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10. Half-Life 2
Valves hugely influential First-Person Shooter not only affected the way we think about the genre and games at large, but also created a hugely believable world in which to tell their story. It was, in many ways, the best constructed Science Fiction world weve seen in a video game for a long time, perhaps ever. The way the player begins their journey as a tourist to the city reflects the way the player feels towards the world at large. It seems all at once unfamiliar but functional, and provides a brilliant backdrop on which Valve created a near-perfect shooter.
Unfortunately, the games very functional visuals lessen the atmosphere built up by careful design and construction. While the later Half-Life 2: Episodes came to fix that, it was Half-Life 2 which originally introduced the world, and so it is this game which secures the number 10 spot on this list.
9. F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R. could be said to be the antithesis of Valves Half-Life 2. While the gameplay and story were extremely formulaic, the construction of atmosphere was, at the time, second to none. Its combined use of state-of-the-art graphics, scare tactics and now over-used slo-mo bullet time ability meant that an otherwise unremarkable FPS was transformed into something more than the sum of its parts. The game has, however, aged poorly and while the scare tactics still work, the gameplay flaws are all the more apparent.
At the time, F.E.A.R. was the pinnacle of atmospheric action on any platform, and for at reason alone, it deserves its place on this list.
8. Fallout 3
This divisive return for hallowed PC game series Fallout managed to give us such a realistic idea of what Washington DC might look like after a nuclear blast that some of its concept art was mistaken for Al-Qaedas terrifying vision of a devastated America in the wake of a nuclear attack by British newspaper The Daily Mail. The game itself was a great mix of harrowing visuals and haunting audio working together to create an experience quite unlike anything a game had to offer before. The inclusion of a radio station playing old 1950s records and the visual style of DC as a blackened version of Americas golden era served to give players a true sense of atmosphere.
7. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
The newer GTA IV was originally pencilled into this spot, until I returned to the colourful world of Vice City to refresh my memory, and really found it to be no contest. Everything about the 80s-set iteration of Grand Theft Auto is tuned to perfection for the era, down to the type of language the pedestrians use. Just taking a drive down a street in Vice City provides more atmosphere than is found in the entirety of most games, new or old. More than just emulating a decade, Rockstar also set its sights on recreating the atmosphere found in classic movies such as Scarface and Dirty Harry, in both the main storyline and the settings the player experiences.
The over-the-top visuals and licensed soundtrack also helped set this game apart from the previous GTA games, and from the competition in general. Even without a storyline straight out of Hollywood, this game would deserve a place on this list.
6. Doom 3
The first game a generation of gamers think of when they hear the word Atmosphere is, of course, the original Doom. Luckily, the return of the series in 2004 kept every iota of atmosphere the original games had, and heaped on a huge helping more. The first thirty minutes of the game remain almost unrivalled in that sense, and it is only the degeneration into a by-the-numbers corridor shooter that stops this title from coming in higher up the list. A horror game relies so much upon a good atmosphere being produced, and this is a good indication of exactly why Doom 3 did so well upon release.
While some people remained undecided on whether Doom 3 really did deliver what it seemed to promise, it can be assured that is succeeded in delivering a truckload of atmosphere.
5. Left 4 Dead
The second Valve game in this list, Left 4 Dead goes to show that the development studio has a firm knowledge of both game design and popular culture. In this co-op zombie shooter, they absolutely nail the feeling of actually being in a horror movie not only in the visuals and audio, but in the actual integral gameplay on offer. When you as a team, have taken down your first tank, or slowly crept past a witch only to have the last team member startle her, there is nothing that quite equals your experience.
A masterpiece of game design, Valve once again show that they can create game experiences equal to the best of them, time and time again.
4. Bioshock
Bioshocks release relied on one thing above all else atmosphere. For many people, the simple fact that Bioshock looked new and different to the games coming out at the time was enough to encourage them to purchase it. The underwater world of Rapture remains to this day one of the best game universes available to anybody on any platform. Unfortunately, where the game fell down was in other respects. While it contained a story better than most found in games, it took itself too seriously at times and actually drew the player out of the world enough to make them conscious of it.
For all its problems, Bioshock remains one of the best examples for the use of atmosphere in modern times.
3. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow Of Chernobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. did so many things right with its world that it is almost unbelievable that any amount of bugs and glitches could keep it from being hugely atmospheric. Unfortunately, there were just that many bugs and glitches. While the majority have now been patched out by the developers or fans, the original game was often unplayable for some people, and when it was playable speech glitches meant that any atmosphere that was built up was lost. However, when S.T.A.L.K.E.R. worked, it worked better than any other game before it. The weather system and architecture found in the world was perfect for the setting, and successfully showed the other side of a nuclear holocaust to Fallout 3. While Fallout showed a world worn out and slowly rusting, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. portrayed a desperate world of risks and danger.
If it had been released in the state it is in today, this could have taken the top spot. As it is, it remains one of the best experiences of what a game can make you feel.
2. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
For many, this will be something of an unknown release. Never really achieving critical acclaim or commercial success, Call of Cthulhu existed as a diamond in the rough which only a small segment of the gaming community picked up and played. Like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. it had flaws, but the game base was rock solid. Bethesda Softworks (who also made Fallout 3 on this list) used this base to build layers upon layers of atmosphere garnered from H. P. Lovecrafts books into the game, applied in such a way that they never felt contrived, clichéd or unconvincing. Possibly the best horror game I have ever played, it leaves the player unarmed for much of the first half of the game, letting them feel the true terror of what might lay in store for them.
A masterpiece of setting the mood, Call of Cthulhu perfectly grasps Lovecrafts unique knack for horror and manages to convert it into something which works in a videogame setting.
1. Max Payne
Max Payne is, quite simply, the perfect game when looking at atmosphere. The entire set up, from the graphic novel interludes to the hard-bitten narration by the protagonist, screams Film Noir, and for once such a game has the gameplay to back it up. Max Payne was the first game to popularise the Bullet Time slow motion ability which has pervaded the very core of videogame culture. Its sequel managed to pull of exactly what a sequel should do, and is arguably the better game, both technically and atmospherically, but as the original is the forerunner it deserves the credit more. The storyline is both textbook vigilante movie and textbook videogame, and it manages to make both work in tandem.
If you plan to play a game to soak in a bit of atmosphere, look no further than any title on this list, but Max Payne tops this list by quite a way. There hasnt been such a successful blend of videogame and film genre since, and it looks as if it might be a while until we see it again.
Quelle
Mich würde mal interessieren was ihr davon haltet; welche Games zu recht/zu unrecht in dieser Liste sind oder welche euch fehlen?
Valves hugely influential First-Person Shooter not only affected the way we think about the genre and games at large, but also created a hugely believable world in which to tell their story. It was, in many ways, the best constructed Science Fiction world weve seen in a video game for a long time, perhaps ever. The way the player begins their journey as a tourist to the city reflects the way the player feels towards the world at large. It seems all at once unfamiliar but functional, and provides a brilliant backdrop on which Valve created a near-perfect shooter.
Unfortunately, the games very functional visuals lessen the atmosphere built up by careful design and construction. While the later Half-Life 2: Episodes came to fix that, it was Half-Life 2 which originally introduced the world, and so it is this game which secures the number 10 spot on this list.
9. F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R. could be said to be the antithesis of Valves Half-Life 2. While the gameplay and story were extremely formulaic, the construction of atmosphere was, at the time, second to none. Its combined use of state-of-the-art graphics, scare tactics and now over-used slo-mo bullet time ability meant that an otherwise unremarkable FPS was transformed into something more than the sum of its parts. The game has, however, aged poorly and while the scare tactics still work, the gameplay flaws are all the more apparent.
At the time, F.E.A.R. was the pinnacle of atmospheric action on any platform, and for at reason alone, it deserves its place on this list.
8. Fallout 3
This divisive return for hallowed PC game series Fallout managed to give us such a realistic idea of what Washington DC might look like after a nuclear blast that some of its concept art was mistaken for Al-Qaedas terrifying vision of a devastated America in the wake of a nuclear attack by British newspaper The Daily Mail. The game itself was a great mix of harrowing visuals and haunting audio working together to create an experience quite unlike anything a game had to offer before. The inclusion of a radio station playing old 1950s records and the visual style of DC as a blackened version of Americas golden era served to give players a true sense of atmosphere.
7. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
The newer GTA IV was originally pencilled into this spot, until I returned to the colourful world of Vice City to refresh my memory, and really found it to be no contest. Everything about the 80s-set iteration of Grand Theft Auto is tuned to perfection for the era, down to the type of language the pedestrians use. Just taking a drive down a street in Vice City provides more atmosphere than is found in the entirety of most games, new or old. More than just emulating a decade, Rockstar also set its sights on recreating the atmosphere found in classic movies such as Scarface and Dirty Harry, in both the main storyline and the settings the player experiences.
The over-the-top visuals and licensed soundtrack also helped set this game apart from the previous GTA games, and from the competition in general. Even without a storyline straight out of Hollywood, this game would deserve a place on this list.
6. Doom 3
The first game a generation of gamers think of when they hear the word Atmosphere is, of course, the original Doom. Luckily, the return of the series in 2004 kept every iota of atmosphere the original games had, and heaped on a huge helping more. The first thirty minutes of the game remain almost unrivalled in that sense, and it is only the degeneration into a by-the-numbers corridor shooter that stops this title from coming in higher up the list. A horror game relies so much upon a good atmosphere being produced, and this is a good indication of exactly why Doom 3 did so well upon release.
While some people remained undecided on whether Doom 3 really did deliver what it seemed to promise, it can be assured that is succeeded in delivering a truckload of atmosphere.
5. Left 4 Dead
The second Valve game in this list, Left 4 Dead goes to show that the development studio has a firm knowledge of both game design and popular culture. In this co-op zombie shooter, they absolutely nail the feeling of actually being in a horror movie not only in the visuals and audio, but in the actual integral gameplay on offer. When you as a team, have taken down your first tank, or slowly crept past a witch only to have the last team member startle her, there is nothing that quite equals your experience.
A masterpiece of game design, Valve once again show that they can create game experiences equal to the best of them, time and time again.
4. Bioshock
Bioshocks release relied on one thing above all else atmosphere. For many people, the simple fact that Bioshock looked new and different to the games coming out at the time was enough to encourage them to purchase it. The underwater world of Rapture remains to this day one of the best game universes available to anybody on any platform. Unfortunately, where the game fell down was in other respects. While it contained a story better than most found in games, it took itself too seriously at times and actually drew the player out of the world enough to make them conscious of it.
For all its problems, Bioshock remains one of the best examples for the use of atmosphere in modern times.
3. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow Of Chernobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. did so many things right with its world that it is almost unbelievable that any amount of bugs and glitches could keep it from being hugely atmospheric. Unfortunately, there were just that many bugs and glitches. While the majority have now been patched out by the developers or fans, the original game was often unplayable for some people, and when it was playable speech glitches meant that any atmosphere that was built up was lost. However, when S.T.A.L.K.E.R. worked, it worked better than any other game before it. The weather system and architecture found in the world was perfect for the setting, and successfully showed the other side of a nuclear holocaust to Fallout 3. While Fallout showed a world worn out and slowly rusting, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. portrayed a desperate world of risks and danger.
If it had been released in the state it is in today, this could have taken the top spot. As it is, it remains one of the best experiences of what a game can make you feel.
2. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
For many, this will be something of an unknown release. Never really achieving critical acclaim or commercial success, Call of Cthulhu existed as a diamond in the rough which only a small segment of the gaming community picked up and played. Like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. it had flaws, but the game base was rock solid. Bethesda Softworks (who also made Fallout 3 on this list) used this base to build layers upon layers of atmosphere garnered from H. P. Lovecrafts books into the game, applied in such a way that they never felt contrived, clichéd or unconvincing. Possibly the best horror game I have ever played, it leaves the player unarmed for much of the first half of the game, letting them feel the true terror of what might lay in store for them.
A masterpiece of setting the mood, Call of Cthulhu perfectly grasps Lovecrafts unique knack for horror and manages to convert it into something which works in a videogame setting.
1. Max Payne
Max Payne is, quite simply, the perfect game when looking at atmosphere. The entire set up, from the graphic novel interludes to the hard-bitten narration by the protagonist, screams Film Noir, and for once such a game has the gameplay to back it up. Max Payne was the first game to popularise the Bullet Time slow motion ability which has pervaded the very core of videogame culture. Its sequel managed to pull of exactly what a sequel should do, and is arguably the better game, both technically and atmospherically, but as the original is the forerunner it deserves the credit more. The storyline is both textbook vigilante movie and textbook videogame, and it manages to make both work in tandem.
If you plan to play a game to soak in a bit of atmosphere, look no further than any title on this list, but Max Payne tops this list by quite a way. There hasnt been such a successful blend of videogame and film genre since, and it looks as if it might be a while until we see it again.
Quelle
Mich würde mal interessieren was ihr davon haltet; welche Games zu recht/zu unrecht in dieser Liste sind oder welche euch fehlen?
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