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Best rain levels....

Sealda said:
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Yes so good! I hope Retro is working on another metroid for the wii u. I want to see rain creating puddles and dripping down my visor all the time, not fading away immediately.
 
I love rain levels.

To the OP -- Uncharted 2 had at least two rain segments. The bit at the end someone already posted a GIF of, and the part right before and after the
villain shoots the cameraman
.

Also, kudos to the people who mentioned Donkey Kong Country 2, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Heavy Rain, Red Dead Redemption, and might I add, Undead Nightmare. I also loved it when it stormed in The Wind Waker, and the opening of A Link to the Past is always my favorite part of the game because of the rain. I love the sounds of the storm outside when you're in Link's house at the start.

I would be very interested to see footage of the atmospheric rain in the Super NES Harvest Moon, if anyone could link to it. This rain level in L4D2 sounds interesting, too.
 
the first thing that came to mind was Gran Turismo 3's (PS2) rain-soaked streets ... it was the first game I got with my PS2 and I'd always play it to show off the graphic muscle in my new console.
 
Quite a few that come to mind but the one that sticks out is L4D2's Hard Rain map. The way the rain is handled with the howling wind and you losing sight of your teammates adds a lot to the atmosphere. That and zombies rushing out through the haze at you.
 
MGS2
Halo ODST
Gears 1
Gears 2
Metroid PRime
PGR4

Basically everything already listed. Never realised that there's almost no horrible rain levels. Doesn't God of War have a good one too?
 
MikeE21286 said:
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Also, here some pics at Games Rader about The evolution of rain
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Probably the best example of all time. While it has been surpassed in many ways, it still looks incredible to this day. What places it ahead of the competition, however, is the fact that it looked like that back in 2001. There had never been a 3D game with rain even remotely as impressive nor were there any others that impressive released that generation. Seeing the rain blow around at 60 fps was just unreal. It wasn't simply a repeating pattern, rather, the rain intensity and direction changed as you ran around. Watching the droplets hit the camera and refract light was also amazing.

One example that I think is given too much credit is PGR4. The shaders used on surfaces were extremely impressive, but the rain drops themselves were ugly and unrealistic in comparison. I thought this created an unfortunate contrast between the ultra realistic wet surfaces and blocky raindrops.
 
My absolute favorite has not been mentioned from what I can tell...

Shadow of the Colossus' final colossus battle. The wind and rain whipping through the tunnel as you make your way to the battle ground where the sky is darkened and opens up as thunder and lightning cracks overhead. The groans of the beast and sounds of his attacks... All that over the amazing 'Demise of a Ritual' score. You disappoint me, Gaf.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLF3bZ48Qzs
 
Have to agree with people saying Hard Rain from L4D2.

When the heavy rain kicks it it lowers the voice chat volume which always results in me and my friends shouting at each other to follow and avoid boomers and such. It's especially awesome on realism mode, because when the heavy rain hits you can't see ANYTHING.
 
The only thing I have to say about rain in video games is when I got Red Dead Redemption when it came out, my friends and I just were screwing around in free roam for probably a good 3 hours. It started raining shortly after we started and it didn't stop. At all. About 2 hours in we made it a challenge to stay in the game until it stopped raining, but we just got bored and it never did stop. The phrase "IT'S STILL RAINING" was said allot.
 
Loved the storms in Wind Waker, especially coming across the giant squid. Awesome moment.

Crysis 2's Times Square level looked phenomenal as well.
 
Nessus said:
I loved how organic the rain felt in that game, how it would roll in as you were sailing. Felt like what you could expect if you really were out at sea.
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Yes, and it's just a part of what makes the atmosphere in the game like none other. Being on a small island, no music playing and just the wind and rain. I loved that.
 
MoonsaultSlayer said:
My absolute favorite has not been mentioned from what I can tell...

Shadow of the Colossus' final colossus battle. The wind and rain whipping through the tunnel as you make your way to the battle ground where the sky is darkened and opens up as thunder and lightning cracks overhead. The groans of the beast and sounds of his attacks... All that over the amazing 'Demise of a Ritual' score. You disappoint me, Gaf.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLF3bZ48Qzs
Click to expand...
Ah yes, that is also one of my favorites. Absolutely mind blowing. Can't wait to play that sequence at a higher framerate.
 
Pazuzu9 said:
PGR4 has very natural weather effects - there's no way Bizarre could have created them in a 60fps game.
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-bakalhau- said:
Because when you're playing the game it looks fantastic, shaders or no shaders...
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I'm really sensitive to repetitiveness and it really stands out in PGR 4 windshield animation. Yeah effects are low res in GT 5 but are dynamic and they even simulate drops grass and dirt on windshield. PGR 4 also dont have many particles that gets out from wheels and reflections on road, there's not many raid drops in visible in atmospherics as well. So maybe it looks ok, but definitely dont look amazing and especially natural.
 
Black Friday from Brothers in Arms Hells Highway

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That said, Hells Highway is one of my favorite games of this generation.
 
Crummy rain effects in otherwise good looking games is something I often notice. I don't know why most devs don't or can't make good looking rain, but most of the time it just looks like small grey toothpicks falling out of the sky. When is the last time you saw rain that looked like that in real life?

I know of one example of rain that actually looked realistic....and it's a 10 year old game. It is Metal Gear Solid 2.

The rain realistically swirls about in the wind, lashes against the ground, forms puddles...nothing I have seen has been able to match it, and the game is 10 years old. Kojima Pro is on a whole different level.

Why are devs still using the "toothpick" style of rain, given the capabilities of modern hardware, and considering what we know is possible even on ancient hardware like the PS2?
 
Yeah, the Tobal No. 1 Mufu stage and Torvus Bog for me. Part of what makes them so great is that the music for each incorporates elements of the rainfall into them. Supremely atmospheric, which is always something rain should be evoking in a game.

I'll play them - Hills of Jugon and the Torvus Bog theme - on rainy days and it feels so damned right.
 
Might be cheating but Read Dead Redemption ENDING SPOILERS
When I went after Edgar Ross, it was raining the whole time on my path to vengeance. And when I finally got to him it was stormy, with lightning everywhere during the duel
.

That was the best rain level I ever played and knowing that I can't have something like that repeat without extreme luck saddens me.
 
I thought the rain effects in Ultima 7 were pretty amazing for the time. The atmosphere and 'weird' storm sounds would often make me stop and be glad I was inside.
It was only simulated wind, but it worked and that made a big difference.
 
Crewnh said:
Might be cheating but Read Dead Redemption ENDING SPOILERS
When I went after Edgar Ross, it was raining the whole time on my path to vengeance. And when I finally got to him it was stormy, with lightning everywhere during the duel
.

That was the best rain level I ever played and knowing that I can't have something like that repeat without extreme luck saddens me.
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Weird, cuz this happened too during my playthrough. Really set the mood. Didnt know it was random.
 
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