Best PC Graphics to date: Top 5

[elvor0]

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.

Yeah I must say, it's testament to just how good their art department is. Considering the limited polycount they have to work with, it forces them to be more creative. My PC can't run't run Pandaria environments on max that well, but sometimes I like to just fly up to a good spot, whack everything on full, and just admire the view

 

[OneCatch]

The game that made my jaw drop with how fantastic it looked was Bioshock Infinite.

When you crest the clouds in that shuttle the first time you seem Colombia. Just, wow.

Seconding this.
The graphics aren't exactly realistic, but they're just ridiculously beautiful.
And it's really well optimised. I never get framerate drops, and IMO it looks far better than FarCry 3 or Crysis 3, both of which are far more GPU intensive.

 

[Weaver]

Metro Last Light should be on there for sure.
The Witcher 2 should also be.

I actually was really impressed with the graphics in Just Cause 2, I thought they were phenomenal.

 

[gorfias]

it [FF14] is still a time sink by its very nature.

I do worry about that. I was dropping my daughter at a friend's house and that girl's dad usually enjoys gabbing with me. This time, I went in to say hi and he had his flight deck laptop on his lap, headphones with mike on, playing WOW. He does a lot of business travel. Now that he had some time home, he'd been pulling all nighter's like a college kid! He acknowledged me, quickly said hi, and that he was in the middle of a group campaign since 5 AM (it was 2 PM) and had to stick with it!!! And my wife gets mad when I need 5 min. to find a checkpoint in a game before I can socialize.

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.

I wonder if it is something I did wrong or the edition I bought? I'd love to get unlock it and get it to 60 FPS. Looks like you and I are both AMD people (HD7970) so, you'd think if you can do it, I better be able to do it too.

One reason I think they lock this down: I've read it is better to have 30 FPS steady than 60 bouncing around to 30 and back. Causes the game to look jumpy. I'll risk it.

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

I'm liking this game, but would not put it up there with my top... 7 now. (I'd add Bioshock Infinite and would likley, from what I'm hearing, put Metro Last Light possibly at #1, bumping Arkham City and Skyrim to 6 and 7th place.) I'll have to look at it again. Maybe it is better than Skyrim, even with added textures.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

With the games released so far it should be like this:

5. Battlefield 3
4. Crysis 3
3. Far Cry 3
2. Metro Last Light
1. The Witcher 2

This is from a technical point of view of course and I am referring to the how much the graphics impressed me.

Totally my own opinion although TW2 still holds up as one of the most beautiful graphics on the PC for me when you bump everything to maximum settings.

 

[Jasperwest]

Are we talking graphical fidelity or aesthetic design?

For sheer graphical fidelity the only possibly answers are, and really it's not an opinion it's just fact that these have higher texture qualities then any other game currently on the market.

Metro Last Light
Witcher 2
Trine 2
Metro 2033
Crysis

All 5 of those games are near constant HD textures throughout, true examples have how much better PC can be visually when compared to consoles. Bioshock Infinite was beautiful in it's color pallete, but it had many MANY terrible low texture qualities, same with Far Cry 3, Battlefield 3, Crysis 2-3.

If we're talking aesthetic design which is more of an opinion thing I'd go for.

Bastion
Super Sword and Scorcery EP
Kentucky Route Zero
Papo & Yo
Cubeworld.

 

[shrekfan246]

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.

I wonder if it is something I did wrong or the edition I bought? I'd love to get unlock it and get it to 60 FPS. Looks like you and I are both AMD people (HD7970) so, you'd think if you can do it, I better be able to do it too.

One reason I think they lock this down: I've read it is better to have 30 FPS steady than 60 bouncing around to 30 and back. Causes the game to look jumpy. I'll risk it.

All I could really suggest is checking what your Vsync options are, in the GPU control panel and in-game. And getting some sort of software to show you what your FPS is running at if you're that unsure about it, because your GPU is way better than mine (5850) and all of the ME games run with no problem on mine. If it's really running at 30 FPS, you might have to dig through some .ini files as a last resort.

I do see the merits of locking the framerate, myself, because it's very jarring when I'm playing a PS3 game or a more recent PC game and I see all of the random jumps back and forth. Locking it in a PC game is obnoxious, though.

 

[gorfias]

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.

I wonder if it is something I did wrong or the edition I bought? I'd love to get unlock it and get it to 60 FPS. Looks like you and I are both AMD people (HD7970) so, you'd think if you can do it, I better be able to do it too.

One reason I think they lock this down: I've read it is better to have 30 FPS steady than 60 bouncing around to 30 and back. Causes the game to look jumpy. I'll risk it.

All I could really suggest is checking what your Vsync options are, in the GPU control panel and in-game. And getting some sort of software to show you what your FPS is running at if you're that unsure about it, because your GPU is way better than mine (5850) and all of the ME games run with no problem on mine. If it's really running at 30 FPS, you might have to dig through some .ini files as a last resort.

I do see the merits of locking the framerate, myself, because it's very jarring when I'm playing a PS3 game or a more recent PC game and I see all of the random jumps back and forth. Locking it in a PC game is obnoxious, though.

Thanks, I'll try your suggestions. I'm sure my rig can handle more.

BTW: I use the paid edition of FRAPS to do most bench testing.

 

[Pieturli]

I don't know about highest graphical quality, but for me, Skyrim is the prettiest game I've ever seen. It's not just about the texture quality, but the whole aesthetic package.

 

[Lygus]

Arma 3 - beautiful, one of the most realistic lighting, sandbox, etc.

The Witcher 2 - because it's one level linear superb game, it looks gorgeus (but so many invisible walls).

Crysis 1

Far Cry 2

STALKER series, especially Clear Sky

 

[gorfias]

I don't know about highest graphical quality, but for me, Skyrim is the prettiest game I've ever seen. It's not just about the texture quality, but the whole aesthetic package.

Aesthetics can be better than higher quality graphics. The one I always think of is Bioshock 1 vs. 2. 1 actually had superior graphics. But in 2, Rapture had been covered in bright coral. It was gorgeous.

But for purposes of this topic, I kind of looking for the things that will make my graphics card groan! It's fun. I can't help myself Best suggestion I think, so far, was for Metro First Light. I just bought Crysis 3 and am kicking myself a little as I should have gotten Metro. On the other hand, I hear Crysis is easy, which I love. And shooting bad guys with that compound bow? A lot of fun so far.

If you are playing Skyrim on a PC, I hope you've tried some mods and extra texture patches.

Arma 3 - beautiful, one of the most realistic lighting, sandbox, etc.

The Witcher 2 - because it's one level linear superb game, it looks gorgeus (but so many invisible walls).

Crysis 1

Far Cry 2

STALKER series, especially Clear Sky

You're the 2nd person to love Crysis 1 and the Stalker series. Crysis 1 is kind of dated for my tastes, though, when that mountain collapsed, it was awesome. Dang. Steam just had Stalker for $5. It'll come around again.

 

[skywolfblue]

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 don't know about the PC side, but on the xBox at least:

Same engine, with a few minor tweaks, like larger levels, animated fur parkas that blow in the wind, and your suit progressively ices over the longer you're outdoors.

 

[Tallim]

Probably Metro: Last Light as others have said. Astoundingly good looking game, especially combining all the filters and gasmask effects. Plus the level with the fire is absolutely stunning.

 

[Pieturli]

If you are playing Skyrim on a PC, I hope you've tried some mods and extra texture patches.

Oh believe you me, I've modded it so hard it's not even funny anymore

 

[bobmd13]

If you look at the vistas in LOTRO and have the ability to run the game in DX11 it makes most other games seem weak in comparison.

Unlike a lot of the games previously mentioned, LOTRO was designed to run only on PC's and was one of the first games to run on DX11.

Here is a link to a presentation for the new 6800 card .


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7er7dJ77Ls


Play the game and just enter Rivendell as the sun comes up and you will be amazed.

Yes its an MMO, but graphically it was ahead of its time and still is absolutely beautiful to play.

 

[Griffolion]

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.

Are you referring to graphics quality or aesthetic?

 

[Amir Kondori]

Skyrim looks AWFUL, imo. Bioshock Infinite and the Witcher 2 also should be on the list. And I agree with Crysis 3 being there, Far Cry 3 too.

Skyrim doesn't look awful at all, especially with the HD texture pack released by Bethesda on PC. I don't think it makes the top 5 but it is not awful.

 

[gorfias]

If you look at the vistas in LOTRO and have the ability to run the game in DX11 it makes most other games seem weak in comparison.

Unlike a lot of the games previously mentioned, LOTRO was designed to run only on PC's and was one of the first games to run on DX11.

Here is a link to a presentation for the new 6800 card .


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7er7dJ77Ls

The water effects in this clip are very pretty. Thanks for sharing!

Skyrim doesn't look awful at all, especially with the HD texture pack released by Bethesda on PC. I don't think it makes the top 5 but it is not awful.

Yeah, I forgot to put Bioshock infinite in there. That would knock Skryim out of the top 5.

I've been watching youtube videos of the new Metro. Very nice textures, but the character models aren't on par IMHO, to the new Tomb Raider and Crysis 3.

So far, those 2 are neck and neck. I've got to watch some more battlefield 4 scenes. The next generation is coming soon. I think that is what it is going to take to beat those 2.

 

[The Madman]

To mention one that hasn't been said, although it's still only in the beta stages War Thunder is an extremely good looking game. Some of the effects could still use some work, but it's definitely got some stunning vistas and the aircraft model are just a pleasure to look at.

Spoiler: Here's a fair representation of what it looks like, watch in HD

Game is only going to get better looking as well, with the planned ground combat updates in the future and better effects.

STALKER: Call of Pripyat with the right mods is also genuinely stunning to look at with some of the best environments and environmental effects I've ever seen in a game. The game just oozes ambiance and atmosphere, I get chills just thinking about the blowout events. Character models aren't great, but everything else is ace.