Cyberpunk 2077 - review and comparison of graphic settings.

In today's graphics review, we'll look at graphics settings and their impact on picture quality in the most anticipated game of the year - Cyberpunk 2077. Let's move on directly to testing.

The first point is Quick quality adjustment. In this item, you can choose between 6 parameters: “Low”, “Medium”, “High”, “Impressive”, “Ray Tracing: Medium”, “Ray Tracing: Ultra”. As you can see from the screenshots, the difference between “Ray Tracing: Medium” and “Ray Tracing: Ultra” is clearly visible: the reflection in the puddles disappears, and there is no volume in the game space. Let's move on to the "Impressive" option. Blurring disappears, Ray tracing is automatically disabled. At “High” the shadows become unnatural and a clearly defined graininess appears. At “Medium” settings, ray tracing is disabled, which gives the image an unnatural appearance. When you switch to “Low,” all shadows are turned off.

Texture quality. Has 3 parameters: “Low”, “Medium”, “High”. When comparing “Medium” and “High”, what is striking is the resolution of posters on buildings, the detailing of asphalt (puddles, small objects), there is no reflection on cars and sidewalks, and small objects on buildings lose their clarity. There is a difference between “Low” and “Medium”. Objects disappear on the roofs of buildings, textures become blurred, and graffiti on the asphalt becomes unclear.

Let's move on to graphic post effects, which allow you to give the picture a “cinematic” look.

Grain. Grain in games imitates the effect of old film and makes them more cinematic. And somewhere it really looks stylish.

Chromatic aberration. The effect is used as a stylistic device, but in dynamics it does not always look good.

Depth of field. The depth of field tries to imitate a person's eyes. In games, the effect is used to focus the camera on some object - be it a character or an important object.

Glare. The developers didn't overdo them. The highlights in the game help with immersion and give it a cinematic feel.

Let's move on to graphic settings.

contact shadows. There are 2 parameters in section: Off, On. The difference between the parameters is clearly visible. Shadows add realism to the game, as well as volume to objects and characters.

Improved lighting of facial geometry. 2 parameters. No difference was noticed between Off and On.

Next comes Anisotropic filtering. This item has 4 parameters: 1x, 4x, 8x, 16x. There is slight distortion between 8x and 16x. When switching to 4x, the drawing distance changes. At 1x the Draw Distance is reduced.

Object quality for local shadows. Has 3 parameters. The setting only affects the believability of the shadows - the objects you see will not change. When you switch to “Medium” settings, the palm tree noticeably “goes bald”, which does not correspond to reality. There is no difference between “Low” and “Medium”.

Quality of local shadows. 4 options: Off, “Low”, “Medium”, “High”. There is a difference between “Medium” and “High”, the edges of the shadow are blurry. When switching to “Low” there is no difference. If we turn this parameter off, then of course the shadows will disappear.

Range of cascading shadow maps. 3 parameters. The difference between the parameters is clearly visible in the desert. Let's compare "High" and "Medium". The difference is clearly visible; the distance at which shadows are drawn changes. At "Low" the range remains, but the near shadows become more transparent.

Resolution of cascaded shadow maps. 3 parameters. At the Medium setting, some shadows disappear and become transparent. On “Low” the difference is minimal.

Resolution of distant shadows. Has 2 parameters: “Low”, “High”. At “Low” settings they become unrealistic and dark.

Volumetric fog resolution. Has 4 parameters. No difference was noticed between “High” and “Impressive”. When you switch to Medium, the fog looks like one heap. When switching to “Low”, no difference was noticed.

Volumetric cloud quality. Has 4 parameters. There is no noticeable difference between “High” and “Impressive”, “Average” and “High”. At “Low” the clouds disappear.

Maximum dynamic decals. Has 4 parameters. No difference was noticed.

Reflection quality. 6 parameters. There are minimal differences between all the parameters, but the “Incredible” option requires a decent amount of resources.

Surface dispersion quality. No difference was noticed.

Diffuse shading. 4 parameters. With the Off setting, little visual change will occur.

The quality of reflections in the mirror. Has 3 parameters. The difference between “Medium” and “High” is noticeably visible, the reflection becomes soapy. When switching to “Low”, the effect intensifies, and distortion of objects in the mirror is also visible.

Level of detail. Standard 3 parameters. There is no noticeable difference between “Medium” and “High”. At “Low”, small details on the car disappear, and the headlights also increase in intensity.

Ray tracing. Has 2 parameters: Off, On. The comparison was made at 2 locations. Let's look at the first one (city). The first thing that catches your eye when the parameter is turned off is water; it completely loses its structure. The city becomes flat and gray. The shadow on the water lies motionless. Let's move on to the next location (desert). Here, too, the advantages of RTX technology are clearly visible. You find yourself not in a dead, painted desert, but in a real universe.

Reflection with ray tracing. Again, the attention is drawn to the water, which becomes a layer. The windows on the car become opaque and the car itself looks flat.

Ray-traced shadows. Shadows have a more realistic look and the edges are blurred.

Ray tracing lighting. 4 parameters. There is no noticeable difference between “Impressive” and “Incredible”. When you switch to “Medium” the room gets darker. With the Off setting, the lighting appears unnatural.

DLSS. Has 5 parameters: Off, “Automatic”, “Performance”, “Balance”, “Quality”, “Ultra Performance”. There is a difference between Off and “Quality”; the water is more pleasing to the eye, but the image becomes soapy. If you compare “Balance” and “Performance” the difference is visible in the lighting and clearer scratches appear on the car. On the “Ultra Performance” parameter there are no reflections in puddles and everything is soapy. When comparing “Automatic” and “Quality” there is not much difference.

So, let's summarize. The optimization in the game is terrible. Most graphics settings do not change the visual component of the game, but they load the processor and video card. The game can easily be considered the disappointment of the year!

A test of video cards and processors at all quality settings is available in our test review!