# Best Looking Game



## bonjour (Jan 13, 2010)

One game that just puts me into a state of awe is EVE online, but perhaps because I love space and skit.

COD also looks really nice.
Doom 3 as well, I was incredibly impressed by when I first played it.

Tons more of course I'm sure, but that's just off the top of my head.


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## Dead Cat Bounce (Jan 13, 2010)

Fallout 3 on an HDTV looks stunning.


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## Silva (Jan 13, 2010)

Crysis is lush, but it requires a beast of a machine to run.


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## creak (Jan 13, 2010)

Bioshock


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## Sesquipedalian (Jan 13, 2010)

Dead Cat Bounce said:


> Fallout 3 on an HDTV looks stunning.



This ^^^^

But Assassins II looks even better.


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## grit (Jan 13, 2010)

I've been really impressed with the Batman AA visuals


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## yield (Jan 13, 2010)

I really enjoyed Eve online. If I could've had sleep removed I'd probably still be playing now. It was beautiful, what I'd daydreamed Elite would become and much more besides.

Bioshock is looking a bit dated to be honest, looking forward to the sequel. Fallout 3 and Modern Warfare 2 are both very pretty. Prince of Persia and Metal Gear Solid 4 have some awesome cut scenes. 

But the best so far for me is Uncharted 2. Lots of places where you have to stop playing and appreciate.


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## idioteque (Jan 14, 2010)

Little Big Planet


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## ruffneck23 (Jan 14, 2010)

Arkham asylum on the pc with a decent graphics card looks great , as does Modern warfare 2. 

I was pretty impressed with mass effect too so will hold judgement out until ME2 comes out later this month


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## ruffneck23 (Jan 14, 2010)

bonjour said:


> One game that just puts me into a state of awe is EVE online, but perhaps because I love space and skit.




The X games have always been praised for thier graphics if you like elite type games


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## kyser_soze (Jan 14, 2010)

Ico.

Sentinel.

Tempest 3K

That PS2/Xbox on-rails shooter with the mental dance soundtrack. Very surreal, lots of nods to Tron

Space Harrier, Outrun and Afterburner.

R-Type


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## such and such (Jan 14, 2010)

Kings Quest II


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

In this generation -- another vote for Assassins Creed II.  At times, it takes your breath away.

Mario Galaxy was pretty fucking special too, mind, for very different reasons.

Last generation, I'm going to have to go with either Ico or Shadow of the Colossus.  Probably the latter.  Or possibly Resident Evil IV.  Or Devil May Cry 3.

It's hard to pick though, because I can inevitably only ever think of either the games I am playing right now or the handful of my all-time favourites, which aren't necessarily the best in the category mentioned.



kyser_soze said:


> That PS2/Xbox on-rails shooter with the mental dance soundtrack. Very surreal, lots of nods to Tron


Rez.


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## kyser_soze (Jan 14, 2010)

That's the one. Ta.

I'd add Mario 64, especially the Rainbow Islands level. Haven't seen Mario Galaxy tho...


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## fen_boy (Jan 14, 2010)

Uncharted 2 looks amazing at times. I'd go for that, it's better looking than Assassins Creed II.


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

Mario Galaxy is mind-blowing for its perspective shifts.  It's the way you are on a teeny, tiny planetoid with consistent gravity, so that the whole thing rotates under you.  The game it most reminds me of, in a funny way, is Nebulous on the Amiga/ST.

Actually, that's another one that is worthy of a mention -- Nebulous.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





And Onslaught, whilst I'm in the era.  Very difficult to find an authentic screenshot of that though, only the recent iPhone app version.


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

fen_boy said:


> Uncharted 2 looks amazing at times. I'd go for that, it's better looking than Assassins Creed II.


It's the recreation of Renaissance-era Italian cities that is so amazing in ACII though.  The way you can perch on top of a watchtower, look out over the whole city and then actually navigate your way to whatever you saw.

At the weekend, my parents were round.  We actually found the place they stayed in when they spent a weekend in Venice.  And just like they were told whilst there, it turned out in the game to have a market where the ground floor of the building was later walled in.


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## Vintage Paw (Jan 14, 2010)

I haven't loaded up ACII yet, but Assassin's Creed I looks pretty awesome at times.

Other than that, GTAIV is pretty breathtaking in HD, especially as the weather cycles, and at sunset it's magical. When I first played Mass Effect I was pretty blown away, but I think ME2 is going to blow that out of the water at the end of this month.


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

I was oddly disappointed with Mass Effect's aesthetic.

A shout-out here for Braid, but you have to play it to appreciate it.  Screenshots don't do it justice.


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## kyser_soze (Jan 14, 2010)

I'd go with the landscapes for Creed 2 - walking around Firenze and down roads I'd walked down in September was awesome. The teeth on the characters in the cut scenes look funny tho.

If we're going down the Braybrook route, I'd say Uridium on the C64, but then we'd get into a whole world of really ancient gaming, and all the youngsters would get confused and scared.


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

The original Mario Kart on the SNES was totally mindblowing at the time.  Remember that?  You turned and the whole world turned with you.  It was like the future


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## kyser_soze (Jan 14, 2010)

Yeah, that and Starfox, which was pretty osssum.


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

Quake II if you had the right graphics card -- it actually had _coloured light sources_!!!


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 14, 2010)

Um jamma lammy has yet to be beaten on looking good.


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

Ooh!  Zelda -- Wind Waker!


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## fen_boy (Jan 14, 2010)

The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time was a paradigm shift in terms of what games could be, that probably wins this because of the massive step up from what had gone before.


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

kabbes said:


> Ooh!  Zelda -- Wind Waker!





fen_boy said:


> The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time was a huge biggest paradigm shift in terms of what games could be, that probably wins this because of the massive step up from what had gone before.


Heh, coincidence!

OoT was the better game, but on the aesthetic stakes I have to give it to Wind Waker.  OoT looks dated but Wind Waker will look good forever.


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## fen_boy (Jan 14, 2010)

Arrrgh you've quoted my post before I edited it and it makes me sound even more stupid than normal.


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

Eeeexcellent.


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

Thinking on: anything by the legendary Capcom 5/Clover Studios/Platinum Games development team will look amazing.  From God Hand to Viewtiful Joe, from Bayonetta to Madworld to Okami.  

Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya and Shigenori Nishikawa are the three that spring to mind.


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## Fruitloop (Jan 14, 2010)

Lost Odyssey looks pretty awesome in a steam-punkish way. Never go that into playing it though.


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## Chester Copperpot (Jan 14, 2010)

Xenon and Xenon 2 were both awesome in their day as was flashback (great animation).

Shadow of the Beast looked amazing but was an appalling game.


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## QueenOfGoths (Jan 14, 2010)

Final Fantasy X - great visuals and, as ever with FF, a great score. And I don't even play the games (too pointy hat for me ) just watch Mr. QofG's play them.

I really need to get Assassin's Creed 2!


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## Yetman (Jan 14, 2010)

Whats Mirrors Edge like? Heard its pretty, might be good for perception enhanced gameage?


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## Kid_Eternity (Jan 14, 2010)

Streetfighter 4 is a pretty nice looking game style wise. Mirrors Edge is sublime.


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## kained&able (Jan 14, 2010)

kyser_soze said:


> Yeah, that and Starfox, which was pretty osssum.




I never rated the graphics on starfox. It just didn't look real.

I remember the first time i played quake 4. I didn't think the graphics would be improved on for a long long time.

The  still look fairly good 5 years on.

Max Payne also comes to mind. I never got round to playing the 2nd one should i?


dave


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

Half Life 2 wasn't the best looking game as a whole.  But it had moments of breathtaking beauty.  And the way it made its characters really _real_ is certainly worth a mention.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jan 14, 2010)

kabbes said:


> Half Life 2 wasn't the best looking game as a whole.  But it had moments of breathtaking beauty.  And the way it made its characters really _real_ is certainly worth a mention.



It did have some nice scenes in it and the character acting was nicely understated and 'real'...just a shame as a game it was very average to play...


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## Fruitloop (Jan 14, 2010)

Yetman said:


> Whats Mirrors Edge like? Heard its pretty, might be good for perception enhanced gameage?



I thought it was totally awesome. And yes I was seriously perceptually enhanced. Totally fluid, hypnotic game that manages to look damn fine as well. Definitely recommended.


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

Kid_Eternity said:


> just a shame as a game it was very average to play...


Woah.  If ever we needed a "fruitloop" smiley... 


ETA: Oops, hadn't noticed the above poster!


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## ruffneck23 (Jan 14, 2010)

the origianl far cry was really pretty for its time and a damn good game to boot


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## sim667 (Jan 14, 2010)

Has anyone said bayoneta yet?


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## kabbes (Jan 14, 2010)

sim667 said:


> Has anyone said bayoneta yet?





kabbes said:


> Thinking on: anything by the legendary Capcom 5/Clover Studios/Platinum Games development team will look amazing.  From God Hand to Viewtiful Joe, from Bayonetta to Madworld to Okami.
> 
> Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya and Shigenori Nishikawa are the three that spring to mind.




Yes.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jan 14, 2010)

kabbes said:


> Woah.  If ever we needed a "fruitloop" smiley...
> 
> 
> ETA: Oops, hadn't noticed the above poster!



Yeah I didn't rate HL2, thought Resi 4 is poo, and FF7 was boring.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jan 14, 2010)

sim667 said:


> Has anyone said bayoneta yet?



I wouldn't rate that for looks, gameplay is pretty mental though.


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## ruffneck23 (Jan 14, 2010)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Yeah I didn't rate HL2, thought Resi 4 is poo, and FF7 was boring.



I agree with you about ff7.....


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## bonjour (Jan 14, 2010)

Mirror's Edge yes. Beautiful sceneic escapsim. Visual opiate. Can't knock the gameplay, but either it needs more levels or something needs to be added to make it more dynamic.

I remember when I first saw the first Far Cry, was well impressed. Still looks pretty good now. The second one looked good as well, but gameplay was abuse.

Half life 2. I was going to disagree until I just remembred Episode2 where you blow up those big robot machine thingys that try to make their way to the silo.


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## povmcdov (Jan 14, 2010)

Bioshock looked excellent, not just because of the engine, which does now look dated, but the overall visual design. Art deco FTW!

A lot of people have said Eve. I cant agree with that, primarily because the weapons effects still look fairly naff (always hitting the same point, lame torp explosions etc.). I've been playing for years now though so maybe I'm just jaded.

Farcry 2 really impressed me with the technical aspects of its graphics, however as one of the worst big releases of the past 5 years its art team should probably still be put up against a wall with the rest of them...

A lot of vector art games look pretty cool these days too. Stuff like Darwinia and anything by that crazy Japanese shoot 'em up guy. functionality in graphics can look just as cool as something with all the bells and whistles.


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## Mumbles274 (Jan 14, 2010)

I really liked one of the Need for Speed offerings, Carbon, I think it was. Great night time graphics, amazing road surfaces


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## sim667 (Jan 14, 2010)

forza 3 is very pretty.


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## Silva (Jan 14, 2010)

kabbes said:


> Thinking on: anything by the legendary Capcom 5/Clover Studios/Platinum Games development team will look amazing.  From God Hand to Viewtiful Joe, from Bayonetta to Madworld to Okami.
> 
> Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya and Shigenori Nishikawa are the three that spring to mind.


I have all their games for the PS2. All featuring solid gameplay (even if Killer 7 is a bit weird at times), with good stories and a very particular style. 



kyser_soze said:


> That PS2/Xbox on-rails shooter with the mental dance soundtrack. Very surreal, lots of nods to Tron


Rez. One of the games I've been waiting to appear at the store for aaaaages.


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## Orang Utan (Jan 14, 2010)

pikmin - hated playing it, but loved watching people play it - same with viewtiful joe


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## Orang Utan (Jan 14, 2010)

the giant robot sequence in fallout 3 had me gawping in wonder


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jan 14, 2010)

Whilst gameplay whilst its not the best FPS, then Crysis is quite something. 

I'm still waiting for the upgrade that lets me play it on very high at 1600x1080 past the first few levels, but its not worth it for one game. Maybe when the 5870 drops to sensible price.


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## bonjour (Jan 15, 2010)

Just been playing Prey. Uses the same engine as Doom 3.

The level design though is brilliant. One of the best sci-fi designs in a game. So many weird foreign objects that fit the part. Plays with dimensions quite nicely too.


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## DexterTCN (Jan 18, 2010)

kained&able said:


> Max Payne also comes to mind. I never got round to playing the 2nd one should i?
> 
> 
> dave


If you like the first one then definitely.

I liked Banjo-Kazooie on the N64 for its visuals. 

Bit old now, obviously.


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## cliche guevara (Jan 18, 2010)

Uncharted 2, for sure. It's beautiful.


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## debaser (Jan 18, 2010)

Another vote for mirrors edge amazingly colorful, beautiful and was short of somthing or other to have made it a real classic. The gameplay and length where certainly lacking. 

I remember telling people how graphics after half life 2 "didn't need to and probably wouldn't be getting any better" what a tit


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