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Ryuhza

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
11,429
San Diego County
In terms of pure IQ, texture quality and whathaveyou, you can probably give it to something else, but Red Dead 2's lighting, animations, draw distance, sound design, and camera work have given me the sensation of playing a movie more than once. I hate to sound like I'm rattling off buzzwords, but the atmosphere and sense of place is honestly astounding.

Pretty much everywhere compresses the image to shit, but here's two parts in a video I took that help show some of it off:

https://youtu.be/7LdKRqtWII8?t=40

https://youtu.be/7LdKRqtWII8?t=199


Playing this game at night with my headphones on is a friggin' experience.
 

rashbeep

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,458
There's honestly nothing ground breaking in Forza horizon 4. It looks great, but nothing driveclub didn't already do.

The problems with driveclub are IQ and environment materials. It's a very advanced game but it really doesnt look great ingame. FH4 is the most complete racer visually, no question.
 

VFX_Veteran

Banned
Nov 11, 2017
1,003
Not for Horizon and God of War. Not sure why you'd make such a claim.

Most people on these boards do indeed post photomode screenshots - not actual gameplay shots.

I have the game. I think most people are wow'd by HZD because of it's pure art-direction. And for that, I can't argue. But for technical rendering and fidelity of solving the rendering equation, it is way far behind. Take a look at the 2 pics I left there. Look at the character's clothing and hair. They are completely lit by ambient light probes (i.e. glowing when they should be darker) which makes the character stand out from the rest of the scene. It's these kinds of rendering tricks that are hard for me to look past and shows the limitations of the hardware.

Horizon-Zero-Dawn_20171118220946.png



Horizon-Zero-Dawn_20171118232411.png
 

nib95

Contains No Misinformation on Philly Cheesesteaks
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
18,498
H4 has better foliage, weather, sky box, lighting, water, IQ, leaves, lod, pop in than all the game you are mention.

How you can conclude FH4 has better foliage when it has an abundance of previous gen style cross hatch bitmap sprite based trees, or skies too, when it uses simple texture based skyboxes (pattern/texture mapped over a large invisible dome), whilst other games have consistently more advanced tree models with more polygon imposters and/or higher numbers of textures etc, as well as actual fully volumetric clouds with realistic cloud physics correlating to in game weather and changing wind conditions, direction and speeds, proper penetration, scattering, volume, dispersion, light reaction, morphing, height values, interactive properties and everything else etc, is completely beyond me.

Even Digital Foundry states that classic skybox implementations such as the one used in FH4, do not compare to actual accomplished volemtric cloud systems, such as those implemented in Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon Zero Dawn and DriveClub. And how could they? One is basically just a flat mapped texture, whilst the other is a proper volemtric cloud simulation.

For the record, I do agree that foliage in God of War, like in FH4, often looks a bit pants, partly down to its similar use of crossed bitmap sprite based trees. Though I'd still argue the trees and foliage look better overall in FH4 than God of War, because at least there's a greater volume of other higher quality foliage to draw attention away, plus the poor cross hatch sprite based trees in FH4 aren't too noticeable in actual motion, especially when you have an abundance of motion blur.
 
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nib95

Contains No Misinformation on Philly Cheesesteaks
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
18,498
Most people on these boards do indeed post photomode screenshots - not actual gameplay shots.

I have the game. I think most people are wow'd by HZD because of it's pure art-direction. And for that, I can't argue. But for technical rendering and fidelity of solving the rendering equation, it is way far behind. Take a look at the 2 pics I left there. Look at the character's clothing and hair. They are completely lit by ambient light probes (i.e. glowing when they should be darker) which makes the character stand out from the rest of the scene. It's these kinds of rendering tricks that are hard for me to look past and shows the limitations of the hardware.

Horizon-Zero-Dawn_20171118220946.png



Horizon-Zero-Dawn_20171118232411.png

I think that's likely intentional though. I personally enjoy the way Aloy stands out, since you can always appreciate her model and animations. I don't think Horizon is going for outright realism, it's going for hyper realism. A sort of ethereal exaggerated look and feel. It's why night time itself is never actually pitch black or really dark, instead there's always this effervescent sort of moonlit atmospheric aesthetic. In that sense it's not pure art direction people such as myself admire about the games visuals, but the extremely visually rewarding balance it has managed between both art direction and technical achievement.

It just also happens to be one of the most technically accomplished and awarded games in recent memory, winning numerous prestigious graphics and tech awards over the years, above other technical beasts, behemoths and contemporaries.
 

chandoog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,071
I think that's likely intentional though. I personally enjoy the way Aloy stands out, since you can always appreciate her model and animations. I don't think Horizon is going for outright realism, it's going for hyper realism. A sort of ethereal exaggerated look and feel. It's why night time itself is never actually pitch black or really dark, instead there's always this effervescent sort of moonlit atmospheric aesthetic. In that sense it's not pure art direction people such as myself admire about the games visuals, but the extremely visually rewarding balance it has managed between both art direction and technical achievement.

It just also happens to be one of the most technically accomplished and awarded games in recent memory, winning numerous prestigious graphics and tech awards over the years, above other technical beasts, behemoths and contemporaries.

Yeppers. Getting Digital Foundry's "Best tech of the year award" is pretty much the highest tech-related award it could have gotten, and that it did over multiple games on all devices, including XBX and PC.

 

Rendering...

Member
Oct 30, 2017
19,089
God of War is a damn revelation in 4K. The decorative detail on the architecture, armor, and weapons is to die for.

All the other aspects of the graphics are knockouts as well. The character models, especially Best Dad's, are insane. The environments are gorgeous, the effects eye-watering. Traveling between realms is one of the most sumptuous visual treats I've seen in my decades as a gamer.

Special mention to Uncharted 4's character models and facial animation though. Incredibly expressive. The couch scene literally made my jaw drop with its intimacy and dead accurate details. I've never seen more convincing eating and chatting in a game. All those emotional nuances. Truly special, that scene.
 
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icecold1983

Banned
Nov 3, 2017
4,243
Most people on these boards do indeed post photomode screenshots - not actual gameplay shots.

I have the game. I think most people are wow'd by HZD because of it's pure art-direction. And for that, I can't argue. But for technical rendering and fidelity of solving the rendering equation, it is way far behind. Take a look at the 2 pics I left there. Look at the character's clothing and hair. They are completely lit by ambient light probes (i.e. glowing when they should be darker) which makes the character stand out from the rest of the scene. It's these kinds of rendering tricks that are hard for me to look past and shows the limitations of the hardware.

Horizon-Zero-Dawn_20171118220946.png



Horizon-Zero-Dawn_20171118232411.png

im pretty sure photo mode doesnt fix any of the inconsistencies in horizon's lighting model, but if im wrong someone plz correct me

oh and saying forza has a better skybox than games with volumetric clouds is flat out laughable. forza skybox is nothing more than an animated texture. it sure as hell doesnt have better vegetation than games like horizon zero dawn either.

best sky ive seen is still driveclub with titles like horizon zero dawn, RDR 2, ac odyssey and maybe a couple im forgetting as the next rung below
 

rashbeep

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,458
Even Digital Foundry states that classic skybox implementations such as the one used in FH4, do not compare to actual accomplished volemtric cloud systems, such as those implemented in Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon Zero Dawn and DriveClub. And how could they? One is basically just a flat mapped texture, whilst the other is a proper volemtric cloud simulation.

i agree it does not compete with those games on a technical level. it does however produce a greater variety of actual cloud patterns/formations that you simply cannot get (yet) from those other systems.
 

space_nut

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,304
NJ
FH4's lighting and scenery is remarkable. Going back and forth with RDR2 and it is astonishing how they both look. I'm at a tie between them both so life like visuals
 

Osa15

Banned
Nov 13, 2017
661
Some of these games on display will become lightweight when ghost of Tsushima and TLoU2 comes out,
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PoorWideeyedDotterel-size_restricted.gif

NewSoggyAntelope-size_restricted.gif
 

everyer

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
1,242
I vote for GOW

though I know GOW doesn't have the best distance scenes, but characters and HDR really the best I've ever seen.
 

Remo Williams

Self-requested ban
Banned
Jan 13, 2018
4,769
There's honestly nothing ground breaking in Forza horizon 4. It looks great, but nothing driveclub didn't already do.

If we're talking Forza Horizon 4 on the base Xbox One hardware, perhaps that wouldn't be far from the truth, apart form the fact that Forza Horizon 4 does it all in an open-world setting which requires a more refined streaming solution, selective destruction of various terrain props, far more surface types (including deformable mud, deep snow, and simulated water), and so on.

On Xbox One X and PC, however, it does many things that Driveclub simply does not do. And yes, if Driveclub got updated for PS4 Pro, it might have done some of those things as well, but that argument is moot, since Driveclub remains unenhanced.


How you can conclude FH4 has better foliage when it has an abundance of previous gen style cross hatch bitmap sprite based trees, or skies too, when it uses simple texture based skyboxes (pattern/texture mapped over a large invisible dome), whilst other games have consistently more advanced tree models with more polygon imposters and/or higher numbers of textures etc, as well as actual fully volumetric clouds with realistic cloud physics, penetration, scattering, volume, dispersion, light reaction, interaction properties etc, is completely beyond me.

Even Digital Foundry states that classic skybox implementations such as the one used in FH4, do not compare to actual accomplished volemtric cloud systems, such as those implemented in Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon Zero Dawn and DriveClub. And how could they? One is basically just a flat mapped texture, whilst the other is a proper volemtric cloud simulation.

For the record, I do agree that foliage in God of War, like in FH4, often looks a bit pants, partly down to its similar use of crossed bitmap sprite based trees. Though I'd still argue the trees and foliage look better overall in FH4 than God of War, because at least there's a greater volume of other higher quality foliage to draw attention away, plus the poor cross hatch sprite based trees in FH4 aren't too noticeable in actual motion, especially when you have an abundance of motion blur.

You are wrong about FH4's skyboxes, and comparing them to simple textures mapped on flat surfaces is doing all the work that Playground have done a huge disservice. Yes, there are no volumetric clouds, and the background image of the sky is basically a high resolution video feed, but it also informs the lighting of the whole scene, including shadows, and fog. On top of that, there's a complex physical simulation of the atmosphere first implemented in Forza Horizon 2, and retained in later games, which decides when the concentration of particles in the air causes the rain to fall, when rainbows form, and so on. It's not just pretty photos.
 

Putty

Double Eleven
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
929
Middlesbrough
Im just thankful we are blessed to have so many amazing looking games, and i mean amazing. This year alone has been revelatory.
 

nib95

Contains No Misinformation on Philly Cheesesteaks
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
18,498
If we're talking Forza Horizon 4 on the base Xbox One hardware, perhaps that wouldn't be far from the truth, apart form the fact that Forza Horizon 4 does it all in an open-world setting which requires a more refined streaming solution, selective destruction of various terrain props, far more surface types (including deformable mud, deep snow, and simulated water), and so on.

On Xbox One X and PC, however, it does many things that Driveclub simply does not do. And yes, if Driveclub got updated for PS4 Pro, it might have done some of those things as well, but that argument is moot, since Driveclub remains unenhanced.




You are wrong about FH4's skyboxes, and comparing them to simple textures mapped on flat surfaces is doing all the work that Playground have done a huge disservice. Yes, there are no volumetric clouds, and the background image of the sky is basically a high resolution video feed, but it also informs the lighting of the whole scene, including shadows, and fog. On top of that, there's a complex physical simulation of the atmosphere first implemented in Forza Horizon 2, and retained in later games, which decides when the concentration of particles in the air causes the rain to fall, when rainbows form, and so on. It's not just pretty photos.

The images are taken from high resolution video, but I don't believe they're actually a video, rather the traditional texture map system. I've actually come to the end of the texture map or re-wrap point twice, so I'm not entirely sure how much of an impact they're having in terms of informing the rest of the scene beyond basic instructions.

29-09-2018-13-25-20.jpg
 
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Xeontech

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,059
If we're talking Forza Horizon 4 on the base Xbox One hardware, perhaps that wouldn't be far from the truth, apart form the fact that Forza Horizon 4 does it all in an open-world setting which requires a more refined streaming solution, selective destruction of various terrain props, far more surface types (including deformable mud, deep snow, and simulated water), and so on.

On Xbox One X and PC, however, it does many things that Driveclub simply does not do. And yes, if Driveclub got updated for PS4 Pro, it might have done some of those things as well, but that argument is moot, since Driveclub remains unenhanced.




You are wrong about FH4's skyboxes, and comparing them to simple textures mapped on flat surfaces is doing all the work that Playground have done a huge disservice. Yes, there are no volumetric clouds, and the background image of the sky is basically a high resolution video feed, but it also informs the lighting of the whole scene, including shadows, and fog. On top of that, there's a complex physical simulation of the atmosphere first implemented in Forza Horizon 2, and retained in later games, which decides when the concentration of particles in the air causes the rain to fall, when rainbows form, and so on. It's not just pretty photos.
Sorry but fh4 on base Xbone doesn't come close to driveclub.
 

Remo Williams

Self-requested ban
Banned
Jan 13, 2018
4,769
The images are taken from high resolution video, but I don't believe they're actually a video, rather the traditional texture map system. I've actually come to the end of the texture map or re-wrap point twice, so I'm not entirely sure how much of an impact they're having in terms of informing the rest of the scene beyond basic instructions.

ba429092018132520.png

That's obviously a bug, and one that I haven't encountered. But you are right, it's not actually a video, it's a series of images or perhaps video fragments that the game blends between according to the simulation that happens in the background. I believe I watched some FH3 timelapses where that becomes pretty obvious, and I'd presume that FH4 still uses a similar solution.


Sorry but fh4 on base Xbone doesn't come close to driveclub.

Well, sorry, but we're going to have to disagree. Both games have their pros and cons, of course, they're not identical.
 

Wackamole

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,932
Playing Red Dead Redemption 2 now and while amazing, God of War, Uncharted 4 and Horizon Zero Dawn look better. Haven't played Spiderman yet.

I do think the interaction with the world, the lighting, volumetric clouds, fog and the physics puts RDR2 in a whole league of its own though.

But no, it's not the best looking game.

Characters are lacking too. But it's an open world game so they look good enough.
 
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Oct 26, 2017
3,201
Belarus
Honestly, there are so many good looking games now I can't choose just one of them. I just want to point out that OP is missing Far Cry Primal in the poll:
0CBC5A5EC7B0677965619A070BC9E1B1E7C735F4
C1679BFB1EE22A512167F6F02F1CDEF622165DFA

CBC6F047F36FD110C50A962D6A7BA9C362269A4F
A4289CCEEA34AC48D727D5E5CC61E4EC8ACCD2E0
964A5EAD609BB940D85B4DACD656BE727B2BF0C3


Criminally underrated game.
 

Neil98

Member
May 2, 2018
2,042
Madrid, Spain
I dunno, even on Pro i thought it looked a bit bad, lacking AF & very blurry TAA that didn't work, foliage was also PS3 tier. The Duscae demo though, ignoring IQ issues, is one of the best looking games this gen imo, the lighting was incredible, the fact they downgraded it makes no sense to me.
For real? Please search for a comparison video on youtube, you sure as hell are mistaken. Every single aspect from the Duscae demo was upgraded in the final product.
 

Chasing

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
10,685
So I'm going to limit myself to the big AAA games this year since I haven't dabbled much in the indie scene.

Artistically, God Of War. So many times you just pause at the location and the whole thing looks like something out of a concept artwork. A really good concept artwork.

But for sheer visuals, technical effects and animation, RDR2 is absolutely blowing everything else out of the water this year.
 

VFX_Veteran

Banned
Nov 11, 2017
1,003
I think that's likely intentional though.

It's not intentional. Nearly every game has this common problem. The solution is to ray-trace ambient occlusion or use the Voxel-based approach used in FFXV. This will attenuate the light energy and force to darker areas that need to be in shadow.
 

P40L0

Member
Jun 12, 2018
7,601
Italy
Forza Horizon 4 on X1X in Quality Mode is my new visual benchmark for now.

It's a real "life-like" experience like no other game released and it's truly astonishing how all of that runs at Native 4K + one of the best HDR game implementation ever made, if not the best.
It's also the only game that fully leveraged all my LG B7 capabilities at the same time (Native 4K/HDR/Atmos) and with the best PQ of all.

Also thinking that on top of that it's also an Open World game with destructible environments and seamless multiplayer just blows my mind completely... :')

EDIT: A close runner is of course RDR2, but for me looses to FH4 due to its controversial HDR implementation and framerate drops.
 

honest_ry

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
4,288
I bought a PS4 last month and in the space of 3 weeks i went....

Spiderman is the best looking game i have ever played
oh wait, Uncharted 4 is the best.

Then i bought an XB1X a few weeks ago...
Forza Horizon 4 is far and away the best.....
oh wait, its Read Dead Redemption 2.

Im guessing the people saying Horizon Zero dawn are on about the PRO version. As im not finding it that impressive. Its nice dont get me wrong but is no where near the level of those mentioned.

(Although Cuphead is so astonishingly wonderful i feel it might beat everything ever)
 

DrDeckard

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,109
UK
I bought a PS4 last month and in the space of 3 weeks i went....

Spiderman is the best looking game i have ever played
oh wait, Uncharted 4 is the best.

Then i bought an XB1X a few weeks ago...
Forza Horizon 4 is far and away the best.....
oh wait, its Read Dead Redemption 2.

Im guessing the people saying Horizon Zero dawn are on about the PRO version. As im not finding it that impressive. Its nice dont get me wrong but is no where near the level of those mentioned.

(Although Cuphead is so astonishingly wonderful i feel it might beat everything ever)

This man knows what's up!
 

nib95

Contains No Misinformation on Philly Cheesesteaks
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
18,498
It's not intentional. Nearly every game has this common problem. The solution is to ray-trace ambient occlusion or use the Voxel-based approach used in FFXV. This will attenuate the light energy and force to darker areas that need to be in shadow.

But then you have darker night time scenes and darker looking characters most of the time too, such as in FFXV a bulk of the time, which they probably didn't want. Night time in HZD seems clearly intentionally very well and artistically lit, in an almost exaggerated fashion, unlike FFXV which seems to be going for something a bit more realistic.
 
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MrKlaw

Member
Oct 25, 2017
33,038
Not enough people have played Forza Horizon 4 it seems.

I'm playing on PC with everything on ultra at 3440x1440 and it's pretty but not a massive step up from the already nice looking FH3. even on ultra you can see the foliage etc LoD riling towards you fairly nearby (yes you're doing 200mph and it's very impressive but it's atill noticeable).


Maybe I'm missing out with no HDR on my monitor though


HZD for me this year. The world is great looking, the creatures are amazing, the main character is detailed, cutscene faces are gorgeous.
 

JahIthBer

Member
Jan 27, 2018
10,376
For real? Please search for a comparison video on youtube, you sure as hell are mistaken. Every single aspect from the Duscae demo was upgraded in the final product.
i dunno, the duscae lighting is pretty infamous. it really does look flatter in the final game. Could be just color grading & bloom though.
 

LuckyLinus

Member
Jun 1, 2018
1,935
Coming from a Ps4 pro its hands down God of War for overall graphical quality. If I had an X I might say something else.
 

Ωλ7XL9

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,250
I am having a hard time deciding between God of War/ Spider-Man / RDR2. All three games look insanely good on PS4.