Most recently, we published the top games of 2022 for weak PCs. Mostly entertaining indie projects got into it, but in most cases, they are not very interesting for hardcore gamers. In the modern gaming industry, developers are paying less and less attention to optimizing their games, focusing on modern consoles and expensive RTX video cards. But don't worry too much about this. Some studios are still trying to adapt their games to ten-year-old components. In this top, we have collected blockbusters that can be run on “old” hardware and get good performance at medium-low settings.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human
- Release date: February 4, 2022
- Developer and Publisher: Techland
- Genre: Action RPG, Horror
- Availability in Xbox Game Pass: no
- Steam rating: 79% of 95697 reviews are positive
- Minimum system requirements: Core i3-9100 or AMD Ryzen 3 2300X, 4GB VRAM, 8GB RAM
The main long-term construction of last year, which everyone quickly forgot about after the release. Dying Light 2 didn't make it to TGA and was undeservedly ignored by many publications in the Game of the Year nominations. The sequel to one of the best-selling zombie apocalypse games with parkour and an interesting open world - the second part is no worse than the first, and in some moments even surpasses the original.
Dying Light 2 has very beautiful graphics, a detailed open world, interesting work with lighting, and animations are done at a high level. It is really possible to run all this beauty on an 8-year-old video card and get a cool picture. Why the PS4 version of the game looks worse than the PC version at the minimum.
Dying Light 2 has very cool gameplay and an unusual non-linear plot. For the sake of these two aspects, you can sacrifice beautiful graphics. Definitely recommended for review.
Need for Speed Unbound
- Release Date: November 29, 2022
- Developer: Criterion Games
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Genre: arcade racing
- Availability in Xbox Game Pass: Trial
- Steam rating: 68% of 7191 reviews are positive
- Minimum system requirements: Core i5-8600, 4 GB VRAM, 8 GB RAM
The first normal Need for Speed in recent years. After the unsuccessful remake of Most Wanted, Criterion Games did a lot of work on the bugs and gave out an excellent arcade race, which is not ashamed to spend your time on. Moderately complex, stylish, and fun - Unbound has an unusual visual style, which, however, not everyone will like. At the same time, the cars and the environment in the game look very solid, and anime inserts do not spoil them at all.
Need for Speed Unbound runs great on PC with no freezes or lags. The game is not very demanding on hardware and runs great on weak hardware. At the same time, even at the minimum settings, you will not see significant differences with high ones. Yes, without realistic reflections and shine, but these features are useless directly in the gameplay itself.
A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Release date: October 17, 2022
- Developer: Asobo Studio
- Publisher: Focus Entertainment
- Genre: action, adventure
- Availability in Xbox Game Pass: yes
- Steam rating: 91% of 5590 reviews are positive
- Minimum system requirements: Core i5-4690K or AMD FX-8300, 4 GB VRAM, 16 GB RAM
A Plague Tale: Requiem is an exemplary sequel that captivated players and gamers with its setting and story. On release, the second part had problems with optimization and ubiquitous bugs. These problems mainly affected console players and PC gamers who were trying to squeeze the maximum picture quality out of the game. For people with weak iron, there were no particular performance problems.
During the time after the release, the developers fixed bugs and tightened up the optimization - it became more comfortable to play A Plague Tale: Requiem. Yes, it requires 16 GB of RAM, since the main feature is the number of rats on one screen. But on the other hand, the project does not need a top-end video card and a new-generation processor. Still, RAM is not such an expensive thing, buying one die for the sake of one of the best games of last year is a good idea.
Stray
- Release Date: July 19, 2022
- Developer: BlueTwelve Studio
- Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
- Genre: adventure, indie
- Availability in Xbox Game Pass: no
- Steam rating: 97% of 99301 reviews are positive
- Minimum system requirements: Core i5-2300 or AMD FX-6350, 2 GB VRAM, 8 GB RAM
The most amazing project of the last year. The adventures of a little ginger cat in a gloomy cyberpunk setting intrigued the players from the first frames - a real work of art that can give different emotions. You will smile, let out a mean tear, and, perhaps, think about eternal philosophical topics.
An incredible adventure in a neon world with a great sound design is available to almost all players - the system requirements are low. Stray runs smoothly on 2 GB graphics cards and delivers good performance. Graphic bells and whistles can be easily twisted to a minimum, the main charm of Stray graphics in interesting lighting and overall level design. This is not an action game, stable 60 frames will be enough for you to fully immerse yourself in the cyberpunk of the post-apocalyptic future.
Sonic Frontiers
- Release date: November 8, 2022
- Developer: Sonic Team
- Publisher: SEGA
- Genre: action, adventure
- Availability in Xbox Game Pass: no
- Steam rating: 94% of 12245 reviews are positive
- Minimum system requirements: Core i5-3470 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400, 2 GB VRAM, 8 GB RAM
Sonic Frontiers is a weird experimental Sonic game that's hard to understand from the videos. All the charm of game design is revealed directly in the gameplay, as many real fans of the blue hedgehog say. The open world is varied, ranging from classic platforming challenges to silly mini-games. Sonic Frontiers is fun to explore and study without being overly reactive to the visuals.
Frontiers has the perfect fluidity of gameplay. There are no lags and freezes even on the minimum system requirements. Fixed 60 FPS and low draw distance significantly reduce appetite for hardware. For all Sonic fans, the game is strictly required to be purchased.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Release Date: November 19, 2022
- Developer: Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software
- Publisher: PlayStation PC LLC
- Genre: action, adventure
- Availability in Xbox Game Pass: no
- Steam rating: 94% of 7790 reviews are positive
- Minimum system requirements: Core i3-4160, 2 GB VRAM, 8 GB RAM
Great port of a Sony exclusive to PC. Miles Morales should not be taken as a standalone work. It feels like a DLC with a frank delay in passing. The game isn't as packed with content as the original but boasts an important story in Insomniac's Spider-Man universe. Excellent graphics, story content, and gameplay are strong arguments in favor of spending time on Miles Morales.
Miles Morales runs smoothly on the outdated PS4, and therefore the system requirements are acceptable for most PC gamers. On medium-low settings, the game runs perfectly in the open world without freezes. Due to thoughtful lighting and overall design, you will get a stylish and juicy picture without RTX and other modern bells and whistles. And for the owners of modern video cards, the developers have added DLSS3 and DirectX 12 so that the game gives out a stable frame rate with excellent picture quality.
Sniper Elite 5
- Release date: May 26, 2022
- Developer and Publisher: Rebellion
- Genre: action, adventure
- Availability in Xbox Game Pass: yes
- Steam rating: 83% of 6871 reviews are positive
- Minimum system requirements: Core i3-8100, 4 GB VRAM, 8 RAM
Sniper Elite 5 can hardly be called a revolutionary game after the fourth part. The project feels like a remaster with a couple of new features. But still, Sniper Elite 5 remains a cool and spectacular game in which you can effectively shoot opponents and fight other players online.
Sniper Elite 5 has a unique visual design and detailed graphics. The developers were not too lazy and did a great job of optimizing their projects. A flexible system of settings allows you to run the game even on very weak computers. At the same time, the frame rate remains stable at around 60.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Release date: October 27, 2022
- Developer: Infinity Ward
- Publisher: Activision
- Genre: Shooter, Action, Adventure, Multiplayer
- Availability in Xbox Game Pass: no
- Steam rating: 61% of 170706 reviews are positive
- Minimum system requirements: Core i3-6100, 2 GB VRAM, 8 GB RAM
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a weak game in terms of the story campaign. Studio Infinity Ward still can not figure out in which direction to develop their projects. The last games in the series can be criticized for a long time for bad taste and lack of new ideas, but most fans absolutely do not care about this. They buy each new part for the sake of multiplayer battles, and not another movie about unkillable soldiers.
According to DSOGaming, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the most optimized game of 2022. It looks good, but it also works well on a wide variety of PC configurations. The developers understand that CoD has a huge fan base around the world, but not every player has the opportunity to update the hardware in a timely manner. Engineers have to spend time optimizing and adjusting the graphics for a two-gig graphics card.
Even on the lowest settings, Modern Warfare 2 does not turn into a potato and is able to run at a stable 60 frames per second. Yes, in the story mode, you will not see graphic bells and whistles, and in multiplayer battles, cool graphics are not needed at all.
Sifu
- Release date: February 6, 2022
- Developer: Sloclap
- Publisher: Kepler Interactive
- Genre: beat-em-up, action
- Available on Xbox Game Pass: March 2023
- Steam Ranking: Coming soon to Steam
- Minimum system requirements: Core i5-3470 or AMD FX-4350, 2 GB VRAM, 8 RAM
Sifu is a cool beat-em-up that became the game of the year for many players. The project surprises with impeccable fights, incredibly smooth and spectacular animation, deep mechanics, and incredibly complex enemies, which are sometimes more difficult to fight than bosses in Elden Ring. The game also has an amazing level design, cool music, a unique visual style, and low system requirements.
In Sifu, there are no graphic bells and whistles and photorealistic pictures, and therefore it is not very demanding on hardware. A weak video card and 8 GB of RAM are enough for the eyes to run the game at 30-60 frames. If you missed Sifu, being afraid that it will not start for you, then run to catch up.
Scorn
- Release date: October 14, 2022
- Developer: Ebb Software
- Publisher: Kepler Interactive
- Genre: puzzle, action, horror
- Availability in Xbox Game Pass: yes
- Steam rating: 76% of 7057 reviews are positive
- Minimum system requirements: Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 3 3300X, 3 GB VRAM, 8 RAM
Scorn can be criticized for a long time for its frustrating combat system, incomprehensible plot, vague level design, and game design errors. But the superb dark-mysterious art direction and haunting soundtrack make Scorn an arthouse piece sure to delight creative minds and fans of Hans Rüdi Giger.
Scorn does not have a flexible system of settings, but at the same time, it works quietly on relatively weak systems. Of course, at low settings, a significant part of the deep shadows, smart lighting, and fog is lost, but even in this form, you can enjoy the impeccable work of art designers and environment artists. The game does not require 60 FPS and runs great at a stable 30 frames.
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Now you are convinced that even in 2022 blockbusters were released that run without problems and work stably on outdated pieces of iron. If you were lucky enough to run last year's cool release on an ancient PC, but this game is not on the list, then share the information with other users in the comments.
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