KYPREO

HL2 was a fantastic game which looked pretty and had some novel gameplay twists (I particularly liked the puzzles that utilised the physics system). But I do not consider it an "immersive" experience. Particularly when you have dudes in your squad annoying the hell out of you in cramped doorways.

Doom3 was an immersive experience. Yes it had maze like levels, predictably triggered events (less so in ROE however), no vehicles and makes you feel claustrophobic, but I believe it achieves exactly what it set out to. Even with a crap sound system or non-powerful laptop system, this game made me feel like I was there. It may not have been the most innovative "game" (as opposed to engine), but boy was it a fantastically atmospheric experience.

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BWX

Yeah that pissed me off so bad- those morons got me killed so many more times than they helped. I couldn't believe hoe stupid they were! I would have liked going it alone much better-- the dumb sand lions were just as bad- constantly blocking you- I wasted a lot of ammo just killing them to get them out of the way- the problem with them is that they kept coming back.

Valve did a horrible job with AI in that respect- completely irritating.. and made those levels a big fat pain in the ass.

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Bicka

Haven't noticed anyone mention World of Warcraft yet!

If your playing with the right sort of people ( not the 12 year old internet tit for brains ) then this game really lavishes the atmosphere on you.

Some outdoor areas are definately on par with Farcry visually but the music just makes it all that much sweeter.


Yeah, have to mention Doom3 as well. I've still got a mate who refuses to play it because its too damn scary for him :P
He'd like to say the same for HL2 but the game won't even work on his pc or laptop (does on his sisters comp however)...he's had it since the release date. Was a tad miffed when I mentioned the expansion pack haha!

microhaxo

My opinion is that half life 2 is the most interactive in my experience, the one i got most into was doom3, teh monsters are scary, story easy to fall into, maybe cuz i like scary stories..

Gaijin

Thief series
Definatively the most immersive game series so far.
Breath stopping suspence at times with an adrenaline rush following.

System Shock series
Trying to survive the halls of Citadel Station with an insane AI trying to wipe you out,
then stranded on a spaceship with mutants and the same insane AI back hounting you.

Looking Glass and later Warren Spector keeping alive some of the classics (Thief: DS) made sure im hooked on gaming.

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wolfran

Lately, they have to be half-life 2 and guild wars.
With half-life 2, it feels like you're part of a movie.
With guild wars, it gets me addicted. Maybe it's because I've been playing with some of my friends and also the story is amazing.

Son_of_Thunder

Lately: HL2's Ravenholm. Freaky, yet not scarey, just a lot of fun.

Most Recently: Pubbing in CS:S on a 40 man server. And completely losing myself on office. When there's 40 people in the server, the mission takes second place to a slaughter, but when you're as sneaky as me, you can exploit camping spots and take out 5 or 6 people before you get noticed.

All time: FF7. That's right, right after you get out of Midgar and Cloud is telling his story, I felt like i was in the room with them. Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps.

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Ubergrendle

Depends upon what you mean by immersive? If you're talking about blurring the line between reality and the gaming experience (i'm talking about complete suspension of disbelief) I think Resident Evil on the PS1 at 2am alone by myself counts. There's a scene where dogs jump through a window that freaked me right out... I also recall the anguish of not being able to reload my pistol quickly enough to shoot a set of zombies inexolerably lurching towards me. That was an awesome gaming session, the definitive survival horror (despite the bad voice acting).

In terms of immersive re: forgetting about time & place, lots meet that criteria: Civilisation II, Panzer General, Sim City, Half Life, Counter Strike, Baldur's Gate... if my wife hears "one more turn" or "just a few more minutes" she'll kill me.

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nitrousoxide52

Yeah, definitely resident evil 1, for ps or gc, it's just so scary, your heart is pounding the whole time(not just because you are fat! ). Then comes HL2, because, well HL2 is sweet as hell, that's why!

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UnIcOrN

The Game that looked and sounded the best was indeed Doom3, still haven't picked the expansion up yet.. Might gonna do it.. Seeing everybody is more positive about RoE then Doom 3itself..

For all out, i would say i liked Baldur's Gate 2 as an immersive game, sure it only had 2D graphics, but the sound and most notably the story are unmatched sofar.. Dunno if it classifies, but to me that is the most immersive game.. it really pulled me in there..

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daedal

I'd have to say Doom 3 but sometimes when I play CS:S, I just get so immersed into the game that I don't hear anything else. I'm kind of in a zone, and that's when I play really well and get some solid scores.

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mantra

Half life 2 !!!
and call of duty multiplayer

Callandor

Far Cry has to come into the picture somehow for visuals.

Storyline immersive, I'd have to say Max Payne 1&2 for certain, but Max Payne 1 was the best, esp. with the Kung Fu patch from Kenneth Yeung installed in Max Payne 1, it was even given ode in Max Payne 2 in Mona Sax's apartment on the movie posters in her living room; what a marvel. The kung fu patch for Max Payne 2 was crap, plus the fighting system was rubbish as well(you could only use kung fu when you had used up all your ammo because of it).

GTA:VC was beuuutifuuul. Until ofcourse the storyline ended, it was a game that mostly relied on storyline than anything else I believe.

Of alltime favourites, Pokemon and Final Fantasy 8 have to be mentioned, Pokemon because of sheer addictivness. FF8 because of sheer addictivness to sheer fantasy. (don't ask me, I don't really know what that phrase I just typed out means either ).

NFSUG2 was a blast as well!!! I just kept turning my head from side to side when I got out after every car that went by right after playing that(and that's being couped up in my room playing in day in day out till I finished it for the most part to you ).

Really loved it.

Other than that, I'm going to have to agree with Zardon on this one, the PC scene once again is looking as pale as dish water. I hope something happens soon(apart from the great GTA San Andreas that hit the PC), but I've lived through one to many a period as this to begin to assume that the PC gaming scene is slowly dying. Live long PC Gaming, LIVE LOOONG!!!!

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Prelude

1. Operation Flashpoint (ok, not recent but still gold )
2. Thief : Deadly Shadows
3. CoD (especially the expansion)
4. Doom3, the spiders totally freaked me out. I'd be spraying me gun like a madman only to be left standing with an empty clip and like 3 still alive.
I remember one bit in particular where you come to a computer and when you flick the switch to open some door one of those spiders drops from the cealing right in front of your face... I think I can sue ID for shortening my life by about 3 years...

Louiemaster

Hmm i would have to say that any game that has artifacts, stutters, reboots ur computer, freezes, or shuts down to the desktop just destroys the immersiveness. Following that, i'd have to say halo since it ran well and kept me from realizing i was in the real world and in a planet with a big ring around it.

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Callandor

Yeah, Operation flashpoint was a blast! Think I'll add that to my list as well.

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Rox271

Anybody mentioned Doom2? By this time, I could play it for hours, for the whole night.
I never did that again on any game anymore. Actually I'm easily pissed off when I fail now . Well I guess I'm getting a bit too old for gaming.

daedal

As silly as this may sound, Grim Fandango I felt was pretty immersive too. I don't know why.. I was just really sucked into that world.. man I miss that game. I think I'll give it another run later.

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Rox271

daedal>nothing silly or we are two. I loved Grim Fandango.

OmegaRED

I was searching for old threads on Mafia and this one came up...now sure how I missed it. Here's my 2 cents.

The gaming moments which stick out for me over the years would be in this order.

Command and Conquer Red Alert on Playstation: No computer yet (back than I thought computers games were too nerdy) but the sci-fi revisionism of the story of Einstein going back to kill Hitler really blew me away and I ate up the cutscenes with joy. My most immersive gaming experiences were also some of the most frustrating; I'd play skirmish matches with a few AI opponents that lasted so long the console could not handle so many units and the framerate and gamespeed would slow to a crawl. What would take 20 minutes to finish lasted 2 hours...yet I was undeterred. This was definitely the first game I ever became addicted too

Ultimate Doom on Playstation : I had a taste of Doom on SNES but I didn't get to play Doom 1 and 2 fully until Ultimate Doom came out for PS. I used to rent the PS from Blockbuster and a bunch of games but Doom was the first game I can remember which featured a terrifying atmosphere. I will never forget the sight of that huge Cyberdemon launching rockets at me, it scared the crap out of me, the only way I ever was able to kill it was being so far away that it was just a pixel or two on my screen. That's what I call fear.

Planetside on PC:
Only played the trial with some friends who had the full game but the massive scale of the battles and all the teamwork required left me in awe. The build up to the huge battles as you are transported via dropship really stuck with me and no game since ever captured that feeling of being in a virtual ongoing war.

Mafia on PC: While it lacked the freedom of the GTA series this was made up for by putting you right into an era none of us would ever have been able to experience otherwise and making it believable; suspension of disbelief was hardly needed.

I've yet to play a game which could top the shootout at the Farm during a thunderstorm, part of me wanted to die so I could keep doing it over and over it was that enjoyable. There was another mission called "The Whore" where you had to kill a bunch of people in a hotel then escape via the rooftops and was straight out of a movie culminating in a church shootout. Very few games ever had me that riveted.

Doom 3 on PC: I was a quite a while before I was able to play this game with a gpu capable of providing a decent level of eye candy so my expectations were probably lower since the hype had subsided...still, Doom 3 had me on edge more than a few times and managed to surpass the fear and apprehension of the original Doom games thanks to amazing sound design and some decent writing. It wasn't the final boss battle or the trip to Hell which really stuck with me but rather walking into that room oozing blood everywhere and a Pentagram on the floor or towards the end when you find those ancient tablets and start to get into the mythology of the series. Resurrection of Evil continued on with that theme but for me it didn't top it.

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Zardon

I remember both of those fondly. I remember beating the game and almost getting into a state of depression because it was that damn good. I immediately replayed it and probably played it on and off over the course of a year.

What a brilliant game that was, much better than any GTA game. The engine was exceptional at the time too.

comp_ali

yeah , the graphics was stunning at its time and had no problem running on low end rigs , more importantly the storyline and the way you advance through the game ( the flash back way).

And the end " Mr Saliere sends you regards !"

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OldBuzzard

The best for me was BATTLEZONE back in 1999. Still a unique game, since it was a combination of Real Time Strategy and First Person Shooter, had a very good story line, and with quite good (in it's day) graphics.

I would SO love to see someone come out with a game with similar gameplay.

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Vikingod

Mine would have to be a toss up between Morrowind (PC) and Final Fantasy X on the PS2. Both games had exceptional quality and really great gameplay, I couldn't put them down. The next runner up would maybe be Guild Wars when it first came out, but nothing like the first two.

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Mousey

The Sims 3, it grabbed me and wouldn't let me go lol.
Other than that i've got to say either World of Warcraft when i started playing or perhaps Team Fortress 2.

I'll definately agree with you on FFX Viking, in fact i seem to get immersed in all my games.
It's awesome if you haven't got college the next day

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BlueMak

Several games.

In no particular order.

Colonial Conquest (SSI-ST), discovering it right after watching for the first time the tv series Reilly Ace of Spies (a series that captivated me even though of my young age at the time), and being able to play a strategy game set in that time was...wonderful.

Match Day 2, although not the best football game, it was one of my first multiplayer experience on a computer (a friend's amstrad cpc) and we spent hours on it, even fights because of it lol. The excitement playing that game was only matched by a game of subuteo. (same friend, same fights lol)

Silent Service (ST), locating an enemy target, lining up, aiming to hit with my torpedoes and firing towards the target, or when I would see a couple of cargo ships, deciding to surface and take them out with my gun, only to see one or more destroyers appearing behind them and aftering me, guns blazing, then as quickly as possibly diving and trying to avoid getting killed by destroyers. Hearing the engines of the destroyers on top of my boat, slowly and very loudly, dropping depth charges and hoping they would miss. What a freaking game! (Sid make a sequel damn it!)

F-16 Combat Pilot (ST), night missions, you felt you were really there. You couldn't see shit outside, just a few lights from some buildings and the sky. Trying to sneak past the air defences to destroy the target. I think I ruined a couple of joysticks on that one alone. Multiple HUDs, you could even see your own hand on the throttle. Wonderful game.

Dune 2, on a cousin's PC. The beauty of real time strategy games on my plate. My favourite part was the sound effects and the "encyclopedia" showing the units (don't ask). Playing the game I wasn't a young gamer, I was the future emperor of Arakis!

Barbarian (by Palace software, also known as Death Sword). The closest interactive experience to Conan for many years.


BattleHawks 1942. A lighter version of the F-16 Combat Pilot, and set in the Pacific theatre. I remember playing the same missions over and over again and feeling I was the lone american pilot trying to defend my carrier. Or playing as Japanese, bombing runs against american ships and through their CAPs, also known as suicide missions.

Airborne Ranger. AR was the Operation flashpoint+splinter cell of the 80s. Instead of shooting everything in sight, blowing shit up and not caring much about anything, you had to sneak in, kill, kidnap, steal, blow eh, shit up. Limited ammo, easy to get killed and as sim as possible for the day. Many hours spent on it.

Operation Flashpoint. The AR of the 2000s Increased realism, immense playing field (not seen since the next games I am going to mention) and feeling of you were there.

MidWinter series. Not sure about the number, but I think much larger world than any other game, even Operation Flashpoint.

Although Elite was the father, no other similar game immersed me in its world as much as Starflight. Hire or design your own crew (humans,aliens, androids), get your customisable ship and explore the galaxy. Meet interesting aliens and blow them up. Get blown up by peaceful aliens that you pissed off. Explore systems and scan planets for deposits you can mine and sell. Or ancient ruins that can provide you with many goodies. You could also land and explore on foot or in a vehicle. When you find good planets for colonization,, you can even notify the HQ for it and get paid for it. The game is perhaps the most immersive one for me.

Pirates! ... what is it to say, it's Pirates!

Civilization II Test of Time. With the extended game you can continue playing, land on the alien planet, then conquer it too. Or fight for your own survival if the aliens decide to pay you a visit through the portals you established. My favourite Civ game.

Ascendancy. The game had almost everything. Super graphics, fantastic graphic design, fantastic music and sound effects. Cool techs and weapons, cool battles. Pitty about the AI.

Wing Commander series, heart of the tiger and price of freedom in particular. Fighting for the survival of the human race in cool 3D fields, watching FMV of puppets, Jedi knight, porn actress in a Galactica influenced world and each game requiring a system that hadn't been developed yet. (Crysis wasn't the first to have that design, also, Crysis wasn't that demanding compared to those two games)

X-Com UFO Defense. Perhaps the only strategy game that caused me "fear" while playing late at night and one of the first if not the first game to actualy have a dream about it.
That says it all I think.

Fallout 2 and 3. Depressing games, so much that it feels good.

Doom 2. There was one level where after fighting some monsters in a room with many columns, you could take an elevator down to a small like valley with a river going through it. On the right side there was a big platform with several powerful monsters. You could either shoot them or use a lever to lower the ceiling over them and squash them. At the same time there was a monster at a higher level that kept firing at you. Last time I played that level was about 15 years ago. The fact that I remember it so much, says all.

Honourable mentions. Half Life 1, Microprose's Formula 1, UMS, Galactic Conqueror, GBA:Two On Two, Starglider, Mass Effect.

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dj_stick

was that the game where you'd build tanks etc, and then have the ability to pilot them? If so I remember playing the demo of that, and for years trying to figure out what it was called!

I think there was another similiar game a few years back too (might have even been a sequel, but again, I've forgotten what it was called)



As for me, I'd have to say System Shock 2, scariest possible game at the time I played it, or the original Deus Ex

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anonemus

"Immersive" is relative to PC technology the gamer has at the time s/he plays the game. My list:

1. HL series
2. COD series
3. Far Cry 2...because a few months before it was released, I actually went to Kenya. And so these days when I want to "relive" the trip, I drive around FC2's vast terrain

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kris23

for me... i dunno, id have to say FEAR 2, FEAR, and both Crysis's gave me an intense immersion....

i played them from beginning to end, my eyes glued to the monitor, my hands attached to my mouse and keyboard.... going through from early morning to late evening

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OmegaRED

In Kenya are there guys at every crossroads with guns waiting to ambush you? Must be tough on the tourists!

I thought of one more immersive gaming experience worth adding to my list:

-Red Alert II 3 1/2 hour clan match: I was a noob clan 2vs2 and it was a turtling match which went on for hours and hours...pretty much until the point the game couldn't handle it and people started to disconnect. However, not once in that 3 hours did anyone let their guard down and you couldn't so much as make a sneak attack without being detected. When you play an RTS that long the mouse becomes an extension of your eyes to the point that you feel like a cyborg. Ugh, just typing that I feel like a huge chick magnet...

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