Games that impressed you (technically) in this Gen

[Deepak]

It would be nice to hear from developers if they do....

I have DC+PS2 so...but I am no 3D expert so I ll use layman's language...

DC

Soul Calibur + DoA2 - These games still impress me today, and they manage to hold their ground in front of PS2 fighters. Visually they look almost identical to PS2 fighters. Esp in DoA2 when you fall from height it looks awesome!

PS2

GT3 - Most realistic cars!
B2-PoI - 60 FPS always and with nice crashes though am more impressed with crashes in NFSU!
NFS:HP2 - I am impressed with HUGE racing tracks.
WRC2:E - Best looking snow!

Devil May Cry: The game that visually impressed me most is neither MGS2 or SH3, it is DMC. An awesome game with an equal gameplay to match, with constant 60 FPS thruought the game with mind blowing incredibly fast paced action. Though I never played DMC2 (due to adverse reviews), I am waiting for DMC3 which has been confirmed by magicbox.com.

MGS2 - Best water in a game I have seen, everything in this game is near perfection (well except the story but not by a large margin mind you..hehe), best boss fight in a game (4 Metal Gears against Raiden).

SH3 - Most realistic looking character models in a game I have seen and with dynamic self shadowing.

Splinter Cell - Best lighting!

MotoGP3 - Racing while it is raining in fps mode is awesome!

Ico
R&C
AC4

and many more....I don't have time to write...

 

[nobie]

SH3 is the best I've seen on PS2. FFX-2 had some very pretty moments though.

 

[Pork chops]

Ghosthunter
GT3
Grand Prix Challenge

 

[nAo]

J&DII...technically speaking is one of the most impressive thing I've ever seen.
(PA desn't lie.. )

 

[PARANOiA]

On the consoles I've owned recently owned:

Xbox:
DOA3 - still extremely impressive. If Tecmo could cook as well as they can code, I'd be very very fat Pity about the fun factor, but meh.
PGR2 - the little details still blow me away in this game
Panzer Dragoon Orta - just damn sexy.

DC:
Soul Calibur - years on the sequel is no huge improvement graphically
DOA2 - this just looked so damn tight, didn't it?
MvC2 - the speed and amazing things that jumped out of everywhere really knocked me out, coming straight from the PS1 (as did most DC owners) 2D can look damn good when done well.

 

[London Geezer]

TECHNICALLY
Best 2D game:
Guilty Gear X2 (for PS2 in Pro-scan, absolutely A M A Z I N G)


Best Special effects/ cinematic feel:
Zone of the Enders 2 (by far)

Best characters:
Silent Hill 3

Best overall:
Jak 2


NON-TECHNICALLY:
(By far) ICO

Special Mention:
Burnout 2, Ratchet&Clank (both 1 and 2), Lord of the Rings(both TTT and ROTK)


ZOE2, SH3 and Jak2 made all the more impressive considering the platform they're running on.

 

[AbbA]

Technically speaking, JakII and Zoe2.

 

[rabidrabbit]

GT3, especially the Concept version - most realistic looking game this gen on any console.

MGS2 - Beautiful cinematics, I was amazed at the time that everything really was done with game engine. First game with believable physics engine.

SH3 - Best character facial modelling

ZOE2 - Best effects

ICO - proves you don't need fancy super effects and shiny shine to have a game athmosphere that is still to be beaten.

Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy - First with beautiful vistas and truly long viewing distance and nonexistent loading times. Animation is superb too. JakII improved on some aspects, but J&D was still the first.

Burnout 2 - Great physics that are well implemented in gameplay, technically good too, only art direction was 'dull'.

 

[wazoo]

Gc : Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness, wind Waker, RE

ps2 : MGS2 and ZOE2, Jak2, SH3, ICO, GT3, WRC2

currently playing Primal and Kya Dark Lineage

Primal has some of the best graphics on the ps2 and Kya has everything Naughty Dog was proud of JD mixed with an awesome fighting engine.

 

[evil]

Rebel Strike on the GC looks really amazing. Shame the gameplay sucks ;p

 

[Guden Oden]

F-Zero on the Cube is one hell of a technical achievement too, IMO. Flashy graphics, cool handling and SPEEEED!

People have already mentioned all my other candidates, so this is my nominee!

 

[Pork chops]

Primal has some of the best graphics on the ps2 and Kya has everything Naughty Dog was proud of JD mixed with an awesome fighting engine.

Primal's graphics are great but Ghosthunter just pushes the Primal engine a bit further. In some places especially the larger indoor enviroments the textures are amazing, not a jag in site or any shimmering. I wonder what Cambridge are working on next? they only do 3 games per generation so it'll be their last one for PS2

Primal 2
C-13
Medievil 3

place your bets now

And that Transformer game by melbourne house looks mint.

 

[London Geezer]

Primal has some of the best graphics on the ps2 and Kya has everything Naughty Dog was proud of JD mixed with an awesome fighting engine.

Primal's graphics are great but Ghosthunter just pushes the Primal engine a bit further. In some places especially the larger indoor enviroments the textures are amazing, not a jag in site or any shimmering. I wonder what Cambridge are working on next? they only do 3 games per generation so it'll be their last one for PS2

Primal 2
C-13
Medievil 3

place your bets now

And that Transformer game by melbourne house looks mint.

I think Studio Cambridge, just like all of Sony's UK studios, need to focus on THE GAMES and not so much about the presentation... Ghosthunter was ATROCIOUS to play, absolutely unacceptable in this generation. As pretty as they can be, if they play like Ghosthunter, their future efforts will be crap.

 

[_phil_]

NON-TECHNICALLY:
(By far) ICO

How that ? ICO is more technical than often thought.It doesnt play the "impressive card" still.

-First in-game IK with this level of complexity.
-Amongs the first to do selfshadowing
-First HDR effects
-good handling of ropes ,chains .

Ico is probably more technical overall than DOA3 (basicaly an animation player).no flame(just a little) .

(edited for KB dyslexie)

 

[Deepak]

MGS2 - Best animation!

The Getaway - Most realistic vehicle crashes in a game. London City! So many vehicles on screen.

Time Splitter 2 - 60 FPS, second best rain effects in a game (after MGS2).

 

[London Geezer]

NON-TECHNICALLY:
(By far) ICO

How that ? ICO is more technical than often thought.It doesnt play the "impressive card" still.

-First in-game IK with this level of complexity.
-Amongs the first to do selfshadowing
-First HDR effects
-good handling of ropes ,chains .

Ico is probably more technical overall than DOA3 (basicaly an animation player).no flame(just a little) .

(edited for KB dyslexie)

Yes i actually did hesitate on that one, because i agree with you. Basically what i wanted to say is that although there are more impressive games out there from a technical point of view, ICO deserves mention because it uses very subtle but complex effects to achieve what i would consider the best looking game i've played this generation.
Other games push an insane amount of polygons around, particles, have characters with tens of thousands of polygons with hi-res textures, but what ICO does is convey a sense of art with what "little" it does.
And you forgot to mention the trees. By far the best animated trees this generation

 

[ChryZ]

GC: Rebel Strike ... runner ups: F-Zero GX, Wind Waker
PS2: ZOE2, SH3, JAK2, ICO, MGS2 ... runner ups: GT(3|4), BO2, BGA

 

[[maven]]

GC:
Ikaruga (well.. this'd go into the DC category as well) - number of sprites
Mario Sunshine - water
Metroid Prime - streaming, subtle effects
Wind Waker - consistent cell-shading, and making it seem effortless

XBox:
PGR2 - seeming (?) amount of polys pushed, details

Multi:
SSX3 and Soul Calibur 2 - for being good multi-platform titles that still look better than some "exclusives"

 

[Evil_Cloud]

Virtua Fighter 4, and especially Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution. Virtually arcade perfect.

 

[Guden Oden]

How that ? ICO is more technical than often thought.It doesnt play the "impressive card" still.

It has a bunch of nice effects yes (and the water does refraction too doesn't it?), but also, ropes and chains go THRU the legs of the main character, it runs at 30fps despite being not very complex and has texture aliasing out the wazoo. Overall, Ico is much more about design than technical prowess.