most Immersive, engaging, and atmospheric game

sebastianlieken

As the title suggests, Id like to see what the general concensus is to which game you found most immersive, engaging, and atmospheric. A game which; while you were playing literally sucked you in to the screen, a game which; while you were playing gave you habits or paronoia in real life. basically a game which played on your emotions and senses.

For me, and it really stands out prominantly for me; its S.T.A.L.K.E.R shadow of chernobyl.

It may not have been the best game play ever, but wow...that game ticks all the boxes in the title of this post with a big shiney gold star on the side.

RedXIV

spent 2 and a half years playing FF7 before i beat it, completely took over my life, ended up admin-ing a huge forum about it online, and used to try and incorperate the teachings of the game in real life. It sounds horrifically nerdy but to this day, nothing changed my life like Final Fantasy 7.



Think i'll go start a new game

Sabre0001

Original Half-Life (especially at the start when you have no weapon and you know there are aliens around) - mainly because of those damn headcrabs leaping out at me

Aliens vs Predator - Sheer terror! Especially as the marine...

quad_red

Half Life 2, when you're in the city scapes. Crows flying around, the sound of loud speakers in the distance...

class.

Dyr

I'm playing stalker at the moment, and i've pretty much lost interest. the storyline and missions are too weak, i havent a clue what im supposed to be doing or why most of the time. Great atmosphere though, the ambient noises are excellent.

Otacon

Metal Gear Solid and Assassin's Creed had the best environments and atmosphere for me. Both games were so immersive, especially Assassin's Creed (though the repetitiveness killed it)

Maximilian

An easy one to answer for me - the Thief series. Nothing could beat it for atmosphere & immersion, especially when played in a dark room. I'd stick System Shock II down next.

Ross_Mahon

I really felt immersed in the story of mass effect, you begin to adapt to the characters around you.

I had to leave Ashley Williams behind to secure the bomb, it was a hard decision...:(

sebastianlieken

it just occured to me that i might put condemned down there in position 2. it was engaging and very atmospheric, but nowhere near the immersion of stalker.

In condemned; yeah a thug can pop out n smack ya in the nut sack with a sledge hammer before you get a chance to piss urself, but after the first few times you get used to getting demasculinated. whereas in stalker when your walkin through the zone amongst a heap of zombified retards trying to shoot you with empty guns....you hear a squeel from a mile away and just know that this fast, vicious, SUPER retard thing is gonna run up ta ya and literally rape you in the blink of an eye....paronoia just listening for that sound was torture

Shiminay

I'd have to say the first HalfLife and AvP games too. I was just after starting college when they were out and was only really getting into PC gaming (mostly Quake), but when working in a night club and cmoing home to a house that was asleep and putting headphones in and turning the lights off, it made for plenty of "OHJEBUSINEARLYSHATMYSELF!!!" moments.

DarkJager

I have 2. Fahrenheit was an awesome game, got really into the whole story of it and loved how it twisted towards the end. Still one of my favs of the last gen.

Call of Duty 4 would be another. That entire last level was pure action from start to finish, so much going on that you felt as if you were in the middle of it. There's nothing better than an FPS where you just can't take your eyes or mind off whats happening on screen. Pure brilliance.

whiskeyman

Quake 1 ... with all lights off and headphones in... Scary sheeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Godot666

For immersion and game play, for me, Pain Killer floated my boat. Some bad ass scary moments in there for the emotionally frail and stoned!!!

thebman

Half-Life series

johnny_ultimate

Yeah Half-Life really sucked me into. Second one especially: bits like the opening sequence really show you how involved it is possible to get with a videogame.

cough cough, bioshock anyone?! made me feel liek this place could actually exist :P

Genghiz Cohen

Ravenholm in HL2, spooooooky...

TheWitch06

FFX, Lost Odyssey.

uglyjohn

it has to be stalker, everything about the world draws me in and scares the bejasus out of me. i spent last night creping through underground tunnels screaming at and blowing holes in shadows anytime i heard a noise.

when i emerged i hid in the shadows and watched as two gangs hostile to me fought it out anid some ruins in a thunderstorm :eek:

brilliant game, love it.

that said though, there are problems. the ai could be better,there are bugs in some missions and i wish it was bigger with more complex npc and faction relationships possible.

half life i found very immersive but i think the linear nature took away from that....

AvP suffered from its linear nature to an extent but i think the fact that as you played as the different races you had to play in a totally different way forced you to roleplay and immerse yourself

Retr0gamer

Ico anyone?

The game managed to build a believable and tangible world without resorting to cutscenes and the relationship between the two characters formed with very little dialogue and even then neither could understand each other. Wonderfully immersive stuff, I didn't put it down until I beat it.

Kiith

For me it would be...

AvP2: The sheer terror of seeing a blip on your motion detector was done increadibly well. I was genuinly spraying my rifle all over the place, as i would do in real life in a similar situation.
Half Life: For a game who's main character is basically a crowbar, it creates a really believeable world. The start sequence is one of the best intro's to a game ever.
Shadow of the Colossus: Who didnt feel like a complete ****er when killing the big guys. All they wanted was to be left alone, in a beautifully realised world, and you come along and kill them in an assortment of grizzly ways. And when Agro

fell off the bridge

Number one for me is...

System Shock 2: Some games rely on the shock value (Ahh i'll jump at you really fast!! etc...), and while System Shock 2 did have this, it was the athmosphere that really sold it for me. It was more of a continious thing, never really letting go. And interspaced with both Shodan (best villian ever btw) and Xerxes announcements....oohh, goosebumps.

sebastianlieken

uglyjohn wrote: »

it has to be stalker, everything about the world draws me in and scares the bejasus out of me. i spent last night creping through underground tunnels screaming at and blowing holes in shadows anytime i heard a noise.

when i emerged i hid in the shadows and watched as two gangs hostile to me fought it out anid some ruins in a thunderstorm :eek:

brilliant game, love it.

that said though, there are problems. the ai could be better,there are bugs in some missions and i wish it was bigger with more complex npc and faction relationships possible.

half life i found very immersive but i think the linear nature took away from that....

thats hittin ther nail on the head basically. the whole thunder storm thing is done pretty well aswell, and the whole different language....you just feel a bit lonely and lost in the game. but ya, not the best game play ever by a long shot...and the ending sucked balls.

Linearity is what takes it away from HL series from me.... you dont have to concentrate on what to do or make any real decisions...to just go A-B-C-D.... mindlessly following the game

OK-Cancel-Apply

For me,

Half Life (all of them) - damn, some scenes really grabbed my undivided attention (like when the G-Man spoke). The whole game really transports you to another place, and that's what games are for!

Portal - not to be overlooked! Amazing game! Very creepy and atmospheric.

Max Payne 2 (haven't played the first one) - brilliant game, very engaging. Loved watching all the little TV shows, and the 'funhouse' level was awesome.

Monkey Island series - fantastic. Aside from being really funny, they were very immersive. Very likable characters.

thebman

sebastianlieken wrote: »

thats hittin ther nail on the head basically. the whole thunder storm thing is done pretty well aswell, and the whole different language....you just feel a bit lonely and lost in the game. but ya, not the best game play ever by a long shot...and the ending sucked balls.

Linearity is what takes it away from HL series from me.... you dont have to concentrate on what to do or make any real decisions...to just go A-B-C-D.... mindlessly following the game

You get told what to do by the other characters in the game that know more about things going on than you in Half-Life.

I think Gordon Freeman is the worlds dumbest physicist Although he does know his physics, crowbar -> Head -> squash!

CiDeRmAn

Condemned on the 360, I played this, usually late at night, in a darkened room, and jumped out of my skin on many occasions. I believe the sequel sucks though.

GTA VC was amazing, took me to an 80's Vice City and let me live out my Miami Vice dreams.

Eternal Darkness was another one on the GC, another one that scared me feckless, awesome stuff, especially when what happens to your character isn't really what one expected from a Nintendo title, no Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach or Goombas here, no rather a homage to Lovecraft, brilliant.

Danger_Dave

Max Payne- What a game !, the way they tell the story is brilliant and the audio to the storyline is all that is needed to drag you into that game.

Space Quest Series- Could be playing that for 6 hours and you wouldn't know

Mass Effect- Really good storyline, made you want to talk to everyone on all levels for more

Diablo 1 + 2 Loved the stories of both games, enjoyed the first one more because it was great story telling without the need for a cut scene every 10 mins.

Other games people have mentioned ive really enjoyed as well

gnu

Sanitarium had good atmospheric sound and the storyline drew me in, much more than stuff like Silent Hill.

Thief - what can I say? I've had a lot of frights playing in the dark!

But the winner for me is Nethack. Best game ever and no visual/audio effects. But when you're in a marathon session (and ok, sleep dep helps) a purple @ can scare the cr*p out of you I forgot to mentch that I've gone without food while playing for about 16 hours and only realised when I find myself fainting with hunger in the game.

mayordenis

for me it's bioshock or HL2/HL2:EP1/HL2:EP2

thebman

I didn't find Bioshock all that immersive. Once I found out I could die with no consequence it kind of ruined it. It was fun up to that point though. Never bothered to finish it in the end

Creature

Ultima Underworld. Playing that I really got a feeling for being trapped in those never-ending tunnels and not having the slightest idea of what was around the next corner.

eamon234

I can't believe no-one's mentioned Prey - what a game!