Best graphical effects in a game

[The Cheezy One]

Did a brief search, couldn't see anything about this exactly.

What game do you feel pulls off an effect incredibly well? This could be fire effect, water effects, air effects, anything really. For example, to quote Yahtzee, the fire effects in Far Cry 2 (EDIT: In retrospect, I think he was talking about Alone in the Dark) do look really good. Or, the lighting in Metro 2033 is far beyond just making things more visible.

This is not a question about what game has the best graphics, or about what mechanic is pulled off best in a game. If anyone shouts 'Crysis is the best looking game ever', I reserve the right to hit them with a stick, unless they can state an effect it pulls off better than anyone.

In my opinion, the water in Cryostasis I find to be really engrossing. It might be the claustrophobic atmosphere, but I constantly feel wet and cold just playing the game.
EDIT: Couldn't find an appropriate image or video. Just understand that, you know when you're watching a trailer and you're thinking 'That looks nice, but I bet they just chose good footage/angles'? The water in this game looks good all the time.

 

[Distorted Stu]

Spoiler: The magnifying glass in halflife 2!

Was just cool

 

[Kahunaburger]

Homeworld and Homeworld 2: amazing skyboxes, amazing engine effects.

 

[Catchy Slogan]

I've always thought Bioshock was pretty nice.

Spoiler

 

[The Cheezy One]

I've always thought Bioshock was pretty nice.

Spoiler

It is always disappointing when a game that basis itself in one area - jungle, desert, underwater - puts little effort graphically into that area. I'm so glad Bioshock looked as good as it did. Graphics aren't everything, but bad graphics can pull you out of a game quite fast.

 

[Lectori Salutem]

The water in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance...
... for it's time of course

 

[RA92]

Nexus: The Jupiter Incident had really awesome shield and thruster effects, not to mention sky boxes. This game has aged rather well.

http://www.thecoopyears.co.uk/2004/Nexus2.jpghttp://nomoregoatsoup.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/nexus_3.jpghttp://www.gamestar.hu/apix_collect/0205/nexus-the-jupiter-incident/nexus-the-jupiter-incident_20041101200234_1977_original.jpghttp://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2005/067/reviews/525559_20050309_screen002.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4d/Nexus_asteroidfieldbattle.jpg

 

[Corpse XxX]

Uncharted, i think had some great effects.. Especially in water!

Depending on how far into the water you went, that part that went into the water was the only part that got wet on Nathan..
Also it had some stunning views oversighting mountains and jungles that really took the breath out of you..

Counting only vision, all the colors and so from that game was pure eye candy..

 

[The Cheezy One]

Nexus: The Jupiter Incident had really awesome shield and thruster effects. This game has really aged well.

If it wasn't for the HUD I would believe that

Spoiler: this

was from a cutscene!

 

[Pearwood]

Final Fantasy 13. Everything in it was beautiful, no matter what you say about the rest of the game I don't think anyone can argue with the graphical quality.

Silent Hill 1 and 2's fog effects gave everything a very nice surreal quality, I'm aware it was to compensate for hardware limitations but still it added something that newer horror games lack.

Oh and the individual death effects from Starcraft 2. Blizzard put work into that, if you kill something with fire you see it slowly burn rather than just explode or fall down. A very nice touch.

 

[Catchy Slogan]

I've always thought Bioshock was pretty nice.

Spoiler

It is always disappointing when a game that basis itself in one area - jungle, desert, underwater - puts little effort graphically into that area. I'm so glad Bioshock looked as good as it did. Graphics aren't everything, but bad graphics can pull you out of a game quite fast.

Same here, and with that scene I always thought they were showing off a little. Fire and water are pretty hard to do and 2K just come along and are like " Hey look, we can do fire and water, at the same time!!!"

I also especially loved how they had leaks and sprays of water coming in due to the pressure outside.

 

[OPPRESSEDxOPPRESSOR]

most of demons souls in my opinion.

 

[The Cheezy One]

most of demons souls in my opinion.

Any one particular part you'd like to mention?

 

[Jamash]

Although it's quite old now, I'm still very impressed by the water "effects" used in Onimusha 2.

Using real video of real water scenes was an inspired design choice, I don't think even the most advanced water GFX can trump that, because as good as they are, they're still not real and I find my mind is a lot more accepting of real video (even of a lower quality) than high quality artificial GFX.

Of course, this technique really only works for the backgrounds of games with fixed cameras, but it look impressive nonetheless.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Okami for me. Just utterly beautiful.

 

[L1gh7Sp33d]

While playing it, I felt witcher 2 had some pretty sick lightning effects. Other games might have done it better, but right now that game is in my recent memory.

Spoiler

 

[Trivun]

Fallout 3's water effects were amazing, and the fire effects in Alone In The Dark were both pretty and realistic. Regardless of your thoughts on the rest of that game, AITD had excellent graphics with regards to fire. And for the record, yes, I do like that game. Sue me.

 

[TheComedown]

While playing it, I felt witcher 2 had some pretty sick lightning effects. Other games might have done it better, but right now that game is in my recent memory.

Yeah The Witcher 2 looks amazing, lighting in particular(tho I turned of the bloom, something about it seemed backwards) I was playing not to long ago, and it was some time just before dawn, and noticed a shadow on the ground moving away, as they do when clouds clear, hell could have been some kind of glitch, but it was still pretty sick.