Despite a creative stagnation dictated by the increasingly unsustainable resources needed to give shape to a triple-A title, technological advancement has allowed developers around the world to push the bar of realism ever higher, giving shape to visually stunning games.
From the procedural, photorealistic bombshell of Unreal Engine 5 to bodycam-style experiences that are indistinguishable from reality, cutting-edge rendering techniques and features like upscalers and dynamically managed lighting via Ray and Path Tracing have led to the creation of increasingly incredible interactive worldsreal alternative universes in which to get lost to live increasingly immersive experiences.
Alan Wake 2
In the ideal battle for visual supremacy in the video game industry, Remedy Entertainment’s latest survival horror is certainly one of the most credible contenders. According to many, Alan Wake 2 is the most graphically advanced game available on the market, thanks to the exceptional work done by the team following Sam Lake in using the Northlight Engine to realize the vision of a dark thriller that makes graphics , and the artistic sector, the perfect ‘interactive complements’ to a fast-paced story full of twists and turns.
What stands out about Remedy’s commitment to giving shape to Alan Wake 2, at least from a purely visual point of view, is the excessive quantity of technologies adopted by the Finnish software house, from Frame Generation di NVIDIA al Super Resolution AMDin addition to the adoption of Ray Reconstruction without Path Tracing.
Cyberpunk 2077 e Phantom Liberty
The path of redemption undertaken by CD Projekt with Cyberpunk 2077 inevitably passes through the commitment made to making the technical sector of V and Johnny Silverhand’s sci-fi odyssey increasingly immersive and advanced. The splendid views returned by the Phantom Liberty expansion and the neon lights that illuminate Night City in Path Tracing in the RT Overdrive mode of Cyberpunk 2077 offer an interactive experience that defining photorealistic would be a pale understatement.
The activation of all the most advanced technological features of CP2077, combined with the adoption of the most high-performance ‘intelligent’ upscaling and upsampling solutions such as DLSS 3, allow emulators of the netrunner and his ‘holographic alter-ego’ to fully immerse themselves in dystopian atmospheres of a futuristic gigalopolis all to be explored further, a bit like our review of Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty.
Microsoft Flight Simulator
A flight experience the size of planet Earth, with tons of interactive guided tours, tons of real-time weather data, and a variety of aircraft, activities, landing challenges, tutorials, and mods that make pales in comparison to any other video game/simulator released to date.
Flight Sim is all this and much more, just think of the support guaranteed by Asobo Studio and Xbox Game Studios Publishing inconstantly update photogrammetry data, polygonal models of cities and airports and points of interest in every region of the world. If we add to all this the innovations promised by the 2024 version of Flight Simulator, and the monumental simulation experience offered to us by the ‘driving model’ of each individual aircraft, it is not difficult to look at Flight Sim as one of the most realistic and profound experiences we have never been made.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Five years have passed since the launch of RDR 2, yet Rockstar Games’ blockbuster western was and continues to be a cornerstone of graphic hyperrealism, as well as an example for all those who aspire to give shape to video games that aspire to photorealism. What stands out about the work carried out by the Big R, as per tradition for the monumental production machine of the authors of Grand Theft Auto, is the obsessive attention to detail.
The perfect example of the incredible realism of Red Dead Redemption 2 is given by its ‘beastly’ graphics, intended as attention to detail of the animals: the interactive Frontier proposed to us by Rockstar is a huge virtual zoo, with an infinite number of animals that interact with each other and adopt behaviors perfectly in line with those of their respective real counterparts, from the armadillos that roam around New Austin to the alligators lurking in the swamps of the Lemoyne.
The future: from Hellblade 2 to Hideo Kojima via GTA 6
What does the future hold for us? The boundary that divides the graphics of modern video games from reality is becoming increasingly blurred, with imperceptible differences dictated more by the resources made available by the developers than by the actual limits of the technology. Yet, looking at what will arrive on the market between now and the next few months, it is not difficult to identify the heirs of the current ‘champions of realism’.
From the exceptional expressiveness of the faces of the characters of Death Stranding 2 played by a Hollywood cast to the cinematic animations of Hellblade 2 Senua’s Saga, the developers’ race for the most advanced and photorealistic graphics does not seem to be destined to end any time soon. And this, to say nothing of the inevitable media earthquake promised (or threatened?) by the arrival on the market of GTA 6, which already proves to have monstrous graphics (if we listen to Rockstar and the in-engine scenes that embellish the first trailer).