PC Gamer - UK 2020-04)

I

f you’ve been itching
to replay Quake II,
this RTX edition of
the game – a project
by NVIDIA-owned
LightSpeed Studios – is the perfect
excuse. It’s the same game you love,
but with added real-time
reflections, volumetric lighting,
global illumination, and other visual
upgrades designed to show off
NVIDIA’s RTX series of GPUs.

It makes heavy use of real-time ray
tracing, a rendering technique that
can produce incredibly realistic
lighting effects. Basically, an
algorithm traces the path of a light
source, then simulates the way that
light interacts with virtual objects

• whether it’s a glass window or a
  pool of water. And the results can be
  amazingly photorealistic. Only a few
  games have support for ray tracing at
  the moment, but NVIDIA has already
  made it a flagship feature of its latest
  range of graphics cards.
  Ray tracing has existed in various
  forms for decades. In 1982, a team of
  50 students from Osaka University’s
  School of Engineering, led by
  professors Ohmura Kouichi,
  Shirakawa Isao, and Kawata Toru,
  implemented the technology in its
  LINKS-1 supercomputer. But now
  computer technology has advanced
  to the point where it’s possible for a

homePCtouseit.Evenconsolesare

getting in on the action, with the

Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5

reported to have dedicated ray

tracing hardware.

Quake II RTX is currently free on

Steam, complete with three levels

from the shareware edition of the

game – which was featured on many

a PC Gamer cover disc back in the

day. But if you own Quake II (it’s

currently £5 on Steam) and have it

installed, you can play through the

whole game from start to finish. And

it’s worth it, because the final battle

with the Makron looks particularly

cool with this new lighting system.

However, to enjoy these fancy new

effects you will need a compatible

NVIDIA graphics card from its

growing RTX range.

I revisited Quake II recently for

our Reinstall regular, and was

pleasantly surprised by how playable

it still is. Those weapons feel great –

especially the railgun, which remains

one of the greatest FPS weapons of

all time. Watching that coil of blue

smoke swirl towards an enemy, and a

splash of gibs at the end of it, is

immensely satisfying. But I did find it

almost overwhelmingly brown, with

a lack of variety in the environments

and a grimly muted colour palette

throughout. The level design is great,

but Stroggos is not a particularly

interesting setting.

In Quake II RTX, Stroggos is still

harsh, industrial, and bleak. But the

new reflections, surface materials,

and lighting effects make it a lot

easier on the eye. When I first heard

about this version of the game, I

thought applying modern graphics

tech to low-poly models from the

’90s was a strange way to show off

what RTX cards were capable of. But,

in motion, it really works.

I was impressed when I fired my

railgun across a pool of water and

saw its swirling blue trail reflected

and distorted on the surface. Shafts of

sunlight stream through windows,

casting realistic shadows. Lava emits

a warm,fieryglow.Explosions

dramaticallylightuptheroom.It

makes those formerly flat, lifeless

corridors feel incredibly dynamic and

alive, and it’s surprising how much it

transforms the feel of the game.

NINETIES NOW

I’ve always found games that mix

retro assets with realistic lighting

really appealing to look at – a recent

example being Octopath Traveller,

which added realistic lighting and

shadows to a SNES-style throwback

RPG. And Quake II RTX appeals to

me in the same way. A few of the

weapon models have been updated,

but the enemies are still those same

lumpen freaks we shot back in ’97.

But with realistic light cast over

them, they look great.

This version of Quake II is only

the beginning, it seems. Last year,

NVIDIA posted a job listing for a

producer to lead an unnamed RTX

remaster project. Apparently

Lightspeed Studios is working on a

title that we “know and love”,

whatever that may turn out to be.

Having seen the dev’s amazing work

on Quake II RTX, I’m eager to find

out what it is.

NEEDTOKNOW

RELEASE

June 2019

PUBLISHER

NVIDIA

DEVELOPER

LightSpeed Studios

LINK

bit.ly/2OxqaKO

QUAKE II RTX

The classic FPS gets an incredible new look. By Andy Kelly

MIRROR IMAGE The best examples of ray tracing so far

CONTROL

The shiny floors and eerie

atmosphere of the Oldest

House are the perfect

showcase for ray tracing.

Control’s use of the tech

is seriously impressive,

with some amazingly

realistic reflections.

SHADOW OF THE

TOMB RAIDER

The use of ray tracing

here is most prominent,

appropriately, in its

tombs, with light sources

such as flickering braziers

and candles casting

realistic moving shadows.

BATTLEFIELD V

If you want to experience

the next generation of

puddles technology, just

play Battlefield V with ray

tracing on. The way the

world is reflected in the

water of a flooded trench

is truly stunning.

RAY TRACING

HAS EXISTED IN

VARIOUS FORMS

FOR DECADES

METRO EXODUS

This post-apocalyptic

road trip was already

beautiful to look at, but

the addition of ray traced

global illumination really

elevates the visual fidelity

of those bleak, radiated

landscapes.

WHAT’SNEWINTHE BIGGEST GAMES

UPDATE