(playful tone) - [Falcon] Video game graphics
just keep getting better. It is crazy how far we've come and sometimes looking back is
the best way to appreciate it. Hi folks, it's Falcon
and today on Gameranx, 10 graphics, then versus
now, that seem unreal. Starting off with number 10: the "Valley of the
Ancients" Unreal Engine Demo and "Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets". We're pretty deep into 2024 at this point and we haven't really seen a lot of games that show off the power of
the newest version of Unreal. There are a few notable ones, but at this point, until we start looking at the next generation of consoles, I don't think we're gonna see that generational graphics
jump that everybody wants. So, for the time being, we're kind of stuck looking at demos. Which, I admit, are impressive,
but they're also just demos. One of the most impressive
ones we've seen a lot of is the "Valley of the Ancients", which has this girl with magic powers exploring a small rocky environment. It's Unreal Engine 5
without any compromises, it's got Nanite, Lumen and all the other bells
and whistles enabled. (dramatic music) (rock crunching) The effects, in
particular, are astounding. So why not compare the
magic casting in this to a much older game that
you can cast spells in, like "Harry Potter and the
Chamber Secrets" from 2002? Gonna be honest here, I find the graphics in
this game quite charming. It is an unreal game through and through, with all the colored
lights you could ask for. Still it's Unreal Engine 1 where "Valley of the
Ancients" is Unreal Engine 5 and the difference is
practically unbelievable. One might even say unreal. Look at the spells; in Unreal 1, effects were literally just a texture with some transparency. Maybe they threw a
colored light for effect, but that was it. Now look at Unreal 5, There's so much going on
with absolutely every effect it's hard to narrow down
exactly what the engine is doing because it's a lot. I mean, it's not just gonna be
Unreal Engine we talk about, but it's impressive to see
just how far Unreal has come. (spell blasting)
(dramatic music) And number nine is the
"Fractured Mind" demo versus the original "Half-Life", in 1998, and "Half-Life 2" in 2004. We've come a long way in subway train interior technology, haven't we? From barely being able to render seats made with more than a handful of polygons, to however many thousands of polygons they're pushing in the
"Fractured Mind" demo. This train car is
practically photorealistic. The detail on it is extremely impressive, even now that we have seen things well beyond when this asset was created, which was actually back in 2017. So, even though it's not
actually cutting edge, when you splash some shaders over it, it looks practically real. The "Half-Life 2" Subway
was a big step forward, but even that doesn't compare to what they've got going on here. (train whirring) The whole "Fractured Mind" game gives strong "Stray Souls" vibes. It ain't exactly some kind
of technical powerhouse and the hype this demo is getting online is pretty overblown. But the demo does make
for a perfect example of just how far GPU technology
has evolved over 20 years. Going from something that
only vaguely resembles the thing it's meant to resemble to something that looks really damn good. I mean it's impressive. I know the monorail you're
on in "Half-Life 2", is supposed to be like
a regular train car, but this meticulously detailed rendering might actually fool somebody
into thinking it's real. I mean you gotta squint a little bit if you're as jaded with
video game graphics as maybe your average
Gameranx viewer or commentator but yeah, that's impressive. At number eight is "Alan
Wake 2" versus "Max Payne". "Alan Wake 2" is a technical marvel, but Remedy's really
always been an innovator with graphics technology. The original "Max Payne", from 2001, was one of the best looking
games that came out that year. The texture work alone
was leaps and bounds above what most game devs
were doing at the time. "Alan Wake 2" uses Remedy's
proprietary engine, Northlight, while "Max Payne" used MaxFX, which was also an engine
of their own creation. So there is a direct link there. Another direct link is Sam
Lake himself, the man himself who lends his face to
the original Max Payne as well as Alex Casey in "Alan Wake 2". As you can see, their
ability to make human beings has gotten a little bit
better over the years. "Max Payne" is almost literally
just an edited photograph stretched over a low polygon head. While Alan Wake 2's Casey is
a starkly realistic recreation made using multiple techniques developers have access to to recreate real people. (audience laughing) - He looks exactly like I
always imagined Casey to be. It's uncanny. - Thank you. That means so much to me. I'm a huge fan of your books. - So what's the problem, Alan? - [Falcon] To me, human
characters are where the real qualities of Next Gen shine. Even going back a few years,
you'll see character models that look significantly less realistic. But that's hardly the
only difference here. From lighting to environmental design, pretty much everything else, "Alan Wake 2" is just leaps and bounds beyond everything from the original "Max Payne". - I have them right here. (dramatic music) No, no, no. Wait. - [Falcon] At number seven is "Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom
Liberty" versus "Deus Ex". It may not be fair to compare
one of the best looking games in the past few years to a game that wasn't even cutting edge back when it came out in the year 2000, but they're both cyberpunk
games, they're both RPGs, I mean kind of, I think there's enough to say
there's a connection here. To make a long story short, "Deus Ex" does not hold up
well compared to Cyberpunk. Cyberpunk has this huge
incredible looking city that's dense with details like a smaller video game environment and it can switch
between crowded interiors and city streets quite seamlessly, with the character models always being exceptionally detailed. At least now in 2024 after
significant fixes have happened. Do you remember the potato
face loading difficulties this game had when it launched? I do! But now it looks incredible. "Deus Ex" looks primitive in comparison even to the potato faces. I mean just look at somebody talk. They have three different heads they snap between and that's it. - Didn't really have a choice. - Has he been infected? - Oh yes, most certainly. When I mentioned that we could
put him on the priority list for the Ambrosia vaccine,
he was so willing it was almost pathetic. - This plague, the rioting
is intensifying to the point where we may not be able to contain it. - [Falcon] There isn't even any basic interpolation for the animations. Everyone just looks like a marionette. It's very weird. The locations are small
and extremely basic, the lighting is static. Yeah, there are certain areas
that look better than others, but compare any random
location to something from even "Unreal Tournament"
which came out a year earlier, it doesn't even hold up compared to that. "Deus Ex", still a great game of course, but time has not been kind to this one. (footsteps running)
(engine whirring) At number six is "Marvel's Spider-Man 2" versus "Spider-Man 2". So New York probably one of the most replicated cities in video games, right? If a game has Spider-Man in it, then it's probably gonna
be in New York also. The 2004 game was Spidey's
first step into an open world and, for a lot of people,
it's still the best. The old Spider-Man is
still a very fun game with an innovative swinging mechanic, but graphically, well look at it, it's less a city and more a flat plane with a bunch of rectangles
or rectangular prisms, I guess, sticking out of it. Like the world is so basic compared to what games are able to do now. Even the worst looking game now is just leaps and bounds ahead of even what this would look like with a proper render pipeline
and much better textures. Like just walk around a ground level. The difference is, it's staggering. In "Marvel's Spider-Man 2",
the city looks like a city. There's traffic clogging the streets, cracks in the sidewalk,
trash, people walkin' here. I mean it looks like a place. (dramatic music) Compare that to 2004 Spider-Man, where it's a desolate wasteland with a car every once in a
while, maybe a person or two. Like it's so empty. The streets are huge and uniformly sized and there's nothing in them, so it's just even more emphasized. Of course, you're supposed
to swing around and all that, but, even from far away,
the city looks crazy empty and bland in that old game. Especially when compared to how vibrant the city looks in "Spider-Man 2". It's just not a fair comparison. Of course, these games are
about two decades apart. But it's easy to get the
nostalgia glasses about old games. Sometimes you gotta actually go back and look at 'em to remind yourself this is what games used to look like. It was not always pretty. At Number five is "The Talos Principle 2" versus "Serious Sam". Croteam, big fans of
Ancient Egypt, aren't they? It appears in pretty much
all their games in some form. Going all the way back to
Sirius Sam, way back in 2001. Even though the game was a
budget title when it came out, it was still considered
a graphics card showcase because of the huge environments
and special effects. It's outdated to say the least, but there is something charming about the visuals in this old game. It doesn't exactly look
realistic of course, but it does look good for what it is. Fast forward more than 20
years to their most recent game and the difference is
honestly kind of mind blowing. From this cartoon rendering of Egypt to stuff that's almost photorealistic. If you look at it from the right angle. (dramatic music) - [Narrator] This land is but a dream. You will stay here only
for a little while. Soon you will awaken in a new world. - [Falcon] "Talos Principle 2" uses Unreal Engine 5 to great effect and they're able to do a
lot with relatively little. And the only part of the game that leans into the Egypt
theme is during the prologue, the rest of the game is
going for something else. But both of these games have
massive open world environments that still manage to run well. Even though these games have almost nothing in common in terms of gameplay, one's an over the top shooter, the other's a philosophical puzzle game, they're both cutting edge
graphics games for their time, which really goes to show how
far we've come since 2001. (dramatic music) At number four is "Tekken
8" versus "Tekken 1". This one goes way, way back
to the earliest days of 3D. The original "Tekken" came
out September 21st, 1994. And while it's not quite as
rudimentary as "Virtua Fighter", it's only a slight step up from that. (dramatic music) Basically these guys have textures and that's the innovation. Everyone's weird looking, stiff, a lot of the backgrounds
are cropped stock photos slapped over a gradient. At the time this was revolutionary, but now it's ugly as hell. There is a certain charm to a lot of these early PS one games, but you'd have to be lying
to say they looked good. It was a time of innovation
and experimentation. Nobody even knew what a 3D game was supposed to look like back then and they were literally winging it. And some of the games from that era legitimately do have like a
stylistic goodness to them. "Tekken 1" is not one of
those games in my opinion. However, fast forward 30 years later, "Tekken 8" shows us just how
much things have evolved. This is easily the best looking game in the series up to this point. It's a pretty significant upgrade over the previous game, even, "Tekken 7". (punches striking)
(upbeat music) What's funny is that we
can still directly compare characters that appeared in the first game to ones that appear in 8. Like look at Ninja, for example. She has the exact same pose,
a lot of the same moves. Jac in "Tekken 1", same victory animation as he does in "Tekken 8". This sort of repetition's
just all over the place here. Rarely do we see a long running series stay this consistent for this long. The visuals look about a thousand
times better, maybe more, but so many other things
stay super consistent. "Tekken 8" isn't exactly
an unreal looking game, but, in comparison to the original, it's like looking into the future. - [Narrator] Fight!
(upbeat music) (strikes crashing) - [Falcon] At number three is
"Stellar Blade" versus "NieR". At time of writing, I've
only got the demo to go on, but I think it's safe to say that "Stellar Blade" is
looking pretty impressive. At least with the visuals. Like, this game runs smoothly, the city environment in the
demo's dense with detail and the character models are, well, they're meticulously modeled,
that's how I'm gonna say it. The creators have not been shy about citing their many
inspirations though and have made special
mention of the "NieR" games. With the news that
"NieR" creator Yoko Taro literally came out and said that he thinks this game is better than his games. Which is quite nice,
Yoko, yes, but we'll see. I do think it's fair to
compare the games though. The obvious comparison is
of course "NieR: Automata", but just for laughs, let's go back to the original "NieR" from 2010. (explosion booming) (character yelling) Automata isn't exactly cutting edge, but the original "NieR" does not hold up well with 2024 eyes. You wouldn't think this game
came out in 2010 looking at it, it looks rough, like a
slightly sharper PS2 game. It was not a looker back when it came out, it looks even worse with modern eyes, and then you put it
next to "Stellar Blade" and it's not even fair. Just look how lifeless and
empty the city in "NieR" looks compared to "Stellar Blade". Of course, that doesn't mean it's automatically a
better game or anything. The original "NieR", in my
opinion, is a flawed masterpiece. But if we're just talking about graphics, "NieR", it's not competition. There's no competing here. Special mention has to be
made about Papa Nier here too. One of the ugliest, weirdest
looking protagonists in a Japanese game. He was made this way to try to appeal to a Western market. While Eve from "Stellar Blade" definitely has an appeal to her, it goes to show you how
much things have changed. (dramatic music)
(strikes landing) At number two is "RoboCop: Rogue City" versus 2003's "RoboCop". "RoboCop: Rogue City"
has some discussions and, say what you will about it, but it can look pretty damn good on PC with maxed out settings. It's a game that really
shows what's possible with Unreal Engine 5. It certainly holds up against
the last major RoboCop game, which is 2003's "RoboCop". Anybody remember this? (gun firing) It was published by Titus. It was made using RenderWare, which was the ubiquitous engine for a while in the mid-2000s. It didn't get very good scores because, frankly, it wasn't very good. It does make a good comparison for how far graphics technology has come
for mid-budget games though. You know, not necessarily the
biggest games of the year, but games with some money behind them. Not the most money, some. The 2003 game has a street
level right at the start, which is perfect for comparison. The street in the new game, very realistic, detailed
lighting, moody as hell, almost photorealistic at times. Well, the 2003 game, well,
let's just say it's not that. I mean it doesn't look as bad as it could. It definitely could
look worse in that era. You can definitely make out a city, but it's definitely lacking in effects and, design-wise, it's pretty weak. So many things in Rogue
City seem to be made with almost obsessive levels of detail and there are plenty of moments
that break that illusion, like pretty much any time someone talks. - Could you please keep the noise down? (upbeat music) You're scaring off my customers - Can't hear you. Music's too loud. - [Falcon] If you're just
wandering the city streets, this game looks almost unreal. Whereas the 2003 "RoboCop" game, it doesn't come anywhere close to that. - Over and out.
(gun firing) - [Falcon] And, finally, at number one, "Baldur's Gate 3" versus
"Baldur's Gate 1". Western RPGs were just never meant to look as good as "Baldur's Gate 3". Like go back to the original game with its huge UI, its
low resolution 2D assets, that were kind of rough looking even back in 1998, and it's... I mean these games were big, but they were never meant to be beautiful. At least that's how it's
always been looked at. - I shoulda joined the army. - [Falcon] Western RPGs were
always more workman-like in the graphics department. Even when they went full 3D, they were woefully behind the times. "Dragon Age: Origins", for instance. Great game, don't get me
wrong, but it is butt ugly. "Baldur's Gate 3" breaks that trend with gorgeous detailed environments and meticulously designed
and crafted characters, which were made by
scanning real face models. And most of the character
animation was done by motion capturing people
during their vocal performances. Every little random animation was motion captured by someone, and it's a frankly incredible
amount of bespoke animation. Most major developers
wouldn't even bother. The technology's finally
here to make work like that not only feasible, but effective. The many animations and
characters you run across really do breathe a lot of life
into an otherwise dry genre. - Alright, alright. No reason to get your tongue in a twist. Well, come on, let's get you to shore. You'll need to report to the sergeant. You lot, keep patrolling. - [Falcon] That's, of course,
on top of everything else. The world design is absolutely stunning. It's just a beautiful game
that is beyond massive in scope and offers so much in terms of flexibility with what you want to do. We have come a long way
from the flat text boxes that used to be this
genre's stock and trade, and it's already hard to go back. (creature roaring) (characters fighting)
(solemn music) That's all for today. Leave us a comment, let
us know what you think. If you like this video, click like, if you're not subscribed,
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right here on Gameranx.
