gunsmoke on 22/9/2009 at 16:43
Yes, a relatively subjective thread, but valid nonetheless (in my mind, at least).
I was looking at my Windows Quick Launch just now. That is where I keep all of my game shortcuts (and ONLY game shortcuts). It is a real trip down memory lane, so occasionally, I fire up a random .exe and pretend it is 3-15 years ago for a few minutes.
Lately, I have been playing B & W + Creature Isle for the first time. I was extremely impressed with the graphics, considering the age (and scope) of the game. Today, I fired up Max Payne 2, for no other reason than 'it was there'. Wow. Having it completely maxed @ a nice resolution & AA/AF truly turns MP2 into a showcase piece. So, it got me thinking...are there any old(er) games that can still make your jaw drop, and possibly even drool a little?
I have a couple, beyond the 2 games listed above, that is.
Newer games that I savor, like FarCry and DooM 3 are commonly praised for their graphics. Good thing too, as they don't have much else to hold them up, save for extremely robust editors.
That said, Mafia still manages to impress my eyes. Being able to play it today with the eye candy on full blast makes it a sight to behold. Really helps emphasize the developers' love affair with their game.
Severance: Blade of Darkness. Wow. Where to start. Good point would be the obvious, the lighting and shadowing features. My first exposure to such gorgeous examples of them both. Let alone in the same game.
I could go on, and I probably will, but I want to give everyone else interested a chance to participate. I have a decent list laying in wait!
oudeis on 22/9/2009 at 17:17
I haven't loaded it up in a while, but Ground Control still looked pretty amazing to me as of a year or so ago and it came out in 2000.
Sulphur on 22/9/2009 at 17:41
You're generally going to find that games which focused their aesthetics on good art direction/style, instead of the latest OMGR0XX0RZ!! graphical features of the time, age much better in comparison.
Examples of this would be many; off the top of my head:
* Homeworld 2 (and Homeworld of course, but with one caveat: the textures on the mothership and other units tend to be pretty low res),
* Okami
* Sands of Time
* Beyond Good & Evil
* American McGee's Alice
* Psychonauts
* Fable
* Dragon Quest VIII
* Ico
* Black & White 2 (recent, but I don't see people complaining about the graphics in the future)
* Silent Hill 2/3, and 4 if you don't mind a title from 2006 on the PS2
And of course, titles that you mentioned like Far Cry, Doom 3 and Max Payne 2 were and still are good looking. You can add Half Life 2 to that list as well. There's still loads more titles that I can't think of right now that I'm sure more people will add.
Ostriig on 22/9/2009 at 17:51
Drakan! Sure, the models are low-poly, and the textures are low-res, but the fucking art direction on that thing is sterling! Cherry on top - the engine is fantastically scalable. It's a '99 game that works perfectly and right off the bat with widescreen resolutions, and it only seems to have two fixes needed: on Vista, you need an old .dll to have the music playing, and on some installations, either XP or Vista, you may need to boot it up with the dev mode enabled or face crashes at certain points. But that's it. Enable AA and AF through the nVidia Control Panel (if nVidia can be bothered to fix the cock-up with the latest drivers), and you've got one pretty game.
Oh, and just remembered Sacrifice. Superb. I'm sure there are others in my catalogue, but they just don't spring to mind right now.
EvaUnit02 on 22/9/2009 at 17:56
Rez
Darwinia
Jet Set Radio Future
Unreal 1 (OpenGL renderer + High res texture mod)
Vib Ribbon
Metroid Prime
Resident Evil remake
Resident Evil Zero
Quote Posted by Sulphur
* Silent Hill 2/3
This. By far the most sophisticated graphics on the PS2, IMO
Stylised games tend to hold up far better visually than those with CUTTING EDGE GRAPHICS. The en
heretic on 22/9/2009 at 18:01
Several Shiny Entertainment or Planet Moon games never seem to lose their luster IMO.
Giants and Sacrifice in particular.
Fringe on 22/9/2009 at 18:11
Seconding Sacrifice. It doesn't have much on the poly-count, but it's bright and huge and vivid.
june gloom on 22/9/2009 at 19:26
Depending on how old a game must be to be considered "old" I would posit that MGS3 is far and away the most beautiful (and realistic-looking) game on the PS2.
For that matter, the old Playstation Megaman games (8 and X4 especially) look positively glorious.
Going a step further back, how about Super Metroid? For 1994 that shit still looks pretty ace. Metroid Prime (the orignal) for that matter.
If we include texture/model upgrades, or engine upgrades, then Half-Life (textures/models) and Doom (engine) have both lasted much longer than they really should.
Muzman on 22/9/2009 at 20:11
If there was a mod to merely crank up the resolution and draw distance on Outcast it'd look pretty darn good right now. Cartoony, but good.
Malf on 22/9/2009 at 22:30
I still think original Quake looks fantastic, but again, that's down to a very strong and unique aesthetic.
Similarly, Quake 3 has aged incredibly well, as evidenced by Quake Live. Also, the player models and skins are still some of my favourites ever.
Oh yeah, Fallout and Planescape with their hi-res mods look incredible.
The spartan speed of F-Zero X still appeals to me, even over the glorious visuals of GX. It's a triumph of form over complexity. No fucking about, just you, the track and 29 other psychopaths hurtling towards death at super-sonic speeds.
And going back to something I mentioned recently in another thread, Dungeon Master still looks great, and that's 22 years old now.
That makes me feel old :(
