Best Videogame Skies

[Azaraxzealot]

Mass Effect 2, very start of the game.

The Normandy, looking up at that planet. Just wow.

okay i thought i wasn't going to provide my input in this thread but seriously? every time i or someone else plays the intro, they literally take at least a minute to just look up at that planet amidst the wreckage of the normandy. it's so... dramatic. the juxtaposition provided by its presence amidst the chaos and destruction is so majestic and a wonder to see.

it's almost as if looking and staring can't be helped there

and that's the ONE reason Mass Effect 2 is still top on my greatest games of all time. Awe-inspiring moments like those

 

[Sinclair Solutions]

I've always loved Halo's, since you look up and see the other side of the giant Halo. You could trace it's path up to oblivion.

Also, Minecraft's skies are beautiful in their simplicity.

 

[Seabear]

Halo 3- the Ark.
ODST 1: "Hey, check it out. In the sky. Is that-?"
ME: "Oh my... Oh God. That IS."

Also Halo Reach- it's like Perma-Aurora on Reach.

Ninja'd on Shivering Isles- that was beautiful.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Two come to mind:

One is Half-Life 2: Episode 2 with the portal storm raging in the background.

and being on Halos in... Halo, where you look up and you see part of the ring.

 

[Saviordd1]

Reach, so alien and beautiful, it was just really well done, ESPECIALLY for an FPS

 

[Jason Danger Keyes]

I can't find many standout pictures, but the skies in Brutal Legend are all unbelieveably awesome, since they're always in motion and looking like they'll open up any second and spew out innumerable hordes of demons and stuff.

 

[coolgyman]

Definitely EVE Online. Every single system has a mind blowing backdrop. Can't be asked to take a screenshot though (ran out of subscription).

 

[TornadoFive]

Morrowind was really nice, especially at night. And I'll always remember my days playing WoW, some of the skies there were beautiful.

And yeah, the first Mass Effect had some good ones too, when you went down onto the planets. They were all different, and I really liked that touch.

 

[Cheesepower5]

The Twisted Nether visible from Outland in WoW, the moving sky in Dragon Quest VIII or the Airship view in Final Fantasy VI.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

Those in the Elder Scrolls series, and especially in Oblivion, are particularly beautiful. I've caught myself simply staring up at them from time to time.

 

[Lord Doomhammer]

Call me a noob, but I gotta go with Halo Reach for this one.

Spoiler

Not a whole lot can compare to that space skybox.

 

[Kimarous]

This hasn't even been mentioned, I'm shocked.

This. Above all, this. I've spent a sizable chunk of my Shivering Isles playtime just staring at the night sky, sometimes even roleplaying it as my personal "madness", having fallen in love with the sky itself.

 

[BlackEagle95]

I was always real impressed by Obvivion's starry nights

Ninja'd by the OP? Is that a record?

The first time I looked at night sky I got chills. It was amazing.

 

[xochiquetzal]

I suspect bioshock infinite will win my wote once it comes out

until then I think eve online has the most beautiful sky

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

Half-Life 2 and episodes' skies were pretty impressive. The Citadel always looming in the difference really lent credibility to the Combine's opressive malice, and seeing it in meltdown in Episode 1 and then destroyed in Episode 2 made it feel as though you really had a tangible effect on the game world.

The Citadel is exceedingly close to collapse!

 

[PG]

Just Cause 2 probably has the nicest dynamic skies although Rift looks very good too. Lost had very nice skies, can't remember if they were dynamic or static though

 

[Crimsane]

Just Cause 2, Lost Planet 2, both Crysis games, Far Cry 2, both Witchers, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Force Unleashed 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Ace Combat 4 and Zeno Clash all had some beautiful skies. Personal favorites include KotOR [http://i.imgur.com/Yv0sV.jpg] and both [http://i.imgur.com/FKFza.jpg] Mass [http://i.imgur.com/t2TsQ.jpg] Effects [http://i.imgur.com/z1JYf.jpg]. Also, I rather agree with the votes for Arkham [http://i.imgur.com/Ibxgw.jpg] Asylum [http://i.imgur.com/Oe1ur.jpg].