What's your favorite video game universe?

[motsm]

Planescape and the Myst series.

 

[KingofBladez]

Mass Effect based on what I've seen.
W40k based on what I know.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

First ever: Myst, Riven
First shooter/RPG: Deus Ex, Bioshock
First RPG: Mass Effect
First shooter: Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Creepiest atmosphere: Sanitarium
Unique world: STALKER series and Oblivian Shivering Isles

 

[Agent11]

Forgot wing commander

 

[frozentundra123456]

Roughly in order:

Fallout (and Wasteland which inspired it)
The Old Republic (KOTOR 1-2 much, much more than SWTOR)
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines (Word of Darkness) -- sadly we're getting an MMO not a sequel
Elder Scrolls (despite the weak main quests)
D & D (especially Planescape)
Mass Effect
Borderlands (Pandora)
Saints' Row (much more fun for me than GTA's sandboxes)

1. KOTOR
2. Elder Scrolls
3. Mass Effect until the last game.

I had a great deal of fun with Borderlands, but the story/universe never really drew me in.

 

[Zorander]

Prince of Persia (love how it colours my perception of the real world for a while after playing it)
Grand Theft Auto IV
Morrowind (most atmosheric/cultural TES world I have experienced)

Would love to throw in Mass Effect too but the in-game worlds allow too little exploration for me to enjoy.

 

[darkewaffle]

Mass Effect built a brilliant galaxy, but Vana'diel is still my favorite place to be.

 

[DefDC]

The Forgotten Realms will always have a place in my heart. I miss classic D&D adventures.

A close 2nd is the Fallout universe. I've loved all the FO games. The only one I haven't completed is Tactics, and I plan on doing that someday.

Mass Effect and Dragon Age were both great. Jesus. I love great games. I love The Witcher, all the Elder Scrolls, Ultimas...

I'm no help.

 

[pathos]

Strangely, after reading the first post, my first thought was of dnd pen and paper stuff, specifically the greyhawk campaign. Of course, it's been 20+ years since I've touched it, but from what I remember, everything about that campaign/world was fairly epic.

There has crpg game or 2 set in that world, specfically the temple of elemental evil (one of my favorite dnd crpgs, once mod's came out to clear the bugs out of the game).

Strictly talking computer games though, hrmmm

Everquest
Arcanum
Aion (no matter how the actual product actually shipped, I really liked the setting for the game itself)
The Secret World - modern day world, but with pretty much every supernatural conspiracy theory ever actually come to life, would certainly make the world....more interesting, to put it mildly.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Pac-man. Gobbling dots and running from ghosts in a maze? Brilliant! And then they gave him a wife, with a BOW ON HER HEAD!

In all seriousness I think Grim Fandango and Bioshock. I love the art inspired stylistic approaches.

 

[Stringjam]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Mirror's Edge (even though it doesn't really have a "Universe" per se, the art direction and overall look of the game is just amazing).

 

[amabre]

world of tanks for me

 

[blastingcap]

Fallout

 

[futurefields]

Fallout and Diablo (old school)

 

[Tweak155]

Diablo.

 

[Oyeve]

Kyrandia.

 

[aigomorla]

Fallout
bioshock
Final Fantasy

Theres a lot.... however i dont know if i would ever want to live in those universes.
The whole notion of the entire world ending in a blink of an eye on your choices is kinda scary.

 

[Jodell88]

Mass Effect
The Witcher
Runescape.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

X-COM.

Not only are we not alone in the universe, but any six of us are quite capable of beating the entire Alien Armada, and with some battlefield salvage to work with, a couple dozen recent MIT grads can duplicate 65 million years of technological advancement in a few months.

Humanity will clearly rule the universe.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

shadowrun universe is one of my favorites. even played a little of it on pen and paper when i was a teen. the only such game to lure me towards the pen and paper and away from the instant gratification of the television/monitor.

 

[SaurusX]

No one has mentioned Half Life yet? After playing HL2 I read up on everything I could about the game, from it's creation to speculation about the universe it's set in.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Zebes
Liberty City
Boliteria

 

[darkswordsman17]

I like the Halo universe. And Metroid.

Um, I'm trying to think what others. I liked Star Ocean 2. Skies of Arcadia. Final Fantasy Tactics.

I like the sorta alternate history universes of Bioshock, Fallout, and Crimson Skies.

Mass Effect is the best, no question.

Borderlands - interesting that you've suggested that one, OP. Having played both, I'm a fan of the gameplay of the BL series, but the universe is nothing special. I felt the characters added the character to the game, rather than the setting. Not so with the Mass Effect games. There, the universe created an often emotional experience that was incredible (yes, I do like the 3rd game).

Yeah that's how I feel. I like Borderlands, and the characters worked well, but the universe really was pretty bland. Although I guess it depends how you define what really defines the universe.

 

[slpnshot]

Mass Effect for me. Outside of the whole cycle of death thing, the universe just seemed so awesome.

 

[Via]

I'd have to go with the prison colony in Gothic. I still load up that game just to wander around. The entire island is cool.

The Sword Coast is pretty high up there for me as well.