Epic’s Unreal Engine has always been at the forefront of video game rendering techniques, and its latest iteration Unreal Engine 5 is no different in that regard. 2024 and beyond is chock full of really promising games that use the features of this engine to great effect, and we will be discussing some of these games with this list.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
GSC Game World is bringing the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series back with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and the sequel is looking like an excellent modernization of this highly revered post-apocalyptic franchise. The team is using Unreal Engine 5 to bring the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone to life, and the textures and cutting-edge lighting techniques help create a really convincing look to this desolate landscape which in turn, should make for some really immersive gameplay.
Black Myth Wukong
The Soulslike genre is brimming with plenty of new and exciting releases looming over the horizon, but few are as popular and highly anticipated as Black Myth Wukong. While a lot of what makes the game such a looker is the fast and frenetic combat, equal praise needs to be attributed to the astounding world design. Black Myth Wukong’s fantasy world is highly imaginative and is peppered with fierce beasts to fight and wondrous realms to explore. Developer Game Science has made great use of Epic’s Unreal Engine 5 with its project, and it serves as a great example of how UE5 enables small teams to craft experiences that are capable of competing neck to neck against AAA blockbusters.
The First Descendant
Currently in development at NEXON, The First Descendant is an upcoming looter shooter that puts you in the shoes of a Descendant – warriors that are the last hope of humanity against the invading forces. Players can either jump in solo or with friends, and the gameplay revolves around fending against enemy waves all while juggling between your weapons and special abilities. Suffice it to say, The First Descendant looks absolutely gorgeous with high-quality textures and creative creature designs among a slew of other impressive graphical features.
Unrecord
One might be forgiven to think of Unrecord’s gameplay as real-life footage, and that alone speaks volumes about its amazing visual presentation. Everything from the subtle camera shakes to realistic movement mechanics and photogrammetry-based textures come together to create a very convincing illusion of real life, and we can’t wait to step into the shoes of these covert operatives and take on high-stakes missions when Unrecord releases for PC sometime in the near future.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was one of the first UE5 games to be publicly showcased, and developer Ninja Theory has done a fabulous job of utilizing the engine’s toolset in a wise manner, which can be easily seen in every aspect of the game right from how the cloth physics work to how accurately the actors’ emotions have been mapped to the models and how realistic the lighting is. And that’s just scratching the surface of Hellblade 2’s amazing visual quality, which easily stands tall as one of the best-looking Xbox games to be released in the near future.
Post Trauma
Developed by RED SOUL Games, Post Trauma is as much a glorious throwback to the past as it is a technical achievement in modern game rendering. It borrows gameplay ideas and an isometric perspective from survival horror classics like Resident Evil 2 but presents it all with high levels of fidelity which should make for a great time. Post Trauma will be released for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC sometime in the near future.
Phantom Blade Zero
Phantom Blade Zero thrusts players into a dark and twisted world brimming with masked warriors and demonic abominations waiting to slaughter you on the path of revenge. The game features some slick combat with fast-moving animations along with great environment design, which has been brought to life through smart usage of Unreal Engine 5’s assortment of visual features. It sounds pretty exciting, and we will be checking it out when it comes out for PS5 sometime in the near future.
Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater
After a long line of rumors and speculations, we finally have confirmation that Metal Gear Solid is indeed coming back albeit in the form of a remake. But thankfully, Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater is a complete reimagination of the original with updated gameplay mechanics and visuals recreated with Unreal Engine 5 – and it looks absolutely amazing. The gameplay also looks promising with just the right modern touch, and we can’t wait to experience this remake when it comes out for current-gen consoles and PCs sometime this year.
ILL
Clout Games’ ILL is an upcoming hardcore survival horror game where players will be facing all sorts of gnarly undead monsters as they explore desolated mansions and abandoned countryside settlements all while trying to get to the bottom of an overarching mystery. Like any promising survival horror game, ILL features some thick atmosphere that’s wonderfully brought to life through the use of Epic’s Unreal Engine 5 with quality indirect lighting and high poly textures evident in every frame of the action.
Paranormal Tales
Paranormal Tales will tell mini stories of different survivors as they experience all kinds of paranormal activities from varying perspectives like a VHS camera or a fish eye lens or even a digital smartphone camera. Much like ILL that we discussed previously, one of the game’s biggest strengths are the visuals which are amazingly detailed and that coupled with a minimalist soundtrack should make it a bone-chilling horror experience.
Tekken 8
After a long and arduous wait spanning almost 9 years, fans have finally got a new entry in the beloved fighting franchise – and we are happy to report that it’s a significant step up from what came before in almost every conceivable way. Tekken 8 not only makes big changes to its brawling gameplay but also bumps up the game engine to Unreal Engine 5 and delivers some truly stunning visuals. While it doesn’t utilize the complete breadth of the engine’s features to prioritize performance, the stages and character models do look breathtaking nevertheless.
Silent Hill 2 Remake
Bloober Team is hard at work on a full-fledged remake of Silent Hill 2, and it is looking like a very competent modernization of this excellent survival horror classic. Animation issues aside, the team seems to have nailed the ominous atmosphere of Silent Hill, and Unreal Engine 5’s suite of visual features like dense volumetric fog and reactive lighting do a lot of heavy lifting in bringing that creative vision to life. It comes out for PS5 sometime this year.
Kingdom Hearts 4
The adventures of Sora and friends are primed to continue with Kingdom Hearts 4, which sees our protagonist trapped in the real-life world of Quadratum as his friends try to save him from dark monsters hellbent on destroying anything and everything in their path. Kingdom Hearts 4 flaunts a weird but beautiful mixture of realistic and cartoony visuals, and Unreal Engine 5’s impressive feature set of realistic lighting models and a wide array of texture assets help in accurately mapping that mishmash of contrasting art styles into a cohesive visual presentation.
Hell Is Us
Hell Is Us describes itself as a third-person action-adventure game in its description, but it’s pretty hard to decipher just by looking at the cryptic visuals showcased in the teaser trailer. There are giant swords, companion drones, a post-apocalyptic world, and whatnot – and while that does make it hard to keep track of what’s going on, it’s also what makes it so intriguing in the first place. Of course, the visuals are also a big factor in nailing that ominous presentation, and suffice to say – Hell is Us uses UE 5’s toolkit to great effect for its purposes.
Ark 2
The original Ark turned out to be a big hit thanks to an addictive gameplay loop and its community-driven nature, and developer Studio Wildcard seems to be doubling down on these elements with Ark 2 along with a greater focus on the narrative side of things. Much like the original, Ark 2 flaunts some impressive visuals and realistic textures on the many creatures that populate the world.
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