Video games have been obsessed with physics for decades. Be it 1982's Microsoft Flight Simulator trying to recreate accurate flight models, or the first Hitman game bringing ragdoll physics to the mainstream, video games love nothing more than a bit of simulated reality. However, one type of physical simulation waves and wobbles above the rest: cloth physics.
Realistic cloth and fabric material have always been the holy grail of video game physics because of how hard they are to simulate. Free-flowing like a liquid, but also rigid like a solid, it makes programming their collision a nightmare. That is why we have decided it is high time we honor the games that get it right, and crown the game with the swooshiest cloth physics!
10 Assassin's Creed: Unity
Assassin's Creed: Unity is many things; an underrated social stealth game, an early PS4 and Xbox One disappointment, and a nightmare face factory. However, one thing it's rarely credited with is just how good-looking it is. Yes, the game's huge crowds made the base 2013 consoles' framerates chug to a crawl, but nearly every aspect of this open-world still looks fantastic today.
What ties Unity's look together is just how dramatic the game's fabric is. French flags blow as revolution spirals into chaos on the Parisian streets below, and more importantly, Arno's outfits flap and flow as he runs through the streets and scrambles up buildings. It might be a little over-blown, but that only adds to the game's tone and gives a great deal of life and energy to the game.
9 Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
When discussing games with swooshy cloth physics, it is easy to become fixated on capes - and don't worry, we will get there - but first, we must honor the front-and-back cape: ponchos. Plenty of games, like Call Of Juarez and Red Dead Redemption, have featured these comfy and warm wrap-arounds, but it is only Jedi Fallen Order that really captures their magic.
It helps that this game is full of amazing physics, including stormtroopers that you can toss around with the force, but Cal's rain protector is the highlight. There is something about this game's stormy opening that would feel lessened if it weren't for all the shipyard workers' ponchos whipping in the wind. But most of all, the slight and constant, movement of Cal's clothes makes his movement constantly feel kinetic and satisfying.
8 Bloodborne
FromSoftware's eldritch Victorian opus might win the award for Wettest Cloths In Video Games. As you fight through Yharnam, your hunter's trench coats, capes, and robes will be drenched in the blood of the monsters as the Havok physics engine does its thing.
You might not have time to notice it, as you dodge and cleave your way through this cursed city, but all the clothing your character can equip in Bloodborne moves more erratically than most of the bosses. The cloth physics in Bloodborne help convey the game's barely contained chaos.
7 Metro: Last Light
The Metro series has always been at the cutting edge of tech. Metro: Exodus was one of the first games released on PS5 and Series X to feature console ray-tracing, but the games have been bumping the lamp for over a decade. Going back to 2014's Last Light, it is hard to comprehend that it was able to run on PS3s and 360s.
Nowhere is this more apparent than the game's staggering but subtle cloth physics. Unlike other games on this list, rarely does Metro call attention to its cloth simulation sprinkled throughout the game. However, in the chapter Regina, when Artyom is being led to the titular dirt-buggy-turned-tram, a character pulls a patchwork sheet off the rail car, and it is just... chef's kiss!
6 The Witcher 3
It is understandable that in large open-world games, graphics and tech have to take a back seat. When loading large expansive areas, developers have to create so much landmass and content that something has to be sacrificed. Yet somehow, The Witcher 3 manages to not just be one of the deepest open-worlds in recent memory, but it also has some of the most impressive physics.
The game isn't draped in flags and flowing robes everywhere, but it is where the games highlight what cloth physics it does have that really matters. As Geralt pirouettes and slashes with his swords, not only does the loose fabric on his armor wave as he strikes down his enemies, but so does his luxurious silver hair. While not technically cloth, Geralt's flowing locks adhere to the same laws of physics and run on the same tech. Goodness, I just want hair that good.
5 Helldivers
While physics is a difficult thing for developers to simulate in any game, there has to be extra respect given to Helldivers and its developers, Arrowhead Games, for simulating cloth tech in a multiplayer game. Making sure character locations and hit detection remain synced is a difficult enough task, but trying to keep multiple separate real-time simulations of capes in sync is an impressive technical achievement.
Sadly, as a result, the cape physics in Helldivers is hardly the most complex. However, that matters little when you and three other friends can stand in the lobby and use the game's twin-stick controls to spin on a dime at an inhuman rate and cause all of your capes to feel the power of inertia.
4 Ghost Of Tsushima
Very few games use the wind like Ghost of Tsushima. It not only guides the player throughout the world but is also one of the most vital parts of the game's aesthetic. Two adversaries standing off in fields of flowers in feudal Japan, is an iconic cinematic image, but this image is only as good as the swooshiness of the samurais' robes as they square off.
Thankfully, Tsushima knows this and as a result, Jin's and his rivals' outfits constantly billow in the wind like it's the climax of a Kurosawa movie. Yes, the dramatic fluttering is good at making sure that it's always tempting to pause the game to mess around in the photo mode, but it also helps sell the game's cinematic storytelling.
3 Batman Arkham Series
It might feel trite to say it yet again, but the best thing about the Arkham games is how it makes you feel like The Dark Knight. A large part of this is definitely thanks to things like Kevin Conroy's iconic voice, the comic book-accurate gothic design of Arkham Asylum and Gotham City, and the stealth gameplay that lets you stalk baddies like The Bat himself.
However, it cannot be understated how important it is that Rocksteady nailed Batman's cape. Whether it be draping over him as he hunches atop a gargoyle, or it's fluttering in the stormy wind as he glides through the night, there is nothing quite like Batman's cape in these games.
2 The Last Of Us Part 2
While cloth physics are notoriously difficult to accurately simulate, Naughty Dog seemed to scoff in the face of all technical restraint when it came to The Last Of Us Part 2. While the game has plenty of wet tarps blowing in the wind and baggy jackets loosely hanging off characters, the real achievement is something much more subtle.
After Ellie's revenge mission in Seattle goes south, and she returns to Diane in the theatre, there is an emotional sequence where Diane helps the blood-soaked Ellie get cleaned up. During this scene, Diane gently helps Ellie take her shirt off, and we watch as it stretches over her head. There's a reason most games cut away when characters change clothing, and that's because programming the physics and collision for a piece of material like this is a mammoth task that is usually only ever shown in pre-rendered animations. Here, however, the Last Of Us realistically shows her shirt peel off her back. It might not be swooshy, but it is an impactful moment, heightened by stellar physics.
1 Journey
Journey is a wonderful game for many reasons. It's a wordless story that is both up for interpretation but still has a clear message about connection and togetherness. While it will be held up as a classic that pushed the industry forward for decades to come, we all know what really makes it special: your scarf.
This growing, flowing piece of cloth manages to become the focal point of both gameplay and the emotional center of Journey. As it grows and twirls in the desert wind, your mobility improves, and you grow to treasure each length of this robe and what it allows you to do. Towards the end of the game, when you lose most of it, it doesn't just feel like the game has taken a mechanic from you, but has stripped you of part of your being.