Water in games, love it or hate it?

[Yoshimax]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned Just Cause. Flying over the water in that around sunset is sublime.

[Commander Marklar]

i always liked water effects i did think morrowinds water effect was better then oblivions

Glad to know it's not just me then

I love water in games. Water that works well doesn't necessarily look close to water but works to conjure up those basic gamer questions like, "Can I swim?" Then there's the level of immersion good water manages to give the player, just enough doubt about one's surrounding that keeps the player on edge, always aware of the danger waters brings with it.

Maybe that's just me though ^_^

[Dezm0nd]

Water in games is amazing if only for the sheer "**** yourself" factor it gives you. I haven't felt so scared since the time I fell into that water pit trying to get the crossbow in HL1. Oh man, seeing that massive mosnter gobble up your buddies then you end up inside a cage in the water.

I think it's the feeling of being slightly disabled in water. ie guns dont work, jumping is knackered and of course the oxygen.

In short, water in games? I love to hate it. It scares me everytime I go in it

[PeteJ]

I completely agree with Evilboris - I love looking at water effects but hate levels designed around them.

For graphics recently there is of course Gears of War, which looks tremendous but lacks 'interaction', in that you're movement causes no reaction. Likewise Splinter Cell Double Agent.

The best water in a game is still Mario Sunshine. By a huge margin too - not only is it technically outstanding it is visually so appealing. It looks lush, so inviting, warm, tropical...wet.

But when it comes to actually swimming around in water in a game, I hate it. I hate the way you are always rushed, the slow movement and in particular the vulnerability and claustrophobia. Both of which are at odds to my own personality too, I don't feel either vulnerable or claustrophobic when swimming, for instance.

I feel the same with spiders too. I have nothing against them in the real world, but I hate going into these generic fantasy 'giant spider caves' that games seem to love so much. Not because they are so cliche either, but because I genuinely find them unpleasant.

I didn't have anything against water-based levels in the 2D age, perhaps it was actually Tomb Raider which started my virtual-phobia. I still remember getting attacked from nowhere by those blasted crocodiles, usually during a peaceful swim through an epic cave.

All of this adds up to what has already been mentioned - Bioshock. I love getting scared to ****, and the thought of System Shock set underwater pretty much kills me. Cannot wait.

[bingowings]

yeah, i know what you mean. the bit in HL2 - in the prison thingy. i forget the name, the bit where all the antlions come jumping out the ground, you know *that* bit.

anyway, there's a room that is waist deep in water - and videogame law dictates that when you have a quiet room with water, something bad will happen. so there's me lobbing grenades, wasting ammo and just generally blowing the crap out the water - using the gravity gun to fire furniture n' **** into it. eventually i wander in, and there's bugger all there!

see also Metroid Prime *before* you get the gravity suit. sheer hell.

[Jurassic]

Yeah Mario's strange as well because out of the wayer he can triple jump, bounce off walls and do all sorts of crazy stuff, but stick him in the water and he becomes as agile as a bag of spuds. Maybe it's his cap soaking up too much water?

[eastyy]

i agree about baldurs gate dark alliance i made the character jump up and down so i could see them

i do agree with just cause aswell but also for the fact that when your swimming there is actually stuff to see in the water aswell

oh i thought the water effect in kameo was pretty good

oh also in one of the stages on panzer dragoon zwei i thought the effect was pretty good

[DeathAdder]

I liked being able to submerge and breathe through a pipe in Tenchu 2 the first time I did so.

Also, the water in Wave Race 64 was jaw-dropping the first time I saw it.

[erhgiez]

On the first level in Tomb Raider Legend on 360 I was seriously impressed by the river there, even if it was just a texture

[buster_broon]

i hate water

it took Aeris from me after spending hours playing and then i cried

[eastyy]

i hate water

it took Aeris from me after spending hours playing and then i cried

i hate swords to for the same reason

[SUMIRE]

Waverace 64 has nice water

[babs]

Someone get Namco and Nintendo to mix their juices and give us...

Waaaaaaaaave Racer!

Jetski drift racing!!!

[Myth]

i always liked water effects i did think morrowinds water effect was better then oblivions

Agree completely, as soon as I got off the boat and saw the water I was in awe. Although I do think Oblivion looks good when you're looking at it from the top of a mountain

Anyway water levels are one of the most annoying things in games for me, I like looking at it as long as it looks half decent. I also prefer more cartoon styled water (Mario Sunshine) over more realistic.

[Ostrog]

Right now the only water level that comes to mind would be the one from Turrican 2. I love the music in that one. I thought the way the tune changes as soon as you dived in the water was pretty cool the first time I played it.
Such a peaceful, relaxing piece of music - even when you're being attacked by loads of enemies. Even as I type this, the tune's just popped into my head.