Last time you were impressed by graphics?

[elvor0]

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.

Yeah, using the Dolphin Emulator you could for a few years now, but need a somewhat strong PC (especially CPU): http://dolphin-emulator.com/

There's a thread with lots of Screenshots and describing how you can do it here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=395121

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.

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

I may have to dust off my wiimote and sensor now purely because that looks totally sweet, HD skyward sword here I come!

OT: Kingdoms of Alumar, the game itself was a bit lack luster, but it looked beautiful, given everything had been individually designed and crafted, wondering around was the thing that kept me going in that game.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Gears Of War
And ever since it's all looked the same to me.

 

[Redingold]

I recently picked up Half-Life 2 again, and even 8 years after its release, it still looks good. I was impressed by how it managed to avoid looking too outdated.

 

[Terramax]

Myst IV: Revelations blew me away back in the day. OH! And Far Cry 2!

Aesthetically, Psychonauts and Mushihimesama Futari.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

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

I'm not a pirate - I buy all my wii games before I emulate 'em. Same with ps2 games.

That's fine, I mentioned in a later post after that one that the only legal way was if you owned the console and the games you plan on emulating. If it was legal to do it without owning the game, Nintendo wouldn't mention it under their legal section of their FAQ page.

 

[ElPatron]

On the PC: Crysis
On consoles: God Of War on the PS2
On portable consoles: Metal Gear Peace Walker

Impressed me how they managed to make such a beautiful game for the PSP.

Battlefield 3? Anyone? Anyone at all? No?

Disregarding the fact that it didn't bring anything new to the table, wasn't really that impressing.

 

[FolkLikePanda]

Gears of War, when it first came out I was about 12 and I went round my friends house and we played it and I couldn't get over how cool the graphics looked and awesomely gory it was, for the time anyway.

 

[ElPatron]

really?
so pushing physics and destructible environments isn't anything new?
Aside from that the lighting effects are stunning, theres no other game out there which is a better showcase for dx11 technology.

>the lighting effects are stunning

So you mean the bloom that hurts my eyes? Everyone knows true OPERATORS wear sunglasses, I don't know why do I have to get glare all over my screen.

>destructible environments

Nothing exactly new.

>better showcase for dx11 technology

The thing is... it's not any more impressive than DX10

Crysis pushed the limits and set a standard for the industry. What we see now is just "natural evolution". Nothing groundbreaking at all.

Yeah, me is mad that DICE promised a true BF2 sequel and instead made a DX11 showcase/MW clone.

 

[not_you]

I, like the thread starter, was thrilled by AC1... It was the first HD game I had ever played and, it basically took my breath away... Standing atop the tallest building in Acre... or W/e the first city was... THAT was amazing...

Now-a-days... It's harder to find something that is as awe-inspiring... Although I believe it's because HD has become the norm, therefore it's not as impressive as it originally was... Wait for uHD to come out, THEN you'll have the same shock factor that came with this generation of gaming... (at least for graphic capability anyway)

 

[Hazy992]

Crysis 2 on 360. srsly. When I was playing it I couldn't get over how pretty the game looked, and couldn't believe it was on 360. That's why I think that while the next gen should improve graphics, it's far from the most important factor. If the next Xbox is as good as a decent gaming PC that's good enough for me.

 

[BushMonstar]

Aesthetics wise, I'd have to say Pikmin. But we are talking about the last time I was impressed by the aesthetics (Graphics), and the whole style of Pikmin just managed to amaze me. How seamlessly all of the unrealistic animals and predators blended with the photo textures; It all worked shockingly well.

 

[bird of hermes]

Crysis, Metro 2033, and Skyrim (for a while)

I actually got Crysis relatively recently, and even though it's not that new, it blew me away. I was pretty new to PC gaming (at least with good hardware) at the time, and that was the first real PC game I was exposed to that wasn't a Valve title.

 

[William Ossiss]

When I bought my first HDTV. That was, literally, the only time I was shocked by the fantastic graphics.

 

[Smeggs]

Actually impressed by how good they looked?

GTAV Trailer.

Last time impressed by the immensity of set-pieces with good graphics?

Mass Effect 3 on Palavan's moon.

 

[Skops]

.... Doom 3?

It really has been sometime since graphics have impressed me. That's not to say I haven't been unimpressed with some games graphics, cause there's shit tons of those. However, graphics that clearly stand far and away from the rest of everything else? Yeah, Doom 3 was probably the last time.

I still really like Doom 3's graphics.

 

[Druza]

Most recent is Skyrim. Gotta love those vistas.
Most profound is probably Assassins Creed, maxed out on the PC.

But honestly, anything at or above Super Mario 64 graphics is fine by me.

 

[octafish]

Battlefield 3 on PC the fidelity is amazing. I think even more than The Witcher 2, I'm looking forward to more games being produced in Frostbite 2.

Probably Metro 2033 on my new graphics card.
It was enough to make me play through the game again.

The lighting in Metro 2033 is freaking amazing. It is still a poorly optimized pig though.

Crysis 2 on 360. srsly. When I was playing it I couldn't get over how pretty the game looked, and couldn't believe it was on 360. That's why I think that while the next gen should improve graphics, it's far from the most important factor. If the next Xbox is as good as a decent gaming PC that's good enough for me.

The problem with the consoles though is when things look good they have to make everything so tiny. Consoles need more RAM, then more games will be freed from corridors and gain draw distance.

 

[Dfskelleton]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution was really good looking, despite being good looking while made entirely of yellow and featuring a lot of triangles.

 

[The Heik]

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!)

Not really. When I get new glasses I'm usually too busy noticing all the new details my hand has magically conjured on itself to look at game graphics.

OT: The only times I'm usually impressed by game graphics is if the aesthetics are the thing that are focused on. Photo-realism is all well and good, but when it starts to get in the way of my enjoyment of the gameplay (a la Battlefield 3), then my impression of it drops significantly. I'd much rather have graphics like the ones in Skyrim, which give up a little fidelity in order to bring a far more focused art style and better characterization to even the most basic aspects of the world.

That being said, the most recent time I was downright impressed with a game's graphics is with the Crysis series. Not only is the level of detail and polish drop-dead gorgeous but the team at Crytek also knew how to included proper colour schemes and lighting, so you could stare at the sheer amount of detail on a leaf one moment, then cleanly be able to engage your enemies the next. It's really the best balance between the two sides of the graphical pinnacle.

 

[lacktheknack]

The latest new game that stunned me with it's graphics was probably Dwarf Fortress.

Oh come on... those graphics left an impression on EVERYONE.

On a less silly note, I re-installed Myst IV, and HOLY CROW are dem graphics sweet. The game was made in 2004, for heaven's sakes, just LOOK at this stuff.

<spoiler=Ancient graphics from ten years ago>http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tAC64hibudw/TlemO76jFxI/AAAAAAAABRI/R1F9U3Egefc/s1600/myst-iv-revelation-screens-20040524044212748.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vf6au7mLTmg/TmGEpfuic4I/AAAAAAAAIug/O0DwQPf8gY4/s1600/myst_4_revelation_1024x768.jpg

http://hardcoregaming101.net/myst/5-%20RevelationImages/Revelation(68).png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Raven25/myst4.jpg

http://www.adventurearchiv.de/r/mystrevelation017.jpg