The Best Games Made With UE 5

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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If 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

Systems

Released

February 20, 2024

Developer(s)

Inflexion Games

Publisher(s)

Inflexion Games

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op

Survival 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 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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Immortals 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

Joining 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)

2023’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

Your changes have been saved

3.5/5

Lords of the Fallen (2023)

Released

October 13, 2023

Developer(s)

HEXWORKS

Publisher(s)

CI Games

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer
, Local Multiplayer

Lords 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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Best Soulslike Games On PS5, Ranked

Prepare to die.

It’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

Your changes have been saved

3.5/5

RoboCop: Rogue City

Released

November 2, 2023

Developer(s)

Teyon

Publisher(s)

Nacon

Teyon 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

Systems

Released

March 4, 2024

Developer(s)

Fool’s Theory

Publisher(s)

11 Bit Studios

The 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

Systems

Platform(s)

PlayStation 5
, Xbox Series X and Series S
, Microsoft Windows

Released

September 3, 2024

For 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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You 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

Systems

Platform(s)

Xbox Series X and Series S
, Microsoft Windows

Released

2024-00-00

Developer(s)

GSC Game World

Publisher(s)

GSC Game World

After 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

Your changes have been saved

4.5/5

Tekken 8

Released

January 26, 2024

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer
, Online Multiplayer

Unlike 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.

6

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2

Systems

Even though the first game equally delivered on the graphics front, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is a visual masterpiece, or as Martin Scorsese would call it – “Cinema.” At times, Hellblade 2 can feel like an Unreal Engine 5 tech demo due to its short length and very linear gameplay, which has lots of cinematic cutscenes. But this is a game that’s certainly a marvel on all fronts – the story, score, and technical achievements.

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Hellblade 2 is a very different narrative adventure than the original, expanding the cast and incorporating giants from Norse myth into the storyline. Senua’s Furies also evolve with her character development. The main highlights are the brilliant use of colors and photography, the immersive combat encounters done as continuous shots and involving brutal realistic animations, and the always incredible writing.

5

Still Wakes The Deep

Another horror game that takes advantage of Unreal Engine 5 is Still Wakes the Deep, and it’s an atmospheric attack on all fronts of phobias. There’s Lovecraftian sci-fi horror, psychological horror, body horror, fear of drowning, fear of the dark, and claustrophobia all present, without the need to rely on jumpscares.

The game is set on an oil rig in the North Sea in the 1970s, and something the drill taps into unleashes a massive growth and infection that claims the crew of the Beira D. As much as it’s about the tension and unnerving horror of moving from area to area, there are some superb character performances by the voice cast, most of who are all Scottish. You can even fully play the game in Scottish Gaelic!

4

Remnant 2

Another Soulslike game that’s powered by Unreal Engine 5 is Remnant 2, the sequel to the 2019 hit that notably incorporated third-person shooting mechanics into the genre. And that’s pretty much what Remnant is and why it’s viewed as more fun than any other Soulslike, because of its emphasis on gunplay and upgrading weapons.

Remnant 2 is more of the same as what you see in the original game, though it has some epic new bosses, NPCs like Nimue, player archetypes, and even more dimensions to travel to. Also, the game makes use of procedural generation, so any playthrough will always have something dynamically different for you to experience.

3

Frostpunk 2

Strategy

Survival

City Builder

Systems

Released

September 20, 2024

Developer(s)

11 Bit Studios

Publisher(s)

11 Bit Studios

The Frostpunk series is developed by 11 Bit Studios, which also made This War of Mine and is the publisher of fellow Unreal 5 game, The Thaumaturge. For Frostpunk’s sequel, development switched to Unreal 5, but the strategy and city-building game mechanics taking shape in the frozen wasteland remained largely identical.

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You can think of this game as if the passengers of Snowpiercer started rebuilding civilization and trying to reestablish some form of a ruling body, which here is built up of various factions meeting in a Council Hall. There’s lots to manage in the hellish cold landscape, whether it be food resources, housing, or supply of heat. And it’s all designed in an isometric view.

2

Black Myth: Wukong

Systems

Released

August 20, 2024

Developer(s)

Game Science

Publisher(s)

Game Science

Unlike Lies of P and even Stellar Blade, which (if you can believe it) were still developed with Unreal Engine 4, Black Myth: Wukong is among the first of the FromSoftware-inspired Soulslikes to use the new technology, and it certainly paid off. The game’s enemy designs and bosses all look impressively detailed and unique, and the environments are as vibrant and visually stunning as any from Ghost of Tsushima or The Last of Us Part 2.

Black Myth: Wukong aims to be a Soulslike retelling of Journey to the West and is therefore set in ancient China. You’re the Destined One, a protagonist based on the legend of the Monkey King, and are left to wander the landscape to take on boss battle after boss battle with some of the hardest challenges that the genre doesn’t mind inflicting on you.

1

Silent Hill 2

Survival Horror

Horror

Adventure

Action

Systems

Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake is a feat. There was a massive amount of pressure to get it right, as the original 2001 survival horror title is widely regarded as the genre’s greatest of all time, and the studio exceeded everyone’s expectations. Creating it in Unreal Engine 5 totally knocked the visuals, character models, lighting, environment design, and enemy designs out of Rosewater Park.

Over two decades later, you fall in love with the atmosphere, complex characters, and grotesque visuals all over again, but this time with a completely new and updated modern design that also includes an over-the-shoulder perspective on James. Pyramid Head remains ever iconic, the boss fights and areas have been expanded, the audio design is eerie and nostalgic, and the whole game is nothing but a well-crafted and worthwhile horror experience.

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