The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
As we all know, video games are great, yet one of the most important yet under appreciated elements of games is the actual game world that the characters inhabit. As in any narrative medium, be it film, literature, video games or theatre, the world in which a story unfolds is an important part of its narrative structure; setting provides the framework in which characters move and develop. The representations of worlds range from places as mundane as everyday life such as Shenmue to fantastical universes with their own rules, unique inhabitants, and histories such as Zelda, Final Fantasy or Grim Fandango.
The great thing about games is that they can take us into unimaginable worlds, and nowadays the developers have a lot more freedom and technological power to fully convey their artistic visions of alien planets, huge cityscapes, detailed forests etc, and give the player a really splendid background with which to play out the adventure.
When a world is particularly well developed or imaginative, it can provide really memorable gaming experiences, and many rich and diverse game worlds have caught my attention and held my interest long after I finished the game. Do you remember in Zelda: Ocarina of Time the first time you ventured out into Hyrule field with its spectacular sunset or the stunning Hyrule lake, or explored the enchanting castle grounds? Or when you first explored the castle in Mario 64 or the scary mansion in Resident Evil? These worlds captivated us and provided us with excellent settings to great adventures, making the games an even better experience.
Grim Fandango's ‘Land of the Dead’ dazzles you with its great artwork and impressive music, which, coupled with a macabre theme and Mexican folklore, creates a unique and unforgettable atmosphere.
The Land of the Dead lives and breathes, drawing you in more and more as the game goes on. By the time you reach the end, you don't want to leave this magnificent world, and the film-noir quality of the adventure is second to none. Not only is the game a classic, but the world is impressive too.
Broken Swords Parisian world is similar to that of Grim Fandango, in that although it’s only 2D, it’s still colourful, bright, original, and humorous, but best of all, it is populated by a wonderful cast of characters. Plus you venture to Scotland, Spain, Ireland and Syria, exploring castle ruins, museums, sewers, hotels, Syrian toilets etc.
Shenmue takes us into the mid 80’s world of Hong Kong and Japan, letting us drive forklift trucks, play archaic arcade games, feed kittens with dried octopus flakes and talk to sailors. But the game world is fantastic, stunning even, with quaint small villages, bustling towns and impressive seaports creating an awesome air of wonder.
Many times would I just wander around in awe of the spectacularly detailed world, and marvel at the level of detail that was painstakingly added to the game to ensure that it provided an adequate ‘wow factor’.
The Zelda series has seen some of the most stunning and original landscapes, with Ocarina of Time being the best example, with the aforementioned castle, Hyrule Field and lake, but also with arid deserts, water temples, inside giant fish creatures, volcanoes, forests, villages, many differently themed dungeons, waterfalls and many more glorious spectacles.
The new Gamecube Zelda may have switched to the controversial cel-shaded look, with not everyone convinced about the graphical style, but the game world will be looking better than ever, with amazingly lit dungeons, pleasant towns and fields, and a tremendous looking water section. Despite the new look, hopefully it will retain the richness and immersiveness of its predecessors….
What more can I say about Liberty City in GTA3? A truly stunning representation of a living, breathing city, with pedestrians, motorists, rival gangs, train system, hospitals, police stations, stadiums, huge buildings, dams, mansions etc there is just an amazing attention to detail in the landscape, and every time you play GTA3 you could explore little areas that you hadn’t previously seen. Liberty City is a world in which you could truly suspend disbelief and lose yourself for a while and forget about the outside world.
GTA3 is an example of how game worlds have progressed over the last few years; gone are the days when games had simple level structure and linear A to B progression. Liberty City is one enormous level.
There are many other splendid gaming environments, and though I haven’t got Ico on PS2 or Oddworld on the Xbox, they nevertheless look like splendid games, and their actual game worlds look extremely impressive, GoldenEye has facilities, the dam, underground lairs, giant antennas, jungle and plenty more locations.
Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, Banjo Kazooie/Tooie have epic environments populated with a vast amount of characters and have interesting things to see and do.
Metal Gear Solid 1 & 2 has freezing arctic installations with cold looking metal, giant tankers, the bright looking Big Shell and other imposing locations.
Silent Hill 1 & 2 has a murky, dirty and twisted world, full of menace and intrigue.
Final Fantasy 7 & 8 wows us with its industrial future, with both utopian & distopian visions of grand technology and epic scale.
Mario Sunshine has pleasant Mediterranean vistas, and looks like it’s going to be lots of fun exploring.
It’s not only adventure games that can have impressive game environments, take Ridge Racer Type 4. Just an ordinary racing game perhaps? Yes, but to me the actual level locations are very idealistic places and picturesque locations, with rolling hills, giant dams, curving roads with stunning bridges, cityscapes, cool-blue seaports, night time freeways complete with tunnels, overpasses and neon signs etc. The RR4 world is the sort of place I’d love to have a holiday in! I remember reading the old Official Playstation review and it mentioned that every screenshot looked like a picture postcard. It was nice to see the developers branch out and let their imaginations create those impressive backgrounds, although RR5 sadly didn’t carry it through when it reverted back to the boring old single city level.
Wave Race: Blue Storm has Chinese bays, mountain creeks, city circuits, polar seas, all populated with rocks, seaweed, Killer Whales, schools of fish, turtles, manta-ray fish; each track is brimming with life & activity.
Metropolis Street Racer is one of my all time favourites, and the world that you race around in it is truly stunning, with amazingly and painstakingly recreated versions of London, San Francisco and Tokyo.
You may or may not have heard about the brilliant Japanese anime show called Cowboy Bebop. It is an intergalactic adventure series about a rag tag bunch of space age bounty hunters, but one of its strongest aspects is that each planet, world and city in the series all have a unique style and atmosphere to it that make them their own. From the dilapidated and gritty cities, flashy high-rise futuristic cities, to the huge flash orbiting casino.
Due to the many different inhabitants in the worlds, we get a large display of various cultures throughout the series. Every single episode adds one more level of depth to this incredible universe, which is as distinctive and varied as our own.
With the advent of 3d technology in gaming, developers could take us into more complex worlds, where exploration was integral to the completion of an adventure, and turned many games into fun adventures.
With video games getting ever more impressive in the visual department, and plenty of amazing looking games shown off at E3, the future is looking rosy for the increasingly amazing video game worlds. We will all benefit because the sheer escapism that these immersive and explorable worlds present are one of the things that makes gaming so great.
The great thing about games is that they can take us into unimaginable worlds, and nowadays the developers have a lot more freedom and technological power to fully convey their artistic visions of alien planets, huge cityscapes, detailed forests etc, and give the player a really splendid background with which to play out the adventure.
When a world is particularly well developed or imaginative, it can provide really memorable gaming experiences, and many rich and diverse game worlds have caught my attention and held my interest long after I finished the game. Do you remember in Zelda: Ocarina of Time the first time you ventured out into Hyrule field with its spectacular sunset or the stunning Hyrule lake, or explored the enchanting castle grounds? Or when you first explored the castle in Mario 64 or the scary mansion in Resident Evil? These worlds captivated us and provided us with excellent settings to great adventures, making the games an even better experience.
Grim Fandango's ‘Land of the Dead’ dazzles you with its great artwork and impressive music, which, coupled with a macabre theme and Mexican folklore, creates a unique and unforgettable atmosphere.
The Land of the Dead lives and breathes, drawing you in more and more as the game goes on. By the time you reach the end, you don't want to leave this magnificent world, and the film-noir quality of the adventure is second to none. Not only is the game a classic, but the world is impressive too.
Broken Swords Parisian world is similar to that of Grim Fandango, in that although it’s only 2D, it’s still colourful, bright, original, and humorous, but best of all, it is populated by a wonderful cast of characters. Plus you venture to Scotland, Spain, Ireland and Syria, exploring castle ruins, museums, sewers, hotels, Syrian toilets etc.
Shenmue takes us into the mid 80’s world of Hong Kong and Japan, letting us drive forklift trucks, play archaic arcade games, feed kittens with dried octopus flakes and talk to sailors. But the game world is fantastic, stunning even, with quaint small villages, bustling towns and impressive seaports creating an awesome air of wonder.
Many times would I just wander around in awe of the spectacularly detailed world, and marvel at the level of detail that was painstakingly added to the game to ensure that it provided an adequate ‘wow factor’.
The Zelda series has seen some of the most stunning and original landscapes, with Ocarina of Time being the best example, with the aforementioned castle, Hyrule Field and lake, but also with arid deserts, water temples, inside giant fish creatures, volcanoes, forests, villages, many differently themed dungeons, waterfalls and many more glorious spectacles.
The new Gamecube Zelda may have switched to the controversial cel-shaded look, with not everyone convinced about the graphical style, but the game world will be looking better than ever, with amazingly lit dungeons, pleasant towns and fields, and a tremendous looking water section. Despite the new look, hopefully it will retain the richness and immersiveness of its predecessors….
What more can I say about Liberty City in GTA3? A truly stunning representation of a living, breathing city, with pedestrians, motorists, rival gangs, train system, hospitals, police stations, stadiums, huge buildings, dams, mansions etc there is just an amazing attention to detail in the landscape, and every time you play GTA3 you could explore little areas that you hadn’t previously seen. Liberty City is a world in which you could truly suspend disbelief and lose yourself for a while and forget about the outside world.
GTA3 is an example of how game worlds have progressed over the last few years; gone are the days when games had simple level structure and linear A to B progression. Liberty City is one enormous level.
There are many other splendid gaming environments, and though I haven’t got Ico on PS2 or Oddworld on the Xbox, they nevertheless look like splendid games, and their actual game worlds look extremely impressive, GoldenEye has facilities, the dam, underground lairs, giant antennas, jungle and plenty more locations.
Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, Banjo Kazooie/Tooie have epic environments populated with a vast amount of characters and have interesting things to see and do.
Metal Gear Solid 1 & 2 has freezing arctic installations with cold looking metal, giant tankers, the bright looking Big Shell and other imposing locations.
Silent Hill 1 & 2 has a murky, dirty and twisted world, full of menace and intrigue.
Final Fantasy 7 & 8 wows us with its industrial future, with both utopian & distopian visions of grand technology and epic scale.
Mario Sunshine has pleasant Mediterranean vistas, and looks like it’s going to be lots of fun exploring.
It’s not only adventure games that can have impressive game environments, take Ridge Racer Type 4. Just an ordinary racing game perhaps? Yes, but to me the actual level locations are very idealistic places and picturesque locations, with rolling hills, giant dams, curving roads with stunning bridges, cityscapes, cool-blue seaports, night time freeways complete with tunnels, overpasses and neon signs etc. The RR4 world is the sort of place I’d love to have a holiday in! I remember reading the old Official Playstation review and it mentioned that every screenshot looked like a picture postcard. It was nice to see the developers branch out and let their imaginations create those impressive backgrounds, although RR5 sadly didn’t carry it through when it reverted back to the boring old single city level.
Wave Race: Blue Storm has Chinese bays, mountain creeks, city circuits, polar seas, all populated with rocks, seaweed, Killer Whales, schools of fish, turtles, manta-ray fish; each track is brimming with life & activity.
Metropolis Street Racer is one of my all time favourites, and the world that you race around in it is truly stunning, with amazingly and painstakingly recreated versions of London, San Francisco and Tokyo.
You may or may not have heard about the brilliant Japanese anime show called Cowboy Bebop. It is an intergalactic adventure series about a rag tag bunch of space age bounty hunters, but one of its strongest aspects is that each planet, world and city in the series all have a unique style and atmosphere to it that make them their own. From the dilapidated and gritty cities, flashy high-rise futuristic cities, to the huge flash orbiting casino.
Due to the many different inhabitants in the worlds, we get a large display of various cultures throughout the series. Every single episode adds one more level of depth to this incredible universe, which is as distinctive and varied as our own.
With the advent of 3d technology in gaming, developers could take us into more complex worlds, where exploration was integral to the completion of an adventure, and turned many games into fun adventures.
With video games getting ever more impressive in the visual department, and plenty of amazing looking games shown off at E3, the future is looking rosy for the increasingly amazing video game worlds. We will all benefit because the sheer escapism that these immersive and explorable worlds present are one of the things that makes gaming so great.
Ah, my favourite aspect of gaming: "the gameworld".
I could almost say that I'm obsessed with the environments of videogames.
I love the variety - from the realism of Shenmue all the way through to the psychedelic dreamscapes of Rez.
Of course gameplay and sound/music are important, but what makes me "truly" like a game is its gameworld: does it have character? is it immersive? etc.
Good post.
I could almost say that I'm obsessed with the environments of videogames.
I love the variety - from the realism of Shenmue all the way through to the psychedelic dreamscapes of Rez.
Of course gameplay and sound/music are important, but what makes me "truly" like a game is its gameworld: does it have character? is it immersive? etc.
Good post.
As we all know, video games are great, yet one of the most important yet under appreciated elements of games is the actual game world that the characters inhabit. As in any narrative medium, be it film, literature, video games or theatre, the world in which a story unfolds is an important part of its narrative structure; setting provides the framework in which characters move and develop. The representations of worlds range from places as mundane as everyday life such as Shenmue to fantastical universes with their own rules, unique inhabitants, and histories such as Zelda, Final Fantasy or Grim Fandango.
The great thing about games is that they can take us into unimaginable worlds, and nowadays the developers have a lot more freedom and technological power to fully convey their artistic visions of alien planets, huge cityscapes, detailed forests etc, and give the player a really splendid background with which to play out the adventure.
When a world is particularly well developed or imaginative, it can provide really memorable gaming experiences, and many rich and diverse game worlds have caught my attention and held my interest long after I finished the game. Do you remember in Zelda: Ocarina of Time the first time you ventured out into Hyrule field with its spectacular sunset or the stunning Hyrule lake, or explored the enchanting castle grounds? Or when you first explored the castle in Mario 64 or the scary mansion in Resident Evil? These worlds captivated us and provided us with excellent settings to great adventures, making the games an even better experience.
Grim Fandango's ‘Land of the Dead’ dazzles you with its great artwork and impressive music, which, coupled with a macabre theme and Mexican folklore, creates a unique and unforgettable atmosphere.
The Land of the Dead lives and breathes, drawing you in more and more as the game goes on. By the time you reach the end, you don't want to leave this magnificent world, and the film-noir quality of the adventure is second to none. Not only is the game a classic, but the world is impressive too.
Broken Swords Parisian world is similar to that of Grim Fandango, in that although it’s only 2D, it’s still colourful, bright, original, and humorous, but best of all, it is populated by a wonderful cast of characters. Plus you venture to Scotland, Spain, Ireland and Syria, exploring castle ruins, museums, sewers, hotels, Syrian toilets etc.
Shenmue takes us into the mid 80’s world of Hong Kong and Japan, letting us drive forklift trucks, play archaic arcade games, feed kittens with dried octopus flakes and talk to sailors. But the game world is fantastic, stunning even, with quaint small villages, bustling towns and impressive seaports creating an awesome air of wonder.
Many times would I just wander around in awe of the spectacularly detailed world, and marvel at the level of detail that was painstakingly added to the game to ensure that it provided an adequate ‘wow factor’.
The Zelda series has seen some of the most stunning and original landscapes, with Ocarina of Time being the best example, with the aforementioned castle, Hyrule Field and lake, but also with arid deserts, water temples, inside giant fish creatures, volcanoes, forests, villages, many differently themed dungeons, waterfalls and many more glorious spectacles.
The new Gamecube Zelda may have switched to the controversial cel-shaded look, with not everyone convinced about the graphical style, but the game world will be looking better than ever, with amazingly lit dungeons, pleasant towns and fields, and a tremendous looking water section. Despite the new look, hopefully it will retain the richness and immersiveness of its predecessors….
What more can I say about Liberty City in GTA3? A truly stunning representation of a living, breathing city, with pedestrians, motorists, rival gangs, train system, hospitals, police stations, stadiums, huge buildings, dams, mansions etc there is just an amazing attention to detail in the landscape, and every time you play GTA3 you could explore little areas that you hadn’t previously seen. Liberty City is a world in which you could truly suspend disbelief and lose yourself for a while and forget about the outside world.
GTA3 is an example of how game worlds have progressed over the last few years; gone are the days when games had simple level structure and linear A to B progression. Liberty City is one enormous level.
There are many other splendid gaming environments, and though I haven’t got Ico on PS2 or Oddworld on the Xbox, they nevertheless look like splendid games, and their actual game worlds look extremely impressive, GoldenEye has facilities, the dam, underground lairs, giant antennas, jungle and plenty more locations.
Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, Banjo Kazooie/Tooie have epic environments populated with a vast amount of characters and have interesting things to see and do.
Metal Gear Solid 1 & 2 has freezing arctic installations with cold looking metal, giant tankers, the bright looking Big Shell and other imposing locations.
Silent Hill 1 & 2 has a murky, dirty and twisted world, full of menace and intrigue.
Final Fantasy 7 & 8 wows us with its industrial future, with both utopian & distopian visions of grand technology and epic scale.
Mario Sunshine has pleasant Mediterranean vistas, and looks like it’s going to be lots of fun exploring.
It’s not only adventure games that can have impressive game environments, take Ridge Racer Type 4. Just an ordinary racing game perhaps? Yes, but to me the actual level locations are very idealistic places and picturesque locations, with rolling hills, giant dams, curving roads with stunning bridges, cityscapes, cool-blue seaports, night time freeways complete with tunnels, overpasses and neon signs etc. The RR4 world is the sort of place I’d love to have a holiday in! I remember reading the old Official Playstation review and it mentioned that every screenshot looked like a picture postcard. It was nice to see the developers branch out and let their imaginations create those impressive backgrounds, although RR5 sadly didn’t carry it through when it reverted back to the boring old single city level.
Wave Race: Blue Storm has Chinese bays, mountain creeks, city circuits, polar seas, all populated with rocks, seaweed, Killer Whales, schools of fish, turtles, manta-ray fish; each track is brimming with life & activity.
Metropolis Street Racer is one of my all time favourites, and the world that you race around in it is truly stunning, with amazingly and painstakingly recreated versions of London, San Francisco and Tokyo.
You may or may not have heard about the brilliant Japanese anime show called Cowboy Bebop. It is an intergalactic adventure series about a rag tag bunch of space age bounty hunters, but one of its strongest aspects is that each planet, world and city in the series all have a unique style and atmosphere to it that make them their own. From the dilapidated and gritty cities, flashy high-rise futuristic cities, to the huge flash orbiting casino.
Due to the many different inhabitants in the worlds, we get a large display of various cultures throughout the series. Every single episode adds one more level of depth to this incredible universe, which is as distinctive and varied as our own.
With the advent of 3d technology in gaming, developers could take us into more complex worlds, where exploration was integral to the completion of an adventure, and turned many games into fun adventures.
With video games getting ever more impressive in the visual department, and plenty of amazing looking games shown off at E3, the future is looking rosy for the increasingly amazing video game worlds. We will all benefit because the sheer escapism that these immersive and explorable worlds present are one of the things that makes gaming so great.
The great thing about games is that they can take us into unimaginable worlds, and nowadays the developers have a lot more freedom and technological power to fully convey their artistic visions of alien planets, huge cityscapes, detailed forests etc, and give the player a really splendid background with which to play out the adventure.
When a world is particularly well developed or imaginative, it can provide really memorable gaming experiences, and many rich and diverse game worlds have caught my attention and held my interest long after I finished the game. Do you remember in Zelda: Ocarina of Time the first time you ventured out into Hyrule field with its spectacular sunset or the stunning Hyrule lake, or explored the enchanting castle grounds? Or when you first explored the castle in Mario 64 or the scary mansion in Resident Evil? These worlds captivated us and provided us with excellent settings to great adventures, making the games an even better experience.
Grim Fandango's ‘Land of the Dead’ dazzles you with its great artwork and impressive music, which, coupled with a macabre theme and Mexican folklore, creates a unique and unforgettable atmosphere.
The Land of the Dead lives and breathes, drawing you in more and more as the game goes on. By the time you reach the end, you don't want to leave this magnificent world, and the film-noir quality of the adventure is second to none. Not only is the game a classic, but the world is impressive too.
Broken Swords Parisian world is similar to that of Grim Fandango, in that although it’s only 2D, it’s still colourful, bright, original, and humorous, but best of all, it is populated by a wonderful cast of characters. Plus you venture to Scotland, Spain, Ireland and Syria, exploring castle ruins, museums, sewers, hotels, Syrian toilets etc.
Shenmue takes us into the mid 80’s world of Hong Kong and Japan, letting us drive forklift trucks, play archaic arcade games, feed kittens with dried octopus flakes and talk to sailors. But the game world is fantastic, stunning even, with quaint small villages, bustling towns and impressive seaports creating an awesome air of wonder.
Many times would I just wander around in awe of the spectacularly detailed world, and marvel at the level of detail that was painstakingly added to the game to ensure that it provided an adequate ‘wow factor’.
The Zelda series has seen some of the most stunning and original landscapes, with Ocarina of Time being the best example, with the aforementioned castle, Hyrule Field and lake, but also with arid deserts, water temples, inside giant fish creatures, volcanoes, forests, villages, many differently themed dungeons, waterfalls and many more glorious spectacles.
The new Gamecube Zelda may have switched to the controversial cel-shaded look, with not everyone convinced about the graphical style, but the game world will be looking better than ever, with amazingly lit dungeons, pleasant towns and fields, and a tremendous looking water section. Despite the new look, hopefully it will retain the richness and immersiveness of its predecessors….
What more can I say about Liberty City in GTA3? A truly stunning representation of a living, breathing city, with pedestrians, motorists, rival gangs, train system, hospitals, police stations, stadiums, huge buildings, dams, mansions etc there is just an amazing attention to detail in the landscape, and every time you play GTA3 you could explore little areas that you hadn’t previously seen. Liberty City is a world in which you could truly suspend disbelief and lose yourself for a while and forget about the outside world.
GTA3 is an example of how game worlds have progressed over the last few years; gone are the days when games had simple level structure and linear A to B progression. Liberty City is one enormous level.
There are many other splendid gaming environments, and though I haven’t got Ico on PS2 or Oddworld on the Xbox, they nevertheless look like splendid games, and their actual game worlds look extremely impressive, GoldenEye has facilities, the dam, underground lairs, giant antennas, jungle and plenty more locations.
Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, Banjo Kazooie/Tooie have epic environments populated with a vast amount of characters and have interesting things to see and do.
Metal Gear Solid 1 & 2 has freezing arctic installations with cold looking metal, giant tankers, the bright looking Big Shell and other imposing locations.
Silent Hill 1 & 2 has a murky, dirty and twisted world, full of menace and intrigue.
Final Fantasy 7 & 8 wows us with its industrial future, with both utopian & distopian visions of grand technology and epic scale.
Mario Sunshine has pleasant Mediterranean vistas, and looks like it’s going to be lots of fun exploring.
It’s not only adventure games that can have impressive game environments, take Ridge Racer Type 4. Just an ordinary racing game perhaps? Yes, but to me the actual level locations are very idealistic places and picturesque locations, with rolling hills, giant dams, curving roads with stunning bridges, cityscapes, cool-blue seaports, night time freeways complete with tunnels, overpasses and neon signs etc. The RR4 world is the sort of place I’d love to have a holiday in! I remember reading the old Official Playstation review and it mentioned that every screenshot looked like a picture postcard. It was nice to see the developers branch out and let their imaginations create those impressive backgrounds, although RR5 sadly didn’t carry it through when it reverted back to the boring old single city level.
Wave Race: Blue Storm has Chinese bays, mountain creeks, city circuits, polar seas, all populated with rocks, seaweed, Killer Whales, schools of fish, turtles, manta-ray fish; each track is brimming with life & activity.
Metropolis Street Racer is one of my all time favourites, and the world that you race around in it is truly stunning, with amazingly and painstakingly recreated versions of London, San Francisco and Tokyo.
You may or may not have heard about the brilliant Japanese anime show called Cowboy Bebop. It is an intergalactic adventure series about a rag tag bunch of space age bounty hunters, but one of its strongest aspects is that each planet, world and city in the series all have a unique style and atmosphere to it that make them their own. From the dilapidated and gritty cities, flashy high-rise futuristic cities, to the huge flash orbiting casino.
Due to the many different inhabitants in the worlds, we get a large display of various cultures throughout the series. Every single episode adds one more level of depth to this incredible universe, which is as distinctive and varied as our own.
With the advent of 3d technology in gaming, developers could take us into more complex worlds, where exploration was integral to the completion of an adventure, and turned many games into fun adventures.
With video games getting ever more impressive in the visual department, and plenty of amazing looking games shown off at E3, the future is looking rosy for the increasingly amazing video game worlds. We will all benefit because the sheer escapism that these immersive and explorable worlds present are one of the things that makes gaming so great.