Last time you were impressed by graphics?

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

Oh yeah btw., a Zelda game as played on the Wii with only SD output and played on a PC in glorious HD (Dolphin Emu):

Wait.... what... you can play Zelda on PC now?

OT: The last time I was impressed by graphics was when I got Red Dead Redemption. That game was stunning.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

I've never played a game only for its graphics; I find that very silly.

And can't say it was ever a reason I wanted to show a friend a game.

That being said, the best graphics I have seen of late, I would have to say Mass Effect 3.

Before that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

 

[DeltaEdge]

What was the last game where you were genuinely impressed by the graphics? - to the point where they were almost the main reason you enjoyed the game (or reason you started playing in the first place). Or that they made you want to show the game to a friend.

This will sound kind of weird and cynical, but...every single time I get new glasses. Seriously.

(All you glasses wearing types out there, I know you know this is true!)

You are so right! I just got my glasses a few months back. I didn't think the tv that's just a few feet on front of me could be so much clearer! I remember playing Disgaea 4 in HD for the first time in the living room and thinking it looked nice, but then putting on my glasses and thinking, "WOAAAH, I can see everything..."
Other than that, I guess graphically I was the most impressed by TLoZ:TP. I just thought it was the most amazing thing ever and that it had a great aesthetic too.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Wait.... what... you can play Zelda on PC now?

You can, but then you would be considered a pirate. So, it depends on how you feel about doing illegal things.

 

[NathLines]

There's really only 2 games that have impressed me when it comes to graphics: The Witcher 2 and Transformers War for Cybertron. The Witcher 2 because of ALL THE FUCKING COLORS MMMMM~. And War for Cybertron never ceases to amaze me. Every time I look at the enviroment, my jaw drops a bit in awe. I can't wrap my head around the idea that someone has spent time making all that.

 

[cahtush]

SHOGUN 2: Total War
Just the scale of the battles... You can zoom in and see the individual sodiers fight.
And they look amazing too.

 

[mental_looney]

Shrug mass effect staring up at palaven burning was an impressive shot, but that's probably more in style and aesthetics matter than pure processing power, if it's just shinyness then I dunno...

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

Killzone 2 still looks amazing to me, probably the best looking console game i've seen.
BF3 looked pretty nice and had some cool bloom and other stuff (although that doesn't necessarily make for a good game)
Skyrim with alot of mods looks frikkin amazing.
And most recently Mass Effect 3 has some pretty awesome skyboxes.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I think the last game that really impressed me was FarCry 2 running on max settings at 1920x1080. Despite all it's gameplay flaws, it's a very beautiful game.

Crysis and Crysis: Warhead were pretty damn good too, but I wasn't so impressed with Crysis 2.

Skyrim is fairly nice, but the textures are quite blurry in places, so it's not totally a "Wow!" moment game for me.

The trailers for FarCry 3 are looking fairly good so far... I'm hoping that the PC version of it is up-to-scratch and not too console-portish, as the first Farcry was incredible on PC at the time, hell, it still looks damn good even now when you max it out.

 

[Busard]

Hmmm...well lately on the indie side majorly: Journey (dem cloth effects errywhere !) and Bastion. These last two count more as aesthetics/art direction than graphics though. Even Dear Esther, while boring it may be, had some gorgeous vistas and pushed the source engine to the limits

On the big industry side: Witcher 2 looked pretty awesome. Also as pure graphics went, Battlefield 3 on mah PC was pretty sweet. Skyrim is nice but I wouldn't call myself "impressed" over it, but it's still very cool. Oh, and Uncharted 3 that I saw my teacher play was darn nice

 

[Zipa]

Battlefield 3 (on pc, console doesn't do it justice) the effects are amazing. I saw a truck get blown up by a rpg and i Just sat and watched the explosion and the fire and smoke effects, it looked bloody fantastic.

 

[Nadia Gezichtboek]

This will sound kind of weird and cynical, but...every single time I get new glasses. Seriously.

(All you glasses wearing types out there, I know you know this is true!)

Soo True!

And the last time was with Mass Effect 3 and The Journey.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Emulation is completely legal and not "piracy" in any way, sort or form.

Actually you are only partly right, there is only one way that it is legal. If you own the console and game that you are planning use in the emulator.

Besides, it is using copyrighted material without consent of the company. People might throw out that some games can't really be bought anymore through the company or retail channels, so it is okay. But considering Nintendo games, it really isn't the case anymore since they have been re-releasing through their virtual console marketplace.

 

[Richardplex]

I bought FF13 on day 1. I'm *still* waiting to stop being blown away every time I watch it. I mean, hate on it all you want, but damn it looks gorgeous.

 

[minimacker]

2003 with Silent Storm.

Jesus motherhumping christ, dat physics engine for the time.

 

[dontlooknow]

Abso-bloody-lutley! It must be something magic they put on them in the opticians - it's like having the whole world in super HD-o-vision.

On a similar note, I've noticed that having slightly dirty glasses prompts horrible flash-backs of Battlefield 3.

And to wander on topic, I played MGS 3 again the other day on the PS2: those graphics are staggering.

 

[Vivi22]

I generally care a lot more about art style, but I'd be here all day listing games with a great art style that came out recently if I went down that road, and plenty have already mentioned some.

On a purely technical level, the most recent game that blew me away was L4D2. The gibbing in that is really good and I was impressed at the level of detail they managed. Few companies have bothered with gibbing at all it seems since Soldier of Fortune, so I was pleased to see it come back in such a nice way.

I guess there's also the Uncharted series. They do a lot of little graphical tricks, especially in cut scenes which most people will never notice, but that's part of why they're so good. They've got this great technology in there and they use it to subtly build the scene. Small touches can make all the difference.

Beyond that, I think the last stuff to really technically blow me away were Bioshock, Half-Life 2, Doom 3 and MGS3. Metro 2033 looked great as well, but I wouldn't say it blew me away. Felt more like an evolution from other titles.

 

[Sexy Devil]

What was the last game where you were genuinely impressed by the graphics? - to the point where they were almost the main reason you enjoyed the game (or reason you started playing in the first place). Or that they made you want to show the game to a friend.

This will sound kind of weird and cynical, but...every single time I get new glasses. Seriously.

(All you glasses wearing types out there, I know you know this is true!)

First time I put on my first set of glasses I was watching Game of Thrones. My general response was "Holy crap it says the town names on that opening!"

But for me it's Uncharted 3. Some of the stuff is just insanely detailed, like how the sand reacts when you walk on it.

 

[DoPo]

What was the last game where you were genuinely impressed by the graphics? - to the point where they were almost the main reason you enjoyed the game (or reason you started playing in the first place). Or that they made you want to show the game to a friend.

So, you're asking which game impressed us with prettiness.

Call me sceptic or something, but last one was Half-Life 2 and the Source engine in general back when it was showcased in 2003-2004. I know there have been improvements since then, but I do not care - I haven't really been impressed by them, I sort of just accept them.

Well, technically you could say I was impressed with Assassins Creed, since I bought it. And seeing that AC is basically a tech demo you pay for, then yes, I suppose it impressed with me enough to the point I played the game.

Deus Ex: Human Resources

I don't know if that was meant to be a subtle dig at the game or just a mistake. I laughed either way. Just imagine if the human resources department were all cybernetic enhanced.

 

[kommando367]

RAGE. I wouldn't say it was the main reason I enjoyed the game (that would be the pop rockets), but the graphics were really good. Too bad they had to make the game short to make the graphics better.