![]() Even at 4K, the game averaged 60 FPS with settings maxed. Framerates exceeded 100 frames per second with settings turned to Extreme. With ray tracing off, I wasn’t surprised to see great results at both 1080p and 1440p. Since that might be a little unfair, I disabled SLI to get closer to what the average RTX owner might see. I tested DLSS in Metro Exodus on the Origin Millennium, which includes not one but two GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics cards. At CES 2019, the company addressed criticism over how taxing ray tracing was in testing of Battlefield V. We don’t know all the specifics about what this process does behind the scenes, but Nvidia has spoken about it as a performance boost that can compensate for ray tracing. Unlike ray tracing, which is all about improving visuals, DLSS (deep learning super-sampling) is supposed to improve performance. Metro in 1440p with DLSS and ray tracing enabled. DLSS saves performance, but sacrifices visuals Metro’s ray tracing still feels like an early glimpse of what the technology can really do - and for the performance hit the game takes, it might not be worth it. Apparently, there are some more outdoor environments later on that could make ray tracing more noticeable, but it doesn’t feel like a prominent part of the game in my experience. The decision to apply ray tracing only to natural light sources in a game that mostly takes places underground is noteworthy. ![]() I found myself constantly flipping the feature on and off, and rarely could I see any difference. The scene above was an extreme example, and also a rare one. The problem? There’s not many places where ray tracing was easy to notice. I won’t guess the developer’s intent, but the darker atmosphere certainly fits the tone of the game as a whole. With it turned on, I couldn’t easily navigate without the flashlight on. Without ray tracing on, using a flashlight was completely unnecessary in this part of the scenario. This had an impact on the game experience. Turning off ray tracing left those areas visible. Corners of the rooms away from the light were very dark. Turning on ray tracing meant bedrooms appeared significantly darker, with light only piercing through in specific areas. I noticed the impact of ray tracing while climbing down the stairs of a decrepit building, full of holes and windows where light could shine through. That’s why I didn’t notice a visual difference before. See, in Metro, ray tracing is only applied to natural light sources - so, the sun and the sky. That all changed when the game led us outside for the first time. ![]() Metro Exodus is a beautiful title, but the only thing ray tracing did was hamper performance. Lit candles and glowing green mushrooms looked no different with ray tracing on or off. The introductory scenes include a dark, abandoned subway station and the soft-lit rooms of The Order home base. So I was a bit surprised when I didn’t notice much of a difference. It gave us plenty of time to tiptoe through environments and take in the world. The post-apocalyptic Metro Exodus is slower. Battlefield V is often too fast-paced to really appreciate the feature’s subtle details. It’s creepy, atmospheric, and relies heavily on lighting to create its tone. Metro Exodus is the perfect game to show off ray tracing. So, does DLSS make ray tracing better, or make its problem even worse? Tracing rays in Metro Exodus Along with the recent DLSS patch for Battlefield V, we’re finally able to see what Nvidia’s promises mean in the real world.
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