As far as I’m concerned, AI can get in the trash. I’d then happily launch said rubbish receptacle swiftly into the sea. Artificial Intelligence isn’t just taking away jobs in a variety of fields; it’s also increasingly sneaking its way into games in an occasionally insidious fashion.
Despite my misgivings towards AI when it comes to creating artistic content, I have to admit… I’m kinda loving AI texture packs. These high-resolution mods have revitalized some of my favorite retro games over the last year. Even though a part of my soul just died typing that sentence, I can’t deny I’ve massively gotten into using AI-generated, high-res texture mods of late.
Let me try to justify my semi-questionable actions.
AI vs. artistry
Should you really replace a developer’s work with AI textures?
A part of me loathes using AI to make games from my childhood look more palatable on a modern 4K screen. Yet it turns out, I’m a sucker for injecting super-detailed textures into old titles, regardless of whether man or machine created them.
The biggest debate when it comes to AI-driven retro mods is this: where should the line be drawn between preserving the original artistic integrity of a game and tweaking aging assets to accommodate modern screens? It’s a tough conundrum. And one I honestly haven’t been able to fully resolve in my mind.
- Brand
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Valve
- Screen
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7-inch touchscreen (1280 x 800, 16:10)
- Processing Power
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AMD RDNA 2 with 8 Compute Units, up to 1.6 GHz
- CPU
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AMD Zen 2: 2.43.5 GHz
- Battery
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40 Wh, 5-8 hours
- Connectivity
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Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-C, 3.5 mm audio
Steam Deck is a portable PC gaming handheld that runs your Steam library on the go, offering a 7″ touchscreen, high-performance AMD chipset, and built-in controls. It supports full PC games, customizable settings, and optional external display output — delivering console-like convenience with PC-level flexibility.
There is a key factor that assuages my guilt when it comes to hopping on Nexus Mods to download 4K texture packs for past-gen games, though. And that’s the fact that modern game developers hardly have a squeaky clean record when it comes to using generative AI elements.
Just take Crimson Desert as a recent example. Pearl Abyss had to issue an apology to folks who bought its ambitious open-world epic shortly after it launched. Why? Because the studio initially failed to mention that many of the 2D props in its high-fantasy adventure (like in-game paintings) had been created with generative AI. Naughty Pearl Abyss.
The use of AI elements in modern titles is a thorny one, and I’m glad Valve is now forcing developers to disclose whether they’ve used AI imagery on Steam storefront pages.
AI can breathe new life into retro games
Making the case for AI-created texture mods
Back to retro gaming, and I won’t lie: I do feel slightly uneasy about using AI-generated texture packs in games from bygone console generations. At the same time, these mods haven’t been solely willed into existence by AI; there’s also a massive amount of human effort that has gone into helping refresh the assets of certain retro games.
The series that has most drawn me to AI texture mods (like a geeky moth to a 4K flame) is Resident Evil. The original PS1-era trilogy was recently released on Steam at the time of writing, and getting to re-experience Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (in particular) on a 4K OLED TV that has replaced my monitor has been a joy. And that’s in large part thanks to the sterling work of modder Sonic Boom.
I’ve mainly been playing around with this mod in Resi 3, and the AI-assisted results look lovely to my obsessive eyes.
This hugely talented creator is behind the awesome RE: Enhance project — a comprehensive texture upscaler that makes the 32-bit pre-rendered backgrounds of Capcom’s classic survival horror trilogy look downright alluring on a modern Ultra HD display.
I’ve mainly been playing around with this mod in Resi 3, and the AI-assisted results look lovely to my obsessive eyes. Whether gingerly stepping through the wreckage of a recently destroyed gas station as hardened S.T.A.R.S. agent Jill Valentine or admiring the oh-so crisp, crisscrossing wires of a power station, RE: Enhance helps make assets that were created back in 1999 look more than presentable on a 2026 screen.
AI obviously helped Sonic Boom in creating high-res replacement textures for a game I first played when I was a 14-year-old whippersnapper, no doubt. Yet the precise detail that has gone into re-imagining decades-old textures has clearly been curated by a talented human being who holds the Resident Evil saga in the highest regard.
The human passion behind AI mods
AI might be involved, but real creators deserve the credit
Skipping forward a generation, I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed using AI texture mods in a couple of titles from the PS2/Xbox/GameCube era on a PC that cost more than my car. Overkill, I know. Said titles are Resident Evil HD Remaster (an upscaled take on 2002’s classic GameCube remake) and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty – Master Collection Edition.
The ultra-talented modder Evgeshajk is responsible for the Resident Evil HD Remaster 4K Texture AI-Enhanced texture mod. Hopefully, a couple of the screens I’ve shown above will help emphasize that this passion project to make the zombie-filled corridors of Spencer Mansion look like it’s being played on a PS5 Pro (rather than a PS1) is as much down to human passion as it is AI trickery. This 4K texture mod looks so good, I can almost preemptively forgive artificial intelligence for when it goes full Skynet and obliterates us all.
To a lesser degree, I also appreciate the work of modder ligMix that’s gone into making Metal Gear Solid 2 look pretty darn sharp on a 4K panel thanks to their work on the (cannily titled) AI Slop Edition mod. Though the high-res results aren’t as sophisticated as the Resident Evil examples I’ve provided, the upscaled textures in Solid Snake’s superior sneaking sequel still look far better to my eye than the OG PS2-era, 480p assets.
I’m a fan of AI-tweaked retro games, but I worry about the implications
Whether playing with these AI-bolstered mods on my desktop or a gaming laptop that’s proven to be a surprisingly good workstation, I’ve fallen for texture mods that are only partially down to actual human creation.
The ethics behind AI — whether regarding fields of work or forms of entertainment — are destined to become highly debated for years to come. Where possible, I avoid using AI in my daily life like a particularly locust-focused plague. I’m hoping my relationship with artificial intelligence in gaming stops at my willful acceptance to use mods to make old titles look better. Yet I do worry that the increasing use of AI assets in modern games is something I won’t have a choice in going forward.
