Best Game Graphics

[Bokishi]

Which title (must be out now) do you think has the best grafx? You can also mention older games (example: best for it's time, or games that really impressed you when you first played it)

 

For PC I have to say it's Oblivion (some might disagree)

 

For console I pick Gears of War

[roshan]

For 2D games I pretty much never remember graphics - only atmosphere/art style matters. The best art Ive seen in a 2D game has to be the original IWD. There have only been two 2D games Ive played where the art was bad enough for the time they were released to detract from my experience, they were Arcanum and Lionheart.

 

As for 3D games, I pretty much dont care - its all quite forgettable. I only play isometric RPGs, and amongst them the best one in graphics is NWN2, since its also the latest.

[karka]

Last Ninja series for C64.

[Rosbjerg]

The facial expressions in Half-Life2 really blew me away. Those were some of the most groundbreaking graphics I'd ever seen. Plus the physics were astounding too.

[SteveThaiBinh]

NWN2 has beautiful graphics, and is one of my favourites for modern games. I found the graphics of Oblivion to be a little over-hyped - in particular, the way the scenery turns to green mush in the distance seemed to have been given a free pass by reviewers and commentators.

 

I think the graphics for Baldur's Gate 2 still stand up, not in terms of 3D or resolution, but in terms of craft, attention to detail, and attractiveness.

 

Syberia and Syberia 2 had excellent graphics and were creepily atmospheric in places. Fahrenheit won me over to motion capture and body language as a worthwhile addition to graphics quality. But the first prize has to go to Dreamfall. It's breathtakingly beautiful in most locations.

[Morgoth]

-Thief 2 for it's peculiar graphics-design

-Fahrenheit for it's perfect Motion capturing

-HL2+Ep1

-FEAR for it's nice artificial plastic look. And Splatter.

-STALKER

-TRON 2.0 for it's Realism

[Tigranes]

I see BG2 as the very pinnacle of 2D graphics. The UI was great, critters were decent, spell effects were good but the environment art was stellar, you could take a hundred different screenshots and they'd all make superb wallpapers.

[Morgoth]

The pinnacle of 2D graphics would be Commandos 2 in my book. It so owns the IE.

[Spider]

Having migrated for a while to a computer that can actually run Stalker on high settings, I've got to say it looks amazing. So that together with Fear would be my favorites.

 

Oblivion is nice, but the terrain soup at far distances and the horrible, HORRIBLE character faces brings it down a lot.

[Xard]

The pinnacle of 2D graphics would be Commandos 2 in my book. It so owns the IE.

 

 

Couldn't agree more

[@\NightandtheShape/@]

I see BG2 as the very pinnacle of 2D graphics. The UI was great, critters were decent, spell effects were good but the environment art was stellar, you could take a hundred different screenshots and they'd all make superb wallpapers.

 

If BG2 was the very pinnacle as you put it, then that explains the general move to 3D

 

BG2 had some really awesome hand drawn backgrounds, everything else is pretty nasty.

[kalimeeri]

Having played Morrowind, I thought I knew what to expect when I kicked up Oblivion for the first time. I was wrong. Oblivion was an incredibly beautiful game. one that I feel instantly set a new standard for graphics and character modeling (adding Havoc didn't hurt, either). For instance, no other computer game has ever bothered to make horses that even looked like horses, let alone behaved like them--which has always been a personal annoyance. A year or so post-release, a strong modding community has made it into a work of art. I haven't yet seen anything to compare (from a graphics standpoint, at any rate--not getting into story).

 

Don't get me wrong, NWN2 did very well for itself, but it was the storyline that had the biggest effect on me. Had it been released prior to Oblivion, I think it would've been the game I'd have chosen in terms of graphics. So maybe that makes it a better game overall, I don't know. But it's just silly to choose one over the other--fooling around in a sandbox has its appeal, as does heavy drama. I can enjoy both for what they are.

[roshan]

I see BG2 as the very pinnacle of 2D graphics. The UI was great, critters were decent, spell effects were good but the environment art was stellar, you could take a hundred different screenshots and they'd all make superb wallpapers.

 

 

I think that should go to Icewind Dale. Played with Heart of Winters higher resolutions, the scenery is breathtaking.

[Sand]

Icewind Dale or at least Planescape Torment.

[samm]

For a 3D-game, some scenes in Prey looked great. So did NWN2 in the right environment when seen from an angle and distance equal to the IE-games or in the Garius-Cutscenes. Enclave was the last game that caused a mental "wow" as a whole, but that was some years ago. Vampire: Bloodlines really looked amazing in some parts, but not everywhere like Enclave.

In 2d-games, nothing could beat the atmosphere created by IWD 1's art (even if there are more detailed pre-rendered games). Torment's graphics never seemed beautiful, but interesting and moody - and it had some of the coolest spell-effects and animations of the IE-games.

[Tigranes]

Probably, but I liked BG2 art more than Icewind Dale art. Maybe it was because I find snow/ice clashes badly with character models and whatnot, and everything ended up looking too dark at default brightness or bleached. Personal thing.

 

BG2 had some really awesome hand drawn backgrounds, everything else is pretty nasty.

 

Dunno. You could easily call their 'moving parts', i.e. critters and spell effects, nasty - but A) i dont have as much a fixation on good looking weapons, B) they didnt detract that much for me and C) I've never played this commandos you people talk about.

[Musopticon?]

Commandos 2 is surely the pinnacle of 2d design. So intricate, so realistic without being ponderous.

 

Another very beautiful 2d game is King of Dragon Pass. Just google it.

 

I've always liked the 3d design of Clive Barker's Undying, but "best grafix"? Probably Conker's Bad Fur Day for Xbox. It is crazily detailed, especially materials like fur and wood. Same goes for Oddworld: Stranger and perhaps Panzer Dragoon: Orta.

Edited June 2, 2007 by Musopticon?

[WITHTEETH]

The last time i was wowed was with Oblivion, very impressive even though its another extremely buggy RPG game.

 

No One Lives Forever 2 was awesome for its time, and still looks great because the animation wasn't aiming for realism but for style.

 

I think Hitman: Bloodmoney had solid graphics all around, I loved how they used lighting.

 

This topic reminds me when i use to play Quake, awesome graphics, or even myst, even though it was basically a picture book.

 

Now im just waiting to see some Unreal engine 3 out there. That should be good!

[Volourn]

FF8, JE, G3, and BL.

[Hurlshort]

I loved Morrowind's sandstorms. Oblivion never wowed me like the first sandstorm I entered in Morrowind. I felt like I should cover my mouth.

 

The first EA game with 3D graphics wowed me. I also though Front Page Sports Football was way ahead of the pack in terms of player animations.

 

WoW wowed me with the attention to detail. Entering a crumbling human stronghold really felt like I had gone down to ground level from the original RTS games. Areas like the Underworld and the Warlock HQ in stormwind are incredible atmospheric.

[Morgoth]

No One Lives Forever 2 was awesome for its time, and still looks great because the animation wasn't aiming for realism but for style.

OMG why did you mention NOLF? I want NOLF 3...like, NOW!

[@\NightandtheShape/@]

Probably, but I liked BG2 art more than Icewind Dale art. Maybe it was because I find snow/ice clashes badly with character models and whatnot, and everything ended up looking too dark at default brightness or bleached. Personal thing.

 

BG2 had some really awesome hand drawn backgrounds, everything else is pretty nasty.

 

Dunno. You could easily call their 'moving parts', i.e. critters and spell effects, nasty - but A) i dont have as much a fixation on good looking weapons, B) they didnt detract that much for me and C) I've never played this commandos you people talk about.

 

BG2 certainly isn't the best looking 2D game out there. So your A & B points are really of no consequence.

 

Heck, I don't know what I would say is the best looking 2D game but there sure is alot of nasty 2D art in IE games.

[Tale]

No One Lives Forever 2 was awesome for its time, and still looks great because the animation wasn't aiming for realism but for style.

OMG why did you mention NOLF? I want NOLF 3...like, NOW!

I just bought NOLF2 from Fry's for $9.99! By "just" I mean Thursday.

Edited June 2, 2007 by Tale

[Morgoth]

No One Lives Forever 2 was awesome for its time, and still looks great because the animation wasn't aiming for realism but for style.

OMG why did you mention NOLF? I want NOLF 3...like, NOW!

I just bought NOLF2 from Fry's for $9.99! By "just" I mean Thursday.

OMG why did you mention NOLF2? I want NOLF 3...like, NOW!

[WITHTEETH]

No One Lives Forever 2 was awesome for its time, and still looks great because the animation wasn't aiming for realism but for style.

OMG why did you mention NOLF? I want NOLF 3...like, NOW!

I just bought NOLF2 from Fry's for $9.99! By "just" I mean Thursday.

One of my favorite games of all times. This game should have won more Games of The Year award I believe.