In 2007, the company Crytek released Crysis – a game whose system requirements were ahead of the computers of those years for a long time. This largely made the shooter popular, as everyone wanted to see what they needed to buy the most performance gaming PC or laptop for.
Today, most developers avoid such an approach. They fear that high system requirements will become a reason for negative reviews, and therefore prefer not to make graphical revolutions in their projects.
This was most clearly demonstrated by the situation with Cyberpunk 2077. The game was released in December 2020 and became a real technical breakthrough. The quality of lighting and geometry, texture resolution, level of detail – all this was ahead of the industry by at least 5 years. But the gaming community was extremely unhappy with the high system requirements. And one of the reasons for the low ratings of Cyberpunk 2077 is the level of graphics intended for performance PCs.
However, not all developers are afraid to release demanding projects. Some authors are confident that their games should be either at the peak of graphic technologies or ahead of them. Today we will talk about such projects. The HYPERPC team presents the top of the most demanding games intended for performance PCs.
Red Dead Redemption 2
This masterpiece was released in 2018, but even modern graphics cards struggle to run the game on maximum graphics settings. The main reason is resource-intensive global lighting, which, together with volumetric fog and clouds, creates a realistic picture.
Another reason for the high system requirements for PCs is full dynamic lighting. That is, the light emitted by lanterns, bonfires, and lamps reacts to other objects in real time. Therefore, at night, when the number of local light sources increases, the frame rate in Red Dead Redemption 2 significantly decreases on any systems.
Of course, the developers from Rockstar Games also tried hard on other graphic elements. The quality and density of vegetation, water physics, global shading – absolutely all visual components are cool. But it is the lighting that makes RDR 2 one of the most demanding games of modern times.
Plot and Gameplay of Red Dead Redemption 2
The action of the game takes place in 1899 in the United States. America gradually turns into a country of laws, and the era of shooters and bandits is coming to an end. The player is set to control Arthur Morgan - a criminal who is part of Dutch Van der Linde's gang.
After a failed robbery, the gang goes on the run. Trying to escape from the law, they move north into a snowy mountainous area. Their task is to survive in harsh climatic conditions, then descend from the mountains, earn as much money as possible and leave America to start a new life from scratch.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is an adventure shooter with elements of survival in an open world. Despite the word "shooter" in the genre name, the game does not focus on shootouts. The main emphasis is on the open world and interaction with it. Exploring locations, encountering random characters, searching for treasures, hunting, fishing - that's what really captivates in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Cyberpunk 2077
If not the most, then one of the most controversial video games in the history of the industry. In addition to poor technical condition at release, one of the main reasons for player dissatisfaction was the high system requirements. However, the level of graphics in Cyberpunk 2077 is justified and fully meets these requirements.
As in the case with RDR 2, the heaviest and most resource-intensive option is global lighting. In Cyberpunk 2077, it is built using probes - small virtual points that collect information about the lighting around them, and then transfer it to all objects in the game. This algorithm creates extremely realistic and cool lighting, but requires a lot of performance.
Another reason for the high system requirements in Cyberpunk 2077 is the quality of 3D models, or rather, the detail of their geometry and texture resolution. If the latter is clear, the former often raises questions among gamers. So let's understand the concept of "geometry" in modern games.
All three-dimensional objects in computer graphics are built using polygons. For example, a sphere in real life is a regular round object, but in computer graphics, it is a set of polygons, i.e., a set of geometric primitives. The more there are, the fewer edges and corners we will observe.
In Cyberpunk 2077, absolutely all objects have a huge number of polygons. Approaching any cable or pole in the game, we will not see corners as in many other projects. This is called high-detail geometry. It is demanding on the video card, as well as on the RAM and CPU.
Plot and Gameplay in Cyberpunk 2077
The action of the game unfolds in 2077 in Night City, located in Western North America. World governments, trying to avoid bankruptcy, were forced to turn to corporations for help. In exchange for their financial support, the states lost their independence and became puppets of private companies.
The player takes on the role of V, a character whose backstory is chosen independently. Their task, like other residents of Night City, is to survive and earn as much money as possible.
Gameplay-wise, Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person action role-playing game. The player will have to complete missions in various ways: stealth, open combat, or using hacking. The money earned can be spent on implants that improve the character's attributes, as well as on weapons, vehicles, and new homes.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Next-Gen
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, released back in 2015, became the most demanding project of its time. Seven years later, the developers at CD Projekt Red released a Next-Gen update that made the game highly demanding on computer hardware again. So much so, that even top performance graphics cards, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, struggle to play on ultra settings at 60 FPS.
Unlike previous projects, the system requirements for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Next-Gen are not justified. That is, the technical changes introduced in the game require more performance than they should actually need. This happens in the case of poor optimization, when developers rush the release of the new product on PC.
However, it is undeniable that with the release of the new patch, The Witcher 3 on ultra settings became significantly more attractive. The quality of textures, model geometry, vegetation density, and shading improved. New technologies, such as screen-space reflections (SSR) and ray tracing lighting algorithms, also appeared in the game.
Story and Gameplay Changes in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Next-Gen
There are almost none. Among the story innovations, the developers added the quest "In the Shadow of the Eternal Fire," which they could not prepare for the game's release in 2015 and thus was simply cut out. The gameplay innovations include:
- a new camera;
- reduced damage from falls;
- changes to the characteristics of some skills.
A Plague Tale: Requiem
A Plague Tale: Requiem is one of the few projects released on the new version of the Unreal Engine 5. The developers skillfully used its latest features and graphic technologies.
This is noticeable right from the start location, where a picturesque landscape of southern France unfolds before the player. The quality of lighting and vegetation, the detail of models and their geometry – all of this looks on a completely different level compared to other games. But the photorealistic assets deserve special mention.
Assets refer to objects with which artists fill game locations. Stones, logs, carts, houses, fences – all these are assets. Most of them in A Plague Tale: Requiem were taken from the Quixel Megascans library – a platform commonly used for creating movies. Largely, they lend realism and authenticity to the graphics, for which high system requirements are a trade-off.
Plot and Gameplay in A Plague Tale: Requiem
The game unfolds in 1349 in France, immediately following the end of the previous part, A Plague Tale: Innocence. Amicia, along with her mother Beatrice, younger brother Hugo, and a budding alchemist named Lucas, head south. They try to flee from the Holy Inquisition and seek help in fighting the disease that struck Hugo. However, instead of a peaceful life in the south of France, they are again forced to fight, survive, and battle for their lives.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is an adventure game with stealth elements. The player will have to solve spatial puzzles, follow the narrative, and hide from enemies. The threat is not only the plague rats but also people who will do everything in their power to kill the main characters.
Forspoken
If you wonder what the most demanding game is today, the answer is clear – Forspoken. Currently, it is the most demanding project of modern times, but this is due not to its cool graphics, but rather to poor optimization. This aspect aligns Forspoken with the Next-Gen update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Of course, the new title from Japanese developers cannot be called non-technological or outdated. Forspoken features cool lighting, high-resolution textures, and quality models. Moreover, the game excellently implements a particle system. Visual objects such as smoldering coals from a fire or special effects from magical spells are best executed in Forspoken. However, they are still not enough to justify the incredibly high system requirements.
Plot and Gameplay in Forspoken
The game is set in Athia – a fantasy world suffering from a magical fog. It turns people and animals into bloodthirsty monsters trying to destroy all living things in their path.
The main character is a young woman named Frey Holland. She arrives in Athia through a magical portal straight from modern New York. Her task is to save the remaining inhabitants and find a way to return to her world.
Forspoken is a third-person action RPG in an open world. The core of the gameplay is combat, implemented through the main character's magical abilities. She will have to gradually clear one region after another to gain access to the final battle.
HYPERPC Computers for the Most Demanding Games
HYPERPC gaming systems are produced in such a way that neither poor optimization nor high system requirements become a reason for low frame rates. All computers of our company guarantee you high and stable performance in any modern games.
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