7. Heavenly Sword
One of the earlier PS3 exclusive that looked truly jaw-dropping, Heavenly Sword was a story-based action romp that was all about character development. It had some issues, but its character based narrative meant it had a lot of close ups of various faces. All the better show off the game’s gorgeous facial animations. In conjunction with the game’s solid voice acting, it made the characters truly engaging.
6. God of War 3
For a game that looks as good as God of War 3, it’s no surprise that it has the animations to match. Being an action game, there aren’t a lot of good examples of facial animations. Except for one. The combination of Kratos’ exasperated face and the equally anguished Helios creates a truly gory and potentially disturbing scene. It’s one of the more memorable scenes in the game for a reason. You can see what I mean above.
5. Grand Theft Auto 4
Rockstar are one of those developers who really pay attention to the details. Whether it was in the snappy dialogue, vast cityscape intense actions sequences, Grand Theft Auto 4 hardly has a pixel out of place. What it really exceeds at though, is its vivid and engagingly humorous characters. What really brings the characters to live however, is their well crafted facial expressions. Nothing like a smile to set up some witty banter.
4. Heavy Rain
David Cage’s crime thriller masterpiece, Heavy Rain, doesn’t work unless you invest yourself in the characters. Thankfully this is an easy task, what with HR’s tight narrative, fantastic characterisation and gorgeous visuals. What really heightens our suspension of disbelief however, is the character’s lifelike facial movements. It’s what gives the characters that added human quality that helps you engage with them. A truly beautiful master-work.
