Below you’ll find over 30 of my favourite ultrawide PC games, complete with GIFs and photos of them running in ultrawide so you can see exactly what they look like in the flesh. Not all PC games support ultrawide resolutions, I should point out, and those that don’t will leave you with unsightly black bars down either side of the screen. The good news is that more and more PC games are getting ultrawide support these days, and for a full list of games that support 21:9 and 32:9 aspect ratios, check out the list compiled by the good folks over at PC Gaming Wiki. Here, though, I’ve focused on games that absolutely demand to be played in ultrawide because they’re so gosh darn gorgeous.
The best ultrawide games on PC
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the best-looking PC games of all time, and it looks even more sumptuous in ultrawide. I played a good chunk of Rockstar’s epic wild west rustle ’em up on the 32:9 Samsung CRG9 when it came in for testing, and you can read more about my ultrawide cowboy experience here. Of course, Red Dead 2 is an impressive technical showcase regardless of whether you’re playing in ultrawide or 16:9, but stretching out that horizon feels like it was meant to be on PC. Plus, that increased draw distance really does lend itself to some really quite lovely panoramic views. I mean, I could just stare at those clouds for days on end. Forget the camp. I’m just going to sit here and stare at the horizon. And oh, the horse riding! All right, forget the bit about staring into the distance for all time. I’m just going to ride and ride until I fall into the sea. In short, Red Dead Redemption 2 suddenly feels very small and pokey going back to it on a normal 16:9 screen.
Death Stranding
Between spells of hauling Norman Reedus up hills, you’ll spend a lot of time in Death Stranding admiring those hills from afar. Sure enough, they - and everything else - look absolutely stellar in ultrawide, and unlike in Death Stranding’s engine-mate Horizon Zero Dawn, cutscenes run in 21:9 just as the in-game action does. At least, it all works in a very specific form of 21:9. The game actually runs at a maximum ultrawide resolution of 3360x1440, which display enthusiasts will know as a “true” cinematic 21:9 resolution but is slightly narrower than the 3440x1440 commonly used by desktop monitors. The result is a permanent pair of vertical black bars either side of the image, as you can see in these GIFs. Kojima, you scamp. Still, though, those voids are slim enough to ignore in practice, since they’re on the extreme periphery, and the UI scales nicely to fit the ultrawide resolution even if it’s not the one you’d expect.
Microsoft Flight Simulator
The sky is a big old place, especially when you’ve got Microsoft Flight Simulator running in ultrawide. To be upfront, you’ll need a beast of a graphics card to get anywhere near 60fps at 3440x1440, but then some views look great at any frame rate: The cockpit view benefits too, especially if you’re piloting an open single-seater, and while the UI isn’t massive customisable it does dutifully move to the edges instead of squatting in the middle like it’s still in standard widescreen. For maximum “Huh, wow” effect, take flight over a big city and marvel at fully recreated skylines as far as the eye can see. Or as far as the bezels, anyway. But that’s still pretty far.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Ultrawide support was one of many, many additions made to this PC port of the erstwhile PS4 exclusive. In fact, Horizon Zero Dawn doesn’t just run in 21:9 or 32:9 - you can move, rescale and even completely remove elements of the HUD so that your ultrawide view is tailored just how you like it. The same goes for the FOV controls: whack it up to 100 degrees and the sheer amount of post-apocalyptica you can fit onscreen is seriously impressive. The only catch is that cutscenes haven’t been given the same attention. They run at 16:9 but instead of black bars, you get blurry mirror images of the main scene filling the gaps, which can get pretty distracting. Otherwise, Horizon’s ultrawide implementation is a big success, which is nothing less than the environments deserve. Honestly, just look at that mountain range. Come on.
Abzu
Abzu is a jaw-droppingly beautiful game at the best of times, but it is a scientific fact that playing this watery delight in ultrawide extends your life by at least ten years. Look it up. Better yet, cast your eyes on the GIFs below and see if you aren’t hooked line and sinker by my boundless knowledge. The opening alone is enough to make your jaw drop, what with all those light rays spilling into the water, swishing and swaying with the waves. I just want to dive into its boundless depths and forget that land ever existed. It feels like Abzu was made for ultrawide monitors. It’s the kind of game you want to gawp at for as long as possible, and what better way to do it than to literally drown your vision in its colourful shoals, majestic play of light and SO. MANY. FISHES. You might think you’ve got the measure of what Abzu has to offer, but trust me. You ain’t seen nothing until you’re eye-level with an enormous blue whale spanning the entire width of your screen. That, my friends, is worth the price of an ultrawide screen alone.
Forza Horizon 4
I have never been very good at driving games. Braking is not a thing I comprehend when sitting behind the wheels of virtual cars (I blame too many years of pedal-to-the-metal Mario Kart racing), so I often spend a lot of time crashing instead of crossing the finishing line. I also have a bad habit of spending too much time gawping at the scenery, which is a very easy thing to do in Forza Horizon 4, especially when there’s so damn much of it. I mean, there’s a frankly ludicrous amount of English countryside to take in here, even when you’re playing in regular 16:9. In ultrawide, it’s a miracle the Forza Horizon festival doesn’t descend into some kind of horrible oily bloodbath, with smashed up cars ploughed into hedgerows and crumpled stone walls up and down the country. No one should have to race under these kind of conditions. It’s criminal. There should be a special mode that lets you get out of the car and go for a walk instead. I would play that for hours.
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
Back when I was a wee lass who spent most of her early PC gaming years playing endless amounts of Warcraft II on our family computer because it was precisely one of three PC games we actually owned, the one thing I would have given an arm or leg for was just more map space to see ever-growing settlement in all its glory. In ultrawide, Age of Empires II, that dream has finally become a reality. Just look at ALL. THAT. SPACE. It is truly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in a strategy game. I love watching my little dudes scuttle across the screen like ants going about their daily business, and it’s immensely satisfying to gaze down on my little creation and see almost everything at a single glance. Sure, the HUD becomes a bit unreadable due to it being relegated to the farthest corners of the screen, but for me, it’s a sacrifice worth making. Those pesky invaders will never be able to sneak up on me ever again! Unless they come from the north or south, of course, in which case they are just cheating.
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
Man alive, I thought Red Dead Redemption 2 looked stunning in ultrawide, but by golly, Geralt really does scrub up nicely, doesn’t he? Of course, one of the best things about The Witcher III is its trees. Just look at them sway! I love a good swaying tree. So often in RPGs I find the world around me just feels a bit, well, dead inside. Like there’s no soul or depth to it beneath its shiny veneer. Instead, it’s just an empty void with a couple of people milling about in the corners, telling me to go and do this or that. The Witcher III is not like those other worlds. Far from it. This is a place where you can really feel the wind ripping through the fields and villages, where the light properly dazzles you and leaves you speechless as you watch it rise up over the horizon after a long night on the road. It is a place of wonder and delight, and that feeling is magnified tenfold in ultrawide. The screen does tend to warp a bit round the edges, all told - a thing I noticed all the way back when I wrote my How to set up multiple monitors guide to do ultrawide gaming on the cheap - but I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a small price to pay for this absolute corker of a landscape.
No Man’s Sky
As I said earlier, space games are 100% more epic when played in ultrawide, and for me, No Man’s Sky is the ultimate kind of space game (sorry Elite Dangerous fans). I just love the feeling of touching down on a brand-new planet and hopping out of my space ship to go and explore. There’s no telling what’s out there, but in ultrawide, you know it’s going to be infinitely more epic than regular old 16:9. It’s not just your adventures down on terra firma that look 100x more exciting, either. Lifting off and blasting into space is a real treat in ultrawide as well, as is soaring across the universe, picking a planet on the horizon, piercing its atmosphere and touching down to land again. With so much extra space at your disposal, your monitor finally feels like a proper cockpit, echoing a similar feeling to what I described for Subnautica. You’re no longer looking through a tiny window to gaze at this brand new galaxy - you’ve got a whole gosh darn viewing platform. It might not be quite as immersive as playing in VR, but gosh darn it, ultrawide comes a pretty close second.
Bioshock Infinite
Bioshock Infinite probably isn’t the first game you think of as being worth a revisit on an ultrawide monitor, but trust me, Columbia is a real treat for the eyes when you can see so gosh darned much of it at any given moment. Again, there’s a bit of warping around the edges going on when you pan the camera across the horizon, but it sure does help to reinforce the overall majesty and ambition of the place when so much of it occupies your peripheral vision. If anything, the resulting fish-eye effect makes its floating buildings feel all the more precarious as they bob up and down in the sky, like you’re stepping out into some kind of dream world that could crumble beneath your feet at a moment’s notice. Plus, with Bioshock 4 being a thing that’s coming at some point in the future, what better way to reacquaint yourself with the game’s universe than by experiencing this classic in a new, ultrawide light?
Thumper
Thumper isn’t so much a game as some kind of violent, visceral force that compels you to tap buttons and keys as part of a hypnotic trance. I’ve only ever played Thumper in VR, where you really do feel like you’ve been dumped in some kind of nightmare void where the only way out is to charge forever forward into the gaping maw of glittering beats and shapes. However, going back to it in ultrawide, the experience is uncannily similar. With so much of the screen occupying your field of view, you quickly enter the same kind of trance when playing in ultrawide, where the void bleeds into your peripheral vision and all that matters is the glowing beetle in front of you. Everything else becomes irrelevant. You are the beetle now, and the glowing track your bid for freedom. Sometimes I think it’s a shame that some of Thumper’s morphing nightmare-scapes don’t extend further out into the encroaching darkness, as it can sometimes feel like you’re just playing in regular old 16:9. But then I remember the way its boss beats and their resulting explosions ripple all the way across the screen like an earthquake, and ooff, it’s like a blow to my very soul.
Rez Infinite
Speaking of trance-like rhythm games, Rez Infinite is another one that really benefits from having an ultrawide screen at your disposal. Like Thumper, I’ve only ever played Rez Infinite in VR, but by golly does playing it in ultrawide come a very close second. This on-rails rhythm game is a feast for the senses at the best of times, but it really comes into its own in ultrawide - especially when the camera pans round and you get those lovely screen-spanning fly-bys. Be still my beating heart! Indeed, Rez Infinite is a game designed to take over your ears and eyes like no other, and as you scan the horizon for incoming projectiles your entire world starts to become a flash of light and colour. Its dreamy music-scapes envelope your peripheral vision, its music pounding down your lugholes, and when you dive further down into the layers of reality, it’s like you’ve entered the goddamn Matrix.
Subnautica
If you thought Abzu was a marvel in ultrawide, just wait until you dive into the watery depths of Subnautica. If there was ever a game that deserved to be played in ultrawide, this would definitely be one if them. Instead of peeking through a tiny window into this underwater realm, this is like staring wide-eyed through a giant wall-to-ceiling aquarium window. Yes, the ceiling isn’t very high, but still! Just look at those views. If I wasn’t so scared of the horrors that lie in wait, I’d just carry on swimming to the bottom of the sea and never come back, it’s that good.
Yakuza 0
Yes, Yakuza 0 can sometimes feel like it’s just a bunch of mini-games masquerading as a walking-talking gangster suit, but as anyone who’s spent a day in Kiryu Kazuma’s shoes will know, it’s the bustling city of Kamurocho that really brings this game to life. So what better way to experience its crowded streets and neon-coloured nightlife than by opening up the edges of your screen and taking in the sights ultrawide-style? Now, I’ll be upfront. This is the first game on this list where its ’native’ ultrawide support can feel a bit half-hearted at times. It’s ultrawide for the most part, but cutscenes and those sweet, sweet finishing moves Kiryu doles out in his many bust-ups all cut back to 16:9. It’s a shame, as I would really like to see Kiryu smash a bicycle over a delinquent’s head without the screen suddenly cutting inwards and diminishing the sheer silliness of it all. In its defence, it’s not really all that different to what Rockstar has done with Red Dead Redemption 2’s plentiful supply of cutscenes, which also slide back into 16:9 mode on a regular basis. Besides, the rest of the game still looks mighty fine regardless - although I’ll fully admit that there’s some pretty funky depth of field effects going on with stuff in the background in Yakuza 0, which can sometimes make everything look a bit low res. This is perhaps more pronounced playing in ultrawide, if only because it’s blown up so much bigger and spans so much more of your overall vision. Look past that, though, and there are still plenty of details to revel in here. Like the save point phone boxes. Gosh, I love a good phone box shot.
Warframe
It is a truth universally acknowledged that all space games look better in ultrawide, and Warframe is no exception. Whether you’re just chilling out on your ship or dashing across its plentiful hub worlds, the game’s sense of scale increases dramatically when you’re able to soak in more of the sights. Plus, it’s more practical, too, helping you scope out incoming enemies with ease and keeping track of other players on the map. No more getting lost while the rest of your team sprints off in the opposite direction. In ultrawide, no one is able to hide. Yes, the map gets a bit lost up in the top right corner of the screen, but at least there’s not much warping going on at the edges. And hoo boy, if you thought regular Warframe looks pretty good in ultrawide, just imagine what it will look like when its new spaceship combat goes live in its upcoming Empyrean expansion. Yes. Please.
Total War: Three Kingdoms
When 99.9% of any Total War game is spent watching hundreds of tiny men charging headlong across your screen to cut, slice and generally do some really quite unpleasant things to lots of other tiny men eager to return the favour, the logical next step is to make those battlefields feel even more epic in scale by exponentially increasing the size of your screen. And my word does Total War: Three Kingdoms look mighty fine in ultrawide. Battles have such a sense of scale to them in ultrawide, and they just look and feel 100% better at all times. For starters, it makes for some truly grand cinematic camera pans,and following them into battle and zooming down into the action is so much more thrilling and exciting to watch. Just look at those guys go! Take that, suckers! Feel my wrath!
The Long Dark
Another one for fans of infinitely wide horizons, The Long Dark looks absolutely gorgeous on an ultrawide monitor. Its wintry forests and mountains just keep on going on forever and ever in this kind of aspect ratio, and for me it really emphasises the fact that, yes, you really are alone out here and no one is coming to get you. Still, as lonely and isolating as The Long Dark can become when played in ultrawide, I think it makes it feel more immersive as a result. After all, that’s kinda the whole point, isn’t it? You’re out here on your own, doing your best to get by, all the while gazing up in wonder at the world around you, hoping that help might be at hand if you just crest that hill or climb that mountain. Being stranded in the middle of nowhere has never looked more appealing.
The Division 2
The Division 2 can also be a great (if largely accidental) nature-watching sim when you find some rare down time, but really, we’re all about the big action sequences here - and using that extra screen space to spot goons trying to flank you from the side is immensely satisfying. It’s not just The Division 2’s gunfights that benefit from the extra screen space either. When you’re down on the ground and running through the wasted city streets, the size of the city becomes so much more apparent. Streets stretch across your entire field of vision, and the buildings above you feel taller as a result, like you’re being hemmed in by the world around you. Still, it makes The Division 2’s rare fields and open spaces feel much grander as a result, allowing for some surprisingly lovely bits of detail at the right time of day - like the mist rising off the long grass in the early morning sunshine. It’s times like these that make you feel just a little more hopeful about the state of the world around you.
Stardew Valley
To be completely honest, I think these GIFs speak for themselves. Yes, my Stardew Valley farm is a complete state, but just look at all that SPAAAAAAAAACE! Glorious.
Sea of Thieves
If you weren’t already convinced that Sea of Thieves has the best water in all video games, playing it in ultrawide is all the proof you need. There’s simply no beating it, whether you’re gazing down at your ship from the top of a nearby island or you’ve just come ashore and you’re taking it all in from the beach. It truly does not get any better than this. I could sit for hours gazing at the way its waves roll lazily across the screen. It’s almost hypnotic. Every ripple, every crest, every rise and fall… it’s just so calming. Or at least it is when you’re stationary, because man alive does the sea take on a life of its own once you’ve left the safety of its many ports and harbours. That GIF above was captured while I was standing right out on the bow of my ship, and cor, did I feel small and humble before those mighty, majestic waves. Perhaps not one for those with delicate stomachs, all told, but this is by far the best seat in the house for avid wave watchers. Now bring me that horizon…
Rime
Rime is a gorgeous-looking game no matter what type of screen you play it on, but its lonely, desolate landscapes really come alive when played in ultrawide. There’s just so much more to admire and take in here, and when its cell-shaded art looks this lovely, I’ll do whatever it takes to get as much of it in front of my eyes as possible. It also helps to make some of its wider, more open spaces feel much grander as well, emphasising just how small you are by comparison. You feel the boy’s age so much more keenly when its huge stone structures stretch up and around you in ultrawide, making the task in front of you feel all the more daunting and impossible. Equally, though, the ultrawide size and scale of the world can also make its quieter moments feel a lot more intimate as a result, like when you first encounter your tiny fox guide, or tease the cute family of wild pigs in one of the early levels with juicy fruit bounties. And that bit with the robots near the end? That’s proper hairs-standing-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck material, lemme tell ya.
FAR: Lone Sails
FAR: Lone Sails was one of my favourite games of 2018, and it is absolutely made to be played on an ultrawide monitor. After all, this is about a long, winding journey from west to east, so why not reflect that with an extra-long monitor? Now, I’ll be upfront - you’ve probably noticed two big grey bars in the GIFs here. The mountains and horizon fit the length of the screen, but for some reason, the sky stops short. It’s a bit of a shame, but I reckon that’s because FAR: Lone Sails’ maximum aspect ratio tops out at the standard 21:9 ultrawide size rather than the Samsung CRG9’s enormous 32:9 aspect ratio. I don’t currently have another 21:9 monitor to double-check this sadly, but I’d imagine it will probably be fine. Either way, FAR looks truly majestic in ultrawide, even with the big grey bars. I particularly love how the world pulls back when you extend your boat-car-train’s titular sails, too. After fiddling about in the bowels of your ship for ages, it finally feels like you’re on your way when the camera zooms out like this - however short-lived it often is!
Metro Exodus
Metro Exodus is one of the most impressive looking games of 2019, and so naturally it looks even more glorious when played in ultrawide. I mean, when even the menu screen looks this good, you know you’re in for a real treat. Of course, previous Metro games have all taken place underground for the most part, so playing those earlier entries in ultrawide doesn’t look nearly as spectacular. Metro Exodus, on the other hand, finally moves the action above ground, making it a prime candidate for lots of ultrawide loveliness. Like a lot of the games I’ve talked about so far, the best thing about playing Metro Exodus in ultrawide is how it emphasises the sheer vastness of the world around you. You really get the sense that this is a huge, barren wasteland you’re dealing with here, and that you could probably walk for miles and miles into the distance and still not get very far. Of course, a lot of Metro Exodus’ environments aren’t nearly as large as they might first appear, but the important thing is that they look massive. I also kinda like how small Artyon’s arms look in ultrawide. He looks so diddy! And yet, he’s still got enough oomph to show a horrible mutated lobster crab a thing or two. Back in the radioactive river with you, giant lobster boy!
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Ubisoft are pretty good at including ultrawide support in their games, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is no different. Not only is this one of the best looking Assassin’s Creed games, but it’s also one of the most colourful, with loads of islands appearing in their full autumnal glory - which naturally makes for quite a sight when played in ultrawide. Trust me, tower synchronisations have never looked so good as they do in ultrawide. Indeed, climbing up to the top of anything in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey looks pretty darn spectacular in ultrawide, especially when it’s surrounded by lots of lovely red and gold trees. Down on the ground looks pretty darn great in ultrawide, too. Towns feel larger and grander - especially when you’re in the big cities like Athens or Sparta where giant marble statues tower over you left, right and centre - and even rural villages and vineyards take on a new sense of scale. Plus, it makes it much easier to spot places to hide when you accidentally back stab a guard in the middle of the town piazza.
Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture
Of all the games on this list, Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture definitely makes for the best GIFs. I just love gawping at Yaughton’s country lanes and village greens, especially when those playful beams of memory light zig and zag across the horizon. It’s a beautiful thing to watch, and it’s made all the more lovely by watching it in ultrawide. Truthfully, though, it was that very first scene that sold me on Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture’s ultrawide promise, as watching its 16:9 illustration window fade into its much larger game world sent proper shivers down my spine. Then there’s Yaughton itself, which remains the best English video game village of all time. It’s so good, in fact, that I’m just going to let the GIFs do the talking, because why spoil such a gorgeous thing with boring old words, eh? Pub anyone?
Heaven’s Vault
Heaven’s Vault almost didn’t make this list, if only because I had a bit of trouble getting its ultrawide support to play nicely with the CRG9’s mad aspect ratio. Menu text kept getting cut off the top and bottom, and I fear its ’native’ ultrawide support may still need a little work on regular 21:9 screen as well. Still, I kept it in simply because a) it still looks lovely in ultrawide, and b) ermagerd so much space for those very long translations! Early translations are pretty manageable on a normal 16:9 screen, but when they start to get more complicated later on with several phrases and long words mixed in there, trying to go from one end of the sentence to another can be a bit of a nightmare. In ultrawide, however, the very nature of the screen means you’ve got so much more space to work with, making it easier to see which symbols go where in any given sentence.
Half-Life 2
Excited about Half-Life: Alyx? Well, why not prepare yourself for the long-awaited next entry in the Half-Life series by going back and playing the excellent Half-Life 2 in all its ultrawide glory? Yes, even a game as old as this has full ultrawide support, and lemme tell ya it’s a real treat, too. Walking down the spooky streets of Ravenholm has never felt more unnerving, if only because you’ve now got more screen to scan for incoming headcrabs and all those horrible nasties waiting in the shadows. Still, when you’ve got your gravity gun and a trusty saw blade at your disposal, at least you’re well-equipped to deal with whatever’s round the next corner - especially when it’s actually a bunch of trigger-happy Combine instead of its screeching zombies. Gotta love a bit of Combine bowling.
Destiny 2
You know the drill by now. Space games = great ultrawide fodder, and Destiny 2 is arguably the most epic one of the lot. Even its loading screens look incredible with its big planets hanging across the entire screen and your zippy little space ship going pew pew as it finally corrects course and heads down to the action. There’s never a dull moment in Destiny 2. I’ve only played a very tiny bit of the campaign so far, but when you’ve got wave after wave of enemies raining down all manner of bullets and power slams on you from all directions, just being able to see more of what’s going on is heart-racing stuff. Whether you’re aiming down your rifle sights or charging headlong into the fray, you definitely feel a lot more heroic doing it in ultrawide. Especially when you shotgun some inconsequential punk in the face mid-jump on your way to dispatching some other big nasty. Beautiful.
Final Fantasy XV
Ah, the chocobros. Another game that instantly sells itself right from its very first title screen, Final Fantasy XV is another great showcase for ultrawide. It’s a showcase for pretty much everything, to be honest, whether it’s HDR or Dolby Atmos - you name it, Final Fantasy XV almost certainly supports it. That’s great for us, as it makes Noctis’ boyband roadtrip all the more enjoyable - especially when there are rainbow-coloured chocobos involved. I love stomping across the slopes and plains of Duscae, and its arching rock formations remind me a lot of my favourite RPG of all time, Xenoblade Chronicles (which is currently being remastered for the Switch and oh my days I actually cannot wait). For me, they seem even more epic and fantastical when played in ultrawide, and they’re quite the sight to behold when you’ve got all of Nvidia’s extra graphical effects going on around you, too, with the fancy, grassy TurfEffects and flowing, HairWorks-ified monster hides. That does, of course, require an equally monstrous graphics card to pull off, especially at higher quality settings, but even on its regular Average setting it’s still quite a spectacle. When your boyband pals all draw up beside you on their giant fluorescent chickens, there’s no greater feeling in the world. Except maybe taking an ultrawide gondola ride in the futuristic Venetian city of Altissia. That’s also a bit of a jaw-dropper.
Hitman 3
Hitman 3 is all about making the most of the opportunities in front you. Like walking up to a man in a flamingo costume, knocking him out cold and stealing his pink mascot attire so you can make it backstage to the off limits podium area in the game’s Miami level. Or maybe you’re the kind of person who likes to use your newfound novelty clothes to sit in a billion dollar race car, much to the dismay of everyone around you. All is possible in ultrawide Hitman. I mean, all this is possible in regular 16:9 Hitman as well. Only here it’s extra absurd and weird and frankly fantastic and the best because you’re making the most of your monitor’s ludicrous aspect ratio, which as I said earlier, is what this game’s all about. I rest my case.
Dishonored 2
Dishonored 2 is one of the best games of the last ten years, and it only gets better when played in ultrawide. Whether it’s your first time breaking out of Dunwall or your fifteenth attempt at skulking through the hazy streets of Karnaca’s Dust District, Dishonored 2 is a real ultrawide delight. There are practical elements to playing in ultrawide. You’re more aware of your surroundings for starters, making it easier to spot patrolling guards that you might have missed otherwise, or extra hidey-holes when you’re in a spot of bother and need to disappear for a bit. But it really comes into its own when you’re poking around Aramis Stilton’s decrepit old manor and scoping out good time travel spots with your nifty little timepiece. The timepiece itself isn’t any bigger, but you do get a better sense of how the manor fits together in the past and present.
American Truck Simulator
Perhaps the ultimate game for playing on a ludicrous ultrawide monitor, I would be completely remiss if I didn’t have American Truck Simulator on here somewhere. Indeed, look up ‘freedom’ in the dictionary and you’ll see something that looks a lot like this. I have honestly never felt more alive than I have driving through a red light in ultrawide. No wait, I tell a lie. I’ve never felt more alive than nearly crashing into this deviant who decided to get the jump on me and cut in front at a junction. The absolute nerve of these people. Honestly.
Grow Home
Grow Home is quite possibly the sweetest game of all time. It tells the tale of a tiny robot friend whose job it is to grow increasingly tall and winding plants so he can get back to his MOM, which also happens to be the name of his space ship, the little munchkin. But as everyone who’s played Grow Home probably knows, the best thing to do once you’ve finally made your way back into orbit is to throw your poor robot pal to his doom and watch him skydive back down to earth as you take in your magnificent, organic creation. I am a cruel, heartless witch, yes, but it sure does make you appreciate all the hard work you’ve put in to finally get back to space - and it looks even more spectacular in ultrawide. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Firewatch
The skylines in Firewatch are just so gosh darn lovely that they absolutely deserve to be admired on as wide a screen as possible. Just look at that glorious morning vista! Swoon. Yes, there’s a fair bit of warping going on at the edges, but cor, it’s still stupidly pretty regardless. It’s not just up in the watch towers where Firewatch shines in ultrawide, either, as there’s still plenty of lovely naturey goodness to be found down on the ground, too. Like these gorgeous god rays peeking through the trees. Eat your heart out, Red Dead Redemption 2.
Batman: Arkham Knight
Finally, we come to the last game on my list of best ultrawide games, Batman Arkham Knight. Technically, all three of the Arkham games have ultrawide support, but Knight is arguably the one that makes the biggest and boldest impression, if only because you’ve got the whole of Gotham City to coo over instead of just tiny sections of it. Just look at that moody night sky! Yes, I know everyone hates Arkham Knight and that Asylum and City are probably the better games overall, but I have a real soft spot for this final entry in the Arkham series, and soaring from rooftop to rooftop is still one of the best feelings in all video games - especially when, you guessed it, you’re doing it in ultrawide. Gotham just looks so vast and imposing when you can see right across its art deco skyline, and it remains one of my favourite gaming cities to pottle about in. Plus, I will never tire of watching grump old Bats staring grimly into the middle distance while I admire the city around him. That stuff never gets old.
Frequently asked questions
Naturally, to recreate the scenes you’ll see in the coming pages, you’ll need an ultrawide gaming monitor. My current favourites in our best gaming monitor rankings are the Acer Predator Z35p, a 35in VA monitor running at 3440x1440 with a 100Hz refresh rate, and the AOC Agon AG353UCG, which matches the Acer on size and resolution but can hit 200Hz and adds in DisplayHDR 1000 support. I’ve also recorded many of the sample GIFs on the even more gigantic Samsung CRG9 and AOC Agon AG493UCX, which are both huge 49in, 5120x1440 monster monitors with a sprawling 32:9 aspect ratio, as well as Asus’ ROG Swift PG35VQ, which is very similar to the AOC Agon AG353UCG. I’d recommend all of these monitors for those after a new ultrawide gaming display, as they all look stunning in the flesh and have superb colour accuracy out of the box. With many ultrawide gaming monitors offering resolutions of 3440x1440 or above these days, you’ll need a powerful graphics card to run games smoothly on them. Ideally, you should be looking for cards that can handle at least 60fps on High settings on a standard 2560x1440 monitor if you’re looking at one with a 3440x1440 resolution, and maybe even High settings at 4K if you’ve got your eye on an even wider 5120x1440 display. As a minimum, I’d recommend having a graphics card like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super or an AMD Radeon RX 6800 for a 3440x1440 display, although Nvidia owners will probably want to try and get the newer RTX 3070 just to be on the safe side. That said, even these graphics cards will struggle to fill out the high refresh rates on a lot of ultrawide monitors, so if you really want to go all out on your graphics card, then the best graphics cards right now for the job are the RTX 3080 and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT.
