Black Myth: Wukong Benchmark Tool Offers Insights into Performance Before Launch

The recent release of the new benchmark tool for Black Myth: Wukong by Game Science, the studio behind the eagerly awaited soulslike action title, has caught my attention. This tool is designed to assess the compatibility of your system ahead of the game's anticipated launch on August 20.

Offered for free on Steam, the benchmark is just shy of 8GB in size and features a short scene from the game’s universe. Similar to other benchmarking tools, the scene is rendered in real time, giving you the option to choose from various preset configurations or customize your own graphics settings, culminating in a display that reveals your performance metrics.

Captivated by the concept, I opted to experiment with it on my personal system. The benchmarking procedure is swift, completed in mere moments, and I found myself engaging with it for a short while. My computer, while still capable, is a few years old and has had difficulty running some recent titles like Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Remnant 2.

Considering that Black Myth: Wukong is being created on Unreal Engine 5 and consistently boasts breathtaking visuals in its trailers, I had concerns about how it would perform on my machine. Thankfully, the benchmark alleviated these worries, yielding some encouraging results.

With the recommended high preset, utilizing FSR super resolution sampling by default at 1080p, my computer managed to maintain an average of 89fps throughout the scene. It even reached highs of 102fps during less demanding segments, with a few inconsequential dips to 23fps. Overall, the performance exceeded my expectations, especially for my more budget-oriented Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU.

Notably, the performance remained consistently strong even after enabling ray tracing. At the same high preset with ray tracing set to medium, frame rates averaged 54fps, with minimal fluctuations. While it does showcase a decrease compared to the previous settings, the gameplay was still smooth, accompanied by an impressive enhancement in the detail of reflective surfaces like river water.

Though these results are promising and point towards a well-optimized PC port, it is important to approach them with caution. The benchmark’s store page reminds users that “the complexity and variability of gaming scenarios” imply that the “benchmark results may not fully represent the actual gaming experience and final performance.”

Should you discover that your computer isn't meeting the desired standards with the PC benchmark software, remember that Black Myth: Wukong is also set to release for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.