[GameSpot] - Returnal Launches February 15 On PC, Requirements And Features Revealed

[343iBot]

Housemarque and Sony have confirmed that Returnal will officially launch on PC on February 15, giving users on that platform a chance to explore the deadly planet of Atropos that was previously a PS5-exclusive destination. Additionally, the developer also shared more details on the PC features that this version of the game will contain.

For anyone looking to get the most performance bang for their buck, Returnal on PC will support Nvidia DLSS and AMD FSR, upscaling technologies that'll allow you to increase the quality of a game without having to compromise on the resolution. For users who don't have an Nvidia card that supports DLSS, Nvidia NIS has been added to help them out.

Like other PlayStation games that have landed on PC, you can also expect ray-traced shadows and reflections, which Housemarque says will make the contrast of a dark setting and neon bullets pop out more than ever before. Two new wide-resolution formats, Ultrawide at 21:9 and Super Ultrawide 32:9, will be supported. On the audio side of the equation, Dolby Atmos, two 3D audio solutions, and surround sound for 5.1 and 7.1 setups can be toggled between.

The PC requirements for the game are also quite generous, ranging from a 720p 60fps performance being possible on older Nvidia GTX 1060 and Radeon RX 580 GPUs. On the opposite end of the graphical scale, you'll need an Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti or Radeon RX 6950 XT to see all those fancy lighting effects running at 4K 60fps. For storage, you'll need 60GB of available space on your PC--much better than Forspoken's monstrous requirement--with an SSD being necessary if you plan to play the game at medium or higher graphical settings.

Returnal PC Requirements

Returnal minimum PC requirements

• Average performance: 720P at 60fps
• Graphics settings: Low
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB) / AMD Radeon RX 580 (8 GB)
• Intel Core i5-6400 (4 core 2.7GHz) / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (4 core 3.5GHz)
• 16 GB DDR4
• 60 GB HDD (SSD recommended)

Returnal medium PC requirements

• Average performance: 1080p at 60fps
• Graphics settings: Medium
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB) / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6 GB)
• Intel Core i5-8400 (6 core 2.8GHz) / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (6 core 3.4GHZ)
• 16 GB DDR4
• 60 GB SSD

Returnal recommended PC requirements

• Average performance: 1080p at 60fps
• Graphics settings: High
• Nvidia RTX 2070 Super (8 GB) / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12 GB)
• Intel i7-8700 (6 core 3.7 GHz) / AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (8 core 3.7 GHz)
• 16 GB DDR4
• 60 GB SSD

Returnal epic PC requirements

• Average performance: 4K at 60fps
• Graphics settings: Epic
• AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (16 GB)
• Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (16 GB)
• Intel i7-9700K (8 core 3.7 GHz) / AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (8 core 3.6 GHz)
• 32 GB DDR4
• 60 GB SSD

Returnal ultra PC requirements

• Average performance: at 60fps
• Graphics settings: Epic
• Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) / AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (16 GB)
• Intel i9-11900K (8 core 3.5 GHz) / AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (12 core 3.7 GHz)
• 32 GB DDR4
• 60 GB SSD

"Returnal is constantly unsettling and consistently challenging. Its mysterious story and demanding action feel intense, urgent, and fresh, Mike Epstein wrote in GameSpot's Returnal review. "The fast-moving combat manages to appear incredibly daunting, bordering on overwhelming, without ever actually becoming insurmountable. Every moment is a rush, either because you just barely evaded a giant purple laser or because you have no idea why there's an Apollo-era astronaut following your every move."

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