Sure, you could say that video games get more beautiful every year. Graphics technology gets better, game developers get more adept, and as a result, games get more beautiful. All the same, 2014 felt like a special year for video game beauty.
This year, PC games looked as good as ever, while new consoles let us get our first sense of how much better console games will look in the years to come. We got a few redone versions of already good-looking games — hello, atmospheric smoke effects! 2014 was also the year that marked the rise of “photo mode,” an in-game tool to lets users capture their own perfect screenshots. The screenshots that players made were almost always nicer than any of the promotional screens that publishers sent out.
Below, I’ve listed some of the most beautiful video games of the year:
Infamous: Second Son
Grand Theft Auto V
Child of Light
Monument Valley
Far Cry 4
Lumino City
The Last of Us: Remastered
Fract OSC
Assassin’s Creed Unity
Kentucky Route Zero
Mario Kart 8
Hohokum
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
Eidolon
Destiny
Dungeon of the Endless
Bravely Default
Transistor
The LEGO Movie Video game
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Valiant Hearts: The Great War
This is far from a complete list, so I’d love to see your own submissions (with screenshots or gifs!) below.
Top image by
Kane1345
Comments
10 responses to “Video Games Got More Beautiful This Year”
I think it’s fair to say each year that goes by modders manage to make Skyrim look more and more lifelike.
Have they made the gameplay interesting yet?
I enjoyed the game back in 11/2011 when it was released, I’ve tried a few mods and things that certainly breathed some life in to it again.
I take it you didn’t?
Afraid not. Just didn’t find the combat to be much fun at all. I’d really like to get into the game, but that’s what stops me every time.
There’s actually some badass magic mods like magic duels and melee combos and shit that add crazy enhancements to the core combat, making it pretty interesting. Sadly, it’s been a while, I can’t remember their names. You should check out the Steam workshop, though, or nexus.
Zing!
Nothing shows off beautiful graphics better than 256 colour gifs…
I was so let down to see “next gen” consoles play games worse than my 2 / 3 yr old PC. Consoles have made gaming main stream in a way PC never could but because of the limitations on their hardware it holds all aspects of future games back in every way.
just so we are on an even playing field I have both PS3/ 4 & XB 360
The Dungeon of the Endless screenshot is actually a screenshot from The long dark. Fail.
The image for Dungeon of the Endless is actually from The Long Dark 😛 – two equally beautiful but otherwise quite different games.
I cant wait to see what PCs will bring in 2015, in terms of graphics. Consoles however, may have finally caught up to PCs 5yrs ago.
“The Vanishing of Ethan Carter” – the most beautiful game of this, or any, year.