Earlier this summer, Halo franchise director Frank O'Connor explained Halo 5: Guardians' lack of splitscreen as a necessary cut to keep the game running at 60 frames per second. An in-depth examination of Halo 5's graphics by Digital Foundry shows that couch play isn't the only compromise made in keeping the framerate stable.
While this may seem like Digital Foundry coming down harshly on developer 343 Industries, they (and we, as evidenced by our Halo 5 campaign review) are actually rather impressed by the game's ability to rev up to 60 fps, and the dynamic resolution scaling used to maintain it. Shadows may fade in and out of existence and higher-resolution models can "pop" into the scenery, but the framerate almost never budges.
The game looks great no matter how you slice it, this video just gives us a glimpse at how much work really does go into keeping things running smooth. Of course, whether that trade-off is worth it is up to you.
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