Video Games With The Best Water Effects (RunDLC)

This week’s release of Hydrophobia on Xbox Live reminded us how much we dig water in video games. While not the most important feature, we can’t help but dive in just to see how it reacts. Some games, of course, do it better than others, so without further ado, here are the top picks for best virtual water effects.

John Artest (RunDLC)

[donniebaseball]

Good list. Water is definitely one of the hardest things to do for programmers. That and cloth/hair physics. Tough to pull off.

[Buff1044]

The Gran Turismo 5 effects look ridiculously incredible. Can't wait to play that game.

[ExplosionSauce]

http://i52.tinypic.com/2qas...
And R&C:ACIT
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[crzyjackbauer]

ExplosionSauce

mgs4 only had water on that level

mgs4 first level was the only good one

i was hoping they would make an mgs3 remake
mgs3 had water all over the place

[number47]

Halo 3 had some good water.. should be on the list.

[GoldPS3]

Halo 3? Show me.

[MerkinMax]

See for yourself

[Skadoosh]

Yes Halo 3 had fantastic water effects. Thanks for the video man. Clearly the fanboys will disagree but that video looks nice :)

[Gam3s4lif3]

*cough* PS3 fanboys disagree, what a surprise.

[number47]

Im the king of ps3 fanboys on n4g. Props are given where props are due. halo3 had good water.(more so than a few questionable games on the list) So... ya... go somewhere else with the PS3fanboy nonsense.

[AEtherbane]

5 metric ton spartans floated like leaves on it.

[QuantumWake]

Halo 3 had great water. Definitely looked a bit more alive than other games. It also looks a lot "bumpier". Maybe due to tessellation? I know Reach supports tessellation for water.

Interaction? Halo 3's water was definitely interactive, but mostly in the campaign. The first level had some great water. Multiplayer water physics was a bit underwhelming.

[number47]

All 360/multiplat games are dumbed down at multiplayer. Gears 2 is a shining example of this.

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

Why the Submitter added a real life Picture as a Thumbail?

¿Is that Gran Turismo 5? OMG.

[kaveti6616]

Cryostasis had much better water than all of this. And was Uncharted 2 on the list? Nope. It deserves to be there.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

That's the tech demo of cryostasis, a mediocre game with the best demonstration of water effects I've ever seen. Even more impressive than crysis in some ways because it's more interactive.

[ATi_Elite]

Good list but they left out the Hands Down Winner:

Cryostasis for the PC has the best use of water Physx in any game.

[xg-ei8ht]

UNCHARTED 1&2
GT5
GOW3

[Skadoosh]

I love Uncharted but the water effects were average at best.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[DlocDaBudSmoka]

the water reacted like it would for real. when u walk through water you get wet, and dry off over time. That exactly happens in UC1.

[Skadoosh]

In the beginning of the video the water comes rushing down very unrealistically looking and once he jumps on the ski jet, there is very lil impact on the water. The vehicles in Halo 3 make a much better impact on water. Uncharted is amazing looking but not the water.

[Hideo_Kojima]

I think you tried to find the worst possible laggiest video to make it look bad...

Shame on you.

Let me try and find a proper video at list and I will edit it after.

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[UnwanteDreamz]

Troll harder Halo 3 water looled like GTA4 water. You have the nerve to call others fanboys.

Same guy who thinks Alan Wake looks just as good as UC2

[crzyjackbauer]

uncharted water looked good
just that. it looked good it didint react good

[vickers500]

Bioshock

[spdarksky]

Other then the water effects the cloth....????? The cloth effects as seen in Uncharted also can be seen at Tomb Raider Underworld and Prince Of Persia Forgotten Sands.

[BillOreilly]

Alan Wake had great water effects. The lake wan everything was beautifully done.

[Skadoosh]

I agree. Alan Wake was just overall a beautiful game.

[crzyjackbauer]

looks at the fanboys disagree

gears of war just has the best raining effects on my book

uncharted 2 had good water effects

[nefertis]

gt5, uc2 and heavy rain water effects look gorgeous.

[theonlylolking]

They put in bioshock 1 and 2 instead of saying bioshock series.

I thought halo 3 had great water effects. The water didnt look real but the physics where great. Halo reachs water physics are not that good but it looks better than halo 3 water.

Gt5 is not even out yet so this should not be listed even though it has amazing water effects.

[rezzah]

Im still the bigger fan of UC2 but I noticed something about R&C when I played crack in time. The water effects were amazing. i actually spent 5 - 10 mins moving back and forth just amazed by the water physics. The ripples are great.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

The water physics in Crysis are still unmatched.

However,

The first time I stepped out of the back door of Ethan's apartment...

...is something I'll never forget.

Wow. Just, wow.

[vodny]

Mirror's Edge with PhysX has some great water effects.

[TABSF]

Only 1 PC game made the list, total joke

here is one of the best

Cryostatic
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

The game is good, but I have a bad optimization with ATI Cards (ATI 5770).

[GamerSciz]

Cryostasis only looks that good with PhysX on. PhysX was a separate card as a PPU but now most Nvidia have one built into it, the higher end ones at least. However, Cryostasis was basically a tech demo and not so much a game. Still it had amazing water effects. Personally I am curious to see KZ3 in person. Check out this quick clip. Graphically the water is amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Oh and great water effects as a tech demo/game...I hate to say it but "Super Rub a Dub" haha, can't deny the good physics in that though.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[TheDCD]

Ico!

[FwanK]

Ecco!

[R_aVe_N]

I am really confused here how does Mario water effects even come close to those other games?

[xg-ei8ht]

TABSF

The water looked ok in cryostatis, but the water cannon looked horrid.

Crysis and maybe f1-2010.

For pc.

[TheNocturnus]

Kameo, Elements of Power. Really crappy game, best water effects ever! I'm not trying to be funny either, seriously check out the level with the tentacled eye monster thing you get to play as. When I first saw the water effects I knew that this was truly the next generation of gaming.

[IHateYouFanboys]

Halo 3 has the best water ive seen to date in a console game.

what sets it apart from other games with great water - like Uncharted, Baldurs Gate, Bioshock, etc - is that its interactive with EVERYTHING.

- throw a grenade in the water? itll dip down in when it hits the surface, then float back up to the top - all while going with the current if there is one, before it explodes.

- just stand in the water? if theres a current, the water level will dip lower on the opposite side of you to the current, as the water in the river actually flows like its 3D, going around your legs then joining back up a bit after them.

- kill a grunt in a river? the grunt will float down the river, bumping off things along the way.

it truly is amazing to watch, and it even does all this in multiplayer. its a shame though that the water in Reach *looks* better, but is nowhere near as noticably interactive.

[IHateYouFanboys]

lol at the 4 disagrees without so much as a reply. obviously never played Halo 3.

[dirthurts]

Splashes on the windshield, tesselated water with physics...I mean come on???

[fullmetal297]

I was gonna write Dirt 2 until seeing your comment. It really deserves to be on the list because the water not only looks goods but reacts the way it should.

[ShinFuYux]

If anything, PGR4 was the first game in this generation that started it all with the wonderful water effects hitting the windshield.

[ATi_Elite]

Cryostsis for the PC wins hands down.

NO console period can compete with the water effects in this game as it uses Physx plus a bunch of other CPU algorithms to calculate water movement depending on REAL-TIME interaction.

mediocre game though.

[spdarksky]

The title says best water but not best game. So i vote Cryostasis as the first choice really (the game really dull though). It never says without hardware physics (ie PhysX).

Cryostasis water affects characters and environments, the water flows was just astonishing as well as dynamic. I played (albeit just rental) the game primarily just to mesmerize on the water effects. Five stars.

[matey]

MARIO GALAXY 2 HAS BETTER WATER EFFECTS THAN ANY PC GAME OR PS3 GAME END OF

[Jamaicangmr]

List is lacking.