Which Game Has the Best Graphics of All Time?

[Madmick]

Including mods or any additional tweaks. And if you feel like it, list your theoretical minimum build that you think could handle said game on max settings (plus tweaks) at an average of 50+ FPS on 2560x1600 resolution.

 

[Dankk]

Battlefield 3 and The Witcher 2 are the current most graphically intense games, as far as I know. Metro 2033 comes in close behind.

Crysis managed to be #1 for a while, and with mods, it supposedly still is. That's not a exactly a fair comparison though (because, you know, it requires modding).

I would post specs, but I'm not familiar with resolutions higher than 1920x1080, so I'm really not sure what would be required to run those games on max.

Edit: I voted for The Witcher 2 because of it's outdoor environments, which are typically much more impressive than blocky cities and industrial environments. TW2 looks fantastic because it has the detail and realism of Crysis, but with the artistic style of a game like Fable. The end result is utterly gorgeous.

 

[Madmick]

Battlefield 3 and The Witcher 2 are the current most graphically intense games, as far as I know. Metro 2033 comes in close behind.

Crysis managed to be #1 for a while, and with mods, it supposedly still is. That's not a exactly a fair comparison though (because, you know, it requires modding).

I would post specs, but I'm not familiar with resolutions higher than 1920x1080, so I'm really not sure what would be required to run those games on max.

Actually, I'd love to see theoretical builds for 1920x1080 displays even more. I don't own a 2560x1600 display, and don't really care to shell out for such a costly piece of equipment since so few games even carry a native resolution of 1600p.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Hard question to answer because art directions has such a big part in how a game looks graphically. Skyrim's art direction makes the game visually impressive to me, but I think Crysis 2 is probably the most technically impressive out of those games listed.

 

[Dankk]

Hard question to answer because art directions has such a big part in how a game looks graphically. Skyrim's art direction makes the game visually impressive to me, but I think Crysis 2 is probably the most technically impressive out of those games listed.

Right. There's a difference between "What game has the best-looking graphics" and "what game has the most resource-intensive graphics". Some games look fantastic, and aren't very hard to run. Conversely, some games are extremely difficult to run, and don't even look all that great.

For example, is Crysis 1 a "hardcore system-killer"? No, not unless you're still living in 2007. Is it still one of the most beautiful games out there though? Absolutely.

 

[Udgnim]

modded GTA4 imo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsNXkR4zelY&feature=related

 

[lsv]

Battlefield 3 and The Witcher 2 are the current most graphically intense games, as far as I know. Metro 2033 comes in close behind.

Crysis managed to be #1 for a while, and with mods, it supposedly still is. That's not a exactly a fair comparison though (because, you know, it requires modding).

I would post specs, but I'm not familiar with resolutions higher than 1920x1080, so I'm really not sure what would be required to run those games on max.

Edit: I voted for The Witcher 2 because of it's outdoor environments, which are typically much more impressive than blocky cities and industrial environments. TW2 looks fantastic because it has the detail and realism of Crysis, but with the artistic style of a game like Fable. The end result is utterly gorgeous.

I also voted Witcher 2, I just got the EE from GOG on my newish 6950 and ran it on high @ 1080p. I stepped outside and went Whoooooooaaaaaa prettty.

 

[Zenoth]

Depends a lot, very subjective.

Could be photo-realistic or purely fantasy-based settings with vibrant/exaggerated colors. I like Crysis (original) and Witcher 2 (EE) for a more "plausible" visual look (or if you prefer more "photo-realistic"), that or also the STALKER series. Although of course Witcher is more based on a fantasy setting than anything else, but it still looks very good. Also, I like the look of Borderlands 2 from the videos I've seen. I also adore the look of Trine and other similar recently released "modern side-scrollers" (Indie games mostly) with beautiful animations and backgrounds (dynamic backgrounds, or multi-layered backgrounds). With a more "cartooney" look or with cell shading, or with other nice visual styles.

To me graphics should fit the game's context and setting of course, although a game can look superb but is extremely boring to play, or the other way around as well. It's all very subjective. This subject reminds me too much of the SEGA Vs. Nintendo days (or rather more precisely the 16-Bit wars).

 

[videogames101]

Battlefield 3 is certainly the most "realistic" graphic engine to date, especially do to the detail in many textures IMO.

 

[KaOTiK]

With mods, Crysis. I've seen some screenshots that look practically real

 

[TurtleCrusher]

With mods, Crysis. I've seen some screenshots that look practically real

This!

 

[thejunglegod]

Skyrim could;ve been so much more beautiful if not for the crappy textures. Even teh HD texture pack cant compare to what The Witcher 2 is. And undoubtedly, Crysis was very impressive, but the colours and shaders in The Witcher 2 blew me away.

 

[chimaxi83]

Am I the only one who thinks the mesh looking shadows in Witcher 2 look like shit? Looking for a fix, I read that suppoedly the tech behind the shadows is the reason for it, nothing can be done, etc. Its very distracting once you really notice it :/

If I'm wrong, someone please slap me and tell me how to fix please.

 

[Udgnim]

forgot to give Trine 2 an honorable mention

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAx9Q9z4Pdo

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Skyrim could;ve been so much more beautiful if not for the crappy textures. Even teh HD texture pack cant compare to what The Witcher 2 is. And undoubtedly, Crysis was very impressive, but the colours and shaders in The Witcher 2 blew me away.

Skyrim looks amazing after you mod the crap out of it.

 

[RavenSEAL]

I'm split between [modded] Skyrim, Witcher 2 & BF3.

I went with BF3 based on photorealism.

 

[Laminator]

Oops; I didn't see the "(Including Mods)" clause and voted for Crysis 2. That vote should have gone to Crysis, although the posted screenshot of The Witcher 2 looks incredible as well.

 

[imaheadcase]

Certain games do certain things right. I've yet to see a game do graphics right %100 of the time.

Some games make water fantastic, some make vegetation fantastic, etc.

I would still vote half life series as graphic superior in terms of game play/immersion experience. The lost coast demo you can play speaks wonders to it even for its age.

 

[Stringjam]

Art direction is an entirely different topic than graphic quality. Graphic quality has quantifiable factors, while art direction is subjective.

Modded Crysis, Crysis2, and Metro2033 are the top of my list for graphic quality. BF3 has a lot of smoke and mirrors to distract you from how much junky stuff is actually in there, but it looks good from a distance.

Of those, modded Crysis is still the hardest to run. With increased object view distances and longer distances on the high quality LoD models, it can easily drop my FPS down into the teens (overclocked GTX-570).


(Crysis2 MalDoHD mod)

Crysis 1 (High res texture packs, Global Ambient Lighting POM/AF mod, custom ToD, etc....)

 

[mirandu04]

Crysis probably is by far the best one involving graphics

 

[sigurros81]

The issue I have this poll is that when debating graphics, we need to consider the art direction aspect of design as well as the technical. While I'm sure the Crytek Engine or Frostbite 2.0 engine are technically far superior to the Witcher 2 engine, I think Witcher 2 is the game with the best looking graphics right now, mainly because they did a superb job with art direction and creating an immersive and beautiful world on top of an already impressive game engine.

 

[irishScott]

With Ubersampling turned on, the Witcher 2.

 

[Red Storm]

The issue I have this poll is that when debating graphics, we need to consider the art direction aspect of design as well as the technical. While I'm sure the Crytek Engine or Frostbite 2.0 engine are technically far superior to the Witcher 2 engine, I think Witcher 2 is the game with the best looking graphics right now, mainly because they did a superb job with art direction and creating an immersive and beautiful world on top of an already impressive game engine.

To me those are two separate things. There's graphics (life like), and then there's art (up to the creator).

With that in mind, to me there's no question that Crysis 1 has the best graphics of any game ever released.

 

[Golgatha]

To me those are two separate things. There's graphics (life like), and then there's art (up to the creator).

With that in mind, to me there's no question that Crysis 1 has the best graphics of any game ever released.

Not listed in the poll, but I think Bioshock was amazing in the graphics and art departments.

 

[thespyder]

I was reading this thread because I seriously expected someone to put in DOA: Volleyball.

I guess I underestimated the maturity of the audience. Bravo.