One of the biggest advancements seen in this current generation of the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 is ray tracing. The technology enhances lighting and reflections, making your games look prettier, with more realistic lighting. As PC tech starts making its way to consoles, the world becomes a slightly better place.
More and more games are launching with ray tracing features. Games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart have utilized ray tracing in tandem with the raw power of the PlayStation 5 to give us those awesome rift sequences we were blown away by. Other titles have seen updates well after launch to various effect, with some being underwhelming, while others added a new layer of polish to the game.
7 Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (PC and Xbox Series X|S)
Last year, Ninja Theory added ray tracing, DLSS, and more to Hellblade. It may have been about four years after the game's release, but it was a welcome luxury that revamped the lighting structure and enhanced finer details for Xbox Series X|S and PC players.
The settings affect different areas. For one, you have reflections like those seen in the water at the beginning of the game, where Senua is rowing a boat. Higher settings, massively upgrade the shadow effect players can see thanks to the sun and all the fire that you see throughout your journey to Hel.
6 Doom Eternal (PS5, PC, Xbox Series X)
Doom Eternal received a major boost for all platforms last year. From PlayStation to PC to Xbox Series X, players enjoyed all the new shiney surfaces, from metals to plastics anf of course, demon blood. Even better for PC players, DLSS followed the update so that NVIDIA GPU owners could turn on this setting with certain compatible graphics cards, like a 2060 or better. With all of the neon lights, it ups the colorfulness of the gory shooter.
Another benefit came with the ray tracing update for consoles. 120 Hz support was a part of the update for a smoother experience for players with the proper TVs.
5 Control Ultimate Edition (PS5 And Xbox Series X)
Control has some of the best use of ray tracing so far. PC players had it available, but with the Ultimate Edition, PS5 and Xbox Series X players finally got to see what the fuss was about.
On top of the DLC that came bundled with the newer edition of Remedy's trippy action-adventure game, Performance and Graphics modes were added to the current generation consoles. Performance mode targets 60fps, while Graphics mode caps at 30fps with ray tracing. Additionally, the Series S got an enhancement without ray tracing.
4 Metro Exodus (PS5, PC, Xbox Series X)
4A Games opened the door for better visuals with Metro Exodus, and if you owned the game, you got this upgrade for free. For PC players, it came with the Enhanced Edition and consoles got the Complete Edition. Both came with enhancements and both DLC - Sam’s Story and The Two Colonels.
As impressive as it is on PC, on console it shows the raw power of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Both target 60fps with a 4K resolution on top of the ray tracing. Other additions included audio and controller latency improvements, reduced load times, and haptic feedback support for the DualSense.
3 Hitman 3 (PC)
While consoles await ray tracing for Hitman 3, the PC update has already gone live. It adds ray traced shadows and reflections, which can be turned on or off at will. It is more rudimentary than other games, but it can be effective if you turn on DLSS, due to how tasking it is on your hardware.
Some have found it to be one of the worst examples of the technology. Comparing the reflections makes little noticeable difference. So, test it out and see if it is worth it to you.
2 Godfall (PC)
If you have played Godfall on PC, then you have had the option to grind out new loot with ray tracing enabled. Initially, the update went live for AMD owners using the Radeon RX 6000 series. Down the road, it eventually arrived for NVIDIA users for GeForce RTX 20 and 30 series.
When the update went live for NVIDIA GPUs, it came with more content. Primal, or version 2.4.44, also had various fixes. The AMD version was more of a quick patch to open the door for ray tracing.
1 Fortnite (PC)
It may not be as intensive on your PC as Hitman 3, but Epic Games released a patch to deliver ray tracing to Fortnite for NVIDIA GPUs. It also came with DLSS, making it more accessible if you don't have a high-end card, or if you wanted to boost your fps while having it enabled.
The difference it made for a stylish, yet simple game was astonishing. Going around buildings and looking at your own reflection made it look like a different game from the one with blank windows that had no reflections.