As technology grows and platform holders continue to innovate on revolutionary new engineering methods to provide surreal photorealistic experiences within games, the line between what is real and fake is blurring. Titles like Forza Horizon 5 have some of the most jaw-dropping and realistic instances of graphics being displayed in real-time.
However, photorealism or great graphics in general doesn't always attribute itself to automatically providing a good game. For some, graphics become a selling point and nothing more, and the games that do this suffer the most.
The Order: 1886
Every generation starts off with a game that's more of a technical showcase to show what a new console is capable of and all the exciting potential for future content on a particular piece of hardware. For PlayStation 4, The Order: 1886 was, and still is, a technical marvel for the system, however, what it provided outside its state-of-the-art visuals was less than stellar.
The game ended up being a massive letdown for folks who were looking forward to the new generation of PlayStation as the game had cost a whopping $59.99 USD at the time and only lasted roughly five hours. With virtually every event of the game consisting of quick-time events, players were quick to criticize what was effectively a tech demo sold in the guise of a full game.
Knack
The PlayStation 4 was a wildly successful console that saw one of the best and most diverse libraries in history, however, its launch year was not filled with the most appealing content. Knack, on the surface, looked like a charming game that would bring back the hallmark of platformers, but what instead happened was a title that was lucky to see a score above a five out of ten.
Even now, Knack is a beautiful game that had wonderful animations on the level of Pixar, with particle effects and tons of special effects that were, at the time, a miracle to see on screen. It's sad, however, that the appeal ended at its visuals, as the game itself was nonsensical, poorly controlled, and downright boring.
LEFT ALIVE
Yoji Shinkawa has always been side-by-side with legendary game designer Hideo Kojima working on the Metal Gear titles and Death Stranding. Their legacy and achievements are well-known within the industry and continuously leave landmarks to aspire to for other developers, with Shinkawa-san's art being some of the most unique and recognizable in the world. LEFT ALIVE was Square Enix's attempt at a collaboration with Yoji Shinkawa that would reboot the dormant Front Mission series, but it unfortunately ended up as one of the worst games in the generation.
LEFT ALIVE is a detailed and stunning third-person shooter that blended the mechs and war the Front Mission series is known for with a Metal Gear-esque approach to its game design, but its efforts fell flat as it was released in a broken state and averaged out at about a three out of ten at most outlets.
The Callisto Protocol
During the heydays of Horror in the mid-2000s, the genre was at its peak with titles that most would consider classic today such as The Callisto Protocol, ex-Dead Space veterans returned to create a refined experience for the current generation with incredible life-like graphics with ray-tracing in tow.
For all The Callisto Protocol did to bring back not only the spark and nostalgia of Dead Space but the chance to be one of the best horror games that take place in space, however, it ultimately fell flat with its reception due to a frustrating combat experience, short playtime, and being riddled with bugs that bogged down the overall experience. While not the worst game to come out for the new generation of consoles, it certainly let down the majority of those who had anticipated its release.
Gotham Knights
The Arkham Universe is one of the most beloved worlds and pieces of lore within Batman and gaming, so when Gotham Knights was announced, fans were initially excited about a brand-new title where new heroes would take the spotlight: Red Hood, Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl. These four would offer both a single-player and co-op experience that would tell the story of a world post-Batman, and how everyone is learning to cope.
A red flag, however, was that Gotham Knights was not developed by Rocksteady who had handled the initial trilogy, as the studio is currently developing Suicide Squad as its primary project. Due to the change of hands, the talent and foundation of Gotham Knights left it in a precarious state, with the city feeling empty and lackluster, and a large portion of the fan base less than enthusiastic due to myriad technical issues and odd design choices.
F.E.A.R 3
Despite its debut title releasing in 2005, F.E.A.R quickly went on to become a popular first-person shooter that aimed to push the boundaries of every graphics card at the time while providing an exceptional horror narrative to spook players as much as they enthralled them. By the time the third game had been released, however, the game had lost any sense of cohesion or focus, leaving a mess of a game that ultimately had players scratching their heads.
FEAR 3 felt entirely unnecessary, and even though there were certainly parts of Alma's story that could have been touched on, the change in studios from Monolith Productions to Day 1 Studios and the decision for added co-op play created a massive misdirection for the series that was neither scary or fun. It was a terrible way to end the series, especially since it's been dormant since 2011.
Marvel's Avengers
Marvel's treasure trove of IP has captivated audiences for decades with myriad superheroes for people to connect with and be inspired by. Because of its popularity and appeal, it's easy to imagine fans being excited about the chance to play as their favorite heroes, and with Marvel's Avengers, players were given the opportunity to do so on a massive AAA scale that was accentuated by its photorealism and cast of characters.
With Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix together on the project, Marvel's Avengers had all the ingredients of being a hit cinematic experience perfect for a video game adaptation, but due to a forceful live-service approach to a single-player experience, the game felt like a cash-grab to most. A slew of issues and server problems that would also hinder the single-player portion of the game would create a huge annoyance for players, and grotesque microtransaction practices ultimately left the game dead-on-arrival for most.
Godfall
During the introduction of the ninth generation of consoles, Godfall was set to be one of the initial reveals of titles coming to, at the time, PlayStation 5 and PC before being ported to other consoles in a more definitive format at a later date. The game aimed to reinvent the looter shooter genre by creating the first-ever looter slasher, focusing on melee rather than ranged combat.
Godfall's high-fantasy setting would allow it to showcase a plethora of colors that popped with HDR, further complemented by its stunning graphics, textures, and effects that would make the game feel fantastical in every sense of the word. Everything about Godfall would quickly fall flat, though, as the game ultimately found itself to be repetitive, boring, and tedious with very little return on investment for players to feel fulfilled with any time spent on it.
Scorn
H.R. Giger's influence on science fiction and horror is arguably one of the most impactful of any medium or artist in history, and when it came to Scorn, the game aimed at making the most authentic take on biomechanical architecture and direction ever seen. It's a graphical powerhouse that looked breathtaking on 4K screens with profound detail on every corner of the game's design.
Through a gameplay perspective, however, it was not by any means what anyone had anticipated. Scorn had an odd marketing campaign that never really seemed to know what type of game it was, and when it finally released, it left most players confused and frustrated with a set of tedious puzzles, odd level design, frustrating combat, and vague story. It was a hollow experience that, frankly, left many retiring the game not long into it.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes
Supermassive Games has long been creating some of the most immersive and cinematic experiences video games have ever seen for years now. With The Dark Pictures, they've been able to wonderfully create a universe of standalone stories that all uniquely perceive horror in a new refreshing way, but with House of Ashes - the third entry in the series - it lost its footing and vision on what initially made these games so great.
House of Ashes tried too hard at being a different take on The Descent, but while the film was scary and still holds up to this day, House of Ashes spent too much time taking in the catacombs the cast found themselves entrapped in and less on a chilling atmosphere Supermassive has consistently pulled off in the past. It eventually would feel like a darker yet more shallow supernatural spin on Tomb Raider as well, and with very little leaving it memorable.