What was the first game that impressed you graphically?

As the title says. I'm aware that graphics are always improving but what was the game that made you stop and think "that looks realistic"? I would say the first for me was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on PS2, followed by the original Motorstorm when I played it on a demo PS3 in a store.

Crysis was the first holy shit game for me

The Star Wars trilogy arcade machine game.

tough one, a bunch of games spring top mind -

dragon's lair - not so much a game as a cartoon with interactive moments though.

the original prince of persia - at the time had super realistic character animations that were much better than anything seen before, created using some painstakingly manual illustration based technique iirc.

another world - incredible intro and overall beautifully stylish game.

the arcade port of streetfighter 2 on the snes. mind blowing at the time.

the secret of monkey island 2. the first was beautiful, the second though was something else entirely.

the original star fox, mode 7 ftw

I had a pc that costed 800€ as a kid. Then when xbox 360 (slim black) released my friends were all talking about it. I somehow ended up buying one for 200€ brand new and didnt knew what to expect.

My pc couldnt run even cs or anything so I played mmo perfect world minimum with lag and low fps and dofus (dofus run on anything haha).

When I first saw gears of war. oblivion. assassin creed. halo reach.

WOOOOOOOW.

I was blown away at the graphics and the game running smooth (30fps was a new high for me since my pc probably ran at 15-20 on mmo haha).

For me it was a miracle.

The ultimate graphics.

Even in 2018 I still connect my 360 on a small 720p tv and think how can that look so good.

I own pc 1050ti g4560 8gb ram and ps4 pro and yes they look amazing on my 1080p 43 inch sony bravia tv. so good I still wow everytime.

Probably the first Resident Evil I ever played which was Biohazard: Outbreak on the PlayStation 2, the atmosphere was a big draw for me in the game and played it a lot for well over a year online. I then became hooked on the series and went back to discover Remake on Gamecube which is also graphically impressive, more-so even.

I wouldn't state these games hooked me solely for how great they looked considering I went back further and discover one of my favorites in the series; Nemesis. However it certainly helped the mood and tension these games go for. Shame Zero is just garbage_

Mortal Kombat digital sprites especially with MK2.

Star Fox SNES first Nintendo game to use Polygons.

@johndmgs:

For me, it was Halo 2 on Xbox.

It was obviously call of duty

The opening of FF8. I was mind blown back then

X-Wing (1993), probably. It was one of the first games that featured 3D polygon models in a fully 3D environment. Of course it heavily utilized sprites for things like the cockpit, explosions, and lasers... but still. It also had a true sense of scale. Your starfighter was dinky, that Star Destroyer was massive, etc.

I don't remember any game impressing me as much as F.E.A.R 1 when I saw the demo running on a friend's PC

Amiga Falcon. It wasn't hard to choose, considering most people with an IBM PC at the time can only play the game in CGA mode (4 colors).

Anything on Nintendo NES when the console first hit the US. My previous console before that was an Atari 2600.

I don't remember the first, but the last game to truly impress me graphically was Soul Caliber 1 on Dreamcast.

Probably StarFox on the SNES or DOOM on the PC. Both came out around the same time.

Ninja gaiden the chronicles of riddick splinter cell on xbox shenmue on DC

Dreamcast Soul Calibur in 1999.

Tony Hawk's Project 8 on the Xbox 360. That may sound dumb, but It was the first 7th gen game I played on an HD television and it looked unlike anything else I'd played up to that point. Prior to that I was still focused on buying games for my 6th gen systems and I hadn't really noticed how much games had graphically improved on the newer systems.

Lots of games have impressed me graphically over the past 33 years or so I have been gaming, but I think the first one to truly wow me was Dragons lair 2 in the arcade. Being able to play a real cartoon was just amazing to the 10 year old version of myself.

forza graphics always impressed me.

Probably Halo CE on Xbox.

Halo CE and Ninja Gaiden

Final Fantasy 10 or the KH games. (In terms of the cinematic openings and closings.)

@hrt_rulz01: Halo CE was pretty ugly even back when it released, the bland art style and cartoony enemies didn't help matters any. Halo 2 I could see, but the first game?!?

Crysis and Hallo Combat Evolved. I was amused with those graphics and nowadays there is the Call of Duty: WW2 that has incredible graphics that I'd ever seen.

The original Far Cry. I remember those water graphics really amazing me. And I was amazed that my PC could actually run it!

Donkey Kong Country

No question,

The original Unreal game on PC in 1998, breathtaking then! Especially when you first leave the ship.

Rebel Assault on pc. Convinced me to buy my first pc.

Indiana Jones and the infernal Machine.

It was the first 3D game that I saw which characters had body talk and lip movements.

Super Mario Bros on the nes. It was a big leap at the time over Atari.

@vfighter: I agree H2 was way better, but I just remember at the time being quite impressed with CE.

Definitley Crysis

It was so epic

Sonic 2. Going from Intellivision and NES games to that was mind blowing.

AS far as realistic... Hmmm I suppose MGS1 was the mind blower when it comes to realism in looks.

Probably Half Life 2. That was a major step up in the day. And the engine still looks pretty good.

Magic Carpet (PC)

Tekken (PS1)

I remember Gran Turismo 2 being awesome, it looks so dated nowadays.

Motorstorm on the PS3 blew my mind.

Another World. Still today I think it's a beautiful game but at the time it just blew my mind. It was not perfect, but something about the art style and the use of rotoscoping felt like something different.

And the original Alone in the Dark. Well the 3d models looked like shit, even at the time. But it felt revolutionary, to me, I could see that being what video games would become. Not so much visually but technically impressive.

I'd say Test drive unlimited 2 :D

eqeqeqdadada

The first game where I was like wow was Tekken Tag Tournament on the PS2. The opening trailer was beautiful and prior to this, we had never seen anything this realistic.

However, when my jaw actually dropped to the floor was when I played Oblivion on PS3 on a 720p HD TV for the first time. My mom walked as I just got of the Imperial Sewers and she thought I was watching Lord of the Rings haha

Battlefied 3