Technological advances, which have always marked the growth and maturation of the videogame medium, have favored the birth of graphics engines with enormous potential that more and more developers are exploiting to pursue absolute photorealism. During our career as gamers we have often exclaimed “it seems real” when faced with particularly valuable releases, but the truth is that photorealism has stopped being a mirage and has only become tangible in relatively recent times, with the contribution of capable titles to offer users worlds that are as credible as they are detailed.
So here are some of the productions that, in recent years, have delighted the audience with a graphic sector that is as detailed as it is credible.
Half-Life Alyx
What's more realistic than being right in the center of the action? In this sense, the prodigy called Half-Life Alyx has done an exceptional job and set new standards in the field of virtual reality.
The high price needed to set up a VR gaming station has precluded its widespread diffusion, but trust us when we tell you that immersing yourself in Half-Life Alyx is an experience capable of changing the life of a gamer. The Source Engine 2 paints changing and breathtaking panoramas, destructible and interactive environments, realistic facial animations and impressive lighting: all elements that induce the player to forget – literally – about the real world to fully immerse himself in the most realistic and chilling ever.
The Hal-Life Alyx NoVR mod is available on ModDb.com, which eliminates the requirement for virtual reality by transforming Valve's masterpiece into a traditional first-person shooter.
We must admit that everything works quite well, but in our opinion Half-Life Alyx doesn't make much sense to exist outside the VR dimension, in which it was born and gives its best. For further information, please refer to the review of Half-Life Alyx.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare (new trilogy)
While continuing to eschew realism on the purely playful side, the latest Call of Duty games developed by Infinity Ward have made a big leap in the direction of visual fidelity. Modern Warfare first paved the way in 2019, which exhibited a completely revolutionized version of the IW Engine (the eighth to be precise) marking a big break with the past, but the real maturation came with Modern Warfare 2 in 2022 and its IW Engine 9.0, developed in collaboration with Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games
Strengthened by the large budget available, the guys at Infinity Ward spared no effort in crafting a photorealistic, enveloping and extremely varied experience. The IW Engine 9.0 is given several opportunities to show off its strengths, including an advanced material rendering system based on photogrammetry, a decidedly refined lighting system (despite not featuring ray tracing) and a character modeling simply out of parameter.
The perfect business card is represented by the mission set in Amsterdam in Modern Warfare 2, which not surprisingly has become very popular online: the staid progression allows the player to admire a highly realistic reproduction of the Dutch capital, pushing him to linger for more than an opportunity to enjoy every detail and recover from the amazement. The other sequences do not leave us indifferent either, starting with the Recon By Fire mission, in which the IW9 demonstrates its ability even in a more airy context, up to Wetwork, where the engine also showcases a renewed simulation model of water.
The excellent work done for the second episode provided an excellent basis for the most recent Modern Warfare 3, which in the hands of Sledgehammer Games has capitalized on all the achievements of an engine that manages to impress despite its cross-gen nature.
Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition
The video games of the Metro series have always stood out for their first-rate graphics, but what really impressed was the result achieved with Metro Exodus, especially with the Enhanced Edition
The guys at 4A Games have proven incredibly skilled in broadening the scope of the mise-en-scène without sacrificing anything in graphic terms. The visual fidelity of Metro Exodus has few equals, as evidenced by the breathtaking views of the Volga River, nestled between snowy expanses, the burning desolation of the Caspian depression and the yellowed forests of the taiga. What gives it an edge is the complete support for ray tracing, a technology which in the Enhanced Edition does not represent a mere frill but an indispensable feature.
In the world of Metro Exodus, every single light source produces a refraction or shadow in real time, from the glow of the Sun warming the Russian nuclear winter to the fluorescence of radioactive waste hidden in the depths of a mutant-infested bunker, for merits of a lighting system that more than anything else is able to enhance the excellent work done on the settings.
It's a shame for the animations and character models, plastered and unable to keep up with the rest of the graphics, but there is no doubt that Metro Exodus marked an important stage towards the achievement of extreme realism, still appearing today – almost three years after release of the Enhanced Edition – dazzlingly beautiful, especially on well-calibrated PCs.
Arma Reforger
The Arma series has always based its existence on the most extreme realism, both in gameplay and in graphics. The latest episode of the series, Arma Reforger, which reached its version 1.0 at the end of 2023 after a long phase in Early Access, is no exception either.
It is not the Arma 4 that fans of the series were fervently awaiting, but Reforger still marked an important step for the series by making its debut on consoles (Xbox Series X|S, specifically) and adopting the new Enfusion game engine. The result – we admit – is not flawless, but overall the title guarantees a good level of verisimilitude, amplifying the sense of involvement triggered by the game mechanics.
The maps, in this case set in the context of the Cold War, extend as far as the eye can see, rendering boundless and evocative landscapes. On the battlefield it may happen that you are enchanted by observing the reflection of the sun's rays on the bodies of water or the grass agitated by the wind, until the tension of the battle takes over. Enfusion also puts its tools at the service of players in the Workbech, where it is possible to add new mechanics and modify game elements, textures and much more.
Arma Reforger stands as a transitional chapter, whose achievements make us turn a blind eye to some shortcomings and hope for the future of the series.
Atomic Heart
Last but not least, we also chose to mention Atomic Heart, a product that managed to amaze us despite not being able to count on a pharaonic budget. Mundfish's first work outlines a Soviet uchronia littered with mutant creatures, terrible machines and lethal robots, managing to make it realistic, at least in relative terms.
Atomic Heart imagines an alternative timeline in which the Soviet Union emerged victorious from the Second World War to the point of establishing itself as a new technological point of reference and giving life to a radiant utopia only in appearance, adequately characterized by an artistic direction taken care of since down to the smallest details.
A technical sector that is certainly not revolutionary, but more than effective in giving credibility to a coherent reality albeit distant from ours, is responsible for enhancing the work of the artists. The graphics engine shines both in the open sections, enhanced by the skilful use of natural and artificial light sources, and indoors, where the textures effectively reproduce any surface or material.
The optimization is also surprising, since everything runs on PC with enviable fluidity without requiring major adjustments on the part of the player. Giving further prestige to this alternative Soviet Union will be the support for ray tracing, which the Mundfish developers have been working on for some time.