Gryzemuis on 30/5/2010 at 17:17

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A few months ago I finally played Crysis. Yep, it looked good. I'm not sure the expansion pack (Warhead) looks much better, as it is using the same engine. I always read that Crysis the the summum of current computer graphics in games. So that makes me ask you the following question.

What is the best looking game at the moment ?

I'm not interested in consoles. So PC games only, please.

Best looking for me means a combination of technology and artwork. Shaders and HDR and normal-mapping should not only be included in the engine, but it should also be used properly by the developers. Models, outdoor world, architecture, animations, textures, lighting, weather system, all these elements can improve the graphics. But if done wrong, they can take away too. So all of these elements should be good. Or at least balanced.

Example: I always thought Oblivion had a beautiful world. Well, after you installed customer texture packs, the weather pack, and a bunch more extra enhancements. But no matter how much of those you installed, the animation of the models always looks bad. So bad, that I immediately recognized the bad animation from Bethesda from Oblivion in FallOut 3.
On the other hand you have World of Warcraft. WoW has awesome animations. Very fluent. But the low-poly count makes my eyes bleed. Blizzard does nice work with the textures, but it's not enough to make the game look good. And on top of that there is the cartoony artwork (or look). You might like the style of the game, but objectively, the graphics in WOW are just crap.

So what games are worth looking at ?
What games look good allround. And have no big flaws that ruin the looks ?
I like RPG games, or fantasy games. Or games with a huge open world. But good looking shooters can be interesting too. Or adventure games. Or an MMO. Any suggestions ?

Aion has some good elements. Nice models, nice animations. But I didn't like the lighting very much. And the Abyss had dreadful artwork.
Maybe Dragon Age has the best graphics ? I looked at some screenshots, but I'm still not sure.
Screenshots and movies from the new Age of Conan expansion pack look cool.
Maybe Crysis ? Although the game is 2.5 years old.
I liked The Witcher. But that game is just as old. And it didn't look at good as Crysis.
There must be something better by now.

Gryzemuis on 30/5/2010 at 18:02

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Both.
First it has to look realistic. Not cartoony. It can be a fantasy, as long as the fantasy looks good.
Then when all technical bells and whistles are being used, we can look at the art direction.
Does it look beautiful too. Or impressive. Or immersive.

I'm also talking about recent and modern games.
I'm not interested in "Unreal had awesome graphics at the time".
I'm also not interested in upcoming games. (Unless the release is in the next 1 or 2 months).

Like how Crysis caused a buzz when it was released. Just because of the next step in graphics.
Has there been any game since then that has done that again ?

Sulphur on 30/5/2010 at 18:29

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Best looking game as of today? What? Isn't that up to you? If you want graphics tech by itself, that's easy. As of today: Metro 2033. Tessellation. Sub-surface scattering (which doesn't look that hot, frankly). Glowy-ass shit.

But you want art direction too. That's based purely on personal opinion, so you can forget about having any one definitive title as of today at least as far as the majority of people are concerned. The answer to your own question lies entirely, as I said, with you.

So have a list: Far Cry 2, Just Cause 2, Risen, Crysis: Warhead, Prince of Persia, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Zenoclash, Trine. (I deem the last two personally good looking fantasy.)

Good luck.


EDIT: And no, there hasn't been a game on the PC that's created quite as much buzz as Crysis since it was released. Except for Crysis 2, which may or may not do exactly the same thing when it's released. And the same goes for id's Rage. Neither of those are going to be PC exclusive, however.

SubJeff on 30/5/2010 at 19:53

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Tell you what; I got F.E.A.R. in the recent Steam offer and goddamn is it ugly. I've been playing HL2 again after the recent graphics update and it still looks great to me. Perhaps its the atmosphere but it's much better looking than F.E.A.R. despite being older (ya ya, gfx update I know).

The new Alien Breed is very, very good looking btw.

Crysis 2 on a high end PC will most certainly have the most impressive technical looks. The art direction looks good too.

I think we are getting close to the graphics ceiling for this generation of console tech and since loads of games are cross platform I think that will limit what we see on PC. The PC games will always have higher res and better texture/lighting possibilities but it can't veer off too far from what the consoles will allow unless a game is a PC exclusive.

Call me a fanboy if you like but I'm eager to see what Valve will do with the next Half Life (be it Ep3 or full on HL3 or 4 or whatever). They may be doing cross platform stuff atm but I reckon the PC still has a special place in their hearts so I wouldn't be surprised to have new tech/engine.

I might have to do a complete PC overhaul next year. :p

Gryzemuis on 30/5/2010 at 20:36

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"Only PC games" is not the same thing as "only PC-only games".

Zelda ?
How more specific do I need to be ? Sometimes I think I have to write posts in mathematical notation only, to make sure nobody completely misinterprets simple questions.