Best Graphics, Artistic
Though the technical elements of a game's graphics are extremely important, the artistic quality of its visual design is what finally leaves a lasting impression on the player. Graphics technology continues to improve drastically every year, thus lending artists an increasingly effective medium for realizing their artistic concepts in their games. But, as important as technology is, it's fundamentally useless without strong visual design and execution. In fact, a game with lesser technology can still rise above its peers with exceptionally strong artistic qualities. No matter what engines are powering them, these five games best leveraged their technology to wow us the most with the overall impact of their graphics:
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No one who's seen the towering, spindly strider will ever look at first-person shooters the same way again. This game proved that a powerful engine only gets you halfway there--its amazing, distinctive art design pushed it into territory previously unexplored in this genre.
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Snake Eater's real-time cutscenes are arguably the best ever created in a game, with framing and blocking worthy of any big-budget action movie, and a painfully artistic attention to color, lighting, and shot composition. At its finest moments, it's truly a beautiful game.
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In the grand tradition of Myst, this game is like a series of lushly rendered paintings brought to surreal life through subtle animations and your interactions with the environment. This is a world you can easily lose yourself in.
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Mario's newest RPG takes the adorable visual style established by its predecessor and runs with it, with a host of endearing new characters and a look that evokes a child's pop-up book. This game is purely a joy to behold.
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Blizzard's first MMORPG compensates for any perceived lack of technical prowess with a cohesive, utterly massive world that stretches across multiple environments and is imbued with the irresistible personality that permeates all the company's games.
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And the Winner is...
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