Top Five Most Beautiful Scenery In Gaming, Number One's A Stunner (Video)

With the incredible processing power of todays gaming systems, games more than ever have the potential of delivering some beautiful HD visuals. While facial animation, detailed character models and advanced physics simulators are all feeling the benefit of modern technology, nothing makes you stop and stare like an epic sweeping vista.

All of the games featured in this weeks top 5 are fast paced action titles. But they all had their gameplay abruptly halted when I decided to stop running, and simply look. Make sure you switch the video to HD and enjoy the scenery from this selection of beautiful game vistas.

[Pandamobile]

Lack of Crysis and The Witcher 2 make this video invalid.

[qwertyz]

i think this is for consoles ? if pc games where also considered there'd be no console game on the list as even bulletstorm maxed out already destroys anything on consoles to date lol PC FTW!

[Focker420]

*facepalm*

You obviously have no idea what this article is talking about. Its not about the technical prowess of a game. Its how beautiful the surrounding scenery is. Not "oh look at how cool this bush is on my PC derp derp". This entire article went over your head, and you still don't even realize it.

[evrfighter1]

since I was browsing the pc section and came across this. I will show you some of the best art in gaming.

http://cloud.steampowered.c...

http://cloud.steampowered.c...

http://cloud.steampowered.c...

http://cloud.steampowered.c...

in all 1080p glory.

[Matpan]

and tell me, Focker420 how beatiful something is for qwertyz is totally wrong because he prefers the surroundings in other games?... He failed to understand the article because of that?... what if he actually thinks that bulletstorm maxed out has settings to more worthy to behold at than those in AC2 or UC2 or KZ3?...

People just need to chill out a bit in here...

[Matpan]

This is just an opinion article... So you can either agree or not with this guy. He puts some pretty games in there. And while they are surely among the most visually impressive games, there are some titles that could be replaced for others and still there would be the same amount of people happy with this list, and the same amount complaining...

[HappyGaming]

*facepalm* at the video... Killzone 3?
Really? Killzone 3 is beautiful?

It is meant to be an industrial warzone its not meant to be beautiful!!!

[HeavenlySnipes]

Not best graphics. Of course the first comment would be a PC elitist. -_-

What is so beautiful about Crysis 2? Destroyed NYC is nothing to marvel over.

[Matpan]

Again... this is just opinion... You can either agree with the guy who made the article or not... Best looking scenery is a totally subjective issue. While some may drop their jaws in awe at the mere view of a lost temple in a Nepali mountains others may prefer to see the Chrysler building coming down... Wether one is "better looking" than the other then can arguably be interpreted as in terms of technically achieved, as that would be the only real objective way to measure two different scenery...

In that case, As much as you may prefer the settings in uncharted 2 (and I personally do so) , what the people at crytec where able to achieve in terms of visual prowess with BOTH their crysis games is well over that.

Now as an opinion article, depicting what the author prefers... it`s totally valid, and I agree to some extent, I still do believe Crysis games ought to be there, they have some pretty pretty views to stare at...

[Pandamobile]

If this applies to consoles only, it shouldn't be in the PC section.

And I'm talking about Crysis, not Crysis 2.

[theEx1Le]

Yup Crysis has beautiful scenery, doesn't even have to be maxed out. Especially in the later sections with the frozen areas.

[caboose32]

Yea I would go with Crysis Warhead with the best scenery. This article is just filled with a bunch of console fanboys that have never played the damn game before. Also Shogun 2 has some pretty stunning scenery at times.

But since this is a "console" article and if I dont say a console game everybody here will get butthurt, then I would have to say Uncharted 2 has the best looking scenery out of these.

[solar]

was that video a joke? im failing to see how it is actually a "best of" o.O

[frostypants]

Uncharted 2 has prettier scenery than anything on any other platform, and I own all 3 that matter in this discussion. I've never heard anyone who's actually played U2 all the way through disagree.

Crysis is pretty and should have been on here, but it's not just about pushing polygons and resolution. Creative assets can trump a certain amount of horsepower advantage.

[Saladfax]

Played through Uncharted 2 twice now. I love that bloody game; it's very very good.

It is not the gold standard for everything. It has very good scenery, visuals, and fidelity packed into it, but it is by no means the best.

Once again, played Uncharted 2 twice, and I disagree with your statement.

[50Terabytespersec]

Resistance 2 had one and so did , Motor storm Apocalypse

[MrDead]

Dear the PC users commenting on this video, please for the love of god grow up you whine more than my 5 year old nephew.

[caboose32]

Sorry, we all have to whine sometimes. =D

This is what its like arguing with most console gamers. (not all though, many tend to be much less stubborn about things.)

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Also if you watched the video on youtube the uploader states that he couldnt put Crysis or other pc games on the list because he doesnt have a high end pc to record the games with.So he had to make the video with what he had. So yea, pc gamers can stop complaining about their favorites not being on it too.

[SonyPS360]

45 people who disagreed have no clue what they are talking about.

I watched this video and he missed at dozens of better examples.

[likedamaster]

That was definitely a pretty scene in Uncharted 2, but the best in all of gaming? Not by a long shot.

[movements]

Well Killzone 3 looks better than Crysis 2, and Witcher 2 is not yet on consoles so?

[Pandamobile]

Hahahaha

[gaffyh]

I don't see what's funny. Killzone 3 does look better stylistically, but if you're talking about polygons, of course Crysis will win. On high settings it looks amazing, but this isn't about the best graphics, it's about the best looking scenery. So he has a valid opinion, even if you don't agree with it.

Not surprised that Uncharted won tbh.

[Inside_out]

.
Crysis 2 raised the bar, but some kids just don't get it...

Destruction is beautiful...

http://youtu.be/mW8bMnkZozQ

Crysis brings the heat...and the light...

http://youtu.be/kF67XFXq_ys

There is a lot more...

Halo Reach...

http://youtu.be/R8uJRYUOdME

Gears Of War...

http://youtu.be/mgmRGqsEgtU

Alan wake...yep, that good.

http://youtu.be/Ar6btqzzFAs

[Matpan]

@gaffyh
Well then we just enter the terrain of subjectivity. While it can be empiraically demonstrated that X game has more polygons / postprocessing effects / number of light sources and so on... than Y game... the "looks better sylistically" is purely a matter of taste.

In that sense... I find this a mere opinion article...

I find the sceneries in The curse of monkey island more inspiring and much nicer than some of the examples shown there... for example...

[frostypants]

Halo Reach? Are you JOKING? That game's main criticism was it wasn't a significant graphical upgrade over Halo 3. Graphics and scenery were the weakest aspects of it!

[Denethor_II]

Naughty Dog are obviously more talented than the likes of Crytek you just have to look at the two console games of UNC 2 and Crysis to to see that. Uncharted 1 and 2 are truly beautiful examples of what they are capable of.

Direct quote from PANDAMOBILE:
"Uncharted 2 can't touch half of the stuff we have on PC.

For Christ's sake, COD:WAW looks better than this game."

[qwertyz]

killzone 3 uses pre baked lights with NO HDR so how is it technically more impressive than crysis 2 ? you want to say killzone 3 has better textures ? well it doesn't and crysis 2 has larger more open environments (are you going to lie and say it doesn't?)

@cochise313

killzone 3s textures are no better and crysis 2 eviroments are much larger and open. Are you going to deny that ? does killzone 3 implement REALTIME global illumination ? no it doesn't crysis 2 lighting is way better and is all done in REALTIME and the ps3 version uses up to 16x anisotropic filtering! something kz3 cannot touch even uncharted 2 used trilinear filtering. it goes like this

bilinear<trilinear<2xAF <4xAF<8xAF<16xAF

@the stealth disagrees

lol dislike the comment all you want it doesn't mean it isn't true. crysis 2 has better lighting, better textures, larger enviroments, more open enviroments than killzone 3

[gaffyh]

Who said it was technically more impressive? I said the exact opposite in fact.

[cochise313]

Crysis had some pretty flat textures, it was just very well lit which gave the impression of better graphics. I saw bullets lying on the ground and they were flat as paper. Crysis looks good, but is over rated. There are many console games that looks better.

[stampylongnose]

It is technically very impressive, but the consoles can't handle it. It is very glitchy and buggy on consoles. It only runs smooth on a high end PC. KZ runs brilliantly on a PS3, who knows how could it could look on PC.

The video is about art anyway, not graphics.

[frostypants]

No one said anything about "technically impressive" (HOW a look is achieved is irrelevent if you're not a dev) OR whether environments are open or not.

The article is about pretty scenery. You're trying to move the goalposts because it offended your fanboy sensibilities.

[SonyPS360]

Are you serious? You need glasses I think.

Crysis 2 looks better, especially when you talk about scenery. And who said this had to be just a console list?

Why limit yourself and not use the most powerful platform?

This list wasn't made by anyone significant. No idea why it made it on N4G.

[SpaceSquirrel]

I'm sure Uncharted 3 will be on the list soon

[Focker420]

Uncharted 2 at number 1, no surprise there. I loved that part in the pool haha, its little things like that that make you really appreciate the developers.

[jdfoster00]

Yeah! Marco... Polo...Marco...Polo... haha Achievement unlocked! And yeah I totally agree with you. I love how they interact with each other and drakes sense of humour and personality i.e in the way he speaks to himself etc etc :)

[BeOneWithTheGun]

@jdfoster...I'm just guessing here, but I am pretty sure "Achievement Unlocked" never appears on your screen during Uncharted 2.

[squidyj]

Crysis 2 looks better than everything except maybe Uncharted 2 and there's nothing that says this is console only so the omission of Witcher 2 is a grave sin.

[SonyPS360]

Carefull, Ps3 fanboys are lurking. Don't dare bring up any better looking games.

[cochise313]

What are vistas?

[C_Menz]

People may dislike Final Fantasy 13 but it has some stunning environments and views.

[spektical]

agree with this list. uncharted 2 has some the best scenery I've ever seen. Vanquish was awesome as well.

[OcelotRigz]

Great list, they really do look amazing and kinda makes me wanna play thru them all again.
I would probably slip Red Dead Redemption in there, sometimes when i would be riding along during a sunset or lightning storm i would have to stop and just look at it in awe. Then again im not sure that falls into the "scenery" category.
I know AC is on there but standing on top of the Colosseum in AC Brotherhood and looking around was pretty impressive also.

[BeastlyRig]

Oh console competition that's all.. yeah so I would give it to UC2!

[solar]

me too. huge drawn sight distances on consoles dont compare well to PC.

[bluegoblin]

well if your going take go by how beautiful the enviroments where i would put heavenly sword in there somewhere. i always thought thats one of the most underated games this gen, given how early in ps3s life it was released. still a beatiful game

[JAMurida]

There were too many good scenes in UC2 to crown on of them the best of them all. So many times would you find yourself standing still observing the scenery.

Not to mention, I'm surprised FFXIII wasn't in there. It had some impressive scenes here and there that you would stand still looking at.

[Camb31691]

I agree with this list minus Assassin's Creed 2. How is it possible that AC2's scenery is better than Brotherhood? I like both of them, i'm just saying logically wouldn't it make sense that brotherhood is better? I mean maybe the author doesn't mean so much as graphically beautiful, but better to look at? That would be like saying uncharted 1 had a better scenery then Uncharted 2. Maybe i'm wrong.

[stampylongnose]

It's simpler than that, I don't own Brotherhood yet.

It was actually playing AC 2 that gave me the idea to make this video. You make a good point though, one would assume that Brotherhood should have some better scenery.

[Camb31691]

Ok,You are right. Check out Brotherhood Though, it has a nice scenery. Every city. Though i have not beaten it yet. So i cant fully say it has better scenery. The water, clouds, and buildings you showed in the video of AC2 is impressive.

[soapgoat]

where is mass effect 2 and halo reach for amazing vistas... wouldnt even call killzone 3's "vista" a vista because its right in front of the dude

[Camb31691]

Ahhhh i forgot about ME2. Really some great vistas!

[Optical_Matrix]

I wish Final Fantasy XIII was in there. Seriously, as much as people hate on that game, it had some of the the best looking environments I've ever seen in a videogame. Some of them, especially on Pulse, were stunning. Killzone 3 and Uncharted 2 I agree with also.

[TheDivine]

Alan Wake had some beautiful scenery. Watch the vid of the opening when you ride the ferrie into town, very bautiful game. Also looking out over the mountains was a perfect reproduction of the olymic mountains i used to wake up to everyday.

[jarrod1981]

I love the scenery of Far Cry 2. Cant wait to see how FC3 looks when it come out. But all the games on this list are great looking.

[gypsygib]

Great piece, I really love ones like this.

[turgore]

Vanquish...eww LOL.

[ATiElite]

1. STALKER Call of Pripyat kills this entire list. Stand on top of Crazy Noah's look out tower and you will see the best vistas ever in gaming history plus all this during a 24 hour day night cycle with clouds rain lightning fog, and god rays. and if that doesn't blow your mind (which it will) wait for the Chernobyl Power Plant to have a radiation blow-out and watch in awe as it rolls over the land.

2. why isn't GTAIV on this list? looking down or out from a Skyscaper or helicopter over New York is AWESOME.

3. San Andreas, sure it's an older game but looking at a living city from high up and watching the mayhem unfold is bad ass day or night.

4. The Witcher 2 comes to mind because it's like the best looking game ever with huge draw distances that let you view vistas in FULL detail.

5. I would not put Crysis on this list as some others have suggested. Crysis was not impressive standing high up looking over the world but looks dam good close up.

[pandehz]

Some games that could fit this list or a larger list:

1.Aion (the vistas are just amazing)

2.Crysis and warhead frozen sequences along with island and alien scenes.(also can make your own frame, position yourself almost anywhere from the foreground to the furthest accessible background)

3.Half Life 2: Episode 1 and 2.

4.Farcry 2

5.Metro 2033 (outdoor scenes)

6.Prince of Persia 2008

7.Shadow of the Colossus

8.Halo Reach (vistas generally)

9.Flower

10.Red Dead Redemption

[shotgun_ps3]

Judging by the comments looks like the PC fanboys are on the warpath. The greatest fanboy war in the world would be PC vs Nintendo *shudders at the thought*.

[CaptCalvin]

Just Cause 2 gets no mention???

[Pintheshadows]

If we are talking about spectacle Oblivion, New Castlevania, FF13 (as much as I hate to say it), GOW3, ME2 (Bekenstein).

[ATiElite]

1. STALKER Call of Pripyat kills this entire list. Stand on top of Crazy Noah's look out tower and you will see the best vistas ever in gaming history plus all this during a 24 hour day night cycle with clouds rain lightning fog, and god rays. and if that doesn't blow your mind (which it will) wait for the Chernobyl Power Plant to have a radiation blow-out and watch in awe as it rolls over the land.

2. why isn't GTAIV on this list? looking down or out from a Skyscaper or helicopter over New York is AWESOME.

3. San Andreas, sure it's an older game but looking at a living city from high up and watching the mayhem unfold is bad ass day or night.

4. The Witcher 2 comes to mind because it's like the best looking game ever with huge draw distances that let you view vistas in FULL detail.

5. I would not put Crysis on this list as some others have suggested. Crysis was not impressive standing high up looking over the world but looks dam good close up.

[fullmetal297]

Crysis' extreme quality mod makes me wanna turn my monitor off and on to make sure I'm still playing a game.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Jamito]

Best looking scenery.

Would probably have to disagree on Creed and Vanquish.

Personally I believe Both Killzone 2 & 3 to have scene's with amazing scenery. I also think Just Cause 2 and Warhawk should be there. But that's just me.