Best Enviroment in game?

[knut]

Nova Prospekt, Half-Life 2.

 

[Ren.182]

The times in gaming the environment in a game has "wow'ed" me would be the first time I stepped into Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time, the first time stepping into a good, dense forest seeing the trees and foliage sway, and a few other things I just can't think of right now.

Gotta agree with you there. Some of the best gaming years of my life were as a kid. Getting all excited over stuff.

Got to say Guild Wars had some really nice environments too. Loved Pre-Searing and most of the stuff after that too.

Half-Life 1 and 2 and ep1. Just 'cause

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Pretty much all of Tide's Reach.

Failing that, I thought that Innsmouth, in "Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth" was really, really well done.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Danimal]

Because as great as Oblivion is, doing a 30-minute flight route across Kalimdor in WoW is one of the most breathtaking journies ever.

Actually I thought the flight routes were boring after the 1000th time, especially from Orgrimmar to Cenarion Hold.

BUT ANYWAY!

I think Oblivion is good for it, and WoW in some areas but not enough to blow me away.

Doom 3 had good enviroments also.

 

[Asknoone]

For me, Half-life 2 wins hands down in terms of immersion and atmosphere. Nova Prospekt is superb, and the de-stabilized Citadel in Episode 1 simply dripped in goodness.

And Vice City. Streets soaked in the neon lights...yuhum.

 

[Sui]

I'd definately say Half-Life 2, and more specifically, the outdoor environments such as the coastline and City 17. The attention to detail is stunning. WoW comes second for me; the areas range from the vietnam-style Stranglethorn Vale to the undead infested plaguelands, and each area has its own distinct feel and atmosphere.

 

[Warbie]

I agree about WoW, it has a superb environment. It's so diverse - woods, lakes, rivers, mountains, valleys, villages, towns, cities, caves, and really looks like a whole new world (unfortunaltely it doesn't quite 'feel' like one imo). Visually I was always impressed while on a long flight - just flying over the plains and watching the wildlife running down below, or seeing people fighting it out, always added so much to the experience.

Baldurs Gate and Planescape also had a wondeful environments. Hand drawn attention to detail still sets them aside from the rather souless 3d games we get these days (just imagine a new game drawn in in this way at a high resolution - it'd look fantastic)

 

[Danimal]

Half-life 1 was also good for enviroments for it's time may I add.

The citadel in Half-Life 2 was pretty good at enviroment as well, and most of the Route Kanal chapter.

 

[PvtRyan]

WoW has indeed some very nice environments, despite the very simple graphics:

 

[Reginald]

Termina in Majora's Mask.

It was pure Carnivale. I'm hoping Twilight Princess retains parts of all 3 3D Zelda games so far. The grand scale of OoT, the atmosphere of MM and the supreme sense of fun from WW.

 

[Anthraxxx]

Homeworld and Homeworld 2 has some very pretty space environments, also EvE online...

 

[Slacker]

Actually I thought the flight routes were boring after the 1000th time, especially from Orgrimmar to Cenarion Hold.

Oh yeah, they definetly got teidious to an extraordinary level, but the first few times...wow...

 

[Ren.182]

Termina in Majora's Mask.

It was pure Carnivale. I'm hoping Twilight Princess retains parts of all 3 3D Zelda games so far. The grand scale of OoT, the atmosphere of MM and the supreme sense of fun from WW.

Oh yeah, Termina was great. Loved how there was actually time too and the inhabitants were affected by it.

Really looking forward to TP. Should be great.

 

[Reginald]

Oh yeah, Termina was great. Loved how there was actually time too and the inhabitants were affected by it.

Really looking forward to TP. Should be great.

I'd actually love for a Zelda game in the future to be affected by time again for example a weekly cycle. A 9 day week or something cause it's not real. And on some sort of day, people would go to a place of worship and there'd be a market day. And stuff like that.

But no time limit.

 

[Ren.182]

I'd actually love for a Zelda game in the future to be affected by time again for example a weekly cycle. A 9 day week or something cause it's not real. And on some sort of day, people would go to a place of worship and there'd be a market day. And stuff like that.

But no time limit.

Yeah, that'd be awesome. And i agree witht he no time limit, didn't really like going back to the first day every three days. Even if you could slow time down by playing the song of time in reverse.

Still, i'm sure TP will be an awesome game. Reminds me of OOT and WW at the same time. Wonder how big the world is.

 

[Reginald]

Apparently it takes 45 minutes to traverse Hyrule (?) on horse from one end to the other.

 

[Loke]

Half-Life 2, Jak & Daxter, Zelda: Wind Waker and ICO.

EDIT: And how the hell could I forget ICO?

 

[Thunderclap]

1st: I loved Majora's Mask and definitely got that semi-insane 'Carnivale!' feel people described, especially in Clock Town. I'll be honest and tell you I've never beaten the game, but I've got far enough into the dungeons to get the items that allow me to reach any part of the game. I can truly fight the Four Bosses in reverse if I wanted to.

2nd: I loved Homeworld, but I would have liked to have more battles near celestial objects. Klingon Academy, which was an okay game, had awesome battles near planets and the like. I can remember some epic fights there, and the AI was pretty good. Nuking it out in the upper reaches of the sun, while my whole crew was screaming about the fatal amounts of radiation and that I had to get out NOW. Most satisfying kill though was around a ringed planet, like Saturn. I eluded my enemy, then dropped right through the ring behind him, and ripped him a new one.

3rd: Another vote for Shadow. The dream-like environments were beautiful, the music complimented it perfectly, and Agro was the best horse in any game ever. Puts those Oblivion horses to shame.

SPOILERS!

The final battle was truly one of the best. Just standing there, with the storm and your tattered cloak flapping in the howling wind, and the living tower there before you, ocassionally illuminated by a lightning bolt lancing through the dark sky.

 

[Korgoth]

no doubt its half life 2 hands down... The attention to detail is just phenomonal. Every area of the game tells a story. For instance you will see combine APC parked outside of a large house on the outskirts of town, they are plugged in sucking up power, there lies the charred remains of the family in a pile of ashes on the ground outside, while inside the combine raid and destroy.

 

[tvharti]

Hongkong in Deus Ex

 

[Ren.182]

Half-Life 2, Jak & Daxter, Zelda: Wind Waker and ICO.

EDIT: And how the hell could I forget ICO?

Ahh, how could i forget Jak & Daxter? Environments in that were awesome. Awesome game too.

 

[JNightshade]

Oblivion and Far Cry.

 

[Stigmata]

My personal favorite environments are Hyrule (Ocarina of Time), the Pillar of Autumn (Halo), the spaceship (Prey), and the Black Mesa Research Facility (Half-Life).

But for realism, I think Oblivion wins, hands-down.

 

[hungryduck]

Anything that looks like Far Cry's outdoor areas.

I'd have to agree with that......or the villages in Resident Evil 4....

 

[Absinthe]

UNATCO Headquarters in Deus Ex.

Going through its doors, checking past the front desk, scoping out your office and all the others, going below that to check with the medbay and armory, going down further to the holding cells and watching the interrogation. Just so much neat stuff to look around and toy with. Reading all the papers, datapads, and hoarding up like a pack rat. Then later you find underneath it all is an MJ12 facility. Just brilliant.

Next up would have to be City 17, followed by Orgrimmar in World of Warcraft.

 

[Raxxman]

I really liked the enviroments in Chrome. So So game, but kinda did what Far Cry did, only before them

Eve has some nice areas, but damn do some of the ships look ugly.

 

[knut]

Also, any of the towns from the Zelda games, mainly Clock Town and Windfall Island. I loved how much there was to do in Clock Town and the way that it wasn't just a village with people standing around in, and that peopl actually did things at certain times of the day that you could follow on as a side quest. And Windfall Island I just thought was amazing, albiet how small it was. I don't know why, I just really liked going there. One of the things I'm looking forward to in the new Zelda most is the towns and villages.

Speaking of Zelda, other locations like Ikana Valley, with it's dried up river, enourmous walls and the looming Ikana Stone Tower. I loved scaling that thing.

 

[CrazyHarij]

max payne had great environments imho, both the first and second one

 

[Ren.182]

I also liked the environments from some Rareware games.
Especially Banjo-kazooie and Banjo-Tooiee (on the N64)
And Conker: Live and Reloaded (Conkers Bad Fur Day remake) on the Xbox.

 

[AmishSlayer]

And Conker: Live and Reloaded (Conkers Bad Fur Day remake) on the Xbox.

That is definitely the prettiest/funniest game on the Xbox. The environments in the game really kicked ass.

 

[Qonfused]

Oblivion and Far Cry.

I agree completely.

 

[Ren.182]

That is definitely the prettiest/funniest game on the Xbox. The environments in the game really kicked ass.

Yeah, i think it's one of the best looking games on the xbox easily. Shame it doesnt work on the 360 Can't play it now D:

Was an hilarious game though

 

[Noobulon]

That is definitely the prettiest/funniest game on the Xbox. The environments in the game really kicked ass.

And the older version was one of the most beautiful games on the N64, too.


Pooland ftw.

 

[benji311]

I agree completely.

Tru dat. Far cry environments look amazing as do oblivion.

I personally like some maps in dods. HDR ftw.

 

[Tagaziel]

Oblivion? Bah, overrated piece of crap.

Albion! That is the game that wins. Extremely varied, hand-drawn outdoors, detailed to the last bit, with different effects during the night and day, completely different environments on each continent... beautiful...

 

[Cormeh]

Metroid Prime. Especially the Phendrana Drifts. What a breath-taking game that was.

 

[JNightshade]

Metroid Prime. Especially the Phendrana Drifts. What a breath-taking game that was.

Holy shit, how could I have forgotten that!? MP is one of my all-time favorite drifts. Just plain gorgeous

 

[venturon]

Metroid Prime did have some terrific environments.

There are a few others worth mentioning:

The Cargo Bay full of malfunctioning protocol droids in System Shock II.

Constantine's Mansion and the Cathedral in Thief. (There are many other great areas in the other games too, these are just two that stand out for me)

Amn in of Baldur's Gate II.

Pretty much all of Prince Of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Clock Town from Majora's Mask, Windfall Island and Old Hyrule from Wind Waker.

 

[Zephos]

Metroid Prime. Especially the Phendrana Drifts. What a breath-taking game that was.

The greatest part of MP wasn't just the fact that the environments were beautiful and breath-taking, but they were also fully realised. Eco-systems, placement of enemies and buildings...the whole shazzam.

 

[knut]

Clock Town from Majora's Mask, Windfall Island and Old Hyrule from Wind Waker.

Yes.