Summary

• Older games like Crysis 3 and Batman: Arkham Knight hold up to this day without featuring any ray tracing.
• Uncharted 4, Ghost of Tsushima, and The Last of Us Part II showcase what's possible on the PS4.
• Red Dead Redemption 2 and Microsoft Flight Simulator managed to craft a highly realistic world without ray tracing.
• The Dead Space remake proves that even today, ray tracing isn't a necessity.

Ray tracing has made some pretty big strides forward in how games are rendered. While ray tracing as a technology has existed for decades, it only arrived in games after Nvidia's Ampere graphics cards made it possible in 2018. In the six years since then, we've seen some landmark ray-traced titles like Control, Battlefield V, Metro Exodus, Cyberpunk 2077, and Alan Wake 2, thanks to the might of the best gaming GPUs. But, despite the advancements brought about by ray tracing, it isn't the be-all and end-all in gaming graphics.

Over the past 10 years or so, we've seen traditional rasterization-based techniques progress to new heights, to the point that we've had titles with jaw-dropping visuals and little to no reliance on ray tracing. These games prove that you don't always need ray tracing for games to look phenomenal. I'll be focusing mostly on relatively modern games and those that I've been fortunate enough to play myself. But even then, some tough choices will need to be made.

10 Crysis 3 (PC): 2013

The next-gen showcase

A list about stunning gaming graphics has to have a Crysis game on it. What could be better than Crysis 3 to start this list with? This game came out back in 2013, five years before ray tracing was even a thing. And true to the Crysis tradition, it pushed gaming visuals beyond anything else at the time. Crysis games are always supposed to have graphics as a huge centerpiece, and CryEngine 3 was hugely instrumental in making that happen.

That's exactly what the developers were going for — creating a visual masterpiece that was ahead of its time.

Besides the advanced lighting, rendering, and tessellation, Crytek went above and beyond with dynamic lighting, realistic physics, and detailed character models. Crysis 3's reflections, overall lighting, and high-resolution textures seem as impressive to me now as they did when I first played the game. That's exactly what the developers were going for — creating a visual masterpiece that was ahead of its time. Plus, the game has a decent story, gameplay, and a satisfying trilogy-capping ending as icing on the cake.

9 Batman: Arkham Knight (PC): 2015

Rocksteady's passion shines, literally

The Batman: Arkham trilogy is one of my all-time favorites, and one of the biggest reasons behind my Batman fervor (besides The Dark Knight, of course). While Arkham Asylum and Arkham City were by no means bad-looking games, Rocksteady really stepped it up with Arkham Knight. Say what you will about the plot or the supposed over-reliance on the Batmobile, the game looked stunning — from the lighting bringing night-time Gotham to life, to the physics of Batman's cape.

Going back to the game in 2024, you'd think the lighting and reflections are ray-traced.

What makes Arkham Knight look so good even now is the passion the development team had and the customizations they made to Unreal Engine 3. Nvidia's GameWorks and Physx implementations made things like rain and smoke appear more realistic. Plus, the art direction oozed a tremendous level of detail and crafted an atmosphere that made you feel fully immersed in the world. Going back to the game in 2024, you'd think the lighting and reflections are ray-traced. It's truly a testament to the amazing work by Rocksteady on the Batman: Arkham trilogy.

8 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4): 2016

Gorgeous environments and stunning facial capture

Naughty Dog is no stranger to making great-looking games, but Uncharted 4 is especially commendable. The funny thing is that the final game in Drake's story was the first game I ever played on the PS4. Without having played any of the first three titles, I didn't know what to expect. But I was instantly blown away by the scale of the world and the incredibly detailed character models.

The moving story and pulse-pounding gameplay were impressive enough, but the groundbreaking visuals further enhanced the overall experience. Naughty Dog's four-year development cycle behind Uncharted 4, plus the commitment behind making the characters and the open world as immersive as possible, played a huge part in making the game's visuals hold up surprisingly well even in 2024.

7 Star Wars Battlefront II (PC): 2017

The eye candy is strong with this one

You might have just shuddered at the mention of Star Wars Battlefront II, but the controversy surrounding this title didn't take away from its gorgeous graphics. This was one of the very first titles that made me question the very existence of ray tracing. When I played it around 2019, I was amazed at how photorealistic its lighting, reflections, and textures looked without relying on any ray-traced effects. Plus, it ran surprisingly well on my GTX 1660 Ti.

I found myself stopping in my tracks to admire the reflections and textures.

The level of finesse the developers were able to achieve entirely with pre-baked lighting was something I hadn't seen in any other game at the time. Whether it was the forest environment, inside the imperial ships, or in industrial complexes, I found myself stopping in my tracks to admire the reflections and textures.

6 Red Dead Redemption 2 (PC): 2019

Rockstar didn't need any ray tracing

Rockstar's magnum opus is undoubtedly one of the biggest achievements in not only immersive storytelling but also mesmerizing visuals. Red Dead Redemption 2 does not feature any ray tracing, even on the PC port, which might come as a disappointment to some. But the game truly isn't in need of it. It already looks incredibly realistic with its rasterized lighting, shadows, and reflections.

Rockstar had the muscle to put years and resources into the development of Red Dead Redemption 2, refining every single aspect of it to perfection. Not every studio can do that. But, Rockstar also had a passionate team working painstakingly to render an immersive and believable world for players to get lost in. That is something the industry needs more of.

5 The Last of Us Part II (PS4): 2020

The peak of PS4 visuals

I still remember the hype surrounding The Last of Us Part II. After numerous delays, the much-anticipated follow-up to Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic masterpiece finally launched June 2020 in the middle of a pandemic. Whether positive or negative, the reactions to the game's plot and characters were explosive. But, one thing that everyone agreed on was how drop-dead phenomenal the game looked. And this was on the PlayStation 4, even before the remastered version came out for the PS5.

Naughty Dog managed to make the world look so realistic, lived-in, and yet pristine in its beauty

I had to rent a PS4 to play the game, as I was traveling at the time. Such was my excitement to experience Joel and Ellie's story. The entire experience was breathtaking, soul-crushing, exhausting, mind-numbing, and everything in between. Naughty Dog managed to make the world look so realistic, lived-in, and yet pristine in its beauty, again proving that fancy tech isn't necessary for stunning graphics.

4 Ghost of Tsushima (PS4): 2020

Shows us what a PS4 is capable of

Ghost of Tsushima seemed like the feudal Japan game everyone always wanted. Sucker Punch delivered one of the most acclaimed PlayStation 4 games of all time, and the graphics of the game were a huge talking point. Whether you're standing still and admiring the sunset, or racing through the forest on your horse, the environment looks as if you're interacting with a painting that has come alive.

The fact that this was achieved on the PS4 is perhaps the game's biggest achievement. The upgraded Director's Cut version improves upon the already excellent experience, and now even PC players can play Jin Sakai's samurai tale in all its glory.

3 Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC): 2020

The skies are calling

Microsoft Flight Simulator can be praised for many things: its rich roster of planes, incredible attention to detail, live air traffic, and the list goes on. But what transfixed me the most when I first played it was how intricately detailed the world looked. The 1:1 rendered world is highly captivating, especially if you fly in real time without time acceleration. I couldn't believe the realism of the terrain, clouds, and the planes themselves.

Of course, it was pretty taxing even on modern GPUs. I couldn't crank it all the way up on my RTX 3080 if I wanted decent framerates. But, the impressive thing was that all of this wizardry was happening without any ray tracing. The RTX 4000 series cards are best suited for this game, thanks to the availability of Frame Generation.

2 Forza Horizon 5 (PC): 2021

Take your ride for a spin in a gorgeous open world

Racing games don't usually come up in discussions about the best gaming graphics of all time. But, when certain titles go to great lengths to capture the beauty of the surrounding world as well as the joy of driving, you gotta appreciate it. There are many racing series with realistic visuals, but I personally like the approach taken by the Forza Horizon series, particularly Forza Horizon 5.

This time, the Horizon festival moves to Mexico, rendering a wide variety of mesmerizing landscapes in brilliant detail. Open-world driving rarely gets better than this. The cars, the locales, and the weather come together seamlessly to deliver a superior driving experience. This holds true even without the later addition of ray tracing to the game.

1 Dead Space (PC): 2023

Cut off their limbs in high definition

Dead Space was one of my first proper experiences with an AAA game. It managed to stick with me for years after I first played it sometime in 2010. So when the Dead Space remake was coming out in 2023, I knew I had to get my hands on it. I was actually glad that I didn't remember a lot of the original game, so that I could experience it anew in a modern avatar. The wait was worth it. The remake completely blew my socks off.

Apart from Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion (RTAO), the game features no other form of ray tracing.

Whether it's the impossibly perfect lighting, delectable reflections, elaborately detailed necromorphs, or the superior facial animations, I was hooked from the start. And I was surprised to know that apart from Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion (RTAO), the game features no other form of ray tracing. The lighting, reflections, and most of the shadows are all non-ray-traced. It's incredible what developers can achieve, given enough time and resources. And one more thing — Isaac can speak now.

Ray tracing isn't the only weapon in the developer's arsenal

Ray tracing and, more recently, path tracing in Cyberpunk 2077, have exemplified how far gaming graphics can be pushed. But this doesn't mean that all other techniques to render lighting, reflections, shadows, and more in games automatically become obsolete. Countless games have shown that even without ray tracing, realistic and immersive graphics can be achieved with enough time, hard work, and the right art direction. A good developer knows where to use rasterization and where to use ray tracing to achieve the most optimum results.