The updated graphics with realistic effects have disrupted the carefully crafted direction of Valve’s masterpiece.
There’s an old anecdote about the first ball in Moscow held under electric lighting. The city’s fashionable ladies, adorned with bright makeup and heavy white powder—a relic of candlelit and gas-lit gatherings—ended up looking like resurrected corpses under the harsh electric glow. Just like that, a new technology turned an entire industry on its head, shattering the familiar atmosphere of grand balls.
RTX Remix remasters of classic games seem to have a similar effect, destroying the original atmosphere in ways that no amount of marketing tricks can conceal. Gamers have taken a close look at Half-Life 2 RTX and barely recognized the game of their childhood and youth.
The most criticism has been aimed at Ravenholm. The realistic lighting has completely stripped Half-Life 2 of its signature atmosphere. The once eerie town now appears brightly lit, plastic-like, and devoid of the deep shadows that once instilled fear even more than the screams of the zombies. Speaking of which, zombies and headcrabs now look like rubber toys.
Just watch the trailer—even the editor struggled to find flattering comparison shots. The automatic lighting illuminates the wrong things while hiding crucial details. Textures are excessively detailed in ways that add nothing to the experience, and the new effects ruin key scenes. For instance, fog and smoke now obscure Father Grigori’s silhouette during his first encounter with Freeman.
With each passing year, gamers are growing increasingly critical of graphical advancements in video games. The relentless pursuit of realism is killing the sense of immersion in virtual worlds. On-screen visuals no longer feel magical. Let’s reference the discussion around Spider-Man 2, where Insomniac overdid it, turning the vibrant, comic-book New York into a dull, lifeless imitation of the real city.
Maybe it’s time to stop and turn RTX off for good?
This technological misstep will launch on Steam on March 18, 2025. The backlash on Reddit has already begun.
