Are We There Yet? (2011 v 2024 edition)

So, the algorithm decided yesterday I should watch this video again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLnsxgwARVc

It's a replay of an Unreal Engine 3 tech-demo from 2011, showing off
what the tech could do. It was reportedly running on three SLI'd
Nvidia GTX 580s, rendering all those graphics in real-time.

(As the actual demo was never released as a stand-alone executable,
there's no way to confirm this, but we'll give Epic the benefit of the
doubt and take them on their word).

The end result is an absolutely gorgeous display of computing
horsepower and artistry, and in 2011 blew every released game out of
the water with its visual fidelity. In fact, I'd say there wasn't a
video game released for the next ten years that came close.

But now, I'm wondering... are we there yet? Because I think, finally,
modern games have matched the graphics shown in this tech-demo.

Of course, it isn't quite fair to compare games of 2011 with the
tech-demo; games have to deal with many more issues. Things like AI,
and player input, and streaming in data for nearby regions that the
player MIGHT soon be visiting. The tech demo needs only load and run
assets for stuff it absolutely knows will be used in the next few
seconds. You can highly optimize a tech demo in the way you almost
never can with a game. So I get why our games took so long to match
the visuals in this video.

Plus, it's as much the artistry and talent of the developers as it is
the underlying tech. Cleverly used, even low-poly models and baked-in
lighting can be visually impressive (especially if you don't give the
player time to linger on any one scene long enough to pick out the
deficiencies).

And, of course, visuals aren't the end-all, be-all of games anymore.
They've largely reached the 'good enough' level that not only are our
c-list games absolutely gorgeous pieces of rendered art, but there's a
movement to make our games look worse (retro is in, dontcha know!). A
focus on cutting-edge graphics is often seen as a misallocation of
resources that could be better spent on gameplay, mechanics or story.

Still... the "Samaritan" demo is jaw-dropping, and I'm not upset if
our games finally start matching its fidelity. The demo is beautiful,
sure, but then I look at something like "Ghostrunner" (a decidedly
c-list game) and think, "You know, that's pretty much the same."

So, are we there yet? Have our games matched the promise of this 2011
tech demo? Have we been there for a while? Or do we still have a way
to go? Whaddaya think?