3. Mass Effect
Considering you spend a large majority of the game listening to what others have to say, it’s surprising how gripping the Mass Effect series can be. The answer: Facial expressions. Every character in the ME universe has a kind of vibrancy and animation to their expressions, even if they are animated in their lack of emotion. The high quality voice acting probably helps too.
2. Half Life 2
The Half-Life series is one of the most beloved franchises ever, and it really looked the part with Valve’s Source engine powering the second game in the franchise. The narrative is one area of unanimous praise that allows the NPCs facial animations to truly excel. There’s just something about the way the characters in Half-Life 2 look and respond to your movements that makes them seem all the more real. Gripping stuff.
1. L.A. Noire
This one hasn’t even been released yet but, despite my fears of being presumptuous, the trailers are really showing off some impressive facial animations. It’s all in Team Bondi’s unique tech used for the game. The technology used involves capturing the voice actor’s faces with 32 cameras as they speak their lines, leading to unparalleled realism in terms of facial animation. If the trailers are anything to go by, we’ll have something special in L.A. Noire when it launches in May.
Any great looking faces missing from the list? Feel free to call out your own favourites in the comments.
