Dead Space

If there’s one game that hardly needs a remake today, it’s the original Dead Space. Don’t get me wrong, the remake is awesome, but the 2008 original still holds up remarkably well. The graphics were at the top of the industry and still look amazing today. But it’s the way the atmosphere was crafted that particularly leaves a lasting impression on us. The diagetic HUD is partly to thank for the top-notch immersion, but the Necromorph designs are especially timeless in their ability to send a chill down gamers’ spines. Dead Space also doesn’t have an ounce of jank in its DNA; it feels remarkably precise and intuitive to play today. We’re still seeing tons of triple-A games use that iconic over the shoulder perspective, and we have the original Dead Space to thank for convincing us that it’s awesome.

Crysis

Back in 2007, Crysis was the rosetta stone benchmark for PC performance. Today, maybe not as much, but it can still be confused as a modern game. It was one of the games boasting advanced volumetric lighting and crazy far draw distances, and the lush jungle environments made for an attractive display piece to show off that tech. Crysis was also pretty dang modern with its gameplay systems. The campaign let players freely explore the tropical sandbox with its wide-linear design. Like the studio’s Far Cry titles, a smorgasbord of vehicles were up for the taking to accomplish missions in varying ways. If the day/cycle or gunplay didn’t impress, the visuals sure did, and continue to.

Red Dead Redemption

The year was 2010, gamers were absolutely starving for an immersive wild west game, and Rockstar was the one studio poised to do it. They already released Red Dead Revolver in 2004 and had the technology to finally meet the setting’s great potential. And that they did. Red Dead Redemption’s sprawling open world is filled with fun activities and more interesting personalities than you can fit in a stage coach. It’s Rockstar’s best pre-GTA 5 game to return to have good time without much friction. And it’s highly recommended players go back to this gem to understand Red Dead Redemption 2, as it functions as a sequel to that game. It’s not hard to fall in love with it today given the tight gunplay and solid graphics.

Max Payne 3

Max Payne 3 is the second pre-GTA 5 Rockstar game that’s easiest to return to today. The big selling point is the bullet-time mechanic from previous entries being turned up a couple notches. There’s not a single game that I can think of that does slow-mo shootouts as well as Max Payne 3. The modern third-person shooting feels great to control, and carefully lining up slow-mo dive shots is a joy. Being the Rockstar game that it is, cinematics are top-notch as well, with zero loading between cutscenes and player-controlled action sections. A port to today’s platforms would be appreciated, but the graphics actually hold up just fine without need for an upgrade.

Dying Light 1

Dying Light achieved something few games outside Assassin’s Creed were willing to do at the time, and that’s a realistic and smooth parkour system. What’s more, you can parkour across pretty much any building or object in the large open world. Besides the advanced parkouring, the game also boasted dynamic day/night lighting that still impresses today. Dying Light is the newest game on this list, but the dark atmosphere and gritty story have an edge over its sequel, Dying Light 2, making it well worth playing 10 years later, especially to see Kyle Crane’s earlier adventures.

Heavy Rain

David Cage games were always ahead of their time, but it wasn’t until Heavy Rain until they started being legitimately fun to play on top of that. You can probably thank Heavy Rain for PlayStation’s recent narrative emphasis. The game was largely an interactive choose your own adventure movie. But unlike TellTale’s string of narrative games, Heavy Rain had truly spectacular graphics that many felt were lifelike at the time. The game still holds up today, partly thanks to its simple gameplay mechanics (it’s hard to make quick time events janky) and high budget graphics and acting talent.

Ninja Gaiden Black

And then there’s rarities like Ninja Gaiden Black which boast deeply technical gameplay that still feels smooth today. For being a 20 year old game, it sure does feel fluid and intuitive to pull off combos, thanks in part to great optimization. It also holds up to current trends in game. Ninja Gaiden Black was notorious for being one of the most difficult games at the time, but it fits well beside contemporary titles like Elden Ring and Hollow Knight Silksong with its difficulty. With distinct art direction and stylishly detailed character models, it’s a game that’s still easy on the eyes.

Borderlands 2

Many were rubbing their eyes when Borderlands 4 was revealed. Accusations were thrown around that it looked like the previous Borderlands games, and they’re not too far off. Borderlands has maintained a bold cartoonish look since the first game, but it’s really the second entry that polished and solidified its identity. Just like the graphics, the gunplay holds up remarkably well today. And with memorable villains like Handsome Jack, the story remains the best the series has ever seen.

DriveClub

If you can get a hold of a rare copy of DriveClub, do yourself a favor and grab it. The PS4 exclusive was notable for its photo-realistic rain effects and grounded yet approachable driving mechanics. I regularly see racing fans comparing modern driving games’ weather effects to DriveClub. That’s how dang good the game looked. While the online component can’t be experienced today, the single player career has plenty of races and challenges to warrant the price of admission. And with a simcade handling model that’s not too intimidating to learn yet difficult to master, you’ll find yourself glued to the rainsoaked windshield for many hours even amid today’s racers.

Far Cry 2

I know, I know, it’s easy to overlook Far Cry 2 now that we have over six entries, but it does some pretty unique things. A number of playable and non-playable mercenaries can be rescued and hired to go on missions with you. These teammates can be permanently killed if they’re not rescued or healed in time, making it easy to feel attached to them. Other than the buddy system, the game just looks great, featuring a robust African open world environment. If you’re a fan of the Far Cry series, the second game is a must-play that holds up perfectly fine today.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Ever since Skyrim’s release in 2011, players have memed it to death. One of the most popular memes, that being its constant string of re-releases, still finds itself with legs even now. It’s the game that refuses to die, whether it be because of its wealth of quests, role-playing possibilities, or extensive mod support. Even without any mods, it still looks and plays fantastic. Sure, you’ll encounter a handful of backwards-flying dragons, but even the bugs are worth experiencing in this beloved open-world RPG.

Batman Arkham City

2011 was a good time for games in general. Arkham City also came out in that year and it represents Rocksteady’s zenith. Arkham City is their most beloved game for a reason; it’s got the tightest example of their signature freeflow combat, some of the most intricate and addictive world design, and some amazing characterization. A lot of late PS3/Xbox 360 games still manage to look good today, but Arkham City looks and plays downright flawless.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Speaking of timeless PS3 titles, Uncharted 2 just refuses to feel outdated. The rollercoaster pacing and attention to detail continues to be emulated and studied today. Even detractors of Uncharted 1’s gameplay love the way Uncharted 2 improved aiming and enemy encounter design. If you want to see what makes the Uncharted series so special, check out Uncharted 2, it sets up the rest of the games wonderfully and plays like a modern-day adventure title.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

But if there’s any PS3 game that went above and beyond its contemporaries, it’s MGS 4. In true Kojima fashion, the storytelling is outfitted with a ridiculous amount of bells and whistles, perhaps even overstaying its time in the spotlight just a bit (looking at you hour-long cutscene). Motion capture was some of the most advanced for the time, and the voice talent gave Hollywood a run for their money. Many fans even say the gameplay is the best the series has ever had. It’s also the only game in the MGS series besides Peace Walker to feature the Psyche Gauge. Stealth was emphasized because killing spiked the gauge, making Snake more prone to shake while shooting. Now if only we’d finally get a remaster or port of MGS 4 so more players could experience it.

The Last of Us

The Last of Us has seen numerous remasters, a remake, and even a show, and for good reason. It represents Naughty Dog at their absolute peak. The Last of Us shocked just about everyone with its realistic graphics and mo-cap in 2013. And the brutal melee takedowns and hard-hitting story kept us hooked ever since. It’s hard to overstate just how good the original game plays all these years later, which is why all these remasters and remakes seem somewhat redundant to many fans. The original holds up so well today, and with a story so iconic and gripping, we won’t see the last of The Last of Us anytime soon.

Metal Gear Solid 2 E3 2000 Showcase

Konami’s Metal Gear Solid burst onto the seams in 1998, and immediately wowed gamers with its twisted yet engaging plotlines, tactical espionage action, and of course – the memorable boss fights. Fans waited with bated breath for a good look at its sequel, and Konami delivered it with Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty during its E3 2000 presentation. Gamers across the globe were stunned by the sheer graphical powerhouse that was MGS2. From the massive scale of the Big Shell to at the time realistic facial models of characters to the rain-soaked environments, there was no shortage of impressive graphics in the trailer which finally ends with the much-anticipated 2001 release date.

DriveClub, MotorStorm and Onrush fans should temper their expectations though – Rustchynsky confirmed in a recent tweet that he’s not working on a racing game. “So sorry, no DriveClub sequel, MotorStorm successor or Onrush offshoot.” Furthermore, the new project is something “very different to anything I’ve worked on before.” Your guess is as good as ours as to what it could be.

Avalanche Studios Group is also busy working on Contraband, an open world co-op title published by Xbox Game Studios exclusively for Xbox Series X/S and PC. It currently has more than 150 people working on it, though a release window has yet to be confirmed. Stay tuned for more details on that and Rustchynsky’s new project in the coming months (perhaps even at E3 2022).

https://twitter.com/Rushy33/status/1477308258306203648

We're working on another new IP that's yet to be announced. There are more projects being worked on at Avalanche than most people would expect!

— Paul Rustchynsky (@Rushy33) January 1, 2022

To set some expectations, I'm not working on a racing game.

So sorry, no DRIVECLUB sequel, MotorStorm successor or ONRUSH offshoot.

This is something very different to anything I've worked on before. https://t.co/uHvZ6DHkI3

— Paul Rustchynsky (@Rushy33) January 2, 2022

Microtransactions in Assassin’s Creed Unity

Before the in-game store in Assassin’s Creed games became what it is today (read: selling more armor sets than are actually acquirable in-game), it was obnoxious. Assassin’s Creed Unity was perhaps the most egregious example since you could purchase $100 worth of premium currency…but there weren’t even that many items to spend it on. This only served to further fuel anger towards the game’s broken launch. Ubisoft has made the store less obtrusive in subsequent games but also stuffed it with items, because the buck does not indeed stop at $60.

Released back in 2014 after multiple delays, DriveClub was unfortunately the victim of a terrible launch with server issues and public disinterest due to competing titles. As it stands, DriveClub’s online servers have officially been shut down in March 2020 and the studio behind it, Evolution, dissolved. Looking back at the game though, it is undoubtedly one of the best looking racing games of the eighth gen of consoles.

Engine Overview

A lot of this had to do with the way the developers approached the Engine, aptly named DriveClub Engine. This engine was built specifically with the game in mind and was hoped to sustain games throughout the PS4 life cycle, though unfortunately the studio was of course shut down eventually.

The engine was built around making everything as dynamic as possible with minimal “baked” effects involved. The incredible dynamic weather and time-of-day effects were courtesy fully volumetric cloud systems and a mixture of rendering systems. Featuring deferred rendering, tile-based rendering and forward rendering being utilised simultaneously to create this physically based rendering pipeline, each surface could be meticulously given reflectivity and gloss properties in real-time, allowing for some incredible material-based reflections. Particles were rendered in real-time as well allowing for the best looking rain and snow effects seen in a video game to date, with individual droplets reflecting lights, reacting to the dynamic environmental wind system and even streaking across the windshield based on the momentum of the vehicle. Roads would accumulate puddles dynamically based on the amount of rain and temperature while surfaces as far as the mountain top to the asphalt would reflect light based on the level of wetness, possible due to that physically based rendering pipeline.

Even the vehicles themselves were created with accurate CAD models from the manufacturers themselves when possible and coated with multiple physical layers ranging from metal to paint and gloss. Collisions would then be calculated based on the impact angles and each layer would be deformed in real time as needed, from simple paint chips to bent metal, which would then reflect light and react to water independently. Detailed screen space reflections and shadows would be taken into account for all these surfaces, with dirt on the windshield diffusing the sunlight, after the volumetric clouds had diffused it, while headlights would actually contain light sources refracted by the plastic and glass casings. Even the thin film interference effects forming a rainbow on the glass would be rendered in real-time. All of this was then refreshed at a stable 30 FPS, while having extremely low controller latency even after performing the physics calculations needed for handling a vehicle, such as the car and tyre frictions.

Even the anti-aliasing was given multiple layers, utilising a mixture of pixel-based system, temporal-based, FXAA and material-based systems. On top of it was another layer for rectifying any other jagged edges in sight. Other post processing effects such as depth of field, motion blur and bloom were implemented atop this rendered image to create the illusion of high speed. Even the LOD streaming was spot on for all the surfaces in view, with rare texture pop-ins in the distance.

Clearly, this game and its engine were way ahead of it’s time. To this day, DriveClub looks incredible and the only limitation would be the 1080 30FPS cap, lack of ray tracing, occasional texture pop-ins or jagged edges and the texture resolutions.

What A Potential PS5 Patch Could Do

Over on the PS4 Pro, it was never patched with higher resolution textures. The former director did confirm it will never receive any updates, although it was technically possible, but we believe the potential for it to shine on the next gen systems is stellar.

With the PS5 sporting an SSD, higher resolution textures could be loaded in at incredible speeds eliminating any pop ups seen in the field of view. Everything from the particles to the environmental density could be further scaled up to make the already realistic looking game more grounded. The additional VRAM overhead could be utilised to further add post-processing effects to remove the very rare aliasing present on surfaces, or the lack of details in textures further than a few meters from the camera.

All of this could be neatly bundled into a 60 FPS experience which would make driving the cars feel even more exhilarating and attention-gripping. Slap on some raytracing instead of the screen-space reflections, and the already incredible dynamic lighting system would be unbeatable in the even in the current market. The DualShock 5 controller which also features haptic feedback and rumble would be the cherry on the cake with each button having different levels of force needed such as the brakes or the clutch, and the rumble of every different texture the car could drive through reflected accurately in the DualShock rumble motors.

The game engine and game holds promise to be scaled up into the next-gen hardware and though Sony has a slate of games ready for arrival on next-gen showcase, Gran Turismo 7 by Polyphony Digital among them, DriveClub would serve to further showcase the beauty of next-gen scaling.

Hopefully there are similar thoughts thrown around at the Sony HQ and somebody is given hold of the IP to patch it into the 9^th generation of console, because it sure as heck deserves it.

Bloodborne

It’s been almost six years since the game originally launched but the demand for an official 60 FPS mode in Bloodborne remains strong. 4K resolution support would also be great but it’s the higher frame rate, that too running consistently to combat the frame-pacing issues, that remains unfulfilled. Make it happen Sony. Whether it’s in the rumored PC version or on PS5, just…make it happen already.

Gran Turismo Sport

Whether this is a “true” franchise sequel or not, Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo Sport is superb. It’s razor sharp in its focus on photo-realism, which is aided by lightning, material quality, global illumination and real-time shadows for everything. Vehicles look highly detailed, whether it’s reflecting the outside world or when admiring from the driver’s set. With numerous cars and tracks added over the years, Gran Turismo Sport is the way to go before Gran Turismo 7’s release.

METAL GEAR SOLID 5: THE PHANTOM PAIN

Metal Gear Solid 5’s emergent sandbox has a ridiculous amount of depth, with multiple systems constantly interacting with each other to deliver some of the mot dynamic stealth gameplay we’ve ever seen. Weather effects are one of many layers in that complex web. Rainfall and storms can dampen the noise you make, making it easier to sneak around enemy bases, while sandstorms do the same, in addition to also impacting visibly, which impacts the enemies as well as you. Having to adapt strategies on the basis of the weather feels truly rewarding in The Phantom Pain.

Just Cause 4

How could we not mention Just Cause 4, especially when the entire hook of the game is its extreme weather? Tornadoes emerge naturally, swallowing up nearby foes and debris; thunderstorms will strike down enemy helicopters and a stray Rico if he’s caught unaware; and sandstorms will be rough, coarse, irritating and so on. It’d be amazing to sit back and watch the destruction unfold if you weren’t at risk of being destroyed yourself.

15. RAGE (2011)

At the time, RAGE served as an excellent showcase for id Tech 5. The open world shooter featured Virtual Texturing, which could stream extremely high resolution textures seamlessly, and shadow maps for more realistic environments. Though the overall world design and story left much to be desired, RAGE still impressed with its post processing effects, screen space reflections and animation quality.