Games that don't get enough credit for atmosphere

[DrNick]

Some games draw you in not necessarily through narrative or gameplay, but through spellbinding atmosphere. Atmosphere is a hard metric to measure, but these are the kinds of games that can keep you playing just to explore and imagine yourself in another world.

Personally, I feel like Borderlands doesn't get enough credit for this. In multiplayer, the frantic pace can make you overlook it, but playing alone, Pandora can really sink its hooks into your imagination. In Fyrestone, you're surrounded by Quonset huts and makeshift shelters, a burning cloudless sky, scrub plants that are familiar yet alien. When the desert southwest-inspired soundtrack starts up, its easy to imagine the acrid smell of burning tires, the choking dust, the relentless heat. Pandora comes alive in your mind, if you slow down a little and let it. It can break down towards the end of the game, and you wouldn't want to live there, but that's not really the point - for brief moments, you CAN imagine living there, and that's the power of a good atmosphere.

What are some games, whether you enjoyed them or not, that don't really get enough credit for being able to draw you in through atmosphere?

 

[Ultress]

I'm probably just not paying attention when it is mentioned but Devil Survivor.The longer I play this game the worse I feel. The dark,scary atmosphere combined with society breaking down before your eyes just makes me feel like crap.There are very few hope spots outside of surviving the days and the more it progress the nastier people get. Like I said,it builds this oppressive and sickening mood.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I've always felt that Dead Space, and Dead Space 2 to a lesser extent, had amazing atmosphere. That alone feeling, wondering what happened to everyone, not being able to trust the noises you're hearing or the things you're seeing. This all gets drowned out by the frantic, panic-inducing combat unfortunately. The concept behind the series and the atmosphere that went into the games is genuinely terrifying, but since you're able to fight back easily and can become crazy powerful, people tend to focus on that and say that nothing about Dead Space is scary.

 

[hazabaza1]

Witcher 1 was very immersive when just running through the country looking at shit.
Then the rest of the game happened and ruined everything.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Eternal Darkness and, Alice: Madness Returns. I'm playing both of those interchangeably at the moment and both are drawing me in when it comes to the settings and atmosphere. I love how Wonderland is just several different kinds of fucked up. As for Eternal Darkness...people who have played that know what I mean. Both of those games were somewhat overlooked and given mid-range scores from what I remember but I've been enjoying both and have been getting drawn into both worlds.

 

[DugMachine]

Majoras Mask still has the best atmosphere in a game I'd say. I believe it gets enough credit for it but just wanted to throw it out there

 

[Melon Hunter]

X-Com: Terror from the Deep. Although gameplay-wise it changed very little from the previous game, I think it does much, much better at instilling a constant feeling of dread in the player with the use of soundtrack and concept. Aliens invading from outer space I can deal with. Aliens sequestered in our own oceans and that have always been there invading I find utterly disquieting.

In UFO Defense, the threat felt a lot more tangible, in a sense. There were aliens, but aliens in flying saucers that we could battle in the air and on the land. That was still our territory. Diving to the bottom of the sea, on the other hand... not a pleasant experience. Even with fairly advanced research, there was always that air of panicked confusion in TftD: 'What the hell are these things? Where are they coming from? There's alien pyramids on the ocean floor?!'

Also, have a listen to some of the soundtrack and hear for yourself:

Spoiler

 

[DrNick]

X-Com: Terror from the Deep.

I never played Terror from the Deep, but that music was fantastic. I like the start-stop quality - it seems to reinforce the edge-of-your-seat feeling.

 

[Jaeke]

Fallout 3
Fallout 3
Fallout 3
and more Fallout 3.

Seriously, Fallout 3.
It has an incredible atmosphere. From the tense suspense of being a low-level wanderer in an abondoned building trying to find a route around hordes of bandits, or the badass feeling of walking past explosions in fight-for-your-life skirmishes in the National Mall against towering super-mutants with missles and lazers whizzing by... ahh... and the insane amount of mutilation.

Any game that lets you shoot someone's head off when you aim at their leg gets a +1 for me.

Captcha: TAKE IT ALL

I'm affraid of Captcha now.

 

[WillieDaKid3]

I know it's atmosphere is relatively known, but I thought Deus Ex: Human Revolution had a fantastic atmosphere. Just amazing.

Also, as far as games that are said to have good atmosphere, but just didn't sink their hooks into me, I'd have to point out the Mass Effect series. Even though the amount of detail in the lore and back story was mind blowing, I just felt like exploring the various locales was pretty stagnant.

Good games, though.

 

[Chaosut]

I guess Dear Esther and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey don't get much credit for their atmosphere.

 

[Full]

I thought that Alan Wake was amazing solely because of the atmosphere. Seriously, the forest is fucking chilling.

I was going to say this for a good atmosphere. But for things that don't get credit for atmosphere? The original Dead Rising. Well, it was less an atmosphere and more of a feel. Cartoony, with a pinch of over the top realism.

 

[DeathSwitch109]

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Despite it's graphics the game was full of atmosphere.

Spoilers

Anyone remember going to the Temple of Time and seeing everything in black and white while all the monsters were literally frozen by time?

 

[chozo_hybrid]

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Despite it's graphics the game was full of atmosphere.

Spoilers

Anyone remember going to the Temple of Time and seeing everything in black and white while all the monsters were literally frozen by time?

Ninja'd.

Yes, I remember being in awe at that moment, never seen anything quite like it in a game since.

 

[Easton Dark]

Oh man, I was thinking Borderlands as soon as I saw the title. The story may be nowhere and the gameplay may be mediocre and unfair at times, but I thought the atmosphere was great. The beating sun, the endless dunes, the crystal lit caves, the bogs, the snowy mountains. All pretty great.

Also, most people would tell you how great of an overall game RE4 is, but play it again and pay attention to your surroundings. Game from 2004, makes me feel the environment while I play.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

One of the strongest examples I can think of in recent memory is Dust: An Elysian Tail [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust:_An_Elysian_Tail], the last game to be released during this summer's Xbox Live Summer of Arcade. This game is absolutely gorgeous, with a gripping story to boot.

I highly recommend it.

 

[xomocekc]

Galerians for the PSX. I actually think the game did get praise when it came out, but too many people just saw it as a cheap Resident Evil clone and didn't buy it.

Galerians happens in a 30s retro-infused future, against an oppressive landscape of a decaying city controlled by a supercomputer. You visit a hight tech hospital, a creepy detached mansion, a seedy hotel and a futuristic tower. All but the last are very unnerving, evocative places. The game is oppressively and unrelentingly gloomy, after all you are a 14 year old genetically modified drug addict with psychokinetic powers being chased by other teenaged freaks. There's never much exposition, but the game brings its lore across through atmosphere and immediate surroundings. A shot of a rainy street as you go to the hotel, rusted retrofuturistic monorail and a hotel full of the dregs of society.

I feel like it's a very under appreciated game. Maybe the gameplay is derivative and the story forgettable but the atmosphere is great.

Too bad they made an anime action game sequel.

 

[Nouw]

Mafia II has an amazing atmosphere. Just driving around the Empire Bay, admiring the buildings and the music is pure bliss. The whole package really hooks you into being a member of the mafia and I highly recommend it to mafia enthusiasts. Did you like Goodfellas? Play this game.