We're well into an age of remasters, remakes and remake-quels, some worth waiting for (Silent Hill 2 comes to mind), some not so much (GTA: The Trilogy still hurts). But there are still many classic games stuck in limbo that are awaiting the proper touch-up they deserve, and Nvidia Remix is here to try and fill that void.
Nvidia's modding platform is now out in the wild, allowing modders to use Team Green's RTX technology to remaster classic PC games using DirectX 8 and 9. Basically, those old titles that struck a chord that we'd love to return to, now with a visual overhaul fitting for modern graphics.
Now, it's not as simple as pushing a button in RTX Remix to add ray tracing, DLSS 4 and hyper-realistic graphics, as there's still a lot of work that goes into giving older PC games a glow-up. But it does make the process of building a remaster for a bunch of favorites easier.
We've already seen the Half-Life 2 RTX demo in action (and what a haunting visual upgrade that delivers), but what else is in store? Well, I wanted to put this RTX 5080-equipped Acer Predator Orion 7000 gaming PC to work, and started hunting for RTX Remix games over on Steam — but you won't find many there.
Instead, modders have been showing off their glorious RTX Remix remasters over on ModDB, letting gamers test out their work on some of my favorite classics: Star Wars: Republic Commando, Max Payne, Bioshock and plenty more.
These aren't full-fledged releases, and it may be a while before we see any of these titles come to be easily downloadable on Steam, even if they are just demos. But after seeing what RTX Remix can do firsthand, I can't wait to see these titles gain a second life.
Head over to ModDB to find RTX Remix games currently available to try out, which are part of an RTX Remix Mod Contest. But be warned: these require you to download and extract files in PC games you own, and they won't always work. Through trial and tribulation, I only managed to try out one game, despite following installation instructions from modders. These are still a work in progress, but are continuously updated. If you're used to putting mods in games, try these out!
Star Wars: Republic Commando RTX
This is the one (and only) game I was able to get running, but I was glad to play it all the same. Star Wars: Republic Commandos unbelievably just hit its 20th anniversary, and despite its short length, it's still my favorite Star Wars game, well, ever (it helps that I'm an FPS diehard).
From creator Chaos007, this RTX Remix mod for Star Wars: Republic Commando started out as a quick experiment to see what the tactical first-person shooter would look like under all those RTX enhancements. But the demo is catching steam, and it really brings out the shine that I remember the game having when it first launched.
Right from the opening cinematic, I could clearly see the fully ray-traced lighting shining off the clones' helmets and armor, only to be further impressed by the updated droid models I was shooting down with the DC 17 Rifle, blasting beams of light.
The landscape of the first level also received texture upgrades, making it look far brighter and losing that dull, unsaturated "brownness" we got a lot of back when it was booming in many 2000s games.
It's not perfect, nor is it meant to be, since it's a project still being worked on. There were patches of light that didn't add up, and some of the visually old-looking explosions from droids didn't mesh too well with the rest of the upgraded textures. Plus, it only works with the Tactical Visor Mode turned on, so no usual helmet view here.
But seeing the potential RTX visual overhaul Star Wars: Republic Commandos can get, it would happily return to lead my team of weapons — I mean, commandos.
Max Payne Remix
Replaying Max Payne is almost like a tradition to me (even going through that dastardly Nightmare Maze). Falling in slow motion with its iconic Bullet Time and firing off rounds while wielding dual handguns never gets old. So, getting a glimpse of its RTX enhancements just makes me more excited for my near-annual replays.
This Max Payne RTX remaster comes from creator Noodle, with the mod being in full show during the game's opening act. Along with RTX lighting giving the game a more modern shine, there are updated hand-crafted PBR (Physically-Based Rendering) materials, essentially physically accurate objects, along with a newly modeled and textured train.
But bringing path-traced lighting into the fold gives Max Payne a more realistic glint. It does raise the overall brightness of levels, especially the train station, which may seem at odds with the game's overall "dark noir" vibe. But actually, it deepens the immersion, making those lifeless, illuminating lights throughout the train station seem more dreary rather than upbeat.
It continues to be worked on, with more PBR materials and the like planned to arrive.
Need for Speed: Underground RTX
The work being done on this Need For Speed: Underground RTX mod is quite simply incredible. I mean, it's the game as I remember it being, even though the original has none of the highly polished textures, natural-looking reflections beaming off the cars as they rev through a night-lit city and overall visual smoothness.
Even though it's over 20 years old (it was released in 2003), creator alessandro893 has made it into a modern PC title that I would be impressed by in today's standards (not quite the level of Forza Horizon, but you catch my drift). The ray-traced visuals bring a further element of realism to the game, and racing through the streets is the modern-day nostalgia trip I crave.
So far, you'll find a completely overhauled Chinatown to drive through, over 500 new PBR textures and 30 new highly textured 3D models, like buildings and trees.
Portal 2 RTX
I consider Portal 2 to be the perfect game, and even today, I'm still impressed by the visuals it offers despite it coming out in 2011. But I'm all for updated textures and ray tracing, and that's what this Portal 2 RTX remaster from creator skurtyyskirts aims to achieve.
Everything gets the full RTX treatment here, with complete path-traced lighting for physically accurate lighting and shadows throughout all the deadly Aperture Science testing labs. Virtually every asset gets a PBR material overhaul and objects are completely remastered with hand-crafted (virtually crafted?) with AI upscaling.
There's even high-fidelity, redesigned portal walls to get excited about. I suppose what I'm most excited about, though, is seeing a highly textured GLaDOS imbued potato at the end of my portal gun.
Bioshock RTX
That opening shot of Rapture in Bioshock is iconic, and the same creator of the Portal 2 RTX remaster, skurtyyskirts, along with watbulb, looks to give that same level of awe with this Bioshock RTX remaster. But it also wants to make a more stable-performing game on PCs overall.
It's still in the early stages, and there isn't much to check out, but the duo aims to provide the same full real-time path tracing with a complete PBR asset overhaul by utilizing RTX Remix. So, instead of using an AI upscaler, the mod will use recreated assets to provide a more modern take on the game. So far, that includes the "grand halls of the Kashmir Restaurant to the smallest pieces of debris on the ocean floor."
Impressively, the mod also makes performance improvements, unlocking the game's Havok physics engine, which has been locked at 15 FPS, and pushes it up to 90 FPS. Plus, as stated by the creators, the frame rates have been pushed further in areas of the demo, which reach up to 350 FPS on an RTX 5080 at 1080p resolution.
If these RTX Remix-enhanced PC games break cover and see a full release on Steam, I'll be all over them. If you can, try them out and give them some attention, and hopefully, we'll see even more titles get the RTX Remix treatment.
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