Summary
- Unreal Engine 5 is a popular free game engine developed by Epic Games and is used by both Triple-A and indie developers.
- Games using UE5 offer impressive visual showcases and technical displays, pushing the boundaries of modern graphics in various genres, such as horror, FPS, cinematic adventures, and Soulslikes.
- Some notable games that make the best use of Unreal Engine 5 include Nightingale, Immortals of Aveum, Layers of Fear (2023), Lords of the Fallen, RoboCop: Rogue City, The First Descendant, Tekken 8, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, Still Wakes the Deep, and Remnant 2.
Developed by Epic Games, Unreal Engine 5 is the next iteration of the popular game engine freely available to use for video game projects, and lots of video game developers from both triple-A and indie spheres happily take advantage of it. Things have come a long way since The Matrix Awakens tech demo in 2021, with a plethora of UE5 games now ready to be played on PC and consoles.
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PostsIf your game is using Unreal Engine 5, you're really setting out to give your audience the best visual showcase and technical display that rethinks where modern graphics can go. From horror games to FPS to cinematic adventures and Soulslike titles, here are the games that make the best use of Unreal Engine 5.
Updated on December 6, 2024, by Dennis Moiseyev: As more and more new games being developed aim to deliver some of the best graphics possible, Unreal Engine 5 becomes the common go-to engine for creators. Though many established studios also have their own game engines that can deliver just as high-quality titles, there's sometimes no beating what Unreal Engine 5 can do, so here are even more games that brilliantly put Epic's tech to use.
16 Nightingale
Nightingale
Survival Crafting Released February 20, 2024 Developer(s) Inflexion Games Publisher(s) Inflexion Games Multiplayer Online Co-Op Platform(s) PC Genre(s) Survival, Crafting Powered by Expand CollapseSurvival games are truly in fashion and have been launching one after another, but Nightingale sets itself apart by having a very unique Gaslamp Fantasy premise to draw you in and by using Unreal Engine 5. Your character here is a Realmwalker who ventures through what is known as the Fae realms, filled with all sorts of enemies, creatures, and beautifully designed biomes.
You'll never be filled with as much wonder as you are in Nightingale when exploring, crafting, surviving, and fending off some of the most incredibly detailed monsters a survival game can offer. You can also play this game either solo or with friends, and it offers both an offline and online mode.
15 Immortals Of Aveum
Immortals of Aveum
FPS 2.5/5 Released August 22, 2023 Developer(s) Ascendant Studios Publisher(s) EA Platform(s) PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Genre(s) FPS Powered by Expand CollapseImmortals of Aveum sadly didn't live up to It Takes Two as the promising EA Double-A video game hit everyone was hoping for it to be, and even dropped to as low as £1 at one point due to poor sales. However, you shouldn't let any of that deter you from giving Immortals of Aveum a try, because this game might actually impress you with its high concept and vision.
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Posts By Matthew KaempfImmortals of Aveum blends high fantasy spellcasting with the mechanics of frenetic FPS games like Doom and BioShock, dubbing itself a 'magic shooter.' It assembles a terrific cast with lots of Hollywood stars, features some excellent boss fights and refreshing FPS gameplay, and is overall just a very fun and magical sci-fi blast.
14 The First Descendant
The First Descendant
Action RPG Third-Person Shooter Released July 2, 2024 Developer(s) Nexon Games Publisher(s) Nexon Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Platform(s) PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC Genre(s) Action RPG, Third-Person Shooter Powered by Expand CollapseJoining the free-to-play multiplayer looter shooter genre is The First Descendant from Nexon. In an elevator pitch description, this game is Warframe, Destiny 2, Gears of War, and Stellar Blade rolled into one package. You can even perhaps argue Hades 2 since most of the playable Descendants have their own unique Boon-esque abilities, like some that can deal frost and water damage to enemies.
The game is free and has some very smooth gunplay and mission design, and there's really not much more to be said. It already comes with 14 playable Descendant characters and has lots of detailed systems. The character and boss designs all feel very original as well. Plus, there is an overarching sci-fi story resting on an object of great importance called the Ironheart, and you must prevent the alien species called the Vulgus from taking it after they invade the planet Ingris.
13 Layers Of Fear (2023)
Layers of Fear
Horror Released June 15, 2023 Developer(s) Bloober Team, Anshar Studios Publisher(s) Bloober Team Platform(s) PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One Genre(s) Horror Powered by Expand Collapse2023's Layers of Fear is the first game that prolific Polish horror studio Bloober Team created with Unreal Engine 5, with the remake of Silent Hill 2 being the next. Although the original Layers of Fear games still weren't even a decade old, they have become fully reimagined and are now connected into one single story in the 2023 game, including all the DLC.
If the environmental details and disturbing and graphic content weren't real enough, everything surely is now. By utilizing all that's possible with Unreal Engine 5, Layers of Fear has never looked so gorgeous and photorealistic, with 4K resolution and Ray Tracing supported. It's one of the most immersive and scarily good-looking first-person psychological horror games available today.
12 Lords Of The Fallen
Lords of the Fallen
Action RPG 3.5/5 Released October 13, 2023 Developer(s) HEXWORKS Publisher(s) CI Games Multiplayer Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer Platform(s) PS5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PC Genre(s) Action RPG Powered by Expand CollapseLords of the Fallen (2023) is yet another reimagined video game making use of Unreal Engine 5, and this one is based on the 2014 title of the same name, which wasn't quite as well-received. Obviously, the graphics and visuals now look and feel much more next-gen with UE5, and this 2023 version also gives Lords of the Fallen a far more expansive map and story.
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Posts By Mohamed El OuardighiIt's a Soulslike game widely considered as being on the same level of polish as Lies of P for a non-FromSoftware title. One of the coolest features it brings to the genre is having to fight a variety of creatures and bosses across two distinct realms, the realm of the dead, Umbral, and the realm of the living, Axiom.
11 RoboCop: Rogue City
RoboCop: Rogue City
FPS Sci-Fi 3.5/5 Released November 2, 2023 Developer(s) Teyon Publisher(s) Nacon Platform(s) PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Genre(s) FPS, Sci-Fi Powered by Expand CollapseTeyon is a double-A developer known for its video game adaptations of '80s blockbuster action movies. While 2019's Terminator: Resistance was still UE4, RoboCop: Rogue City shows just how amazing Alex Murphy delivering justice to futuristic Detroit's criminals can be in Unreal Engine 5.
Peter Weller returns to voice the titular character he first portrayed on the screen in 1987 and the developers throw in many other Easter eggs from the films for fans. The combat and action are very over-the-top and capture the exact vibe of the films, particularly with how destructible the environments are, the physics, Murphy's iconic Auto-9 and other weapons, and, of course, the ED-209 fight.
10 The Thaumaturge
The Thaumaturge
Adventure RPG Released March 4, 2024 Developer(s) Fool's Theory Publisher(s) 11 Bit Studios Platform(s) PC Genre(s) Adventure, RPG Powered by Expand CollapseThe Thaumaturge is probably the least well-known game made with Unreal Engine 5, and it truly is an underrated hidden gem among isometric RPGs. This one comes from Fool's Theory, a studio that worked behind the scenes to help Larian with Baldur's Gate 3, and then it branched off and made its own take on a fantasy RPG, which turned out to be a dark fantasy detective story inspired by Slavic folklore.
You're both an investigator and a magic-possessing thaumaturge named Wiktor Szulski, who collects a variety of demons called Salutors that have abilities you can upgrade for turn-based combat. The setting is pre-October Revolution Warsaw, Poland, where the Russian tsar's army is the main enemy in your way, and there's also Grigori Rasputin joining you on the historical Eastern European adventure.
9 The Casting Of Frank Stone
The Casting of Frank Stone
Adventure Released September 3, 2024 Developer(s) Supermassive Games Publisher(s) Behaviour Interactive Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S Genre(s) Adventure Powered by Expand CollapseFor Supermassive's next interactive horror game after The Dark Pictures Anthology: Season One, the developer switched to Unreal Engine 5, and a special horror game came out of it. It's called The Casting of Frank Stone, and it's both a Lovecraftian horror centered around a cursed movie made in the '80s that may have trapped a vengeful entity, as well as a tie-in to Behaviour Interactive's Dead by Daylight.
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Posts By Adam CarrYou play multiple characters across three time periods – the '60s, '80s, and 2020s – and there are plenty of twists throughout the story. The locations of the abandoned Cedar Steel Mill and Gerant Manor are both wonderfully atmospheric, and the character models and graphics are indeed the most lifelike of any Supermassive title thus far. The colors used throughout are also super vibrant.
8 Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl
FPS Survival Horror Released 2024 Developer(s) GSC Game World Publisher(s) GSC Game World Platform(s) Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows Genre(s) FPS, Survival Horror Powered by Expand CollapseAfter an incredibly difficult and tumultuous development period, developer GSC Game World was finally able to complete and publish the long-awaited Stalker 2. While it has the same essence as the original titles of the 2000s, you might wonder if you're visiting the same Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, thanks to Unreal Engine 5 and all of its graphics capabilities.
In Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, you'll head back to the precarious, radiation-affected environment of the Zone in all its wonderfully reimagined glory. It's almost like a blend of the Metro and Fallout games in terms of gameplay and themes, which include FPS and survival mechanics but also horror elements with all the mutated creatures you can encounter, like what are called Bloodsuckers.
7 Tekken 8
Tekken 8
Fighting 4.5/5 Released January 26, 2024 Developer(s) Bandai Namco Entertainment, Arika Publisher(s) Bandai Namco Entertainment Multiplayer Local Multiplayer, Online Multiplayer Platform(s) PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Genre(s) Fighting Powered by Expand CollapseUnlike Capcom's Street Fighter 6, which uses the in-house RE game engine, other popular fighting game series like Mortal Kombat and Tekken prefer Unreal, with the eighth mainline Tekken entry being developed with Unreal Engine 5. And as a result, it's definitely the best of the series visually.
If you're a fan of Mortal Kombat, you'll have no trouble getting pulled into Tekken 8. It's likewise an ongoing fighting game story focusing on protagonist Jin Kazama and his father, Kazuya Mishima, and centers around the Devil Gene, which allows certain characters to become a cooler demonic version of themselves. The arena variety and giant roster will be more than enough to keep you occupied.
