Favorite in-game atmosphere?
 

Was playing through Diablo on an old laptop the other day and remembered how much I loved the atmosphere of the game -- the tone, setting, and atmospheric music, it was all well done. Thinking back, there are a lot of games I remember more for their atmosphere/tone than their gameplay (Flashback, Tex Murphy games (Under a Killing Moon, Pandora Directive, etc; ) comes to mind).

Anybody have any other games that just had a flatout great/memorable atmosphere to it?

The Thief series (especially the haunted cathedral in Thief 1 and the Shalebridge Cradle in Thief 3)

No One Lives Forever

Condemned: Criminal Origins (the atmosphere in this game makes this game)

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

Max Payne (at first it appears to just be an ordinary shooter, but the film noir atmosphere was amazing and kept it above the average shooter)

Resident Evil

Phantasmagoria

I have to go with the obvious, Bioshock.Other than that, Condemned is up there

Bioshock is the most recent one I can think of. Assassin's Creed too.

Fallout, some of the Castlevania installments, and Call of Duty 2 and 4 spring to mind first.

I gotta go with Rock Band. I absolutely flip the fuck out when my guitarist leans over and starts singing along. I end up screaming out "I'M SINGING!"

Resident Evil 4 comes to mind.

Oblivion. It feels like a living world more-so than any other game I've played.

Oblivion definitely. I also remember becoming completely engrossed in the atmosphere in Eternal Darkness.

Eternal Darkness is a good one.

American McGee's Alice had a wonderful atmosphere.

Bioshock, Oblivion, Doom, Gears of War are all pretty good. I also like Resident Evil 4 (and even the old ones).

Anarchy Online.

Bioshock.

Resident Evil 4

Condemned. No doubt about it.

Also, whichever year of NCAA Football where you could pump up the crowd to where the camera would shake.

Anything Resident Evil.

Anything Resident Evil.

Let's not forget Silent Hill...creepy.

Bioshock
Myst
Dragon's Lair
Fallout
Final Fantasy 7
Metal Gear Solid
Planescape: Torment
Medal of Honor
Silent Hill

I'll have to agree with the Resident Evil series and Condemned. I'll agree with Silent Hill, although I've only played SH2... I found I loved the atmosphere but didn't care for the gameplay.

Chiming in to say Shadow of the Colossus

Legacy of Kain series
Resident Evil Series

Bioshock
Resident Evil
Final Fantasy 7

All of them come to mind, and all of them had already been mentioned. :)

Some reason, I always remember the scary ones. On consoles, the Silent Hill series is one I really loved (especially the original).

Probably the scariest game I ever played was the original Alien vs Predator on the PC. The human vs alien missions simply nailed the atmosphere from the movies. I remember playing in the dark with the my speakers up way too loud one night. I was paranoid as hell, looking all around and checking my radar constantly, waiting for the next alien to jump out and hoping I could kill it before it got too close. Like I said it was completely dark, and the first time a face-hugger got me I literally jumped out of my chair and my heart skipped a beat. I was so freaked out and had so much adrenaline in my veins, that I couldn't got back to playing right away. I just paced around my room for about 15 minutes cussing to myself! :lol:

A week or so later, my brother came down to my room, his face as white as I ghost. I asked him what was the matter, and he said "Did a face hugger ever get you playing AvP." I laughed and told I knew exactly how he felt! Apparently he had already completed the game several times, but a face hugger had never gotten him before, so he was completely not expecting it. :lol: