Morrowind, STALKER, The Witcher 3 and other great games with powerful immersion effect
What exactly is meant by the notorious word “atmosphere” when it comes to video games? Most often, this term denotes a combination of several factors at once that make the gamer feel the action unfolding on the screen: the atmosphere can be called a particularly successful combination of graphics, art style and music that creates an immersive effect. In today’s article, we will list the most successful examples of “atmospheric” games that best reveal the essence of this epithet.
Demon’s Souls
In fact, this article could safely list almost every FromSoftware game over the past ten years. What is Bloodborne , which we have praised more than once on this site and which has become a kind of synonym for “atmospheric game”: a dark soundtrack, majestic cathedrals, streets lined with coffins, an ominous moon hanging over the city of Yharnam – watch five minutes BB on YouTube and immediately realize that the atmosphere of one of the main PS4 exclusives is all right. Nevertheless, this time, for a change, I would like to separately praise another FromSoftware game that just recently got a remake – Demon’s Souls .
Demon’s Souls doesn’t have the seamless world of Dark Souls, and that’s one of the game’s greatest strengths. DeS pleases with a variety of decorations: here almost all locations are very different from each other and set a different mood. So, the eerie tower of Latria resembles the atmosphere of the aforementioned Bloodborne, the Palace of Boletaria with its dragons and castles is an example of the so-called “high fantasy”, and the Sanctuary of Storms with rays flying in the sky immerses the player in a surreal setting that is difficult to associate with any familiar associations. In other words, in Demon’s Souls everything is built on the atmosphere of an unpredictable adventure, the game constantly throws up some surprises in the form of unlike bosses or the interesting levels mentioned above.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
The original Bloodlinesthere are many advantages, but still the key advantage of this cult RPG is its atmospheric setting. Los Angeles, as the developers portrayed it, turned out to be an eerie, but extremely memorable reflection of our real world: in a dark version of the “city of angels” in tall skyscrapers (of course, decorated with Gothic spiers), power-hungry vampires have settled, under the feet of ordinary people in the sewers creepy monsters, the dead are walking around in cemeteries, ghosts are rampaging in abandoned houses, children of the night are having parties in Catholic churches, and a Japanese demon walking around in the local Chinatown, who knows how to turn into a humanoid shark. Despite all its dangers, the world of Bloodlines is intriguing and beckoning, because urban legends here turn out to be true, not fiction.
Silent Hill Series
By and large, almost all horror games fall under the definition of “atmospheric games” – the specifics of the genre. You shouldn’t look far for examples: if you’ve played Resident Evil or old Silent Hill, then you yourself know that the immersive effect of these games is fine. The first parts of Silent Hill remain so popular among horror fans even twenty years later, and not without reason. Yes, their graphics leave much to be desired, but they still boast such a “thick” atmosphere that you stop paying attention to a technically outdated picture already in the first ten minutes. The fog that limits the field of view, the creepy design of the monsters from the genius game designer and artist Masahiro Ito and the high-quality sound are so harmoniously combined that even in 2021 you will hardly find more scary games than Silent Hill 1, 2 and 3.
Dishonored Series
The authors of Dishonored half-jokingly call their games the representatives of the new genre “kitopunk” (in the game world, all technologies work on magic whale oil), hinting that it will not be possible to drive their titles into the usual genre framework. And in general they are absolutely right. The world of Dishonored is both similar to steampunk and dieselpunk, and at the same time different from it: the unique atmosphere and setting of the game, oddly enough, is easiest to describe with the phrase “Victorian Half-Life 2”. This, however, is not surprising, since the designer Victor Antonov, who previously worked on HL 2, was responsible for the artistic style of Dishonored.
STALKER series
STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl and its add-ons hook players from post-Soviet countries in the same way that Fallout hooks Americans: the opportunity to experience a fantastic scenario in familiar scenery. “Stalker” is a game about battles with mutants and the search for supernatural artifacts against the background of poplars familiar to the eye, diamond-shaped concrete fences and shabby panel houses. Stalker is not the only shooter with aesthetics recognizable for many of us (don’t forget about Metro), but certainly the most iconic one.
The Witcher series
Another franchise that is dear to many gamers in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries. Like “Stalker”, all three parts of “The Witcher” are also considered folk games, but they attract not with “Khrushchev”, but with the atmosphere of Slavic fantasy. The CD Project trilogy stands out from other role-playing games like TES 4: Oblivion or Dragon Age, because here you will find something that you probably will not find in Western fantasy: an unusual bestiary of koshchei, noon, drowned and stryg, wooden houses with traditional Polish paintings on the walls and characters with names more familiar to our ears. The already atmospheric walk through the moonlit forest in The Witcher 3 leaves even stronger impressions when you see your native birches around, and Slavic chants play in your headphones.
Deus Ex Series
The original Deus Ex remains an example of a rather unique cyberpunk game, as in terms of atmosphere, it evokes more associations with The Matrix or The X-Files than with the notorious Blade Runner. Long raincoats, dark glasses at night, laser swords, “men in black” working for a secret government, aliens, zone 51, electronic music recorded on a synthesizer – Deus Ex turned out to be a bright spy action movie that accommodated not only the most popular conspiracy theories of the time, but also various images from films, TV series and books of the 80s and 90s.
But the new games in the series, Human Revolution and Mankind Divided , are quite noticeably different from the first part in a much more pretentious tone. This, however, is not at all a reproach, because the “bombast” of modern Deus Ex, no doubt, has its own charm. Drawing inspiration from Renaissance art for the game, they came up with the inimitable Human Revolution art style, with its golden color palette, sophisticated technological designs and custom NPC costumes inspired by Renaissance fashion.
BioShock Series
The first BioShock perfectly conveys the atmosphere of dystopia, the pain of a once great city that collapsed under the weight of its own ambitions. The majestic Art Deco architecture of the underwater city Rapture reminds of hopes for a brighter future that warmed the hearts of its inhabitants, while the half-flooded corridors – that the metropolis, built on the initially imperfect beliefs of its creator, was destined to perish.
BioShock Infinite tackles similar topics but from a different perspective. If Rapture died before the player arrived, then the flying city of Columbia will do so after the main character steps onto its surface. BioShock Infinite boasts an extremely contrasting atmosphere: at first glance, sunny Colombia with its gold and marble statues looks like heaven on earth, but it quickly becomes clear that behind this screen the city hides dark secrets.
The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
Morrowind is not only the most unique TES, but arguably one of the most unique fantasy RPGs. And all because the authors of the third “Scrolls” tried in every possible way to avoid genre clichés. Therefore, forget about dragons, goblins or dense green forests and say hello to flying jellyfish, giant mushrooms and huge fleas, which local elves, outwardly resembling, by the way, aliens, use as transport.
Assassin’s creed odyssey
Most of the games on this list can be called gloomy, but this does not mean that only gloomy settings and worlds are atmospheric. This is far from the case. Here is the same Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – an excellent example of “easy”, cheerful game that immerses the player in sunny Greece, captures his attention with an exciting adventure atmosphere and allows you to escape from the gray everyday life. Perfect game to brighten up winter evenings.
Of course, we did not remember all atmospheric games, so write in the comments what other titles should have been mentioned in today’s material. At the same time, you can tell what is meant for you by the word “atmosphere” when discussing games.
