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Best specific effects in video games

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mrkgoo

Member
Which video games you've played have you seen the best effects?

For me (keeping in mind, I really haven't play all that much, particularly newer and more powerful stuff like XBox or PC):

Fire: Resident Evil 4 (How is it done? 2D sprites? 3D models? Either way, it looks fantastic)
Water: Hard to say - possibly Resident Evil Remake
Rain: Metal Gear Solid 2 (rain drops as part of the character model was genius)
Fog/mist: Silent Hill2
Hair: ?
Reflectiveness: Gran Turismo4
Torch: Silent Hill 2or Luigi's Mansion.


come up with some more.
 
mrkgoo said:
Which video games you've played have you seen the best effects?

For me (keeping in mind, I really haven't play all that much, particularly newer and more powerful stuff like XBox or PC):

Fire: Resident Evil 4 (How is it done? 2D sprites? 3D models? Either way, it looks fantastic)
Water: Hard to say - possibly Resident Evil Remake
Rain: Metal Gear Solid 2 (rain drops as part of the character model was genius)
Fog/mist: Silent Hill2
Hair: ?
Reflectiveness: Gran Turismo4
Torch: Silent Hill 2or Luigi's Mansion.


come up with some more.
Click to expand...


Water i would say super mario sunshine, the game was average but the water was good!
 
captainflimflam said:
it may not have been the first time it was used in a game. but the shealth effect on the Ninja in Metal Gear Solid PSOne.
Click to expand...

Never played it on Psone, but I recall the effect being pretty neat in Twin Snakes. Now that you mention it, I was really wowed by the stealth effect in Residetn Evil 4 - man those things were pretty scary the first time.
 
Doc Holliday said:
The glare from the sun in ICO!

The rain in MGS3 esp during the sorrow and hover bike chase scenes.
Click to expand...

Ico, of course -the sun was awesome. One of the first times I felt like the graphics were really 'real' (Silent Hill 2was antoher one). Real life isn't all that high resolution and sharp all the way into the background (like it is in many hi-res games) -there's depth perspective.


Anyone got any opions on best trees or foliage?
 
Anyone who hasn't fought the final boss in Pikmin 2 should do so now. It's a feast for the eyes.

I agree with many of these. Mario Sunshine's water was awesome, as is RE4's.
 
Some of the best I've seen is in Champions of Norrath,but not already aewsome water effect. If your character is the Wood Elf Ranger and you mange to aquire the Ashwood bow(gold unique),not only is the bow on fire,but it leaves small streak of flame when when shot.
 
1102_18.jpg
 
Fire: Resident Evil 4, Champions of Norrath
Water: Half-Life 2, Super Mario Sunshine, RE remake, Ico, MGS2, Wreckless
Rain: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Metal Gear Solid 2, Moto GP series (Climax's, not Namco's)
Fog: Moto GP series (Climax)
Reflection: Gran Turismo 4, Ninja Gaiden, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, God of War
 
The best water I've ever seen in a game was in Onimusha 2. I can just remember a beach fight scene and the water was amazing looking.
I'm not sure if anyone else will remember this part of the game.
 
I don't think any game has come to match the water when you have the shark fight in RE Remake. It looked so natural and realistic as you walked through it.
 
Water in Mario Sunshine, definitely.

I enjoyed the hair characteristics in MGS3 as well - although there wasn't much to gloat about but seeing Eva's hair move about was stunning.
 
Truelize: That was CG...actually, it was so well done that I'm not sure if it's real footage. :P

For water effects in general, I give it to Super Mario Sunshine(Wave Race: Blue Storm is a strong second). For just water reflection, I give it to MGS3...it's just beautiful in a couple of areas.

For fire, I guess Onimusha 3...but I have yet to be truly impressed by real-time fire.

Cel-shading, well obviously Wind Waker.

Explosions, again MGS3, if only for the truly unbelievable nuclear explosion in Virtous Mission.

Smoke, ICO's monsters take the cake.

Rain, MGS2. MGS3's is nowhere near as nice looking...don't understand what's the deal with that. I guess maybe MGS3's rain is more complex or something...eh, who knows.

And since someone asked for best trees, MGS3 wins again! :D :P
 
mrkgoo said:
Anyone got any opions on best trees or foliage?
Click to expand...



Actually, I found that ICO has some of the best tree/foliage of any game --- for the life of me I can't find an image --- but if you can remember towards the middle of the game, those shimmering trees.

I think it was some form of animated-transparancy layered many many times --- just looked great as parts of the tree would bloom with the wind.
 
Dead or Alive Ultimate has some of the most drop dead gorgeous effects. The theater stage when it's on fire is amazing! The rain storm stage is also breathtaking.
 
RE4's fire effect is the best out there...at least, when it's not moving around very fast. It looks like a very high-quality animation loop, but the effect is broken when the fire is moved around too fast and the fire lacks any real physics-based particle animation...there's no trail and the flame does not stretch and sway. Standing still, the effect is incredible and life-like. Only DOA Ultimate's fire is close to it.

Best water is easily SMS, which is about the only thing memorable about that game, IMO. However, there are lots of awesome-looking and -behaving water effects in a lot of games now. I can't wait for next-gen stuff to actually (roughly) calculate the liquids as volumes and, in addition to the sexy shader capability, make it look almost perfectly real in its movement and dynamics.

MGS2, DOA: U, and Splinter Cell: CT have awesome-looking water...though no one's quite nailed the rain like it was MGS2, just for convincing-looking rain, anyway.

Reflections...hmmm...GoW is nice, as is NG, though it doesn't reflect characters consistently...I'd say Wreckless on the XBOX is still the most impressive out there...hell, that game still smokes most games in many ways...and it's old as shit now.

Hmmm...I think that, while ZOE2 is astonishing in its particle-effects usage, Otogi 2 is just better all-around...no matter which you favor, it's very, very fucking close between the two, though.
 
Have to agree with MGS2 rain. Still one of the best achievements this gen. I think Kojima just had a field day with the new hardware and created an amazing piece of digital art. MGS3 overall is the better looking game though. Kojima pulled another artistic/technical achievment with the flowers and Boss.
 
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