Are you running one of Nvidia's new-generation of RTX graphics cards? Super or otherwise? Then you have the dedicated RT cores to run ray tracing at (at least) reasonable frame rates, so long as you don't try and do so at too high a resolution. But what games can you actually play that offer such real time lighting solutions? The list isn't particularly long, but there are some great entries in the list that are worth playing if you want to make the most of your Turing GPU.
Battlefield V
One of the first games to offer real-time ray traced reflections, Battlefield V doesn't have revolutionary lighting changes compared to some of the other games on this list, but it's a fast-paced shooter that offers some gorgeous reflections in water and metallic surfaces. You can even see explosions reflect off of other characters' eyeballs.
Recent patches have made it much more efficient too, so you don't even need to sacrifice frame rate too much in order to use it. DLSS and Nvidia's image sharpening can go a long way to tidying up FPS drops too.
Control
The latest game from Remedy Entertainment, this stylistic third-person, psychic shooter has a number of exciting gameplay elements, but it also supports Nvidia's RTX-powered ray tracing. The lighting is stark, brutal, and alters gameplay itself by giving players the chance to see around corners in shadows and lighting colors. It makes the game that much more visceral and now it's available on the Epic Store, one definitely worth running on your RTX GPU.
Metro Exodus
Although it might not have the best implementation of RTX ray tracing, Metro Exodus does use global illumination and it's one of the few games to do so. This means that you can ray trace light everything in the game. This is one for those with 2080 Ti and 2080 Super cards though, as it is a real performance hog even without ray tracing. With it, you're not going to hit high FPS, even with a super powerful graphics card.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
The title to this game tells you exactly what you can expect from its ray tracing. Real time shadows add a luscious level of detail to Lara's latest adventure, throwing shade in all the right places and realistically too. Performance issues have been mostly ironed out, so as long as you have one of the RTX graphics cards, you can run this at solid frame rates with RTX enabled for all of its visual beauty.
Stay in the Light
Fancy an indie showcase at the cutting edge of ray-tracing? This game uses light as a core gameplay mechanic, so you aren't going to be able to play it without a decent Turing GPU. GTX 16-series cards are passable, but we'd suggest an RTX 2060 Super or above to really enjoy this one. Just watch out for the hulking ogre that's on your tail.
Upcoming Games
This is just the start of what we can expect from Nvidia's RTX ray tracing. There are a number of additional games that are coming out in the next few months or year and we can't wait to give them a try. Here's the full list of upcoming ray tracing games:
- Atomic Heart
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Doom Eternal
- Dying Light 2
- Enlisted
- Justice
- JK3
- Minecraft
- Mechwarrior 5
- Dragon Hound Online
- Synced: Off Planet
- Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2
- Watch Dogs Legion
