Release date: 2012
Genre: Action / RPG / Fantasy
developer: Software
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games
Venture into a dark and harsh world filled with despair. Your fate will depend on your ability to correctly assess the situation and build a behavioral strategy, learn quickly and be unpredictable. Dark Souls will require your absolute concentration and will severely punish your mistakes. However, as you die you will become stronger!
Each challenge is a puzzle with an infinite number of solutions. First of all, you will need the ability to think strategically in order to defeat numerous opponents and complete your journey.
| THE GRAFICAL PART |
This subsection of our review highlights the main graphical aspects of this game. Particular attention is paid to the version of the graphics engine used, the version of the API used, graphic settings and the quality of development of the main visual aspects.
| Supported OS and graphics API |
Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition is supported on major Windows operating systems, which include Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Other operating systems are not currently supported by developers and are unlikely to receive support.
The priority and main graphics API for the PC version is DirectX 9.
| Game engine |
Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition engine is a product of From Software’s own development. The engine was designed to work exclusively on consoles, and the fact that this game was adapted for PC is the result of requests from fans of the series who want to see their favorite entertainment on personal computers.
Unfortunately, we could not find more detailed information about the game engine, except for these press releases.
| Advanced Game Settings |
Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition has virtually no graphics settings – all settings boil down to changing the resolution and turning full-screen anti-aliasing on and off. What can I say – a real example of a console port on a PC.
Those who like to play with graphics skip Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition…
| General visual design and game physics |
Having launched the game Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition, at first I thought that I was 15 years back in time, then, looking at the pile of pieces of iron next to me, I came to my senses and realized that I was in the present time… The developers only carelessly ported the game to PC, teaching it in the form that was on consoles. The game already looks like a project from the day before yesterday, and on PC all its shine disappears completely…
The adaptation for PC was simply terrible. Even though we have the ability to change the resolution, the picture is still blurry and unclear. Changing the screen resolution only adjusts the picture to the monitor. The maximum the picture can handle is a resolution of 1280×720. Another minus is the control – we have a gamepad – we play, but we don’t have it – we suffer in hellish suffering…
Well, then we will move directly to gaming tests and determine what impact this game has on modern computer hardware.
| TEST PART |
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Test configuration |
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test stands |
Test bench No. 1 based on the Intel Socket 2 platform011 Test bench No. 2 based on the Intel Socket 1155 platform Test bench No. 3 based on the Intel Socket 1366 platform Test bench No. 4 based on the Intel Socket 115 platform6 Test bench No. 5 based on the AMD Soket AM platform3 Test bench No. 6 based on the AMD Soket AM3 platform Test bench No. 7 based on the AMD Soket AM platform2 Test bench No. 8 based on the Intel Socket 1155 platform Test bench No. 9 based on the AMD Soket AM3 platform Test bench No. 10 based on the AMD Soket AM3 platform+ |
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Multimedia equipment |
3D monitor LG W2363D Monitor LG E2750 Dell U3010 monitor product provided by the company AMD 3D Vision Kit product provided by the company Nvidia |
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Software configuration |
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Operating system |
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Edition x64 SP1 |
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Graphics driver |
Nvidia GeForce/ION Driver Release 304.79 AMD Catalyst 12.8 |
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Monitoring program |
MSI Afterburner v2.2.3 |
| GPU test |
All video cards were tested at maximum graphics quality using MSI Afterburner. The purpose of the test is to determine how video cards from different manufacturers behave under the same conditions. The average FPS was taken as a performance indicator. Below is a video of a test inside a gaming benchmark for video cards:
Our video cards were tested at different screen sizes of 2560×1600. With other settings, there was no point in testing Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition, since we have a 30 FPS limit and very poor graphics.
Testing at maximum quality settings 2560×1600
Well, what can I say, all of our participants in our fleet of video cards handled this game on an equal footing. Knowing what the game was, we would not have tested it, but it was too late; the key was in our hands and there was nowhere to go. The game for PC was released not for graphomaniacs, but for hardcore fans of the highest level…
| VRAM test |
Testing of video memory consumed by the game was carried out by the program MSI Afterburner. The indicator was based on results on top video cards from AMD and NVIDIA with separate screen sizes 1680×1050, 1920×1080 and 1920×1200.
Testing at maximum memory GPU quality settings
The minimum amount of video memory used for Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition is at least 256 MB of video memory, while the optimal amount would be about 386 MB of video memory.
| CPU test |
We tested processor dependence on 12 models of basic configurations that are relevant today. The test was carried out in those places where the value of video cards for the game is minimal and its load was less than 99%, this time at a resolution of 2560×1600 with maximum graphics quality settings.
Testing at minimum quality settings 2560×1600
Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition showed itself in the same way in terms of processor dependence as when testing video cards, and frankly speaking, 30 FPS is no more, no less.
| RAM test |
Testing of the RAM consumed by the game was carried out by monitoring directly through the Windows task manager. The test was carried out on the basic configuration of Core i 7 [email protected] GHz with 8GB DDR3 2400 MGz pre-installed video memory.
Testing at various quality settings
The amount of RAM consumed in Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition is at the level of 400 megabytes.
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Rate the test |
Rate the graphics |
Evaluate optimization |