN India, we rated it 7.5/10, noting that whereas it excels in visuals and feels good to play, the gameplay, significantly the fight, lacks robustness.
On this evaluation, we’re specializing in the sport’s efficiency on a mid-range gaming laptop computer whereas testing out the varied graphics applied sciences that Sport Science has added to the sport.
Black Fantasy: Wukong PC Necessities
Black Fantasy: Wukong progressively gained consideration since 2020 as extra teasers showcasing its visible prowess surfaced on the web. Here’s what it must run in your pc.
Minimal system necessities
| OS | Home windows 10 |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 1600/Intel Core i5-8400 |
| Reminiscence | 16GB RAM |
| GPU | AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB/Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) |
| DirectX | Model 11 |
| Storage | 130GB of obtainable area |
Advisable system necessities
| OS | Home windows 10 |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 5500/Intel Core i7-9700 |
| Reminiscence | 16GB RAM |
| GPU | AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT/Intel Arc A750/Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 |
| DirectX | Model 12 |
| Storage | 130GB of obtainable area |
Black Fantasy: Wukong PC Benchmarks
For benchmarking, I used Alienware’s m16 R2 gaming laptop computer, a strong machine that allowed me to play on “Cinematic” current, the very best graphical setting obtainable. Here’s what the moveable gaming laptop computer packs underneath the hood.
Alienware m16 R2 gaming laptop computer specs
| CPU | Intel Core Extremely 9 185H (24 MB cache, 16 cores, as much as 5.1 GHz Turbo) |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, 8 GB GDDR6 |
| RAM | 32GB, 2x16GB, DDR5, 5600 MT/s |
| Storage | 1 TB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD |
| Show | 16-inches, QHD+ decision (2560×1600 Pixels), 240Hz refresh price, 16:10 facet ratio, 100% sRGB colour gamut, 3ms response time, Superior Optimus, CV Plus, Nvidia G-Sync |
I examined Black Fantasy: Wukong at 1920×1200 decision utilizing the “Cinematic” preset. This decision is the closest to 1080p on a 16:10 show.
Though the laptop computer can show and deal with 2K decision due to its QHD+ 2560×1600 display, I examined at 1080p because it’s probably the most accessible and generally used decision for avid gamers in India.
The testing concerned varied upscaling applied sciences supported by Black Fantasy: Wukong, together with the Unreal Engine 5’s Temporal Tremendous Decision (TSR) and Nvidia’s Deep Studying Tremendous Sampling (DLSS) with and with out body era. I additionally tried AMD’s FidelityFX Tremendous Decision (FSR) with and with out body era to see how a lot of a efficiency increase these applied sciences present.
I used CapFrameX to seize the typical fps, in addition to the 0.1% and 1% lows, to evaluate real-world efficiency. We used the in-game benchmark software, setting the scaling to 60% in all instances. Listed here are all the outcomes utilizing varied applied sciences.
TSR efficiency of Black Fantasy: Wukong
| Upscaling and Body Era settings | Common fps | Common 1% low fps | Common 0.1% low fps |
|---|---|---|---|
| TSR | 40 | 28 | 17 |
We obtained a median of 40fps on TSR with out utilizing any upscaling applied sciences or body era. That is on the decrease aspect in comparison with the efficiency of different AAA video games we’ve got seen, akin to Ghost of Tsushima and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, each of which returned with 100+ common fps.
Nvidia DLSS 3 and Body Era
The sport makes use of Nvidia DLSS (Model 3.7.1) upscaling together with body era. As famous above, we noticed a median fps of 40 with no upscaling or body era settings enabled. This elevated barely to 47 with DLSS Extremely Efficiency, however nothing dramatic. Nonetheless, with body era turned on, the typical fps shot previous 60 and even almost doubled in comparison with what DLSS Extremely Efficiency offered.
| Upscaling and Body Era settings | Common fps | Common 1% low fps | Common 0.1% low fps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia DLSS Extremely Efficiency | 47 | 37.9 | 32.8 |
| Nvidia DLSS Balanced | 43 | 34.3 | 29.3 |
| Nvidia DLSS High quality | 41 | 33.2 | 30.4 |
| Nvidia DLSS Extremely Efficiency + Body Era | 80.2 | 38.1 | 14.3 |
| Nvidia DLSS Balanced + Body Era | 68.3 | 50.4 | 35.3 |
| Nvidia DLSS High quality + Body Era | 65.1 | 47.8 | 32.6 |
The typical 0.1% low got here out fairly low when DLSS Extremely Efficiency was used with body era. The 0.1% figures have been constant for different assessments, as seen within the desk. An Unreal Engine 5 recreation may be demanding, even for a laptop computer with a beefy RTX 4070 GPU. The low 0.1% common fps signifies that it may result in stutters and hitches, resulting in a irritating expertise in a fast-paced recreation like this.
AMD FSR and Body Era
Black Fantasy: Wukong additionally helps AMD body era know-how – FidelityFX Tremendous Decision (FSR) (Model 3.1) for upscaling. Throughout my testing, I discovered that AMD FSR was visually worse in comparison with DLSS. Whereas it delivered comparable efficiency, body era didn’t fare as nicely. We consider this subject stems from a buggy implementation of FSR 3.1.
This was fairly evident as the sport saved crashing each time we used FSR 3 with High quality preset with out body era.
| Upscaling and Body Era settings | Common fps | Common 1% low fps | Common 0.1% low fps |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD FSR 3 Extremely Efficiency | 44.9 | 26.8 | 7.7 |
| AMD FSR 3 Balanced | 43.3 | 25.8 | 8.3 |
| AMD FSR 3 High quality | NA | NA | NA |
| AMD FSR 3 Extremely Efficiency + Body Era | 41.5 | 33.5 | 22.3 |
| AMD FSR 3 Balanced + Body Era | 39 | 33.1 | 31.7 |
| AMD FSR 3 High quality + Body Era | 33.1 | 28.2 | 27.2 |
Ray Tracing
Black Fantasy: Wukong presents ray tracing with three presets: low, medium, and really excessive. We used the very excessive preset to check the capabilities of the RTX 4070 cellular GPU.
Ray tracing efficiency had its highs and lows relying on the settings, however total, ray tracing in Black Fantasy: Wukong didn’t impress. Whereas facets of the know-how have been respectable, it didn’t essentially look higher. As a substitute, it simply regarded… totally different. Personally, I most popular having it off, each for efficiency and aesthetic causes. The desk under reveals ray tracing outcomes.
Observe that the sport crashed a number of instances when testing FSR 3 at High quality preset with ray tracing enabled and no body era.
| Upscaling and Body Era settings (with ray tracing enabled) | Common fps | Common 1% low fps | Common 0.1% low fps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia DLSS Extremely Efficiency | 55.7 | 41.2 | 34.2 |
| Nvidia DLSS Balanced | 38.4 | 25.9 | 14.7 |
| Nvidia DLSS High quality | 33 | 25.9 | 23.4 |
| Nvidia DLSS Extremely Efficiency + Body Era | 85.8 | 60.9 | 42.8 |
| Nvidia DLSS Balanced + Body Era | 63.5 | 42.5 | 26.4 |
| Nvidia DLSS High quality + Body Era | 55.1 | 34.6 | 20.3 |
| AMD FSR 3 Extremely Efficiency | 43 | 33.3 | 30.9 |
| AMD FSR 3 Balanced | 36.3 | 28.2 | 25 |
| AMD FSR 3 High quality | NA | NA | NA |
| AMD FSR 3 Extremely Efficiency + Body Era | 41.8 | 31.8 | 23.2 |
| AMD FSR 3 Balanced + Body Era | 35 | 28.1 | 26.9 |
| AMD FSR 3 High quality + Body Era | 22.7 | 17.4 | 15.3 |
As may be seen within the desk, there’s a slight inconsistency (marked daring within the desk) with common 0.1% low fps for Nvidia Balanced with ray tracing enabled. There’s undoubtedly some room for additional enchancment regarding the optimisation of the sport engine.
Efficiency Evaluation
Black Fantasy: Wukong is sort of demanding, and also you’ll want respectable {hardware} to run it. That stated, even PCs and laptops from 2021 with an RTX 3060 can handle it, particularly with AMD’s body era, for the reason that older Nvidia GPUs do not help body era. However the recreation received’t look nice, and since visuals are an enormous promoting level, Black Fantasy: Wukong is just not one the place you need to compromise on graphics for gameplay alone.
Ideally, an Nvidia 40-series GPU is the way in which to go, as Nvidia’s body era know-how works nicely, giving a reasonably respectable FPS increase. Alienware’s m16 R2 that we examined the sport on has the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, with 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, which proved to be virtually sufficient for Black Fantasy: Wukong.
The Verdict
Black Fantasy: Wukong helps a number of upscaling and body era applied sciences, providing gamers flexibility to optimise efficiency. Nonetheless, the execution isn’t flawless, so your outcomes could differ. The sport is demanding and requires upscaling to attain 60 fps on most mid-tier {hardware}. This solely goes to indicate that options akin to body era have develop into essential quite than only a nice-to-have factor in video games. Fortunately, there’s a free benchmark software obtainable, which is sort of correct, so you’ll be able to see if the sport will run in your machine earlier than buying.
Acquired any information suggestions, or need to talk about a potential story? Electronic mail us at ign_india@ign.com
Rayan Sayyed is a workers author for IGN India with a main concentrate on Asian leisure spanning from anime, manga, video games to movies and dramas from the East. You’ll be able to attain out to him at rayan_sayyed@ign.com, or discover him on Twitter @rayanaver and Instagram @rayansayyed
