Black Myth: Wukong is making waves in the gaming community, already setting new records on Steam. This remarkable feat is particularly noteworthy for a title that has spent the last four years primarily showcasing its technological prowess. The game’s ambitious graphics requirements are among the most demanding seen in recent history, yet with careful adjustments to settings, players can enjoy the experience without needing the latest high-end graphics cards.
Graphics tweaks are a must
For those eager to dive into Black Myth: Wukong, a word of caution: simply cranking up the graphics settings to maximum may not yield the best results. Even with an RTX 4090, achieving optimal performance with all settings maxed out is a challenge. The game offers extensive options for optimization, and neglecting these settings could detract from the overall experience. Much like Alan Wake 2, Black Myth: Wukong is visually stunning, even if some settings must be dialed back.
Testing various graphics cards at different resolutions revealed that none could maintain 60 frames per second (fps) at native resolution with the Cinematic or Very High presets. The High preset, while more manageable, still demands significant resources. However, the performance gains are more pronounced when adjusting from High to Medium and Low settings, providing a clearer path to optimizing gameplay without sacrificing too much visual quality.
How I tweaked Black Myth: Wukong
After conducting extensive benchmarking within Black Myth: Wukong, I compiled two sets of recommended settings tailored for different resolutions: one for 1080p and another for 1440p and 4K. The latter resolutions benefit more from upscaling, while 1080p requires a closer adherence to native resolution for optimal performance.
For 1440p and 4K, the following settings are advisable:
- Super Resolution: 58% to 75% (adjust based on frame rate)
- Super Resolution Sampling: DLSS (FSR when DLSS isn’t available)
- Frame Generation: On (switch off if lower than 45 fps before turning on)
- Full Ray Tracing: Off
- Graphics Preset: Custom
- View Distance Quality: Very High
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: Very High
- Post Effects Quality: High
- Shadow Quality: High
- Texture Quality: Very High
- Visual Effect Quality: High
- Hair Quality: Medium
- Vegetation Quality: Very High
- Global Illumination Quality: High
- Reflection Quality: Very High
These settings leverage frame generation and upscaling, allowing for a balance between performance and visual fidelity. A comparison of these optimized settings against the Low and Cinematic presets reveals that while the latter offers greater depth, the custom settings provide a commendable visual experience.
For 1080p, the approach shifts slightly due to limited performance gains from upscaling. Here are the recommended settings:
- Super Resolution: 80% to 100% (adjust based on frame rate)
- Super Resolution Sampling: DLSS (FSR when DLSS isn’t available)
- Frame Generation: On (switch off if lower than 45 fps before turning on)
- Full Ray Tracing: Off
- Graphics Preset: Custom
- View Distance Quality: High
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: High
- Post Effects Quality: Medium
- Shadow Quality: Medium
- Texture Quality: High
- Visual Effect Quality: Medium
- Hair Quality: Low
- Vegetation Quality: High
- Global Illumination Quality: Medium
- Reflection Quality: High
Regardless of the resolution, Black Myth: Wukong will flag any settings that exceed recommended levels, including upscaling beyond 66%, which can be a point of frustration for players with powerful systems.
Upscaling required
Upscaling is a critical component of the gaming experience in Black Myth: Wukong. The game does not allow for the complete disabling of upscaling; instead, it features a resolution slider that ranges from 25% to 100%. At 100%, the game runs at native resolution while employing upscalers for anti-aliasing.
Players have access to a variety of upscaling technologies, including AMD’s FSR 3, Nvidia’s DLSS 3, and Intel’s XeSS, along with Unreal Engine 5’s Temporal Super Resolution (TSR). For those equipped with DLSS 3, it is the recommended choice for balancing performance and image quality. While FSR may enhance performance, it often compromises visual fidelity, and XeSS, while closer to DLSS in image quality, tends to lag in performance. TSR serves as a fallback for those unable to utilize the other upscalers.
At 4K resolution, the advantages of upscaling are most pronounced, allowing players to reduce internal resolution while still enjoying solid performance and visual quality. However, at 1080p, the gains from upscaling are minimal, leading to increased CPU strain and less effective image quality.
Frame generation is also supported, with DLSS 3 frame generation available for RTX 40-series GPUs and FSR 3 frame generation for others. However, players cannot decouple frame generation from upscaling, necessitating a choice between the two.
Tracing paths
The most demanding feature in Black Myth: Wukong is undoubtedly full ray tracing, or path tracing, which utilizes a comprehensive lighting system that significantly impacts performance. While the visual depth achieved through path tracing is impressive, the game still performs admirably with Unreal Engine’s software-based Lumen, even when path tracing is disabled.
Path tracing, while visually stunning, may not be feasible for all players, particularly those using AMD graphics cards or even some of Nvidia’s latest GPUs without frame generation. Although the game offers various quality settings, they remain taxing on hardware.
8GB graphics cards are safe
Fortunately, 8GB graphics cards can handle Black Myth: Wukong without issue, at least without path tracing enabled. Even at 4K with the Cinematic preset, the RTX 4080 utilized only 7GB of video memory. This low VRAM usage is likely due to the game’s limited draw distance at lower settings, suggesting that 8GB cards should perform adequately throughout the game.
Crashing on 13th-gen and 14th-gen CPUs
Intel users may encounter stability issues with Black Myth: Wukong, particularly those with 13th-gen and 14th-gen CPUs, who may experience crashes accompanied by an “out of video memory” error. The developers have acknowledged this issue and provided guidance on how to mitigate it, though my own testing did not replicate any crashes.
Black Myth: Wukong on PC — the verdict
In summary, Black Myth: Wukong is a demanding title that can challenge even the most powerful systems, yet it offers a wealth of options for players to tailor their experience. With a robust graphics menu and the latest gaming technologies, the game is well-optimized for a range of hardware. However, it is not without its flaws, such as the missed opportunity for Ray Reconstruction and a graphics menu that may not always guide users effectively. The emphasis on upscaling could also pose challenges for those gaming at 1080p. As the gaming landscape evolves, Black Myth: Wukong stands as a testament to the potential of modern gaming technology.
