Graphic sluts, what is the best looking console game you've played this gen?

[Rman]

It's been more than 2 and half years since the current console generation begun with the launch of the 360.  A good number of games have been released already and I wanted to get EB's thoughts on the best looking console game this generation. 

My pick is Lost Planet, amazing explosions, huge character models, rock solid framerate.  That Capcom engine--Framework--is a beast. 

Honorable mentions:
Bioshock
Uncharted
Gears of War
Assassin's Creed
Burnout Paradise

What are your thoughts?

[MCD]

LP? nah it's good looking but doesn't stand a chance against Gears, AC, Bioshock and others out there.

my pick would be AC, what a technical marvel it is.

[y2kev]

Uncha or AC

Uncha for color, cutscene animation, variety, etc.
AC for geometry and overall omg factor, but the repetitive architecture takes a lil' of the wow out.

[Rman]

LP? nah it's good looking but doesn't stand a chance against Gears, AC, Bioshock and others out there.

my pick would be AC, what a technical marvel it is.

Those amazing explosions really put it over the top for me.

[MCD]

LP? nah it's good looking but doesn't stand a chance against Gears, AC, Bioshock and others out there.

my pick would be AC, what a technical marvel it is.

Those amazing explosions really put it over the top for me.

IT'S NOT AMAZING WHEN I CAN'T SEE SHIT OH FUCK STOP SHOOTING BAZOOKAS AT ME FUCK

[Rman]

It was C game for me gameplay wise.  I understand your frustration, though.

[MCD]

It was C game for me gameplay wise.  I understand your frustration, though.

hahaha i was joking, loved LP.

it's a B+ game for me.

[y2kev]

I don't really think cod4 is that impressive :\

The framerate is smooth, but the texture quality is meh to bad and the geometry isn't really that demanding. It's got a lot of fancy special effects though.

On the other hand, Burnout Paradise is 60 FPS and looks better than most 30 FPS games.

well we know it isn't halo 3 lol

[MCD]

racing games shouldn't be on the list JUST BECAUSE I SAY SO

[Eel O'Brian]

Assassin's Creed is a beautiful game, and the lead character really blends into the world - you really feel like you're climbing, and that you have weight.  The game itself, well, to be honest I got bored with it midway through and sold it.  Very pretty, though.

Uncharted has some gorgeous scenery, but the Drake character always felt disconnected from it, especially when climbing steps and such.  It was hard not to notice.

Burnout Paradise is very solid, and has an amazing sense of depth - lift your eyes away from the car and check out the backgrounds as you're cruising around, it's almost 3D in feel.

COD4 is the same old shit with a prettier skin.

Gears of War is sharp, but oh so generic.  And hey, let's wear heavy armor everywhere but our heads, nice design decision dumbasses. ROLLEYES

I love the deco background art style of Bioshock, but the enemies are all samey after a while.

I'd give it to Ass Creed for now.  Very immersive.

[pilonv1]

Uncharted easily.

Hon mentions to Dead Rising and PGR4 though.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

*scratches chin*

I really don't know if there's an overall winner 'cause there's been several games that impressed me in different ways...

Uncharted should be on everyone's short list if just for the vehicle sections alone and the lighting in the custom house area is very beautiful.  Absolutely gorgeous game.

Gears of War, even if I wasn't it's biggest fan, was pretty damn nice to look at especially the whole 3rd mission (the one that starts in the rain and finally ends up looking at all that juice).  Impressive stuff going on.

Blue Dragon - naysayers can fuck right off.  If it wasn't for all the screen tearing and slowdown this might've been my first choice.  Some of the shit on the third disc is amazing...seriously CG movie-like at times.

Mass Effect - again technical issues mar what would otherwise be a fucking amazing looking game.  Take away the texture pop in and wonky framerate and this is easily one of the best looking console games this generation.  Hopefully the PC version will fix all that was wrong with the 360 game.

Just Cause - I know it had a ton of problems but I still think there's no game out there outside of Crysis that's really nailed that sunbaked tropical look like JC did.  Getting in an airplane and watching the weather change or the sun set...omg.  I still love popping it in every now and then and just flying around the islands.

PGR4 - I think I've talked enough about this. Yeah.

COD4 - Just for the Death from Above level.  I know it's incredibly simplistic but man, did that ever do the trick.

Tomb Raider Legends - King Arthur's Tomb.  That some next gen shit right there.

[Smooth Groove]

Uncharted had the worst looking explosions out of the games mentioned above so it can't be #1. 

[Joe Molotov]

Super Mario Galaxy

Wii

[Raban]

I'd say Uncharted, but in all honesty, LP is much much better looking. The game comes ahead because the whole package is so good. The sound is absolutely mindblowing, everything sounds like an explosion. The particle effects are insane, the explosion effects are absolutely astounding and the scale is mindbending.

I agree Ancient about the forest in Uncharted not feeling alive at all. It felt like a movie set, but I think it was supposed to.

[y2kev]

In 2006, nothing touched Gears for me. Nothing on any platform anywhere. I was and still am amazed at how amazing it was. But I recently replayed it and it seemed kind of angular and blocky. But the initial impression is one of absolute amazement.

The stuff they are doing with UE3 (undoubtedly for Gears 2) to make the world feel more organic is going to be amazing. Soft bodies, water effects, better lighting....maybe just turn down the industrial design a bit and we're good to go. The mansion bit of Gears was awesome.

When you are wandering through the rain at the beginning of Gears Act 3, it's unreal. I was like O. M. F. G. And then I went to Resistance was was like PSlol 

[CurseoftheGods]

Gears of War.

Most impressive? Super Mario Galaxy considering the hardware. The game looked HD at times.

[y2kev]

Actually, no, I'm being harsh on Resistance since it does get pretty IMO.

Then I went to Wii Sports and was like wii lol 

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Uncharted had the worst looking explosions out of the games mentioned above so it can't be #1. 

[youtube=425,350]1hH6xlUhLyw[/youtube]

That part right there cancels out any shitty looking explosions.....and I didn't think they were too bad to begin with.

[Smooth Groove]

In 2006, nothing touched Gears for me. Nothing on any platform anywhere. I was and still am amazed at how amazing it was. But I recently replayed it and it seemed kind of angular and blocky. But the initial impression is one of absolute amazement.

I recently played Gears again and felt the same way.  It still looked great but it just seemed a little lifeless compared to more recent graphical blockbusters. 

I disagree with you on COD4 though.  60fps on a console FPS is almost unheard of, in this era.  That COD4 managed to do 60 fps while maintaining pretty good visuals is very impressive.  Also, at 60fps, it's pumping a lot more polys/s than any other console shooter. 

Of course, COD4 should still be played on a PC if you have the hardware for it.  60fps w/4x AA at greater than 1080p FTW!

[y2kev]

DMC4 and BP look better than COD4 to me though. Personally I think the game shows the Quake 3 roots it was built upon.

edit: and it's not 720p on console

[Smooth Groove]

I know it's not 720p but it's not really noticeable.  Lost Odyssey is 720p and it looks far jaggier than COD4 on consoles. 

[MCD]

I know it's not 720p but it's not really noticeable.  Lost Odyssey is 720p and it looks far jaggier than COD4 on consoles. 

you can thank UE3 for that.

[brawndolicious]

Probably AC because it has so much going on.  No matter how many times I play it, my friends and I never stop being amazed by the detail.  The game managed to combine decent looking environments and character models with incredible draw distance and it let you climb all over the game world.  Just awesome to look at no matter how long you play.

Lost Planet is a really close second due to how much shit would go on.  I don't remember getting caught in a huge loop in that game but I only played it once on normal.  However, when you get into it and are going all out on a boss in a mech with barely enough power to keep it running and explosions/alien buttholes are coming right next to you, it's BEAUTIFUL.  definitely one of the early graphical gems this generation.

I only played the UC demo but it felt odd walking and climbing due to the character never..quite..touching the environment.  The animations were great before he touches anything though but the game had some rough edges that made it look like the artists were kind of lazy.  Like how the leaves wave an unusual amount and all in unison as though the artists want to really show off the leaves power.  That reminded me of Rogue Squadron 3 where Factor 5 purposely waved them too much so you could actually notice them on the speeder bike level.  The explosions (grenades) were also pretty weak but maybe they just wanted them to look realistic and not cause a mountain of dirt/fire to come up?

[Junpei the Tracer!]

Debiru Mei Kurai 4.

[drew]

Halo 3

*runs*

[Mupepe]

Assassin's Creed

So much going on and it looks so clean.  Everything animates beautifully as well.  Beautiful all around

[Solo]

Artistically: BioShock
Technically: Crysis
Personal favorite despite technical woes: Mass Effect

[MCD]

Artistically: BioShock
Technically: Crysis
Personal favorite despite technical woes: Mass Effect

consoles only.

[drew]

You really should buy a second game man.

haha what?

my gamercard says otherwise   

[Solo]

Artistically: BioShock
Technically: Crysis
Personal favorite despite technical woes: Mass Effect

consoles only.

Fine. List stays the same, but swap in Uncharted for Crysis.

[drohne]

probably uncharted, though i wish it didn't tear

i'm actually really impressed with dmc4 -- the distant in-game camera works against it, but some of the cutscenes almost look prerendered, and if you look at the models in the 'library' section they're just ridiculously detailed. the rest of the japanese development community needs some of what capcom is smoking

[CurseoftheGods]

Rez HD.

Good call.

[Rman]

probably uncharted, though i wish it didn't tear

i'm actually really impressed with dmc4 -- the distant in-game camera works against it, but some of the cutscenes almost look prerendered, and if you look at the models in the 'library' section they're just ridiculously detailed. the rest of the japanese development community needs some of what capcom is smoking

There is a precipitous difference in production values with Capcom's titles and all the other japanese devs offerings.  I think AM2's VF5 is the only title that has matched the Capcom's offerings production values wise.  But that was developed for the arcade market originally, though.

[TVC15]

Assassin's Creed.  Uncharted is a close second.

[Van Cruncheon]

Uncha for  cutscene animation

lol

[y2kev]

Uncha for  cutscene animation

lol

No rry, I think in the cutscenes it's very sweet. Like the metalbar handjob lol. I think in game it looks a little floaty.

[Van Cruncheon]

to answer the question: pgr4, super stardust hd, lost planet 360, or bioshock. probably pgr4.

honorable mention: graw 2.

could be great on a beefier platform that didn't require glitchy, faked-up effects: uncharted

[Van Cruncheon]

Uncha for  cutscene animation

lol

No rry, I think in the cutscenes it's very sweet. Like the metalbar handjob lol. I think in game it looks a little floaty.

no effin' way. every animation is overarticulated, and the faces look straight out of some inbred family living in a trailer in Uncanny Valley, Utah. any time elena tries to emote, her eyebrows angle at LEAST 45 degrees in some random direction. and nate's mouth moves in ways only tvc could appreciate. cartoon expressions on realistic (and poorly modeled) characters (with giant heads) freak me the fuck out!

[y2kev]

You know, you really like to rail on how it cheats to create the overall effect....maybe more games should cheat.

[Van Cruncheon]

sure, if you find glitchy stencil effects, last-gen (pc vid card gen, that is) shader artifacts, and a lack of aa good-looking!

[Smooth Groove]

Most of Uncharted's cutscenes aren't even running in real-time, so even if their animations were awesome (which they're not), they wouldn't be as impressive as something like DMC4. 

to answer the question: pgr4, super stardust hd, lost planet 360, or bioshock. probably pgr4.

honorable mention: graw 2.

could be great on a beefier platform that didn't require glitchy, faked-up effects: uncharted

Why are you always right?

[drohne]

uncharted has excellent facial animation. i believe it was done by hand rather than motion captured, and it's certainly not as naturalistic as heavenly sword's, but to rail on it when there are still high-profile games that animate like halo 3 is kind of crazy

as for pgr4, gt5's london track looks much better in shots. an english game about city tracks can't do london as well as a broadly-focused japanese racing sim...and it's running at half the framerate besides. after getting owned like that you may as well ditch the franchise and sell out to activision

[AdmiralViscen]

AC

[Smooth Groove]

uncharted has excellent facial animation. i believe it was done by hand rather than motion captured, and it's certainly not as naturalistic as heavenly sword's, but to rail on it when there are still high-profile games that animate like halo 3 is kind of crazy

Neither of these games had many cutscenes running in real-time though.  In Uncharted's case, I don't even know if they had any.  HS had some realtime cutscenes that would have looked amazing, if not for the horrendous slowdown and tearing. 

[y2kev]

Halo 3's cutscenes are so lol. And you called that game pretty, Prole! You can't say shit about uncharted!

I'm kind of glad the game has gotten its fair share of backlash in the post-COD4 world, because even though I love Halo 3, the ballwashers making excuses for the game looking like shit was embarrassing.

[drohne]

as an unregenerated graphics whore, i'd gladly sit through loading screens to see those cutscenes rendered in real time. but i guess that approach doesn't make much sense when you've got enough disc space for good video encodes. and anyway prerecorded cutscenes don't take anything away from the quality of the animation

[Van Cruncheon]

Halo 3's cutscenes are so lol. And you called that game pretty, Prole! You can't say shit about uncharted!

did i? i was one of the bashers, as i recall, although the lighting model still impresses.

[y2kev]

Halo 3's cutscenes are so lol. And you called that game pretty, Prole! You can't say shit about uncharted!

did i? i was one of the bashers, as i recall, although the lighting model still impresses.

It's not bad, I guess. It's still lighting jaggy art drawn by 3 year olds.

[Smooth Groove]

I could still see video compression artifacts in Uncharted when cutscenes aren't in real time, which makes me feel disconnected.  Perhaps, the video codecs aren't quite up to par?  Judging from what animated flicks look like on BD, videos should look just as crisp as real time graphics.

It's one reason why I really haven't been able to get into LO's cutscenes so far.   It just feels weird to go back and forth between real time graphics and an obvious videoclip.  Oddly, I don't feel that way when the video is obivously much better than gameplay graphics, like FF games.

 Also, if a game's cutscenes aren't running in real time, shouldn't they be judged on different standards?   Uncharted's cutscenes, if not running in real-time, really are not very impressive in comparison to other prerendered cutscenes.  

[drohne]

uncha's facial animation is stylistically similar to hl2's. which still holds up really fucking well.

valve

i don't know what drugs i was on when i took bungie's side in the message board arguments of late 2004

[y2kev]

I thought H2 was pretty visually impressive. :\

Texture problems aside.

H2 is definitely on the high end of Xbox games though. H3 is on the low end of 360 games.

[Van Cruncheon]

uncha's facial animation is far closer to jak and daxter's than hl2's! do not troll!

[drohne]

jak 2 had some amazing cutscene animation as well

halo 2 is on the high end of xbox games. halo 3 is also on the high end of xbox games. subtle beauty

[Mupepe]

jak 2 had some amazing cutscene animation as well

halo 2 is on the high end of xbox games. halo 3 is also on the high end of xbox games. subtle beauty

[drohne]

i mean, why spend money hiring competent programmers and artists and animators when you can just buy off dan hsu

[y2kev]

i mean, why spend money hiring competent programmers and artists and animators when you can just buy off dan hsu

his review was pretty funny too

Somebody must have forgotten to mail the check to Parish, Lord of Douchitude

[Rman]

I thought you liked Parish, kev?

[y2kev]

A ton. But I like a bit of douchitude in my reviewers-- the raving fanboys are much too dangerous.

But I don't really like how Parish often crusades against certain retro franchises.

[Beezy]

Either CoD4 or Burnout Paradise. I haven't played enough of Blue Dragon to be able to judge it.