Fan shows how beautiful 21-year-old cult MMORPG RuneScape would look in Unreal Engine 5

On January 4, 2001, the MMORPG RuneScape was released. It has since gone through a few graphics updates, but still feels totally dated compared to modern games. Artist Zant recreated part of the game in Unreal Engine 5, delighting many RuneScape fans.

RuneScape is one of the absolute classics in the MMORPGs. Especially in the early 2000s it was easily accessible because it was even playable in the browser. With its many freedoms and the grind, it has built up a community over the years that hardly plays anything other than RuneScape – even if there has recently been criticism of a subscription increase.

What do you see in the video? The artist Zant has now taken on the area “The Legend’s Guild” and recreated it in detail in the Unreal Engine 5.

• He needed about 8 months for this project, which he put into the development as a hobby alongside his actual job.
• He himself wanted to surprise his friends from his RuneScape community with it.
• Zant used ready-made assets that he had on his Artstation page has indicated.
• He found the environment around the guild to be particularly challenging in order to create a realistic world while maintaining the identity of the area.

You can see the finished work here:

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“A difference like day and night”

How is the video received? In the comments on YouTube and in the reddit the video is seen very positively. Many wish that RuneScape could be even remotely as beautiful as Zant’s video:

• Blabidy writes, “I’ve been playing Runescape since I was 11 years old. The beauty aroused so many emotions in me. Thank you for doing that.”
• PiccoloCapable doesn’t just think the graphics are great: “Wow, everything looks fantastic, but damn, the cinematography is the real winner! It was just beautiful, the many details, very good work on the model, the surfaces, the music, the feel and the overall animation.”
• Inspector raves: “Imagine if there was a Jagex RuneScape 4 that looked like this…”

Esports journalist Jake Lucky also shared the video on his Twitter account. In a picture he contrasts the original and the prettier version:

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What is this place? The Legend’s Guild is the most exclusive guild you can join in RuneScape. You have to complete a long quest line to visit their headquarters. In addition, this was the first Master Quest in RuneScape, so a quest that is classified as rather difficult.

Even outside of Unreal Engine 5, the area is considered one of the more elaborate and impressive in the game. With Zant’s video, however, it takes on completely different traits.

What do you say about the video? Would this graphic encourage you to revisit RuneScape? Or are you satisfied with the current look of RuneScape?

It wasn’t until 2021 that Old School RuneScape was released on Steam. And there it was immediately well received:

An Old School MMORPG Is The Top Rated Free2play MMO On Steam – Why Is It?