Review: Unigine's Valley benchmark gives you room to roam

April 11, 2013

Unigine's gift with benchmarks has always been the deft, artful touch they lend to their number-gobbling glitter engines. From the candlelit crypts in 2007's Sanctuary to the blue skies of 2011's Heaven, they have a long history of serving up the stats with an extra helping of eye candy. With their latest benchmark, Valley, the new twist is size and plenty of it. Think Skyrim meets granola bar commercial, and you're starting to get the picture. They've squeezed a national park into this one. Vast environments set Valley apart from other benchmarks. Heaven fans will feel right at home, as the interface remains unchanged in Valley. Startup presents an attractive options window that offers language selection and visual effects customization. DirectX 9 and 11 APIs are supported, along with OpenGL. Screenshots are saved via hotkey. Most startup options are also available inside the application via a row of buttons along the top of the screen. You can access most startup options ainside the Valley benchmark. The Valley benchmark itself consists of 18 different scripted runs through the environment, from flowerbeds to mountaintops, through rainstorms and dappled sunshine. The depth of focus changes, shadows lengthen, leaves flicker and drops of water splash against the lens of your imaginary camera. It's all quite beguiling. At the end you're presented with a raw score and the FPS numbers (avg/min/max). That's not a lot, but it's enough to gauge gaming potential in a general fashion. As in past Unigine offerings, you can also opt out of the canned benchmark runs and explore the environment at will, either gravity-bound on foot or as a floating camera. While this was a fun sideline in Heaven, Valley's enormous size makes nature hikes through its meticulously designed forests a true holodeck-style pleasure. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2033736/review-unigines-valley-benchmark-gives-you-room-to-roam.html#tk.rss_reviews