A big reason why 2023 is going to be an interesting year for video games is because of the next year’s technological developments. If you have one of the greatest graphics cards to keep up, Unreal Engine 5, intricate ray tracing, and features like DLSS 3 promise to drive graphical fidelity to new heights.
I’m looking forward to playing a lot more games this year, but I’m also eager to examine and test even more. Here are the most demanding games you should anticipate in the upcoming year if you want to strain your gaming Computer to its breaking point.
Dead Space
Returnal
Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart seems unattainable. The world appears to be very realistic and lit with ray-traced lighting from the gameplay we’ve seen. Just a few months after real-time ray tracing was first released, Nvidia actually showcased Atomic Heart as a tech demo. Since then, the developer has continued to improve the technology.
The system requirements aren’t too demanding, but I’m not sure I can trust them. Even the most advanced systems will be brought to their knees by the ray-traced reflections and particles in Atomic Heart. Even for powerful GPUs like the RTX 4090, the fact that the game supports Nvidia’s DLSS 3 gives some credence to how taxing Atomic Heart might be.
Resident Evil 4 Remake
Resident Evil 4 Remake uses the same incredible RE Engine that Capcom has been using in previous Resident Evil games. The first Resident Evil game to not launch on last-generation platforms is fascinating because it enables the RE Engine to function in ways we’ve never seen them before.
Resident Evil 4 Remake has shown off a lot of gameplay, and it already stands head and shoulders above the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. The minimal system requirements are more of a testament to the extremely scalable RE Engine than anything else, as Resident Evil 4 Remake is guaranteed to be taxing with ray tracing and high resolutions.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
We haven’t yet seen any quality games utilise Unreal Engine 5 outside of Fortnite. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which makes use of features like Lumen and Nanite to create realistic lighting and high-resolution textures, will potentially be one of the first UE5 games to be launched, depending on how release dates pan out.
There is also some history involved. Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, both of which were well-received benchmark games when they were launched, were both produced by the developer Rocksteady. Just let’s hope that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League avoids Arkham Knight’s infamous stammer.
Forza Motorsport
Forza Motorsport ushers in a new era for the franchise, which has always been supported by stunning visual technology in Microsoft’s Forza games. Ray tracing during races is the major advancement, but Forza Motorsport promises much more. Fully dynamic time of day with cascading shadows, 3D-scanned surroundings, and even specifics like track temperature affecting tyre grip take Forza to new heights.
Because Forza Horizon 5 is still a very demanding game with a lot of graphical detail and simulations, I utilize it in our CPU and GPU reviews. Like the other games on this list, Forza Motorsport appears to build on that and is the first in the series to come entirely on next-gen consoles.
Witchfire
Witchfire is arguably the item on our list that raises the most doubts. Other from the knowledge that The Astronauts, the studio best known for The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, is behind this game and that it will release in 2023, we essentially know nothing about it at this time. The game will support DLSS 3 for graphics cards like the RTX 4080, according to Nvidia.
However the gameplay appears absurd. Scenes have a lot of sophisticated backgrounds, flowing lighting, and dense particle effects, so if the final game looks the same, most PCs will struggle to run it. Although we don’t know much right now, in 2023 you should surely keep a watch on this.
