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[ArynCrinn]

"Technically", all things considered it's got to be Crysis 3 and/or Battlefield 4 PC versions. I argue Metro: Last Light PC as another contender here.

That aside, we can all cherrypick one aspect or a couple to hold up as a shining example due to "technical limitations" but honestly that discussion has no winner, just opinions. If I were being pressed on that line of inquiry, my pick would go to either Xenoblade or Halo 3. Because both sacrificed almost nothing, looked amazing for the aesthetic, amazing scale, little to no loading, and didn't need to sacrifice gameplay to adhere to a stricter graphical output and still looked, performed and played great. GTA5 and RDR a close 3rd and 4th.

 

[GoofsterStud]

For me Wipeout HD. One of those Jaw dropping moments on a quality TV.

 

[Feindflug]

I have a feeling it won't be 1080p which would lead to a lot of sh** on the game... DC comparisons almost a given.

Horizon 2 will probably be 30fps so 1080p is definitely possible. Personally I don't give a fuck about resolution so even if the game is 900p or something with a good AA solution I'll be happy...hell I'd get 720p/60fps over 1080p or 900p/30fps.

Now about the DC comparisons sure it's a given but wouldn't these comparisons be pointless since Horizon 2 will be an open world game?

 

[luca_aros]

TLOU
Beyond Two Souls
Journey
Ni No Kuni

There are lots of japanese anime-inspired games that have amazing graphics, but not realistic/technically demanding I'd guess. The Naruto games are a good example where the in-game cutscenes are pretty much on par with the anime!

 

[Tidus_Great]

The last of us
god of war 3/ascension
beyond two souls (though barely a game)

take your pick.

 

[c0de]

Horizon 2 will probably be 30fps so 1080p is definitely possible. Personally I don't give a fuck about resolution so even if the game is 900p or something with a good AA solution I'll be happy...hell I'd get 720p/60fps over 1080p or 900p/30fps.

Now about the DC comparisons sure it's a given but wouldn't these comparisons be pointless since Horizon 2 will be an open world game?

Oh, I couldn't care less, too! Looking at the IQ on Horizon this really blew me away! Now with a better resolution (not necessarily 1080p) the game will most definitely look very impressive. All I want from this game is a locked framerate, combined with their magic on controller input delay, then I am fine with a locked 30fps, for sure. And now imagine much better visuals... Damn!
To DC: When I saw DC I immediately had to think of Horizon, the game itself seems so (in racing, of course - no free ride). Now if Horizon 2 would also add weather I have no reason to not buy an Xbone anymore...

 

[JayLee]

Come on guys, not enough Gears love! Gears had the prettiest and the most satisfying headshots ever in a game:

Then the other game for me was definately Forza 4 (720p, Nice AA, 60fps):

TLOU, Uncharted as well. Just trying to add some un-suggested.

 

[Doczu]

But here is something less obvious:

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii). Considering the hardware, its amazing.

-Geometry/environment detail is so high that many areas look completely natural with tons of 3D objects here and there.

-Mirror effects are probably the best i saw in than gen, taking into account 360/PS3 games.

-The real time shadowing system is insane. Everything you light up with your flashlight casts shadows. Thats not a big deal, lots of games do that. But how many games have you seen where light sources make even tiny particle effects cast their own real time shadows? Even the snowflakes cast their own, tiny shadow in this game! I've never seen anything like this since then, even on high end PCs.

Nice to see someone remember this little gem. Yes, the graphics were crazy for the Wii, especially those snowflakes casting shadows. Seriously, that was amazing the first time i saw it.

 

[Feindflug]

Oh, I couldn't care less, too! Looking at the IQ on Horizon this really blew me away! Now with a better resolution (not necessarily 1080p) the game will most definitely look very impressive. All I want from this game is a locked framerate, combined with their magic on controller input delay, then I am fine with a locked 30fps, for sure. And now imagine much better visuals... Damn!
To DC: When I saw DC I immediately had to think of Horizon, the game itself seems so (in racing, of course - no free ride). Now if Horizon 2 would also add weather I have no reason to not buy an Xbone anymore...

I remember reading an interview on Digital Foundry and how the locked 30fps was the most important thing on the development of Horizon so I'm don't think that we should worry about frame-rate. BTW I'd love to see dynamic weather too plus more city environments if possible - rainy Horizon should look amazing.

These guys are really talented and I believe that Horizon 2 will surprise a lot of people, hopefully we'll see something at E3.

 

[Black_Stride]

Easily #1 the most impressive.

Being a PC gamer and owning all platform last gen.
Im surprised this is what actually stood out to me.

A damn Nintendo Wii....I never thought the Wii would get me away from my PC/Xbox/PS3 but this game managed to make my other machines gather dust.

The maps were damn huge!

What is 7th gen? what are the other gens? Also coming from pc-gamer: GTA V

Not counting HandHeld Generations.

• 1st Gen - Ive never touched one of these things.
• 2nd Gen - Atari 2600, Intellivision thing etc etc
• 3rd Gen - Sega Master System, Famicom
• 4th Gen - PC-Engine, Sega MegaDrive, SuperNES
• 5th Gen - Playstation, Sega Saturn, N64
• God Gen - Sega DreamCast
• 6th Gen - Playstation 2, GameCube, Xbox
• 7th Gen - PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
• 8th Gen - Xbox One, Playstation 4, WiiU

 

[3bdelilah]

If talking about impressive, definitely GTA V. A huuuge world but it looks good visually nonetheless. But when we talk pure graphics, UC3 of TLOU sits on top. Haven't played any recent X360 game yet, I'm working through the backlog as we speak

 

[Canis lupus]

Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, God of War 3

 

[Eaten By A Grue]

Red Dead Redemption

http://youtu.be/ZMm2pNRBP_w

 

[Nozem]

Come on guys, not enough Gears love! Gears had the prettiest and the most satisfying headshots ever in a game:

Sure. But that is good design, and not technically impressive.

 

[Feindflug]

Come on guys, not enough Gears love! Gears had the prettiest and the most satisfying headshots ever in a game:

Then the other game for me was definately Forza 4 (720p, Nice AA, 60fps):

TLOU, Uncharted as well. Just trying to add some un-suggested.

360 games are not very popular in threads like this one so don't be surprised, games like Gears 3/Judgment, Forza Horizon, Red Dead Redemption, Halo 4/Reach were really impressive looking titles that at least deserve a mention.

Also nice to see some Wii titles mentioned in here, Xenoblade & SMG1/2 were amazing considering the hardware and I guess I have to check out Shattered Memories.

 

[Duallusion]

Mario Kart 8.

Spoiler

*badum... tishhh*

 

[KORNdoggy]

uncharted 3/last of us. nothing comes close imo.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

God of War III
God of War Ascension
The Last of Us
Uncharted 3
Wipeout HD Fury
Just Cause 2
Max Payne 3
One of the Assassin's Creeds (not III and I haven't played IV)
Batman: Arkham City (technically I think this game is really tight; perhaps the most impressive Unreal Engine 3 game)
RAGE

 

[Seanspeed]

Sure. But that is good design, and not technically impressive.

Well it is quite technically impressive as well, I'd say.

 

[Herne]

Nice to see someone remember this little gem. Yes, the graphics were crazy for the Wii, especially those snowflakes casting shadows. Seriously, that was amazing the first time i saw it.

Wow, yeah, I'd forgotten about this game. It did look really, really good.

 

[DaSorcerer7]

Taking into consideration the platform it's on I'd say xenoblade.

 

[brobban]

GTA V.
Sure the framerate Is pretty crappy, but c'mon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj1owbyUC5c

 

[Theecliff]

One of the most impressive, Uncharted 2 (heck, the whole series is impressive):

That picture is from Uncharted 3.

 

[FrankieMcGuire]

GTA 5. This on a system with 512 mb ram... Insane.

 

[3bdelilah]

GTA 5. This on a system with 512 mb ram... Insane.

I agree. Might not be the most visually stunning (due to old hardware), but I'll be damned if it's not the most impressive game of last gen. So much stuff in so little tech. And since that's the point of this thread, GTA V winst by default. True next-gen starts with their next project.

 

[Coffeeling]

I'm amused by the Beyond hype. It's a tech demo, more or less. Put something real on the line please.

Easily #1 the most impressive.

I'm still convinced that Monolith employs occult magicians instead of programmers.
Remember, folks, that thing runs on ~90MB RAM without loading times.

Call of Duty 4.

Nothing impresses me more than keeping 60fps while having fairly good graphics on consoles.

Having good graphics and 30fps, okay.

If you do both, I'm more impressed.

But I'd say GTA V as a technical game. An Amazing world they built.

I'll throw in Just Cause 2 as well. It needs way more love than it deserves. It's too impressive as well. Technically speaking.

So are you impressed by Mario Galaxy or Metroid Prime 3?

no particular order from the games I've played...

At first I confused the Halo screenshot for being from Metroid Prime. That game had ex-Retro people working on it, right?

I have no idea how Retro Studios managed to pull off this kind of texture work at 60 FPS on the Wii's silly 88 MB RAM.

Yes I'm aware it's an emulator shot but I couldn't find any decent images online.

That room, or one near it (The one with the morph ball tower) is one of my all time favourites as far as pretty vistas go.

As far as the Wii is concerned, I think Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid: Other M, DKCR, Xenoblade, & Muramasa: The Demon Blade, are pretty impressive.

M:OM looks pretty poor, IMO. Then again I'm a sucker for art direction and M:OM's art direction is lacking at best compared to what Retro put out.



EDIT: Forgot to put my own pick, apart from the Wii stuff already named:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEVC3VvNa78&hd=1

so pretty o__o

 

[Platy]

My vote goes to Jett Rocket

It is a 3D platformer with graphics comparable to Maro Galaxy .... on the WIIWARE

Remember ?
The same wiiware that had limitations that stopped SUPER MEAT BOY from fitting the size ?

 

[dragonbane]

Not to take anything away from Beyond, it's a great game and story (like all of QD's games IMO), but it has no place on a technical achievements of the generations list. Their games are way too limited in interaction, control, and AI. The whole thing's basically like that Shenmue Passport demo with the character heads/faces that were 10-20x more advanced/detailed than what was used in the actual game. In other words a tech demo. If you limit the scope enough, almost anyone could dump insane quality assets in a static environment, the problem is no one else gets (or perhaps wants) 10's of millions of dollars to make that type of game except QD.

Can't say I agree. Heavy Rain meets the same standards and didn't look all that amazing when it came out and struggled with performance as well. Beyond utterly crushes it while on the other hand offering more control and bigger environments. Heavy Rain shows that the points you mentioned don't immediately result in a gorgeous looking game. You still need a lot of talent and skill, which QD now has. It absolutely belongs into this list, considering just how good it looks. It's an adventure game, an established genre. Not a tech demo, unless you call every point and click adventure tech demo as well. By your definition, we could exclude a lot of games for not meeting arbitrary standards.

Look at how many posters named GoW 3. Do you agree with that? Probably yeah. The thing is, it's pretty much as linear as something as Beyond, if not even more so (Beyond has multiple open chapters). In terms of dynamic animations and physics they also use the same amount of resources (not many that is). Interaction is fairly straight forward in both (combat and jumping itself is not taxing). The only thing really that needs more resources in GoW compared to Beyond is the very limited AI. Now consider that GoW has a static camera while Beyond offers the player the ability to switch to a first person camera at any point that can move around 360 degrees, allows you to float around and go through walls and objects, 10 meters into the air and up close to every single texture at the user's will. Think about what this means in terms of rendering distance, performance and environment design.

Both games have a different list of trade-offs at the end of the day, like every other game. The point is, what one doesn't do does the other with a different feature. They both use 100% of the hardware and look gorgeous.
In conclusion, we either have to exclude a lot of games that don't meet standard x or you should just allow every genre to participate.

 

[velociraptor]

Both of these games have bad framerates though.

I say GoW3. Still looks great to this day, has better IQ than TLoU or GTA 5 and has a pretty steady framerate.

Without a doubt GOW3 is the best looking 7th gen console game, and probably has the best IQ of any (720p) console game I have seen. It looks more next-gen than some 'next gen' games.

 

[astonish]

GTA V

Honourable mentions to Uncharted 2 and Gears 3... Pretty bonkers how many techniques got refined and how much things changed from the launch games until now, not just through optimization, but brand new techniques being used.

Given where we are starting off this gen if we make the same kind of progress we are going to have some mind melting graphics in 5 years.

 

[a.wd]

GTA V or Crysis 3

If you are particularly tied to a console I guess you would say Uncharted or Gears, but really there is very little that is more technically impressive.

By technically I mean doing the most amount of things that are impossible for the hardware that they are on as opposed to artistically was the most preferable to my eyes...

 

[Camp Lo]

Uncharted 2/3 and God of War 3.

 

[Jinko]

TLOU and Beyond 2 Souls..

Blue Dragon still looks amazing to me though.

I prefer artistic direction over technical prowess.

 

[Ishida]

LOL, is this from the "pre-downgrade" trailer? Because that doesn't count.
.

No, the game does look like that.

 

[Dicer]

Easily #1 the most impressive.

What they managed....voodoo

 

[Freeman]

Naughty Dog games, God of War 3, Gran Turismo, Beyond and GTAV.

The original Crysis for PC was impressive, it was years ahead of anything at the time, other than that Crytec doesn't impress me much, since they pretty much push for solutions that demand a lot of hardware regardless of the payoff.

 

[Hellshy.]

Those games are tiny in scope next to GTA V, though. Not really comparable.

And there isn't that many people dedicated to a GTA game for five years. In that time Rockstar as a whole released Midnight Club games, GTA IV DLC, LA Noire, Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption, etc. The "main" team behind GTA is really R* North.

Uncharted is one of the most technically impressive series around, though, I agree.

I am pretty sure there was a lot more time and man power put into gta v then a game like uncharted or the last of us.

 

[User Tron]

Easily #1 the most impressive.

The Last Story is no slouch either.

 

[Matush]

Naughty Dog games, God of War 3, Beyond and GTAV.

Exactly my list + Journey. Basically every AAA Sony PS3 exclusive game in past couple of years.

 

[Parhelion69]

The Last of Us. Graphics and art direction were top notch. Unthinkable PS3 could do something like this.

GTA V. The livest open world yet. So much stuff happens so much at the screen at the same time.

Beyond Two Souls. At times, looks like prerendered graphics (at 720p).

 

[MisterXDTV]

Exactly my list + Journey. Basically every AAA Sony PS3 exclusive game in past couple of years.

BUT BUT they said the X360 was the better console!

Spoiler

LOL

Reading through this thread is clear that PS3 had the best games of the 7th generation.

Uncharted 2/3, Beyond: Two souls, Wipeout, TLOU....

PS3 was/is a beast....

 

[parabolee]

While Beyond: Two Souls and The Last of US did amazing emotion facial animation and absolutely incredible things with the hardware they had to work with...

I have to say that when it comes to most technically and visually impressive game, nothing touches Crysis 3.

 

[DavionStriker]

For graphics - Beyond Two Souls

For sheer scale - Skyrim (over GTA5)

 

[Currygan]

My vote goes to Jett Rocket

It is a 3D platformer with graphics comparable to Maro Galaxy .... on the WIIWARE

Remember ?
The same wiiware that had limitations that stopped SUPER MEAT BOY from fitting the size ?

good pick, these guys are wizards
remember Nanostray? That looked insane on a DS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtM_uGKCarI

 

[Sephzilla]

It's either God of War 3 / Ascension or one of the Uncharted games. GTAV has too many framerate dips to me.

For an honorable mention I'm going to throw Devil May Cry 4 out there. For an early gen game I still think it looks pretty impressive visually and actually think it was the prettiest character action game not named God of War that gen.

 

[TheListener]

To me: GTA V, God of War 3, and Halo 4. Beyond 2 souls is pretty excellent too.

 

[Final Verdict]

Halo 4 is the most technically impressive 7th gen game I'v played.

The lighting still looks next gen, and the cutscenes, while some prerendered, looked so realistic, I almost mistook it for a live action cutscene at first.

The frame rate was a solid 30fps, and the game at a native 720p.
The character models had a ton of detail, especially master chief and cortana.

The only downside to this game was a fairly short draw distance for certain things such as grass.

The ending cutscene below is a good example of just how good the gameplay, in engine cutscenes, and prerendered cutscenes are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ-qTXTicI8

 

[Insane Metal]

Without a doubt GOW3 is the best looking 7th gen console game, and probably has the best IQ of any (720p) console game I have seen. It looks more next-gen than some 'next gen' games.

Yes!

Amazing how they managed to pull this level of quality from the PS3, and not so late on its life cycle.

 

[boclfon479]

I would definitely have to agree with Xenoblade being the most technically impressive game on the 7th generation.

You have to think about how even though uncharted 3 and gears and all those games are beautiful, that isn't the only aspect of technically impressive. It's also about squeezing the most out of the hardware and in that respect, Xenoblade chronicles wins by a landslide. HUGE open world with lots of enemies and wildlife, and almost no load times to ruin the immersion.

All this along with a killer story and amazing story... There's no other choice when you compare the game to the platform it's on

 

[DrGonzo615]

Yes!

Amazing how they managed to pull this level of quality from the PS3, and not so late on its life cycle.

GOW3 was stunning in so many scenes.....and then there were scenes that were just ugly. Hera's garden comes to mind. I think GOW Ascension was a little more visually consistant.

But Kratos from both games might be the best looking character model Ive ever seen in any game.