Games that made you go WOW (graphically)

elite on the 48+
dungeon master on amiga
ridge racer on the ps1 and ps2 and wipeout on ps2
quake 2 with voodoo
everquest,a 3d world to run around in and it was so big for the time.
crysis is still nice the jungle part i loved but the rest not so much
coh the detail is amazing
 
For the PC it would have to be Quake III. I remember reading about it on PC magazines back in the day, and the screenshots were showing the whole "curved architecture" on catwalks and doorways on certain maps. Very impressive for its time.

Whilst there is the likes of Half Life 2, Doom 3, Far Cry, Crysis etc from the past few years, they just don't have the same impact that Quake III did. I guess maybe because it felt like the right timing, what with it being 1999 and nearing the Millenium where the "future" was upon us. Plus I was only 15/16 years old then.

For Consoles, not surprising it would be either Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid or Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation.

Tekken Tag Tournament with its almost FMV-like character models at the time and Gran Turismo 3, which looked very photorealistic back then on the PlayStation 2.

And last but not least, Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive 2 and especially Shenmue for the Dreamcast.
 
Still can't think of the game i was on about earlier!!

Got it: Incoming!

I loved that game. Wish i had a copy of it!! Would it work on Vista though?
 
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Far Cry.
COD4.

I have to say COD4 had by far the biggest effect. Some of the scenes in the single player are absolutely stunning, and most of the multiplayer maps are of a similar quality. Such an awesome engine.

The source engine has wowed me in a different way - its efficiency and scalability is pretty much unmatched, except perhaps by the Unreal engine.
 
p4radox said:
Far Cry.
COD4.

I have to say COD4 had by far the biggest effect. Some of the scenes in the single player are absolutely stunning, and most of the multiplayer maps are of a similar quality. Such an awesome engine.

The source engine has wowed me in a different way - its efficiency and scalability is pretty much unmatched, except perhaps by the Unreal engine.
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I don't understand this? I really like CoD4 but the graphics are kind of crappy especially the textures..i like the lighting though
 
JTrickle said:
Not sure the wow factor was ever due to its gfx ;)
And 100 people in Lower Guk was never pretty. Pre Kunark it was pretty packed game.
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Point taken. But when you think of it, what other MMO achieved what Everquest did in it's heydey?

Sure, I remember the lag in Kael when there was 3 guilds raiding in the arena, or the masses of people flocking to a GM event in the Karanas.

But do you remember seeing the Plane of Fear wall of fire for the first time? Then seeing a message pop up saying "It begins to rain blood". Or the bridges in the Karanas? Or stepping off those little ferry boats to that gigantic ship that took you from Butcherblock to Firiona Vie? What about the path that lead from EK to Highhold Pass? The hanging portraits of famous Norrathian dragons in ToV? Neriak and Kelethin?

Not all of those were graphically intense enough to make you go wow. But graphics wasn't always EQ's strongest point.. it used atmosphere, coupled with graphics, to "sell" a scene to the player. That in turn conveyed the wow factor. You don't need advanced graphics to create awe amongst the players. You just need to engineer the setting correctly. EQ did that really well.
 
Anyone else impressed by operation flashpoint 1? I remember getting a gefore 2 and being able to turn the graphics up, probably wasn't the best graphically but you could see for miles and go anywhere. Fallout 3 was amazing in the same way!
 
I'm playing through Farcry for this first time, and I'm really impressed with the graphics, considering the game is a few years old.

But the first time I was properly wow'd by a game was I think the start of half life 2. Or possibly tomb raider back on ps1, lol?
 
Star Trek Bridge commander, after downloading a 10k poly ship with multiple 2048x2048 texture maps to replace the stock one.
Crysis.
GRID.
Fallout 3 when I enabled transparency AA.
Dead space, the first scene in the ship with the sun, asteroids etc in view.
X3 reunion.
GTA IV ( wow @ lightning and cars and at the same time UGH due to jaggies)
Far cry.
 
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