Xbox Series X back-compat tested: up to double the performance in the most demanding games

UPDATE: Sometimes, we just can't leave well enough alone. I returned to Xbox Series X to take a look at more Xbox One and Xbox One X titles running under backwards compatibility, as Microsoft releases more games to journalists in its preview programme. It's an opportunity to check out some of Xbox One's most challenging games, including one of the most CPU-limited games of the generation - Just Cause 3. Can the power of the Zen 2 CPU architecture rid an excellent title of its terrible performance problems? The answer is yes. On top of that, we look at games like Ark: Survival Evolved and Assetto Corsa Competizione - the hardcore driving simulation that fails to impress mostly because of its performance issues.

On top of that, we take a look at games that don't benefit so much from the new machine - mostly owing to them already being well optimised for the performance targets they have - Red Dead Redemption 2 being a good case in point. However, this does mean that some big opportunities for genuinely transformative experiences don't happen. So, Batman: Return to Arkham is still limited to 30fps in Arkham City while Arkham Asylum retains its baffling 45fps frame-rate cap. Clearly, it's still the games that have unlocked frame-rate modes that benefit most: The Evil Within 2 delivers a night and day improvement, while The Vanishing of Ethan Carter can finally be enjoyed at a locked 60fps at native 4K resolution.

We also take a look at Rainbow Six Siege - a benchmark game of sorts. To our knowledge, it's the only game on Xbox One that can actually run with v-sync fully enabled and frame-rate totally unlocked (in single-player modes at least). It's also got its own in-game frame-rate counter, allowing us to see how both Xbox One X and Series X compare in identical content. Oh, and finally, we look at a transformative experience of another sort. Ninja Theory's Hellblade has a 60fps mode that produces very blurry visuals on Xbox One X. The same code with 2x GPU performance delivers a night and day improvement.

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