Fortnite's Unreal Engine 5 Upgrade Reviewed - Lumen/Nanite at 60FPS - PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S + PC!

Fortnite's full Unreal Engine 5 upgrade has arrived, delivering cutting-edge next-gen rendering features like Lumen global illumination and Nanite geometry at 60fps on PS5, Xbox Series X and even Series S! How big of an upgrade is it? How do the consoles compare? And what further features does PC bring to the party? John Linneman and Alex Battaglia have the answers!

[SnipeyFox]

Gotta hand it to Epic, Unreal Engine 5 is such a step up. Was a real visual treat jumping in when the new chapter dropped

[recordatron]

I love how ray traced features can make otherwise quite basic looking games look absolutely jaw dropping. It's pretty wild how much lighting and reflections can enhance even fairly basic looking textures and environments.

[sleeplessindefatigable]

The most impressive thing to me here is the trees. They look so much better it's worth the upgrade just for that. Foliage has always been a bugbear for me, and it looks like LumeNite has finally given us trees that can be modelled down to the bark texture and the thickness of the leaves.

[lyconxero]

I've been extremely impressed with UE5 ever since it was first announced and showcased but actually seeing Epic showcase a REAL GAME using UE5 with all the new features running at 60FPS is just amazing.

[marvel]

This is absolutely insane. Can't wait for what games will look like in 5 years once this has been perfected.

[Ozziw]

I love that Unreal 1 reference at 10:50, with the camera panning around the castle and the original music playing in the background <3 Such a nice touch!

[musguelha]

It really does look beautiful, it reminds me of when Minecraft got its RT version and a simple cube world suddenly looked stunning.

[JerryFlowersIII]

I didn't realize how transformative it would be to have basically no LOD transitions with Nanite.
Everything just looks so full and with the shadows going so far out it looks really good.

[aracer]

I knew the 5.1 update was impressive looking, but that is insane the amount of detail and the upgrades it brought. At some point in the next 2-3 years we will start seeing true next gen games based on these features. I’m excited to see what the other engine makers bring and what else unreal can do.

[James-crmt]

these new lighting techniques are absolutely gorgeous. scenes look so much more natural (especially darker areas like under shelters and inside buildings.

[joewickham]

Nanite+Lumen is such a game changer for video games graphics. That combined with the more advance reconstruction techniques ( temporal to DLSS ) we have a bright pathed traced future ahead of us for video game graphics.

[xenuCS]

I don't even like Fortnite but when I saw the announcement I instantly downloaded it to explore UE5.1 - can't wait for other titles utilizing lumen & nanite.

[HShango]

I've got to be honest, I saw the trailer and indeed see the improvements across the board, well done to Epic for delivering on that.

[devinprizmic]

If you were ever to revisit this, a pretty impressive looking new fire effect utilizing the new lighting has also been added if you use something flammable or explosive to ignite flammable objects.

[Goldieleaf]

Just thought I’d point this out here in case anyone is confused 17:17 the series X and S also have water ripples like the PS5 ver but since the PS5 gameplay is actually playing while the other two are spectating it’s disabled.

[blendernoob]

10:50 AWESOME THROWBACK JOHN! Remember guys, Epic’s history is so storied and fascinating. They have made an impact on every generation of gamer, from Epic Pinball, to Unreal to Gears to Infinity Blade to Fortnite

[mitchboland]

Really hoping this becomes more widely-used tech. Lighting like this is game changing

[shadewoodchair]

This is what I think of when I hear "Next Gen". I absolutely CANNOT wait until Lumen and Nanite in UE5 are commonplace in new titles. Truly ground breaking stuff to a degree that I honestly don't think has happened since before my time gaming.

A+ inclusion of Unreal 1 and Uru: Ages Beyond Myst soundtracks, both milestones in real time rendering of high detail. You know your history! The recreation of Unreal's castle flight is awesome. If only that camera could roll.

[Tekaisuwu]

Exactly the video I wanted to pop up in my recommended! Since Fortnite chapter 4 released, every other day I would search “Fortnite Lumen and Nanite showcase” but could never find an actual deep dive/analysis. Thank you for the great content!