These were the best (and worst) technical PC games of 2022 - Digital Trends

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2022 was a large twelvemonth for PC crippled releases, for amended and worse. We saw singular achievements successful fidelity successful titles like Dying Light 2, but besides fundamentally breached PC ports similar Gotham Knights. As 2022 closes out, I wanted to instrumentality a look backmost astatine the champion and worst PC games we saw successful the past year.

Keep successful caput that ReSpec is simply a method file — I’m focused connected the method aspects of PC releases, not needfully my favourite games overall. Elden Ring, for example, won our best games of 2022 roundup, and it’s a idiosyncratic favorite. But it doesn’t amusement up successful this database successful rather the aforesaid light.

Best: Portal RTX

Portal RTX is an insanely demanding game, and I debated putting it connected this database owed to however fewer radical tin really play it. But if thing else, Portal RTX is a fantastic showcase of Nvidia’s RTX Remix modding toolkit and however ray tracing tin enactment to redefine the look and consciousness of the game.

We’re acold past the days of Quake II RTX where immoderate over-saturated lighting and distracting reflections were the champion showcases of ray tracing we had. Physically-based materials, much businesslike way tracing techniques, upscaling, and framework procreation each worked into bringing much realistic lighting into games, and Portal RTX is our archetypal showcase of the powerfulness those techniques tin have.

I’m peculiarly excited astir what it means for RTX Remix successful the future. Modders person already enactment retired versions of Max Payne, Half-Life, and SWAT 4 revitalized done RTX Remix, and they each look incredible. I’ll beryllium taking a person look astatine these games (and hopefully more) successful the future.

Worst: Gotham Knights

Robin fights the mob successful Gotham Knights.

Gotham Knights is connected the other extremity — it’s an disfigured look into the past. In the vein of the infamous Arkham Knight PC port, Gotham Knights shipped connected PC with monolithic stuttering issues paired with lackluster ray-tracing options. Even with a bevy of upscaling features connected tap, Gotham Knights can’t support a unchangeable framework rate.

It doesn’t assistance that the crippled looks dated, arsenic well. It was primitively designed with last-gen consoles successful caput earlier the steadfast decided to propulsion the plug, but it fails to unrecorded up to adjacent that standard. Shortly aft launch, a flood of images comparing the graphical fidelity of the crippled to 2015’s Arkham Knight started flowing retired (and spoiler: Arkham Knight won that battle).

Personally, this 1 deed hard. Even with immoderate issues that you tin work astir successful our Gotham Knights review, I was excited to play the game. I can’t carnivore the overwhelming stuttering, though, which hasn’t been fixed adjacent months aft launch. It’s worse than Elden Ring’s stuttering and immoderate different crippled I’ve played this year, and I don’t spot the contented getting resolved immoderate clip soon. Just recently, a spot for Gotham Knights actually rendered the crippled unplayable connected Steam. Yikes.

Best: Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection

Uncharted Legacy of Thieves postulation moving connected Samsung Odyssey Neo G8.

Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection is a premier illustration of however to bash a PC larboard right. Rock-solid performance, a wide breadth of graphics options, and pre-compiled shaders marque it a creaseless acquisition connected fundamentally immoderate rig — and a long-overdue debut for Nathan Drake connected PC.

PlayStation has knocked it retired of the parkland with each of its PC releases, but Uncharted is toned down compared to God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man. You’ll find immoderate enhanced textures, but the archetypal console merchandise is mostly intact. Instead, the larboard focuses connected stableness by compiling shaders successful the paper to debar stuttering and providing upscaling for immoderate GPU successful the signifier of FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 2 and Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS).

The lone downside is the instal size. Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection requires 126GB of abstraction (after everything is done, it’s astir 113GB, but we’re splitting hairs here), and a batch of that size comes connected the backmost of the enhanced textures. 100GB+ installs are communal connected PC with these high-resolution assets, but games similar Far Cry 6 allow you to skip the higher-resolution assets for a smaller instal size, which I would’ve liked to spot successful Uncharted.

Still, if each I tin kick astir is the instal size for a PC crippled released successful 2022, that’s a precise bully thing.

Worst: Warhammer 40,000 Darktide

A partition speechmaking "Death earlier Dishonor" successful Warhammer 40K Darktide.

I’ll admit, Warhammer 40,000 Darktide is 1 of my idiosyncratic favourite games of 2022, but that’s contempt its truckload of method issues. A lengthy and bug-filled beta play led to an adjacent much breached merchandise astatine launch, which featured changeless web disconnects, game-breaking crashes owed to ray tracing, and myriad ocular errors.

Some examples: Turning disconnected the nebulous and over-demanding sub-surface scattering mounting meant that tegument simply wouldn’t render connected characters; turning connected DLSS to amended ray tracing show would clang the game; and lens flares could origin a monolithic simplification successful framework rate, which is 1 of galore settings that tin make a nasty CPU bottleneck successful the game.

Since launch, developer Fat Shark has continued to amended the game, and it’s successful a overmuch amended spot now. There’s nary denying the tumultuous motorboat authorities of the game, though, which is disappointing considering it was 1 of lone a fewer caller titles released with DLSS 3, alternatively than backported to older releases.

Best: Marvel’s Spider-Man (and Miles Morales)

A examination of a finisher determination successful Spider-Man Miles Morales.

Marvel’s Spider-Man and Miles Morales took a antithetic attack to Sony’s PC ports, leaning heavier connected PC tech alternatively than unchangeable performance. They’re some unchangeable games, but they’re besides packed with ray tracing, a slew of upscaling options, and tech similar Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing (DLAA) and DLSS Frame Generation.

Ray tracing looks fantastic in Marvel’s Spider-Man, and it allows you to propulsion reflection and shadows beyond what’s disposable connected the PlayStation 5. Miles Morales is peculiarly awesome with DLSS 3, adjacent if the AI-generated frames don’t ever look perfect.

Now that Spider-Man 2 is announced for adjacent year connected PlayStation 5, I tin lone anticipation we spot it connected PC. If these archetypal 2 releases are thing to spell by, the 2nd crippled volition hopefully radiance adjacent much connected a high-end gaming rig.

Worst: Stray/Elden Ring

Elden Ring moving connected the Asus ROG PG42UQ.

I’m grouping Stray and Elden Ring here due to the fact that they some had the aforesaid issue: shader compilation stuttering. Elden Ring has been patched into a overmuch amended state, arsenic has Stray, but they some launched with accordant stuttering connected PC owed to shaders compiling connected the GPU.

This is chiefly a occupation with Unreal Engine, arsenic you tin spot from Gotham Knights. That said, Elden Ring uses a customized engine, showing that it tin interaction games engines, arsenic well. The shaders (programs) request to determination to your GPU earlier they tin execute, causing a slowdown whenever caller shaders are introduced.

The bully quality for these 2 releases is that they’re playable now, overmuch unlike Gotham Knights. Still, it’s disappointing to spot specified terrible stutters successful 2 games that were wide considered among the champion of the year.

PC ports successful 2023

Looking guardant to 2023, I’m hopeful that the days of shader compilation stuttering and borked PC ports are down us. Fortnite‘s modulation to Unreal Engine 5 shows a agleam aboriginal for the monolithic fig of titles that usage Unreal. On the different end, we’re inactive seeing the next-gen Witcher 3 update and titles similar The Callisto Protocol release successful devastating states.

On the positive side, much PC releases are embracing technologies similar FSR, DLSS, Frame Generation, and latency-reduction tools similar Reflex, helping games that are optimized connected the motor broadside tally much smoothly. I’m definite successful 2023 we’ll spot adjacent much advancement connected that front.

This nonfiction is portion of ReSpec – an ongoing biweekly file that includes discussions, advice, and in-depth reporting connected the tech down PC gaming.