Ico. All of it.

^Well if we're not limited to natural environment settings...

Folklore. Most beautiful and original fantasy settings I've ever seen.


*ObZ

i would go with far cry or crysis for best overall natural environment.

for best urban environment i would go for mirrors edge

for best overall atmosphere, i would have to say half life 2

May I contribute Shadow of the Colossus?

Silent Hill did amazing. It was such a beautifully done environment. A lot of it wasnt interactive, and pretty much all of it gave the feel to the player just what the developers wanted to.

That and Beyond Good and Evil. Hyllis ftw.

This.

Also when the hell did i become an acolyte and how lol?

I'm going for the landscape in Fallout 3 when you step out of Vault 101 for the first time.


My jaw dropped.

This gets my vote. That game made me creeped out and just..ugh. I don't know the feeling to explain. That big black lake you had to swim in to climb up to that platform early in the game? I shudder when I think of that lake. It's just so isolated and almost nightmare-ish with the color scheme,but then it has the grassy areas that are also "wasted" looking.

For its day, Morrowind was very pretty.... I must have spent at least 30-40 hours total just meandering around.... just taking in all the sights.



Also, that very very very first second when you come out of that dark hole in Oblivion right at the beginning after seeing the emperor get killed, and you see the water in front of you, the hills in the distance.... I almost wanted to cry it was so beautiful.... too bad it didn't set the tone for the rest of the game =(

Some of my favorites include:

http://shurty.blog.playersrepublic.fr/images/medium_Snake_Vs._The_Boss.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/Forgotten_City_FFVII.jpg

http://www.freshlabs.de/journal/wp-content/pics/sonic-greenhillzone.png

http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/metal-gear-solid-3-snake-eater/playstation-2/tn_565_2.jpg

For its day, Morrowind was very pretty.... I must have spent at least 30-40 hours total just meandering around.... just taking in all the sights.


I was just coming in to say how morrowind was the best. And beautiful doesn't mean bloom people, I loved wandering in morrowinds brown, foggy, rat infested swamps while knowing I was a little weak shit. Then you find a dark temple, and the game gets scary.

Some of my favorites include:

http://shurty.blog.playersrepublic.fr/images/medium_Snake_Vs._The_Boss.jpg

http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/metal-gear-solid-3-snake-eater/playstation-2/tn_565_2.jpg

MGS3 did have some amazing scenery, but apart from the fight with The End, it felt too closed off.

It would have been better if more free roaming features had been added...

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/stages/images/stage05/stage05_070706a-l.jpg

The battle with The Boss in MGS3 had great scenery.

what about Shenmue II and Okami?

The ladder-climb sequence in MGS3 was naturally the most unnecessarily awesome scene in any video game.

Lol, did anyone else notice what a terrible bridge design that is?

Homeworld one, some of the Backgrounds and levels in that game were really beautiful

Lol, did anyone else notice what a terrible bridge design that is?

Well it is Africa after all...

http://old-wizard.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/pong.gif

FinalFantasy 8 for the ps1.
The cinematics are beautiful.

Silent Hill has the most artistic environment in my opinion. Except, maybe, the 4th installment, didn't like that one as much as the others.

Otherwise, I found the bridge scene in Half Life 2 quite beautiful.

Lol, did anyone else notice what a terrible bridge design that is?

Actually... You are quite wrong... The bridge is perfectly fine for where it sits... They chose that specific design because of the water below and the distance from one side to the other. I would think that this bridge in reality could be crossed by trains daily...

I thought Uncharted: Drakes Fortune was pretty damn beautiful, it was also a cracking game.

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/uncharted-drakes-fortune-ps3-screenshot-big.jpg

the jungles in Resistance 2

Yeah i reckon Oblivion and Far Cry 2 FTW.

http://media.gamepro.fr/images/biblio/art_serious-sam-2/000000021493.jpg

for a wacky xbox game, it had pretty good graphics

Actually... You are quite wrong... The bridge is perfectly fine for where it sits... They chose that specific design because of the water below and the distance from one side to the other. I would think that this bridge in reality could be crossed by trains daily...

No, you are wrong. It is a terrible design.

Actually... You are quite wrong... The bridge is perfectly fine for where it sits... They chose that specific design because of the water below and the distance from one side to the other. I would think that this bridge in reality could be crossed by trains daily...

I agree.... its a flat on an arch... which is pretty much the strongest shape in nature...

I bet it would hold up with proper maintenance.

LOL. omfg. after my first time of doing that, I'd just set my controller and prop something against the joystick every time after.

fuck taking lifts to the top of mountains. Big Boss takes ladders.

I liked Crysis's landscapes:

http://lostmoya.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/crysis-screenshot-3.jpg
http://www.gameplaymonthly.com/games/crysis/Crysis_screen8.jpg


Assasins creed wasn't bad either:

http://features.cgsociety.org/stories/2007_10/assassins_creed/142.jpg

but I agree with the guy above, that first scene when you leave vault 101 was sweet.

All of Braid. I don't think there's one moment in that game when I was unsatisfied with the visuals. Maybe not realistic, but it felt like I was walking around in something that could hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

All Ghillied Up.

Most def.

Shadow Of The Colossus

Google images this game, its amazing. The whole world is so beautiful, yet extremely erie

Its a shame I sold my PS2.
Its a shame there hasn't been a decent PS2 emulator made yet, nor the ISOs for it.
I so want to play Shadow of the Collosus and MGS3 again.

Have you checked out PCSX2? Last time I checked, with the most recent version some games were playable.

Have you checked out PCSX2? Last time I checked, with the most recent version some games were playable.

Interesting; I'm pretty sure I saw that one a little while ago but opted not to download it. I'll give it a go. Thanks, man. Not to many people seeding the Colossus ISO at the moment, unfortunately.

Interesting; I'm pretty sure I saw that one a little while ago but opted not to download it. I'll give it a go. Thanks, man. Not to many people seeding the Colossus ISO at the moment, unfortunately.

The best place to check on the emulator news is http://www.ngemu.com.

Half Life 2 and Episode 2, anyone?

Remember driving along a fucking European coastline, or climbing the citadel?

I liked the scene in Ninja Gaiden ... it's just before the end bosses with a lot of flowers in a field...

This.

May I second?

May I second?

You may.
For the good of the thread, I contribute GTAIV. Not for its shitty gameplay, but the water effects were some of the best I've seen. More for the way the water flowed and reflected light sources than anything, but maybe its just me.

http://www.psu.com/media/grand-theft-auto-iv/grand-theft-auto-iv-ss-140.jpg

I can't find a good picture.

Like was already said, MGS3 final fight, beginning, all of it.

And yeah, the ladder climb sequence was the most unnecessarily awesome sequence I've seen in a long time :D

Kotor ftw!

MGS3 is win in all categories including scenery/atmosphere.

No way am I a fanboi!

I am one-hundred percents objective!!1

Ha.

LOL. omfg. after my first time of doing that, I'd just set my controller and prop something against the joystick every time after.

fuck taking lifts to the top of mountains. Big Boss takes ladders.

irl i would have to stop and take a break

Kotor ftw!

I have to agree. Tatooine and Dantooine were pretty cool. Taris was nice.

Morrowind had a few spots that made me "wow" in reality. Theres a nice island west of Khuul.

Oblivion of course.

The backdrops for space battles in Star Wars: battlefront 2 are pretty.

umm

the witcher
oblivion.


yeah,

oblivion gets pretty scary towards the end.

Metroid Prime. The attention to detail is incredible.

Zelda - OoT, just made me real happy.

For a more modern game I would say Mirrors edge, it is just so clean and fresh looking. The lighting is also immaculate, and adds a ton to its overall look.

Fallout 3: I kept staring at the scenery out of Vault 101 while my sister was trying to guide me to the Intelligence Bobblehead before I started the storyline.

I was in such awe of the bleak, dreary (and very likely what our world will look like in a hundred years or so) atmosphere, and she was bitching at me. lulz.

Oblivion: Same thing with Fallout 3, The scenery almost impeded the game because of how lovely it was. Stepping out of the sewers into the lush valley was amazing. FORTUNATELY Oblivion is only 20 dollars at Walmart now. Guess what I'm buying as soon as I have money! :D

Morrowind: For its age, Morrowind was/is a gorgeous game. Whoever mentioned the swamps, I am totally with you. I always leveled my character (usually a monk or thief of some sort with either unarmed or short blades up to the point where I could kill a Mudcrab in 8-10 seconds). Usually about 70-80 points. 'Tis fun.

Metroid Prime. The attention to detail is incredible.

Yes. Metroid Prime is amazing when it comes to environmental detail.

I had an eyegasm when I played Halo 3 on my new high def TV, especially on Forge, when you can pause things like explosions and see the individually animated shrapnel and sparks, and even the details on the bullets. The entire game is beautifully animated but the environments themselves are flawless, the water effects are the best I've seen, and the lighting engine entirely blew my mind.

Eh, have you ever noticed that newer games have less content because developers spend more time making their stinking pile of shit look good?

Anyway, as far as MMORPG's go, Age of Conan isn't bad looking.