Best PC Graphics to date: Top 5

[OpticalJunction]

I'm surprised no one mentioned guild wars 2, that game is incredibly beautiful.

 

[Lictor Face]

Bioshock infinite is very pretty.

The Neverwinter MMORPG is not too bad either, the faces look a little clunky but still, the environments are lovely.

XCOM enemy unknown. The armors and weaponry have nice aesthetics.

 

[skywolfblue]

Technically?
1) Dead Space 3. The series has amazing lighting and very detailed environments.

2) Skyrim. Well, I don't know if it's technically that impressive, but it draws a lot of objects.

Aesthetically?

1) World of Warcraft. It's 10 years old and the poly counts and textures are positively ancient by modern standards, but the cartoony style that makes up Warcraft is simply gorgeous.

2) Bioshock: Infinite. Self explanatory, Columbia is a beautiful city and the art style is semi-realistic to the period, while having just enough stylization to make it slightly cartoony.

3) Mass Effect 3. Love the bright colors and stylization of this series.

 

[Joccaren]

In terms of fidelity...
Crysis 3, BF4, TW2, Metro LL and a large selection of runners up including Arkham City and Sleeping Dogs.
Note, this also includes previous games in the series, only the newest games I include as they generally have the better graphics, and I don't want to fill the list with just 2-3 titles.

In terms of aesthetics? IDK. Things become a lot harder then.

 

[endtherapture]

The original Crysis still looks better than any of the sequels I think, purely because everything is more interactable.

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Also The Witcher 2.

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Guild Wars 2 artstyle and aesthetics also look great on any setting.

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We need more pictures in this thread.

 

[Revolutionary]

Of the games I have

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Far Cry 3
Sleeping Dogs
The Witcher 2
Spec Ops: The Line

(PC versions obviously) - DX11 and all settings at max etc.
The console versions are hideous by comparison.

 

[IBlackKiteI]

If you mean in terms of actual, flat-out graphical quality then Crysis and Battlefield 3 would undeniably be there, but in terms of aesthetics, how well the look of the game contributes to it's feel kind of thing I'd go with:
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - The look of it suits everything about the game perfectly
- Company of Heroes - Environments get torn up in an incredible way, very well animated for an RTS
- Beyond Good and Evil - VERY well done characters, creatures and cutscenes
- Bad Company 2 - Just looks great, the various environments all look sweet, awesome destruction
- Red Orchestra 2 - Ridiculous amounts of detail in everything from buildings to gun animations to tank interiors

Crysis 3 is definitely the best-looking game from a technical perspective, but its graphics are actually pretty badly-designed. Environments are way too visually busy in a way that negatively impacts gameplay. Whereas games like TF2 take ages to make sure players are easily distinguishable from their environments, Crysis 3 takes the opposite approach and buries anything meaningful under layers of vines, underbrush, and layered hyper-realistic textures. Pretty? Yeah. It's gorgeous. It's just a shitty environment for, you know, a video game.

As nice as Crysis looks you can definitely get the impression that those looks are just there to look as good as possible and not much beyond that. And now that I think about it in a weird way they actually are kind of detrimental. Once the initial wow factor along the lines of 'you can see every grain of dirt' wears off all the stuff everywhere just gets in the way.

-The Void

You know something's up when games that were or look like they were made with technology from pre-2005 look a helluva lot prettier and more interesting than many recent AAA releases.

 

[Pinkamena]

Metro Last Light should be around the #1 spot, how it's not even in the OP's list is beyond me.

I second that. Amazing graphics, not only.in photorealism but in art direction as well.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Skyrim is muddy as fuck without serious tweaking. It doesn't deserve Top 10, yet alone Top 5.

Anyway, for my money, speaking strictly on terms of 3D-rendered games:

5) Battlefield 3
4) Hitman: Absolution
3) Sleeping Dogs
2) Crysis
1) The Witcher 2

As far as less 3D-intensive games go (most of them would definitely land higher on the overall Top 5), I'd probably say The Swapper, Magicka, the Torchlight games, and anything by Puppy Games.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Bioshock had amazing art direction, so from a purely aesthetic standpoint, it looks beautiful.

However, I believe that The Witcher 2 is the best in terms of pure graphics: everything is detailed to a crazy level.

 

[gorfias]

I'd only count Skyrim with texture mods, and at that point I don't think it counts anymore.

I think adding texture mods would still allow it to count and you're right. Only with them. Arkham City only gets a nod as they appear to have fixed 11 for it. Works fine on my PC. Ah, Metro: Last Light! I'll need to check that out. Thanks for mentioning it!

Bioshock Infinite is so pretty. It looks like a really good acid trip.

It's almost like a cross between cell shaded, like Border Lands and chalky, like Dishonored. Throw Mario in for fun. You're right. I should have bumped Skryim for this. It is a cut above and made my PC wimper when I maxed it out.

Someone take a look at Trine 2 on max settings and tell me it's not an absolutely beautiful game. Because I could look at that game for hours.

It is very pretty, but I have a buddy playing it on a very good, but not great PC. Not sure the technical demand is there on it. (He's using an HD 6770).

Metro Last Light should be around the #1 spot, how it's not even in the OP's list is beyond me.

Because I'm an idiot, don't have it yet, haven't checked it out yet, but thanks to y'all, it is way up on my radar. I might have should have gotten this rather than my last purchase of Crysis 3 (though, got C3 for $20. Metro is still $50).

[Sleeping Dogs]. Easily the most beautiful graphical effect I've ever seen in a game.

Pretty, but technically great? I tried the demo, very good asthetics like Bioshock 2 vs. 1, but on par technically with Tomb Raider? (Very close match for me for best between Tomb Raider and Crysis 3 so far. I gotta try me Metro though!)

Shogun 2 Total War (at least for an rts)

That's certainly in my top 20 best looking. I know when you get a bunch of armies with individually moving warriors no the screen, that is no easy PC feat. I have a good laptop that can't handle it. Just as well. I need my desktop to really emerse myself.

Battlefield 3

Argh. Got that for PS3 and I'm not getting it again. At least 4 is on the way. I have to admit, Battlefield 2 looks better on my PC than any military shooter I have on console.

-The Void

I don't even know that one! I'll have to look into it, thanks!

I don't know if it's the "best," but I was very impressed by how smooth and well-defined the models were in Final Fantasy XIV.

An MMORPG ? Very different thing. A class of its own. To have the best graphics in that class doesn't mean best over-all (compared to stand alone) but to be great and get the challenge of being on line done well too. Thanks for that, I'll have to look into that!

I'm surprised no one mentioned guild wars 2, that game is incredibly beautiful.

Also MMORPG? I'll have to do a compare/contrast with FF14.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series in DX10, DX10.1 and DX11 is amazing

Still? STEAM just had one for $5. Dang it, I shoulda got it just to see. I paid $5 for Metro 2033 and to this day, it is in the top 20 best looking.

Technically?
1) Dead Space 3. The series has amazing lighting and very detailed environments...
3) Mass Effect 3. Love the bright colors and stylization of this series

I have ME2 on PC. It is very pretty. It is locked at 30 FPS as is Dead Space 2. Dead Space 3 better than 2 on PC? Did they advance the graphics or is it the same engine?

In terms of fidelity... BF4,

Yeah, I'm excited about the possibilities with 4. Do you already have a beta? It's not out yet is it?

We need more pictures in this thread.

Please! These are great, thanks! I really have to try Witcher 2 some more, see some of those images myself.

gta 4 with icenhancer 2.5 mod.

I wonder if it will work on my Steam version. I'll have to look into it. Thanks!

Spec Ops: The Line

Very pretty game. I'll have to FRAPS it, see how it compares.

[Metro Last Light] Amazing graphics, not only.in photorealism but in art direction as well.

Yep, answered earlier in this post, I messed up. I don't own it yet and for got about it.


To ALL: So, I have a few to check out (Void, Metro Last Light), some to compare and contrast of MMORPGs (FF14 vs. Guild 2). You're all right too, I have to bump Far Cry 3 up to position 4 and insert Bioshock Infinite knocking Skyrim with texture mods out of the top 5 (like ripping off my own arm. I love that game!).

 

[TomWiley]

Metro Last Light certainly deserves to be mentioned.

 

[Lilani]

I don't know if it's the "best," but I was very impressed by how smooth and well-defined the models were in Final Fantasy XIV.

An MMORPG ? Very different thing. A class of its own. To have the best graphics in that class doesn't mean best over-all (compared to stand alone) but to be great and get the challenge of being on line done well too. Thanks for that, I'll have to look into that!

The open beta will start in the next couple of weeks, so that'll be a good shot for a free trial Given you've got time for an MMO, lol. That's the problem I ran into with the other online Final Fantasy game, FFXI: The stories were amazing and it looked great for an MMO at the time, but it required a lot of time. FFXIV is definitely better on the time investment end, but by it is still a time sink by its very nature.

 

[kasperbbs]

Everything the op mentioned, only replace skyrim with witcher 2.

 

[Pero]

5. Dust: An Elysian Tail
4. Rayman Origins
3. Bioshock Infinite
2. METRO: Last Light
1. Far Cry 3

I didn't play Crysis 3 and yes I know that I can just see graphic on youtube but I don't want to judge it without trying it first hand.

 

[shrekfan246]

[Sleeping Dogs]. Easily the most beautiful graphical effect I've ever seen in a game.

Pretty, but technically great? I tried the demo, very good asthetics like Bioshock 2 vs. 1, but on par technically with Tomb Raider? (Very close match for me for best between Tomb Raider and Crysis 3 so far. I gotta try me Metro though!)

It may not still chug the highest-end cards of today, but Sleeping Dogs is pretty technically demanding when you've cranked everything up. It's really well-optimized for AMD graphics cards, though, which is just fantastic.

Technically?
1) Dead Space 3. The series has amazing lighting and very detailed environments...
3) Mass Effect 3. Love the bright colors and stylization of this series

I have ME2 on PC. It is very pretty. It is locked at 30 FPS as is Dead Space 2. Dead Space 3 better than 2 on PC? Did they advance the graphics or is it the same engine?

I've never seen any of the Mass Effect games (or Dead Space 2/3) locked at 30 FPS on my system. All of them have run flawlessly at 60 FPS.

 

[MercurySteam]

I'm surprised Hitman: Absolution hasn't been mentioned more frequently. The graphics were absolutely stunning, though very demanding at Ultra.