Best Atmosphere in a Game

[Vortigar]

First off the cheap shot: Fallout 3

Then the head-scratcher: Blood

Let's see, this one? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k-q4wPOuDs&feature=related]

 

[MercurySteam]

My vote goes to Bioshock.

Sure the atmosphere isn't the same after you've first played it, but damn that first playthrough was good. Good enough to warrent 3 or 4 more playthroughs.

Dead Space also has a chilling atmosphere.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Condemned 1. They know how to make you not want to keep going forward.

So scary that I couldn't finish the department store level...My god, that level was fucked up.

 

[irishdelinquent]

Bioshock. It's scary how far you can be drawn into Rapture.

Also just for the record, I just wanted to say it's been very fun bringing you FOUR THOUSAND POSTS!! That's right, this is my four thousandth post.

Great kid, don't get cocky!

But seriously, congrats.

 

[Lemon Of Life]

While I'm on these forums saying this alot, it's still relevant in this thread:

Hey guys, how about Bioshock?

FUCK Bioshock. It was, as my favorite user review put it "Baby's first System Shock". It was missing HALF THE ENTIRE POINT of the atmosphere from the system shock series it spawned from. Tension. There was NONE. I was drowning in medpacks, ammo, money, powerups and other supplies through the entire Bioshock experience on the hardest difficulty (Which was until I was to disgusted with what they did to the Shock series to continue). Regardless of how creepy or eerie things looked in Bioshock, as soon as I popped out of the replicator after dying WITH NO CONSEQUENCE or break in flow or anything I had NO REASON to fear ANYTHING in that game, and then it lost all horror atmosphere to me.

Well, stop moaning and turn the Vita-Chambers off.

Personally, my vote goes towards Bioshock. There's this moment where I was in someone's room, listening to some previously gathered audio diaries, marvelling at the attention to detail, when I look out the window, into the sea. A Big Daddy wanders past. That did it for me.

Bioshock 2 will have lost the freshness of the original, and the Big Daddies won't be as daunting as they previously were, but still, I cannot wait any longer. Mass Effect 2 and Red Dead Redemption also look as if they'll be extremely immersive, which great settings and atmospheres. Mass Effect was a great game, but I felt it wasn't reaching its full potential.

Also, will someone please tell me what the STALKER game is about, and whether they're worth buying? I've heard good things, but I'm not sure what the game actually is.

 

[Eliam_Dar]

Fatal Frame III

 

[D-Cypher]

Stalker, hands down. I've never played a game where i've had a suit of combat armour and enough weapons to invade a small country and still felt as vulnerable as a kitten with 2 broken legs.... and 1 eye.

 

[Urgh76]

Majora's mask on the third day. "la la la, hmm I wonder how the moon is doing!" *looks up* "OH SHIT!!!!!"

 

[JaymesFogarty]

I'd have to leave it as a draw between Silent Hill 2, and Assassin's Creed 2. Silent Hill 2, because of the contributing story, feeling of dread and isolation and hauntingly real characters. Assassin's Creed 2 creates its' atmosphere with a rich story, believable characters, and a complicated and ever-changing world.

 

[Jenova65]

Ico has an immensely beautiful atmosphere, and Eternal Darkness has a very imposing and almost claustrophobic scariness, iygwim?!

 

[randomic]

The first stalker game, Shadow of Chernobyl
I've never been drawn in to a game so much.

 

[lewism247]

I know there is a lot of hoity-toity talk about Story and Characters in games but this thread is more about the subject of immersion and what game you felt drew you in the best and/or had the best overall atmosphere.

For me the choice is always the original Condemned, not to parrot Yahtzee but this game is massively underrated. Its brutal brawling made every fight a desperate struggle for survival and the dilapidated environments of urban decay were things you could relate to, so you could draw on your own experience and memory to fill the gaps, leaving you dreading every fight and shattering the confidence a gun brings by having you ambushed by a hobo with a pipe...which all died on the last level and the...ugggh boss fight.

And you?

For me it would be the suffering

Game may be fucked up but damn it draws you in

 

[randomic]

Oh and on the subject of non-scary atmosphere. Far Cry 2 was incredibly immersive.

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

GTA IV, the detail is crazy. Be it some crooked, dirty steps coming out of the water, a guy fixing a telephone line, or a homeless guy playing the saxophone under a motorway bridge, you can tell by looking around that thought has been put into every part of the city.

 

[minispike47]

Bioshock was very immersive, but after beating Batman AA, the attention to the fans of the comics via the interviews and collectables allowed me to be drawn into the universe. I have never read the Batman comics but that game made me want to know how specific characters turned out and how they became such evil villains. Batman is hugely atmospheric.

 

[OmegaXIII]

Dead Space, dark room, surround sound.

 

[KSarty]

Metal Gear Solid. I felt like I was in Shadow Moses, especially playing in my parents' unheated basement. MGS4 did a great job of making you feel like you had returned to Shadow Moses, coming up over that hill to see the entrance to the facility brought it all back to me.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

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.

I'll second that on both counts.

I get so lost in the vibe of Fallout 3 that I forget about all of life's troubles for a while, and HL2 feels wonderfully oppressive and apocapyptic..