What was the last game you felt completely immersed in?

[Biosophilogical]

InFamous (sliding on powercables, jumping off into a crowd of reapers, switching on polarity wall, then using precision from behind cover, only to turn to see a mob coming after me...)

Yeah, Infamous got me really immersed to. I think there is just something about the flow of Cole's movements that let's me get really immersed (as opposed to other games where it looks too ... clunky). Also, morality-ish games always pull me in, because the good/evil choices not only help define your character, but they help you define the character (though being immersed in an evil sunavabich is both fun and weird, and can sometimes throw me out of the immersion).

 

[priestswearseatbelts]

Far Cry 2 was pretty immersive. It's a shame that it turns into a boredom-fest; mid-way.

Bioshock(1/2), in my opinion, is how immersion should be done.

 

[DJROC]

Oh, also MGS:2. I totally turned off the PS2 when the Colonel told me to.

 

[The Gnome King]

Let me make that opening statement clearer.

What game made you forget that you and the character you were controlling were not, in fact, different people. When was the last time you didn't just feel like your character, you WERE your character. Did you catch yourself worrying about NPCs or feeling true terror at the prospect of injury or defeat?

My only truly immersive game is Uplink: Hacker Elite. You play as a hacker-for-hire and follow missions for money. Most of these missions involve attacking servers, stealing files from databases, editing social records and more.

There was one point in Uplink that I had been searching through various computers trying to look for signs of a specific company's secret project, a secret project that had killed two fellow Uplink agents. I was getting closer to finding some valuable information when I recieved a sudden Email. I was not expecting an email at the time so I dropped everything, covered my tracks, and checked it. As I read it, I began to sweat and a deep-seated dread filled my heart. The Email was from the very company I had been hacking seconds ago without threat of discovery. Somehow they had tracked me down without a problem, something no government or private trackers had ever managed to do. I was truly afraid of this faceless, murderous company.

Then I realized that I was just playing a game. The company didn't exist. I wasn't really a hacker. Yet I was still shaking.

Easy - Dragon Age 2 & Mass Effect 2. Bioware games really do it for me; I had to compulsively play both games just to see how the story played out.

 

[OctoH]

Pong...so intense!

Seriously, Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Half Life 2: Episode 2.

 

[CleverCover]

Dragon Age 2.

I swear sometimes its hard to pull out of a game when putting yourself in completely. To the point where I had an argument about the end game point with my brother.

He won only because I blanked when he uttered one phrase...."It's a game. What are you so worked up over?"

Lost all my steam....

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

Last game was Dead Space 2 beat the game in one whole day, skipped school, damn worth it. But the game that sucked me in the most, was BioShock. I still remember slowly walking Rapture and just being amazed. Someone would tap me on the shoulder and I'd jump.

 

[Vern5]

Let me make that opening statement clearer.

What game made you forget that you and the character you were controlling were not, in fact, different people. When was the last time you didn't just feel like your character, you WERE your character. Did you catch yourself worrying about NPCs or feeling true terror at the prospect of injury or defeat?

My only truly immersive game is Uplink: Hacker Elite. You play as a hacker-for-hire and follow missions for money. Most of these missions involve attacking servers, stealing files from databases, editing social records and more.

There was one point in Uplink that I had been searching through various computers trying to look for signs of a specific company's secret project, a secret project that had killed two fellow Uplink agents. I was getting closer to finding some valuable information when I recieved a sudden Email. I was not expecting an email at the time so I dropped everything, covered my tracks, and checked it. As I read it, I began to sweat and a deep-seated dread filled my heart. The Email was from the very company I had been hacking seconds ago without threat of discovery. Somehow they had tracked me down without a problem, something no government or private trackers had ever managed to do. I was truly afraid of this faceless, murderous company.

Then I realized that I was just playing a game. The company didn't exist. I wasn't really a hacker. Yet I was still shaking.

Easy - Dragon Age 2 & Mass Effect 2. Bioware games really do it for me; I had to compulsively play both games just to see how the story played out.

Does compulsion equal immersion? Did you actually feel like you were Hawke/Shepard at times? I think some people posting here are skimming the OP rather than fully absorbing what I'm trying to say.

If you actually forget that you and the character you are playing as are two different entities, then you are immersed. The lines of real reality and virtual reality begin to blur when immersion takes place. Some people seem to be taking immersion and compulsion as being the same.

Personally, I always felt like a type of Spielberg/Lucas type director while playing Bioware games. I felt like I was some otherworldly being pulling the strings of their fate and deciding how they should deliver their lines to make a more cinematic experience. However, I've never really thought I was Shepard even for a second because he and I speak at a different pace and tone.

Again, I want to reiterate to everyone: Immersion and compulsion are not necessarily the same.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Without a doubt Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

A game cannot scare you shitless without immersing you at least a bit, and quite frankly this game did just that to me. Oddly enough I think that being helpless might have had a part to play in it. It really felt like it was you who was in the game, not generic badass warrior #12.

 

[Flukyjoker]

What is this bullsh**? No Mass Effect in here?

1 and 2 (soon to include 3), also Assassins Creed and Bioshock.

 

[InvocationTom]

New Vegas had me very immersed, to the point where I wouldn't rest until I'd done anything and everything that could be done!

 

[DarkhoIlow]

The Witcher Enhanced Edition got me very immersed in the game,so much that I lost track of time and played more than I should of and the next day had problems waking up at the appropiate hour.

Since I learned recently that I can import my save in the sequel I've restarted the game to get a proper saved playthrough.

 

[The Gnome King]

Let me make that opening statement clearer.

What game made you forget that you and the character you were controlling were not, in fact, different people. When was the last time you didn't just feel like your character, you WERE your character. Did you catch yourself worrying about NPCs or feeling true terror at the prospect of injury or defeat?

My only truly immersive game is Uplink: Hacker Elite. You play as a hacker-for-hire and follow missions for money. Most of these missions involve attacking servers, stealing files from databases, editing social records and more.

There was one point in Uplink that I had been searching through various computers trying to look for signs of a specific company's secret project, a secret project that had killed two fellow Uplink agents. I was getting closer to finding some valuable information when I recieved a sudden Email. I was not expecting an email at the time so I dropped everything, covered my tracks, and checked it. As I read it, I began to sweat and a deep-seated dread filled my heart. The Email was from the very company I had been hacking seconds ago without threat of discovery. Somehow they had tracked me down without a problem, something no government or private trackers had ever managed to do. I was truly afraid of this faceless, murderous company.

Then I realized that I was just playing a game. The company didn't exist. I wasn't really a hacker. Yet I was still shaking.

Easy - Dragon Age 2 & Mass Effect 2. Bioware games really do it for me; I had to compulsively play both games just to see how the story played out.

Does compulsion equal immersion? Did you actually feel like you were Hawke/Shepard at times? I think some people posting here are skimming the OP rather than fully absorbing what I'm trying to say.

If you actually forget that you and the character you are playing as are two different entities, then you are immersed. The lines of real reality and virtual reality begin to blur when immersion takes place. Some people seem to be taking immersion and compulsion as being the same.

Personally, I always felt like a type of Spielberg/Lucas type director while playing Bioware games. I felt like I was some otherworldly being pulling the strings of their fate and deciding how they should deliver their lines to make a more cinematic experience. However, I've never really thought I was Shepard even for a second because he and I speak at a different pace and tone.

Again, I want to reiterate to everyone: Immersion and compulsion are not necessarily the same.

Thanks, I'm quite familiar with the difference between immersion and compulsion. (Even majored in English & Psychology finished college about 10 years ago; I knows me all sortsa big words!)

First off, it's rather insulting to insinuate that a person who disagrees with you just doesn't understand the question. I understand the question.

Yes, I felt like I "was" Shepard/Hawke at times. I felt emotionally attached to the characters in the games and it *mattered* to me what my NPC friends had to go through as a result of my actions.

Thanks for clarifying basic English words for me but I didn't need the clarification. I was fully *immersed* in the characters of Shepard and Hawke and this *caused* part of the compulsion I had to play the games.

Capiche?

(capiche - 1940s slang, from It. capisci? "do you understand?" (also coppish, kabish, capeesh, etc.)

Sorry if I'm coming off a bit harsh but it really grinds my gears when people make assumptions like "you just didn't understand the question" when presented with an opinion they disagree with.

 

[Vidiot]

let's see, recently it's been the Assassin's Creed series, Prototype, Splinter Cell, and before that, Arkham Asylum. Dragon Age is tough for me to get into because i can't get the damn minimap off the screen. I have a tough time getting immersed if there are HUD elements that never go away like in Fallout or Dragon Age. One of my all-time favorite immersive game is Chronicles of Riddick.

 

[Vern5]

Snip

You see, if you had been that descriptive before, I wouldn't have felt the need to ask. I didn't realize curiosity was so often rewarded with sarcasm.

Since we both know that there is a difference between compulsion and immersion then we both know that any remarks made towards people who don't seem to be grasping the difference do not apply to us. So, there's no reason to feel offended. Unless you doubt your own knowledge though I couldn't begin to understand why.

 

[dkyros]

Dragon Age: Origins

Before that, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Weird to be exactly ninja'd like that...

 

[subtlefuge]

The only games that have ever completely and totally immersed me are Half Life and Metroid. So I suppose Metroid Prime 3 would be the most recent one.

 

[Arisato-kun]

Dragon Age 2 has had me immersed on both playthroughs. After I saw the ending my views on the mages completely changed.

Shin Megami Tensei games do a good job of immersing me as well, as has Dragon Quest IX.

 

[Rayne870]

Dragon Age 2

Ditto. Not only that but my fiance and I spent about a week talking to each-other about the very different experiences we had with the game while trying not to spoil it for each-other. It really was one of the best experiences I have had in awhile.