Yes, an almost 25-year-old video game, which dates back to the creation of JVC, can challenge the best graphics card currently available to gamers, the Geforce RTX 4090. But the game has a subtlety.
It’s hard to imagine a video game from the 90s not being able to run an optimal falcon on the most powerful graphics card currently available to gamers. And yet since then, it is possible to make this absolutely unplayable video game, but for beauty and lots of nostalgia.
It’s time to reveal the video game in question and fans of the franchise will be happy to know that it is
Half Life 1
. The famous first-person shooter known for its scripted gameplay has seen a whole generation of gamers being created. Mods have kept the game alive with a very active community.
And that’s where you get to the reason for such high performance demands. Because the game alone can run at several thousand FPS in 4K. But in the world of video games, there is a technology that puts a very severe blow to the performance of your machine.
A modded video game that hurts the RTX 4090
A few days ago we were able to discover a more than amazing mod that gives a second life to Half Life 1. It is therefore Ray Tracing. A technology that offers a much better rendering of lights in a much more realistic way.
So instead of having several thousand FPS, we fall to a low 60 frames per second at best. By activating DLSS it is still possible to have a comfortable 120 FPS. But it’s incredible to think that the RTX 4090 graphics card is struggling. We haven’t tried it on an RTX 4070 Ti, but the result is bound to be much worse.
But is it worth it to lose so much performance?
The answer is nuanced. If you have an RTX 4090 or an RX 7900 XTX, it’s possible, because the game looks much better. This gives a real new youth to Half Life 1. But with a more “normal” graphics card it is unthinkable to run it properly. Below 30 FPS you should not imagine taking as much pleasure as in the non-modded version.
The conclusion is to install this mod on the sole condition of having an excellent graphics card. Otherwise you are more likely to degrade your gaming experience.
