The best shooter pros in the world play with the worst graphics – so should you
Many professionals play first-person shooters in low settings and deliberately forego graphic splendor. MeinMMO explains why this is so and why you should try it too.
Grass that moves gently in the wind, massive explosions or detailed faces that look almost lifelike: all of this looks great in our eyes and many users can’t get enough of it. For some gamers, the more beautiful the game, the better, and many are looking forward to the most beautiful MMORPGs to come.
But most pros miss out on all those fine details that many games have to offer. At least for shooters. But why do so many deliberately avoid it and prefer to play on low settings? MeinMMO explains what’s behind it.
Graphic highlights only provide a distraction for professionals
Why do professionals do without pretty graphics? For professionals, these graphic details have no advantage and no practical value. Grass obscures the view here and a low view range lets professionals see the opponents much later.
Above all, professionals rely on high performance and a stable frame rate. Because a high frame rate is especially important in games where you have to react quickly to opponents.
Why is framerate so important? The higher your frame rate, the faster you can see your opponent and the smoother the game will feel. You can see how much of an impact this has in the following YouTube video:
You will feel the difference between 60 and 144 FPS the most. While the movements look almost jerky at 60 FPS, the movements at 144 FPS don’t look as mechanical and are already much more fluid. And you can hit the opponents much better. If you want to benefit from high frame rates, you also need a good, powerful monitor that can also display high frame rates.
If you want high frame rates on the PS5 or Xbox Series X, you still have to pay attention to a few important features when buying a television.
A YouTuber tested with some professionals how much high frame rates make when gaming. The result is pretty clear:
Streamer shroud tests: Does a 144Hz monitor make you a better shooter player?
What else matters? Hitboxes play a role in shooters. These are the areas you need to hit the enemy for damage. The hitboxes are always the same on high and low settings.
However, powerful explosions or other graphic effects can obscure the hitboxes, so that you see the opponent much too late. Many professionals therefore do without pretty graphic effects.
- The former Overwatch pro Seagull is now playing Apex Legends and for example does without a number of settings in his settings or sets them to an absolute minimum (via prosettings.com).
- The CS:GO professional “Device” also omits many settings and does without anti-aliasing or high-resolution shadows (via prosettings.com).
- The well-known CoD player Nickmercs does without extensive shadow display or post-processing effects in his settings (via prosettings.com).
Do all pros gamble on low details? No, there are also streamers who play with full details. For example, the well-known Twitch streamer Ninja Apex Legends gambles on maximum details (via prosettings.com).
High graphics settings do not bring you any advantage in terms of gameplay
What good is beautiful graphics? If you’re playing a competitive game like a fast-paced first-person shooter, then pretty graphics won’t give you an advantage over your opponents. Massive explosions or pretty representations are only for the optics and offer you no advantage in terms of gameplay.
In fact, in the worst case, the opposite is usually the case: if you play on maximum settings, your frame rate will drop, depending on your hardware. And so you have disadvantages compared to users who can gamble with a significantly higher frame rate.
Therefore, always check how smoothly your game is running when you gamble. A good indicator can be the minimum requirements of the game. If you want to get more FPS out of your game, it’s always worth adjusting the graphics settings.
If you already own a good gaming monitor and have already got the best out of your graphics settings, you can also get new equipment elsewhere. For example, you can take a look at our recommendations for gaming mice. Here we recommend a suitable gaming mouse for every type of gamer:
The best gaming mice you can currently buy
Reference-mein-mmo.de