Astro Bot Receives Exciting PS5 Pro Update with Enhanced Features and New Levels
By Astro Bot has released an update for the PS5 Pro, version 1.012, claiming “an enhanced experience” for the game on the console at “a consistent optimal resolution” at 60fps – but what does it actually achieve? That was the question we intended to answer in this week’s DF Update, and the explanation is a bit more intricate than we anticipated with the shift to dynamic resolution.
To summarize, the game seems to be utilizing PSSR, PlayStation Spectral Reconstruction. This upscaling technology replaces the previous TAA and offers superior image quality in most – but not all – scenarios by emphasizing a 4K output resolution. This mix of outcomes is somewhat typical regarding PS5 Pro enhancements, where certain titles and scenes align particularly well with the method (e.g., Final Fantasy Rebirth), while others might show less significant improvements (e.g., Star Wars Jedi: Survivor).
Aliasing appears to be mitigated in still images, and PSSR generally looks crisper in various situations – in contrast, the TAA method might produce sharper or softer visuals depending on the complexity of the scene, with variations that can sometimes be undetectable.
Screen space reflections (SSR) also seem to appear slightly worse with the PSSR technique, likely due to PSSR’s somewhat less refined approach to denoising, though there isn’t a significant difference between the two patch versions.
Overall, the latest version with PSSR generally looks better, exhibiting less aliasing and a sharper appearance, with the noise observed in certain scenes being somewhat difficult to notice at a standard TV viewing distance.
This is despite the new technique resulting in lower internal resolutions, as testing three shots revealed drops from 1872p to 1368p and from 2160p to 1872p with the new patch. The PSSR method incurs an additional cost compared to standard TAA, which explains the difference in resolution. Performance remains steady at a locked 60fps, so there are no changes in that regard.
| Shot 1 | Shot 2 | Shot 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PS5 Pro Patch 1.011 | 1872p | 2160p | 2160p |
| PS5 Pro Patch 1.012 | 1368p | 1872p | 1872p |
Ultimately, we observed some variations in how distant shadow maps were typically rendered in the new patch. This may be attributed to differences in filtering or resolution, with the results in the new patch tending to appear softer yet less aliased compared to the previous version.
Apart from the technical adjustments, the update also introduces a new galaxy and additional features.