Does MW2 have ray tracing on PS5?
No, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 does not support real-time ray tracing effects on PlayStation 5 at launch. This applies across all platforms – ray tracing is not enabled in the PC version either as of November 2022.
Why No Ray Tracing in MW2?
Infinity Ward focused on achieving silky smooth gameplay and high framerates as their key technical goal for Modern Warfare 2. Based on comments from studio developers, adding resource-intensive ray traced effects would have compromised their 120fps ambitions.
For example, MW2 Animation Director Mark Grigsby stated:
"We’re really focused on having high framerates [and] having really responsive controls".
They opted not to pursue ray tracing integration given MW2‘s shooter gameplay emphasis on speed and precision. Past COD titles with RT like Black Ops Cold War took significant framerate hits when enabling those features.
However, Infinity Ward‘s heavily customized IW9 engine still enables impressive baseline visuals without ray tracing. Upgrades include photogrammetric scanning, Physically Based Rendering, improved volumetric lighting, and other enhancements realized through the PS5 and Xbox Series X power.
Could MW2 Support Ray Tracing in The Future?
Possibly! Depending on the specific ray tracing implementation, the performance impact could perhaps be reasonable for consoles.
We can speculate based on other PS5 titles. Marvel‘s Spider-Man added ray traced reflections via a patch while retaining a fairly steady 30fps. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart manages to include ray tracing at a 4K30fps target.
Extrapolating generously, maybe MW2 could reach 1440p60fps with basic ray traced shadows or reflections active? Although 120fps still seems prohibitively expensive.
Resolution and Frame Rates
On PlayStation 5, Modern Warfare 2 renders at a native resolution around 1512p – 1728p based on Digital Foundry‘s analysis. Their first breakdown suggests 80% to 88% of full 4K.
To boost this further, MW2 utilizes a custom temporal reconstruction upscaling technique. Images from prior frames are referenced to intelligently re-sample and enhance detail in real-time. This allows the rendered view to fill an ultra sharp 4K display panel despite the lower base rendering resolution.
Comparing consoles, here is how MW2 shakes out:
| Platform | Campaign Resolution | Multiplayer Resolution | Campaign FPS | Multiplayer FPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | Dynamic 4K | Dynamic 4K | 60fps | 120fps |
| Xbox Series X | Dynamic 4K | Dynamic 4K | 60fps | 120fps |
While the Series X GPU compute power exceeds PS5‘s on paper, both achieve equivalent 4K60/1440p120 performance targets since they are bound by the game‘s design rather than hardware limits.
MW2 PS5 Showcase
See MW2 delivering buttery smoothness in action courtesy of my PlayStation 5 play-throughs this week:
Observe those fluid gunfights maintained at 120fps! When playing the PS5 edition in 120Hz mode, everything feels tremendously reactive. The DualSense controller‘s excellent haptic feedback adds to the next-gen immersion.
So while ray tracing is absent, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 still shines with superb performance only possible thanks to the PS5 hardware powering our gameplay experiences moving forward. What do you think – are the high framerates a worthy trade for ray tracing? Let me know!
