PCG Article Big 2010s games—did you forget them?

[Brian Boru]

games started getting a lot better, at least graphically, around 2013. Games from 2012 look like crap now

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grade the graphics quality curve on a "for it's time" basis though

Far Cry and Half Life 2 were graphically superb in 2004.

2005 Civ 4's graphics are still fine today, I just finished playing some a month ago.

2007 has the 2 original Crysis games, which I replay every year—the graphics are absolutely fine today.

The 2012-13 thing is likely to be due to hardware advances around that time, it was around then that PCs really could run Crysis without melting.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

You kind of have to grade the graphics quality curve on a "for it's time" basis though. In 2004 for instance, the original Far Cry was considered a graphics breakthrough. In 2007, Assassin's Creed was fairly ground breaking, and even more so, in 2009, AC 2, with it's intricate Italian architectures.

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Far Cry and Half Life 2 were graphically superb in 2004.

You guys are absolutely right. I judge games based on when they came out, not by modern standards. But that's not really what I was talking about. What I'm saying is that starting in 2013, there were games that came out that still look good by today's standards. Like Tomb Raider 2013 still looks good today. Obviously, we've come out with new effects, like RT. But other than that, some of those games still look good today. But I can't think of any games before 2013 that still look good by today's standards without modding them.

So what happened in 2013 that caused a leap so great that some of those games still look good today, when they didn't before that? It's interesting that UE4 didn't come out until 2014. I know most major studios use their own engines, though. I think it has more to do with the PS4 coming out in 2013.

 

[Pifanjr]

There was also Two Worlds 2, which was fun at times, but not near as good as Two Worlds 1. Alpha Protocol was also released in 2010. That could have been a great spy game, but it was buggy, and the combat was terrible.

Drakensang: The River of Time I've read is supposed to be a really good RPG, but somehow, it's been buried in my TBP Steam library for all these years.

I really liked Two Worlds 2's magic system, but stopped playing when I couldn't exit a temple without the game crashing to desktop.

I remember reading a review about Drakensang that was really positive.

So what happened in 2013 that caused a leap so great that some of those games still look good today, when they didn't before that? It's interesting that UE4 didn't come out until 2014. I know most major studios use their own engines, though. I think it has more to do with the PS4 coming out in 2013.

Almost definitely the release of the PS4. Any game that gets released on both consoles and PC will be limited by the console's hardware (because you're not going to put that much more effort into making just the PC version look good).

 

[Brian Boru]

I can't think of any games before 2013 that still look good by today's standards without modding them

Seriously, the original Crysis games—now that was a waste of a remaster last year!

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Seriously, the original Crysis games—now that was a waste of a remaster last year!

Oh, well yeah, you're right about that one. Crysis was definitely the exception to the rule, though. But it's to be expected from a game that couldn't run on any hardware that existed when it released. 🙂

I think the "remaster" was more to get the game running on modern hardware, even including the Switch, than it was to make it look better. I think it did include partial ray tracing, though, didn't it?

 

[Frag Maniac]

But that's not really what I was talking about. What I'm saying is that starting in 2013, there were games that came out that still look good by today's standards. Like Tomb Raider 2013 still looks good today.

That's only because as time goes on, the closer games get to looking like real life, the evolution of graphics quality is seen in smaller increments. That's just the way it is.

 

[Zloth]

So what happened in 2013 that caused a leap so great that some of those games still look good today, when they didn't before that?

Getting off topic, but I'm guessing polygon counts. Looking at my Skyrim pictures from around 2012, it's on the cusp of looking modern. Characters are pretty close to having "enough" polygons. The landscape, not so much.

Tessellation was also a huge deal. The ground started looking like ground instead of flat polygons with a texture painted on them. I remember The Secret World had that, and it released in 2012. It got more popular over the next few years.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

That's only because as time goes on, the closer games get to looking like real life, the evolution of graphics quality is seen in smaller increments. That's just the way it is.

Yeah, I get what you're saying. But 2013 was like a switch was flipped. There wasn't a smooth transition from 2012 to 2013. It was like 2012 games look like crap today, but 2013 games all of the sudden became drastically better to where they still look good. To be clear, I'm not saying all 2013 games were like that; just that's when it started. But I think I've figured out that it's because that's the year the PS4 and the next generation of consoles came out.

Getting off topic, but I'm guessing polygon counts. Looking at my Skyrim pictures from around 2012, it's on the cusp of looking modern. Characters are pretty close to having "enough" polygons. The landscape, not so much.

Tessellation was also a huge deal. The ground started looking like ground instead of flat polygons with a texture painted on them. I remember The Secret World had that, and it released in 2012. It got more popular over the next few years.

Man, I thought the exact opposite about Skyrim. I mostly played the Special Edition, which had updated graphics, though. But I thought the environment was beautiful, but the characters were the main problem, graphically. The character and facial animations were atrocious in Skyrim. It's my favorite game, but that wasn't spectacular. I'm really, really hoping TES VI is a lot more modern looking.