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Is there one in particular that blew your mind?
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Is there one in particular that blew your mind?
Vegetation in Crysis 3 was amazing imo
Having played most triple A stuff, best looking game to this date award definitely goes to witcher 3! Pushing it to new level even if individual components of it is not THE BEST, but as overall package it is best looking game imo.
I however cannot say that witcher has had the biggest impact on me, since to me the graphical leap of Half life 2 was much greater than the minor changes to graphics in last 7 years or so...
Played cod black ops and NFS:HPS 2010 in my friends computer and we both were like "WOW"
The first COD Modern Warfare game on PC, Donkey Kong Country on Snes, Crysis on PC, Far Cry 3 on PC, they were all memorably stunning at the time.
At the moment..hmm difficult, i'll go with Crysis 3.
Sacred 2 - not for anything all that great regarding the game, per se, but for this -
https://youtu.be/JyfE55c_ZjI
For 2008, this was pure epic. Otherwise, I'm going to go with Skyrim, especially with the mods out there.
A visually good computer game will always be relative to others in it's time.
Back in 1984, I thought the graphics in Elite where visually stunning. I thought the same in 1997 when Quake came out. These days the graphics on either can easily be beaten by the cheapest of phones or consoles, but at the time they where groundbreaking.
Doesn't this depend more on your taste of design....
the original line art asteroids because it's totally minimalist :)
then there's minecraft... it really follows the current design trends of flat imagery
Metal Slug 2
Nothing in the 3d realm has ever come close to the near perfect pixel perfection of the metal slug games.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.
Photogrammetry FTW.
As mentioned, it was always be relative to the time it exists.
The first Gran Turismo was an absolute game changer. For it's time it looked absolutely spectacular.
Games look far superior now, but they've never blown me away quite like that did. Although Gran Turismo 3 comes close.
Parm makes a good suggestion with Donkey Kong country up there, not the best now but when it came out it blew every other SNES game away instantly.
For me tho, even after playing the Witcher 3 lots, Skyrim with an HD texture mod wins.
I can still remember the first time I saw Unreal. That really blew my socks off at the time. Of course, it's been far surpassed by now visually, but for the time it was amazing.
For me the big wow moments in graphics were Half-Life (all the guns look so real!), GTA3 (you can do anything!), Halo (have you seen the grass?), GT3 (photorealistic!), Oblivion (look at that view) and of course Crysis (my computer will never be able to run this)!
The fact you could zoom in on someone's assault rifle and see how much ammo they had on Halo blew my mind at the time, I couldn't believe the detail. Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) gets a shout out for having such slick and stylized cutscenes. Most racing games looked incredible at the time, a shout out goes to Colin McRae Rally 3 for kicked up dirt, sunsets and windscreen wipers that convinced my dad that he was watching TV.
One that has always stuck with me was the original Unreal, after years of playing Quake it felt like a breath of fresh air with its wide open spaces.
Looking back at videos of it though makes it look really naff. :)
Trying to think back to all the wow gfx moments I've had it goes back far before PC to Amiga to Megadrive/SNES even to ZX Spectrum. I guess for brevity I'll just list a few of the PC games.
Tomb Raider was the first 3D accelerated game I played so that was pretty impressive. Unreal definitely blew anything that came before it away. Oblivion first gameplay trailer made me drool. There is so many though... recently the weather effects and atmosphere in Metro Last Light, the overall visuals and aesthetics of Lords of the Fallen and at the moment Witcher 3 is standing out as the best looking open world game I've seen just beating out GTA V.
This is so true, but that said, when it comes to thinking about games that are visually stunning I think it has more to do with how the visual make me feel rather than simply how technically brilliant the visuals are or were at the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by chrestomanci
There are a few games that spring to mind for me, games like the Alan Wake series were stunning because of the way they used light and dark, the spectacular backdrops and awesome locations.
I really like the settings in the Battlefield games a lot more than the COD games as these have massive vistas and open horizons to look across.
If I had to name a single game it would have to be Assassin's Creed. From the very first time I climbed a tower and activated the Eagle Vision and was rewarded with that awesome animation as the newly unlocked map locations were revealed to me I was instantly hooked on that game. Later games improved the visual quality, but none have managed to match that moment of amazement for me in quite the same way, but I have still never tired of that and love climbing the towers in games now, be an Assassin's Creed title, Far Cry 3 or 4 or even Tomb Raider.
For me, if its wow, then it has to be Crysis 1. It was leagues ahead of what had come before, from a certain viewpoint. I remember getting to that first vantage point, light shining through the trees and thinking wow. More recently, it gets tougher due to greater computing power available etc, but I would have to say overall, Crysis 3. I've recently gone back to playing it to test out some new crossfire drivers, and not that I have the pure grunt to play it at a fluid FPS, I get to realise what a beautiful, detailed world it was. Went from a test to playing it all again. From an artistic point of view, coupled with graphics, was the Bioshock game. Walking into and around Rapture was amazing, loved that Art Deco style.
WipeOut (1995) on the original PlayStation was something of a revelation coming from a Mega Drive.
Destruction Derby - the physics and realism were also amazing back in 1995/96
Freespace 2 - Massive capital ship battles in space, just awesome
Half life 2 for pure realism back in 2004 - the lighting and textures were incredible at the time.
Crysis - The first sunrise after the intro bit with the vista and the waterfalls / water animations
Battlefield 2/3 at their respective times were also incredible to look at
The games many of you have mentioned were so realistic and they were/ are amazing for their time.
For me, however, the game I found most visually stunning was not that realistic but gave more of an atmosphere. It is a game I still take out and play and that game is Mirror's Edge. I really love the look of the game, the colours etc.
It is a stunning game game, great PhysX effects too, you could almost feel the wind on your face.Quote:
Originally Posted by TaintedShirt
Thinking back, I reckon Oblivion and Crysis were the ones that impressed me the most.
I remember *finally* coming out of the dungeon in Oblivion and just gazing at the scenery for ages.
Right now it has to be Witcher 3, but the biggest visual impacts I got from Morrowind and Oblivion. Morrowind because it was so utterly different from anything and everything else and Oblivion because the scenery was of a whole different league at the time.
GTA V of course.
Toss up between Mirror's Edge and Hot Pursuit 2010. When they came out my mind was instantly blown. Extra points points for the fact that they looked awesome even when your rig sucked.
HL2
Uncharted 2 and 3
Mirror's Edge
Far Cry 3
GTA V
...all have blown me away in different ways. HL2 redefined how games could look for me - I built my PC purely to play it, and wasn't disappointed. The fact it still looks good is testament to that.
Uncharted (1 looked good, but 2 and 3 were jaw-dropping) went to show how much beauty could be created from great design rather than just graphical horsepower. The ships' graveyard was something else.
Mirror's Edge was so distinct, clean, fresh and memorable. Loved that game, even after falling off the same roof 50 times.
FC3 was so pretty. That is all.
GTA V just achieved so much. It was beautiful on PS3, will get it on PC when my rig is up to it. I expect I'll be blown away again.
I was blown away by a few games, Mario World 64 was amazing for me as a 8 year old, I remember Oblivion and Battlefield Bad Company 2 really blew me away when they released, the original and 3rd Crysis, Skyrim was pretty breathe taking, Lost Planet 2 looked awesome any platform, the first Assassin's Creed really was a beautiful game, and Medal of Honor 2010 was like candy!
Forgot one, Project Cars! Seeing the detail added to the vehicles and the realism of the weather....mind blown!
Lot of'em exists:
Crysis 3, DA:I, Witcher 3, Assetto Corsa, NFS Rivals, ROME, Ryse, Dying light, Trine....
For the current scene I find Next Car Game: Wrecked to be awesome. Creaming into a corner with 30 other drivers with tyres and debris flying in all directions. I still don't know how a PC copes.
The Forest is very pretty.
The Tomb Raider reboot still looks stunning in my opinion, especially so given it's relatively lower required specs.
I can't remember anything from my youth that made me sit up and say wow! I was more into racing sims, and nothing in that genre was ever that spectacular.
I always remember being awestruck by the graphics of Unreal, it was a whole other level to anything I'd played previously ...I think I had to get a new voodoo card to play it. Good times
Crysis has stood the test of time and is nearly 9 years old!
Also,remember,that Ultra is not the highest setting in the game as you could increased the settings even higher by editing a config file IIRC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXBJ-u9lQLk
Call of Duty WaW for me! :D
Can I say star citizen? Its not really out yet but based on the arena commander thats out its going to be pretty spectacular.
Witcher 3 now dominates.
I agree on the first Gran Turismo being something else. It's weird but we basically thought it looked real back then. Agreed on Morrowind also.
Rome: Total War was a real jaw dropping moment as well.
Vanishing of Ethan Carter was stunning, shame game wasn't as good as the graphics.
Witcher 3. GTAV. Elite Dangerous. All set standards for visual beauty, top notch gaming as well.
Next level is going to be getting the same quality in VR.
I think the original Uncharted really wow'd me. Finding that U-Boat in the jungle. Looked like a leap from Tomb Raiders of the time.
Super Mario World, also amazed. I had an Amiga, but really only played Dizzy as my previous platformer. Mario just looked juicy and vibrant.
If we are talking 'Computer' games. Then Dune on the Amiga just looked awesome in dialogue. Unreal Tournament with the S3 texture pack was amazing. I'm sure I spent a couple of hours just walking up to walls trying to see all the detail.
I keep taking screen shots in Elite Dangerous as you get some very pretty scenery.
I think the last time I thought "that isn't possible" was probably Unreal. Before that was DooM (the original one). Hard to choose between the two as a winner.
Runner up prize for Jet Set Radio on the Dreamcast for the eye catching cel rendering, and also on DC for Metropolis Street Racer. Those are really old games now, and the graphics still look OK.
Far Cry 1. That game was so amazing. I played that on an old Gateway FX desktop with a Dual Core Pentium D and a GeForce 6600 on high settings. "Wow." Nowadays my shout out would have to go to something like Tomb Raider because Lara Croft looks awesome in that game. Watch Dogs for its representation of Chicago, or Skyrim simply because i haven't gotten my hands on Witcher 3 yet.
Skyrim with mods, Witcher 3, Project Cars, Crysis 3, Metro Last Light. Those from the modern titles.
From the past, I agree that since Doom (1), Half Life 2 had one of the biggest leaps in terms of appearance compared to everything else. Crysis 1 had a very similar effect with it being the benchmark for quite some time.
Oblivion was the game that did that for me, from the first opening sequence to running through the prison and that first moment staring out into the world were the moment when I felt that computer game graphics had finally reached movie quality.
Unreal - at the time, it blew me away. Far Cry was very notable too.
Obviously, the Crysis series is up there.
More recently, there were moments in Dear Esther that left me slack-jawed.
Crysis on PC with everything racked up. Computer couldn't handle it mind, but was nice getting screenshots at 3fps...
Oblivion after playing morrowind for ages. Graphics totally blew me away. Best other game is original Crysis all on pc.
Super Mario 64 made my jaw drop when I first saw it. I don't think I've had a moment like that since.
GTA 5.
It's probably not the most groundbreaking game engine on the market, but GTA 5 is just *so* well executed and optimized that it's nothing short of stunning to play on next-gen consoles and PC. Some of the in-game screenshots I've taken are just absolutely incredible.
For it's day, everquest2 - it's graphics well surpassed the available hardware at the time.
Mario64 was also an example of a "game changer" graphically.
Probably the first time that I play Quake2 on a Voodoo1. Really was stunned with at the time high resolution 3D rendering.
Farcry for me. Never been as impressed as I was the first time I crept under branches along the edge of the beach.
Half Life 2 with the HDR upgrade is the one that sticks out in my mind. Mainly because of the huge jump in quality from the normal version on my 8800GTX.
Crysis series I suppose should get an "honourable mention" but that always struck me like having a supermodel as a mistress - undoubtedly very pretty but with massive support costs.
I tend to find aspects of games impressive rather than a whole game. So, for example, I was quite impressed with the highlights in Bioshock Infinite. And on the other end of the scale, Sleeping Dogs looks pretty lush at night.
These days I tend to focus more on gameplay than graphics - mainly because the "entry costs" are astronomical, folks talking about £1000's to do 4K at high frame rates with all the "eye candy" turned on.
It was Hexen (possibly Hexen II, it was a while back now :D ) that I used to fire up when people said I was crazy to spend all that money on a Voodoo 1.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevsta
Another contender for me would be Xenon II on the Atari ST.
Agree, Morrowind seemed stunning at the time - although the particle effects on the original Everquest looked fantastic to me when that came out and I think it was the first game that used the hardware T&L on my new GeForce 2 MX - shiny water, woot!Quote:
Originally Posted by Agrippa
Unreal
Homeworld
The original reveal of Unreal Engine 3 was just astonishing at the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m7T5ay_8DI
The faces in the first Mass Effect
Oblivion
All of these I spent a long, long time just wandering around watching, looking at the scenery etc.
Crysis1 for me has to be THE best looking game ever. That game single-handedly demonstrated the powerful DirectX capabilities of Microsoft.
Other games I feel I have to mention are :
Final Fantasy XIIII onwards - Square Enix really pay attention to the environment and the characters
Mirror's Edge - what a game. Beauty is so simplistic!
Uncharted 3 - Do you remember those brilliant desert scenes?
H A L O 2 - Single-handedly appealed the XBOX360 to the masses. MasterChief's glittering armour and the covenant ships!
Watch Dogs - Loved how rain was so realistic - your jacket actually did get wet when it rained, all those puddles on the streets and rain splashes. The steam coming out of the vents on the road... the bloom effect when you looked at the sun and actually saw the concentric circles of light... just wow!
Alien Isolation hands down. Beautifully optimized and wasnt a resource hog like GTA V.
Max Payne I remember looking far too good for the time it came out and the hardware available. Probably looks poo now, but then so does Horace Goes Skiing.
Crysis and FarCry were superb at the time. Serious Sam 1 (and the crytek demo that preceeded) was jaw dropping. Metro 2033 was also incredibly good looking on initial release. Skyrim has to be up there as well for 'wow look at it and look how it runs!' - arcade wise I remember on the first mortal kombat and also killer instinct how taken aback everyone was who saw them at the time.
I also have a soft spot for bulletstorm a few years later which had some truly 'holy mother of...' moments.
Bulletstorm was a cracking game, and you're right, it looked great as well. Actual colours that weren't mud brown or mud grey or mud muddy green! In an FPS! This was nearly a revelation at the time as I remember. The Call of Duty pisstake game was spot on too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goiMExAZCkoQuote:
Originally Posted by evs