PS2 game with the best graphics

[MasaC]

God of War (absolutely breathtaking)

Silent Hill 3 (best in the series)

Gran Turismo 4 (never thought they could improve this much after the third game)

Primal (same game engine was used in Ghosthunter and also in the upcoming 24 game, I believe)

ICO (not technically but artistically it's just gorgeous and brilliant design)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (best in the series)

 

[Jabjabs]

Once apon a time there where three good looking PS2 games, they are

Burnout Revenge
Black
God of War

And they all lived happily ever after.

*the end*

 

[wireframe]

I'm defeinitely not a Playstation veteran, but it seems I have been exposed to and like the same games as most others; most of these being relatively new titles.

Metal Gear Solid 3 - Wow! This game really got me wondering "how do they do this on such a small piece of kit?" {almost a spoiler!} The part after the first boss battle with Ocelot where you fall into the caverns really made my eyes pop{/end almost a spoiler}. Of course I had seen nice specular effects on the PC before, but seeing those wet cavern walls and everything...on this tiny thing (slimline PS2)... *gasp*. The fluid mechnics of the throw moves and details like throat slitting (not for kids!) made it visually intriguing. Probably one of the best games I have ever played (or should that be "experienced"?) and I have played a few.

Silent Hill 3 - I recently picked this title out of the bargain bin and haven't actually gotten around to playing it yet. Just some moving around at the very early parts of the game. However, it looks very impressive.

Resident Evil 4 - Wonderfully conceived graphics. Look too close and you will see the shortcomings, but just let it happen and flow and you will see some wonderful technical and artistic collaboration. It just works. I actually felt cold and wet running around in that mist. I could smell this game.

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Some further comments on other games I see mentioned in the thread, but that I would not necessarily have mentioned if I had been first to respond to the OP:

God of War - This game is good looking, but I don't think I ever stopped to admire its beauty. It is too fast paced for that. It just works. It looks great, but I am not sure this is really that relevant to a title such as this. I would say that the only reason I am impressed about the graphics in this game is because I compare it to Devil May Cry 3 and it lays the smack pretty heavily on that title.

Gran Turismo 4 - I actually bought my PS2 just to play this game or, rather, just to see what the fuzz was about. I absolutely hate everything about it except the introductory sequence with its magnificent music and imagery. That's just me though, because apparently everyone else loves it!

Burnout 3 & Revenge - Nothing spectacular, but again, it just works. It needs to be fast and fast it is. Quite impressive, but you actually have to think about it for that to come through. It's not stunning in a still frame.

Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner - Is this ZOE 2? I understand this to be a remake of the original ZOE, but I am not sure. Ranges from very good - comic looking graphics - too bland "3D vector shooter". Haven't really played it that much. Not mentioned because the viuals stuck in my mind, but rather hoping for clarification if this is the same ZOE as previously mentioned in this thread.

Silent Hill 4: The Room - For some reason this game looks worse than its predecessor from what I have seen. I didn't like the gameplay mechanics of this game enough to keep playing it. Perhaps I will be more motivated to do so after I play and finish SH3.

Viewtiful Joe - I think this is a lovely title. The cell shaded graphics work very well coupled with the creamy smoothness of the gameplay. Again, nothing stunning in a captured still, but in motion and at the controls you get an interesting visual experience and that's what "good graphics" are about for me.

I just want to slip in a general comment about the quality of graphics on the PS2. Like I have said, I am very impressed by how this tiny and cheap thing can produce imagery this good (when compared to the fact that you'd pay a lot more for just a video card for the PC). So, there is definitely an "in context" quilification at work here. Maybe I should expect even more. At any rate, what really gets to me is how all this is done running live from a DVD. That was my first thought when playing games like Killzone and all others mentioned in this thread. Here I am with a PC with a fast large hard disk. I install gigabytes of data and run it on a video card costing three times as much as a PS2...and what have I got to show for it? :neutral:

 

[London Geezer]

Yes, ZOE2 is what we call "ZOE: The 2nd Runner". It's just easier for us to say ZOE2, as it's not a remake of the first ZOE, it's actually a sequel. And my god it's 100 times better than the first!

I've started up RE4 last night and i was shocked at how bad it looked, but maybe that's just me, i'll probably have to play it a bit more.

Also started up Tekken5 and it was just beautiful. Does anyone know if the PAL version still has progressive scan? If so, how do i enable it? TRIANGLE and X at the beginning didn't seem to work...

 

[.Melchiah.]

Silent Hill 4: The Room - For some reason this game looks worse than its predecessor from what I have seen. I didn't like the gameplay mechanics of this game enough to keep playing it. Perhaps I will be more motivated to do so after I play and finish SH3.

I agree.

Maybe the reason why SH3 looks better is because it was developed exclusively for PS2, whereas SH4 was developed simultaneously for PS2 and Xbox.

The game itself is also a step down from its predecessor. It's telling that eventhough I'm a big fan of the series, and bought SH4 the day it was released, I still haven't played it through.

 

[LunchBox]

I would have to say ZOE2, Ghost Hunter (eventhough it was cheesy), God of War, Bujingai was quite nice too.

 

[rabidrabbit]

Bujingai????

 

[London Geezer]

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/bujingai/review.html

 

[rabidrabbit]

I guess it was never released in the EU

 

[Nick Laslett]

Similar thread: http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19103

Here was my contribution (updated for 2006)

10. God of War
9. Shadow of Colossus
8. Primal
7. ZOE2
6. Soul Calibur 3
5. Jak 3
4. Burnout Revenge
3. GT4
2. MGS3
1. Black

Why:

10. God of War
Framerate, 480p, geometry, textures, animation, streaming.
9. Shadow of Colossus
Art direction, 480p, lighting, animation, fur.
8. Primal
Art direction, textures, lighting, 480p, draw distance, streaming.
7. ZOE2
Effects, geometry, framerate (480p using Blaze VGA hack.).
6. Soul Calibur 3
Framerate, 480p, animation, art direction, effects.
5. Jak 3
Framerate, animation, 480p, geometry, draw distance, streaming.
4. Burnout Revenge
Framerate, 480p, geometry, effects, physics.
3. GT4
Framerate, physics, art direction, lighting, 480p, geometry.
2. MGS3
Textures, art direction, lighting, effects, framerate (480p using Blaze VGA hack.).
1. Black
Effects, physics, framerate, 480p, geometry, textures, lighting.

Framerate = Does the game run at 60fps. How smooth is the framerate, does it fluctuate.

480p = Does the game use a full height back buffer and output a 480 line progressive scan image. This effects image stability, clarity and vibrancy.

Art Direction = Character design, location design, palette choices.

Textures = Quality of textures, variety of textures, application.

Lighting = Light sources, shadowing

Geometry = Polygons on screen, complexity of models, environment

Effects = Fire, water, smoke, explosions, particles, filters, etc

Animation = Character animation, how smooth.

Physics = Does the game use real time physics to change what you see on display.

Streaming = How does the game load, does it stream the data as you play with no levels.

 

[Nick Laslett]

After the IGN PS2 best games list I started a project to video capture clips of some of these games. But full 480p progressive scan video capture equipment is too expensive and if it was only going to be 480i component and I couldn't see the point.

But I did start looking at these games very closely.

What surprised me was how disappointed I was with Silent Hill 3.

Using the Blaze VGA hack this game runs in 480p with no problems.

But the graphics just weren't that great. The character modelling was good, but the environments were so small, with annoying load times and the framerate was only 30fps.

For me it was really starting to show it's age, something like MGS3 had much more impressive textures and stuff like Haunting Grounds aka Demento had streaming environments.

A lot of people have mentioned Champions of Norrath and all those games that use Snowblind's engine look very impressive. Norrath & Return to Arms also use bumpmapping. But there is something about the fixed view angle and limited draw distance that makes me reluctant to rate the graphics too highly.

BTW, Jak3 is another PS2 title to feature bump mapping.

Another game that has great looking graphics is Onimusha 2. The pre-rendered backgrounds are beautiful and the animated water effects especially impressive. But there is something about of using pre-renders that makes me prejudice against it. Genji is another good looking Samuari game, but I've not played it enough to make up my mind on the graphics.

 

[nintenho]

BTW, Jak3 is another PS2 title to feature bump mapping.

Where exactly?

 

[Nick Laslett]

Where exactly?

According to a developer interview on Eurogamer site (not sure if it's still there?)

The sand.

A few years back on B3D it was a big deal if a commercial PS2 game had bump mapping.

Technically it had been demonstrated in demos, but had not been seen in a real game.

Of course there are many ways to achieve a particular effect. See Splinter Cell 3 on the PS2, where the develper is claiming some kind of normal mapping.

 

[Deepak]

Yes, ZOE2 is what we call "ZOE: The 2nd Runner". It's just easier for us to say ZOE2, as it's not a remake of the first ZOE, it's actually a sequel. And my god it's 100 times better than the first!

How many times have you played ZOE2? Just curious bec'se you are the biggest ZOE fan on B3D. Any info whether there will be ZOE3?

 

[Nick Laslett]

How many times have you played ZOE2? Just curious bec'se you are the biggest ZOE fan on B3D. Any info whether there will be ZOE3?

All these complaints about Black only being 6 hours long, I think ZOE2 clocked in at only 5.

I hope there will be a sequel, the folks at GAF don't seem to be so confident.

 

[London Geezer]

How many times have you played ZOE2? Just curious bec'se you are the biggest ZOE fan on B3D. Any info whether there will be ZOE3?

Heh i've played it LOTS of times, and personally i wouldn't want him any longer to be honest. Or, maybe i should explain it better, for a game like ZOE, being short is not really a shortcoming, although it would be nice to have more levels and more things to do. It's not a game i can finish in one go so it's good for me.
I have no idea how many times i've finished it, but i've finished on every difficulty level exept EASY, and i think i've also finished ALL the special missions... Took me a long time too.

EDIT: Oh forgot, Kojima said they're not working on a sequel not even for PS3, which is a big let down, but i'm sure something will come up eventually...

 

[!eVo!-X Ant UK]

According to a developer interview on Eurogamer site (not sure if it's still there?)

The sand.

A few years back on B3D it was a big deal if a commercial PS2 game had bump mapping.

Technically it had been demonstrated in demos, but had not been seen in a real game.

Of course there are many ways to achieve a particular effect. See Splinter Cell 3 on the PS2, where the develper is claiming some kind of normal mapping.

Ghost hunter has it also, its in a mine on the walls just before you get to prision. It looks x-box quality but the downside is that the ONLY place were i seen it

 

[Fast]

Where exactly?

I remember seeing it where Daxter falls down a "slide" where you control him, going left, right or jumping. The metal surface of the slide was bump mapped if my memory serves me right.

 

[darkblu]

Soul Calibur 3 (F*cking brilliantly designed stages! Especially the boss's stage. Meteors falling on earth!! I am also 90% sure there's normal mapping on the wall in Raphael's stage)

it's not normal mapping. it's environmental/specular mapping with masking, but it does create very similar effect to normal mapping. otherwise yes, the game visuals are mind-boggling (esp having in mind the perceived capabilities of the platform).

doh, almost forgot to present my list too:

zoe2 (for being a freaking tribute to the paltform, playing on its best sides)
sc3 (for the technical expertise to get looks deemed beyond such lowly hw, at an almost constant 60fps)
gow (for the atmosphere and specal fx standing out big time, done without a glitch in the framerate)

more or less in that order.

 

[Serenity Painted Death]

Both stages of Lost Cathedral in Soul Calibur 3 are simply breathtaking in progressive mode. These need to make a return appearance next-gen.