Best Atmosphere in a Game

[DubMan]

Silent Hill 2 should be the only considerable option, nothing comes close.

 

[cthulhu257]

Definately CryoStasis. CryoStasis is the only game that has actually made me feel cold.

 

[Capachinola]

Silent Hill 2 should be the only considerable option, nothing comes close.

Eh. I don't think atmosphere means keeping you scared all the time of what might happen.

I think it has a lot more to do with getting lost in the game as it lives around you, and you don't feel as much like your controlling a character in a game built for you, but controlling a character in a world that was already there.

So, with that, I think a lot of games come close, drive by, and than right past Silent Hill 2.

 

[_zuul]

i'd say 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen make for a good atmosphere

 

[lacktheknack]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R games have great atmosphere.

AS you walk through the landscape it almost feels peaceful at times. As if everything is still normal an you aren't actually inside a wasteland. But then you usually stumble upon a corpse or anomaly and that crushing realization that you are in a hellhole returns. The Zone shifts from a tranquil environment to open of utter hostility. The game really does establish this feeling that the zone is aware of you, hates you, and wants you dead. What I find interesting is that seeing people die around you is more successful at maintaining the atmosphere than having them live, as it fits right in with the hostility of the zone. The S.T.A.L.K.E.R games try to create a cruel and inhospitable environment, and they certainly succeed in doing so.

Though I'm probably just bestowing the games with qualities they don't actually have. Though I guess that's what immersion can do to the player. It makes them overlook the obvious flaws of a game and just appreciate the experience.

And the best part is you can download the Complete mod which kills those flaws and deepens the atmosphere.

In fact, the Complete mod made the weather so good that when I fell asleep in a dilapidated house and awoke, I thought for an instant that it had started to thunder and rain IN REALITY instead of ingame.

 

[MetalGenocide]

Doom 3 hands down. Have yet to see another game that comes close to that level of atmosphere.

 

[DeadWaker718]

i'd say 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen make for a good atmosphere

I'm chalking this one up as a Microsoft answer; Correct in a literal sense but useless in terms of the matter at hand

 

[Knife-28]

Dead Space because half the time there's no atmosphere at all!

Seriously though Halo 3 ODST has good atmosphere during the nighttime sections.

 

[War Penguin]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I thought the atmosphere from Pikmin 2 was very well done.

Damn Skippy!!! [small](meaning I agree)[/small]

OT: I thought Mass Effect was pretty immersive. You have a large galaxy which could be affected by your actions [small](maybe not too much but still)[/small].

 

[xNEWxAMERiKAx]

I have to say Dead Space. Not many games can create the feeling of total isolation like Dead Space did. He may not be the scariest or best survival-horror ever, but certainly of this gen.

 

[Heart of Darkness]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I thought the atmosphere from Pikmin 2 was very well done.

Damn Skippy!!! [small](meaning I agree)[/small]

OT: I thought Mass Effect was pretty immersive. You have a large galaxy which could be affected by your actions [small](maybe not too much but still)[/small].

Woo! Someone agrees with me! (+1 Ego)

Unfortunately, I cannot act in kind. [sub]I've never played Mass Effect...[/sub]

 

[Doc Shaftoe]

Gor I wish I had a computer strong enough to run S.T.A.L.K.E.R at its full potential. Or at all for that matter...

My favorite atmosphere building game is probably Morrowind. The technological limitations, and thus the rendering of one cell of landscape at a time, really made the world seem huge even if it was a little unrealistic. Plus, the art design in that game was really cool.

 

[_zuul]

i'd say 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen make for a good atmosphere

I'm chalking this one up as a Microsoft answer; Correct in a literal sense but useless in terms of the matter at hand

god, you're boring.


i'd say silent hill 2, too, but eh, i didn't quite feel it.

i disagree with whoever says bioshock, i played that game for a while and couldn't get into it
it felt linear. the "would you kindly" joke ran thin.

 

[scorch 13]

I'll be the first to say Fallout 3, or any Fallout game in general (OK, maybe not Tactics). But as a second choice, I'm rather fond of the Half-Life 2 atmosphere.

agreed,fallout has one of the best atmospheres and can be very immersive when your doing certain missions.

 

[DubMan]

Silent Hill 2 should be the only considerable option, nothing comes close.

Eh. I don't think atmosphere means keeping you scared all the time of what might happen.

I think it has a lot more to do with getting lost in the game as it lives around you, and you don't feel as much like your controlling a character in a game built for you, but controlling a character in a world that was already there.

Contrast your definition of atmosphere with Silent Hill 2.

 

[Capachinola]

My favorite atmosphere building game is probably Morrowind. The technological limitations, and thus the rendering of one cell of landscape at a time, really made the world seem huge even if it was a little unrealistic. Plus, the art design in that game was really cool.

Yeah. If they added a layer of fog into games like Fallout 3 and Oblivion, got rid of the map pockmarked with annoying fast travel points, and lost the compass the tells you where things are, they (especially Fallout) would seem enormous. I would never even leave town without a goodbye kiss to anyone I might never see again.

Realistic graphics, a living world not cut off by mountains as far as the eye could see into the fog, and being lost in the middle of it all. Thats scarier than Silent hill 2.

 

[Reklore]

Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth.

I really like the first half of the game for its atmosphere.

 

[Capachinola]

Silent Hill 2 should be the only considerable option, nothing comes close.

Eh. I don't think atmosphere means keeping you scared all the time of what might happen.

I think it has a lot more to do with getting lost in the game as it lives around you, and you don't feel as much like your controlling a character in a game built for you, but controlling a character in a world that was already there.

Contrast your definition of atmosphere with Silent Hill 2.

I get the impression that most people talking about Silent Hill 2 were talking about how scared the atmosphere of the game made them. Personally, I thought the game was built to scare, and I never got anywhere near lost in it.