Aug 3, 2025
The atmosphere of games that cannot be repeated
In this article I want to tell you, perhaps remind someone about those games that sink into the soul upon the first playthrough, and subsequently are not forgotten for many years. Over the course of my life, I have completed a bunch of games: 80 in the Steam library, about 60 on consoles, this is not counting the games I have forgotten or hidden, and among all these games there are those that have not become covered in dust, but are regularly replayed, those that are remembered not because of their plot, gameplay or graphics, but because of their atmosphere, which cannot be repeated. These are the games we’ll be talking about.
Mafia game series
This series of games, most often described by players:
made a huge contribution to the video game industry, but most importantly, she perfectly conveyed the atmosphere of those gangster times.
Perhaps we will go from worst to best, from the third part to the first.
The third part was bad in everything, from graphics to gameplay. But there was only one thing that was wonderful about it: the atmosphere of the 60s. Music on the radio, luxury cars and beautiful architecture of those years brightened up the players’ time.
The second part was good in everything: petty thefts, fun rides, an interesting plot, but the game had one distinctive feature, a detailed recreation of the world of the 40s. It seems to me that 2K Czech became most famous for its ability to recreate an era.
The first part, which was also the most canonical and beloved by players, was essentially the first discoverer of this phenomenon.
The game gave a feeling of freedom, permissiveness. On the one hand you are a gentleman who drives around in a stolen luxury car, on the other hand you are a bloodthirsty killer who kills and goes through the bones for personal gain. The game has become a legend for those who played it at least once. The atmosphere in the game was calm, but at the same time it was tense. After all, the City of Lost Paradise is, although luxurious, but at the same time a very dangerous place.
I believe that the atmosphere of these games is unique, since each game in the Mafia series has an atmosphere that is different from other parts. But the atmosphere of each part, although different, perfectly recreates the spirit of that era.
L.A. Noire is a game similar in appearance to Mafia, but actually very different in everything. The game showed Los Angeles in the 40s, but not from the side of the bandits, but on the contrary, from the side of the lawmen. The game had everything, chases, shootouts, investigations. The game gradually picked up the pace of the story. She also conveyed the era well, showing luxury cars, small houses and skyscrapers.
While you’re driving on patrol, wonderful compositions from those years are playing on the radio. Then you drive onto a hill and see a beautiful sunset, which falls somewhere in the distance outside the city.
And the main thing in the game https://casinosnotongamcare.co.uk/review/spins-heaven/ was the composer’s music by Andrew Hale.
By the way, I’ll voice a well-known fact: L.A. Noire was not created by Rockstar Games itself, but only published by them. That’s why L.A. Noire is unique, because the development company Team Bondi closed after the release of their first and last game. But our next game was created and released by Rockstar North itself.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
This game was the first game that I completely completed myself. She’s like family to me. Those neon signs, the blue of the ocean merging with the sky, the yellow sand. Cool supercars that play great songs on the radio. The game’s soundtrack seems to be created for peaceful rides on the highway along the ocean.
The game had wonderful charismatic characters, as if created in the likeness of the heroes of the movie Scarface. These divine phrases:
Lance Vance
The game is still considered by many players to be the best in the series. Whether Rockstar will try to repeat this part, or whether the company will not even try, it doesn’t matter, because Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is remembered with warmth and will be remembered by many players.
Need for Speed: Underground 2
NFS: Underground 2 is a special game in the series. Its atmosphere of street racing in a beautiful city at night is indescribable. A huge fleet of vehicles, plenty of tuning, excellent radio and driving races made this game a benchmark for all parts of NFS.
Until now, the developers themselves are trying to get even a little closer to the success earned by NFS: Underground 2. And unfortunately they never managed to do something as interesting and exciting. The only part that comes close to the atmosphere of NFS: Underground 2 is the restart of the 2015 series called NFS 2015.
It also had cinematics, good music and just a gigantic variation of vehicle tuning. But unfortunately she could not recreate exactly the same game that we all loved so much. It’s a pity that with each new part this series loses its former greatness and slides lower and lower..
Here’s a paradox: Remedy’s games in general are always good, sometimes even revolutionary, but at the same time they have never received approval from a large audience. They mostly remained legends in narrow circles. So Alan Wake is a completely different story. The game was warmly received by more players. I think this happened precisely because of the innovative approach in choosing the type of gameplay and the creation of a mysterious world with its own special atmosphere. Misty mountains, dark forests, strange figures in the distance – this is all about the atmosphere of this game.
The next game is similar to Alan Wake, it also has a small town somewhere in the area with forests around it. There are also a lot of secrets that players have to learn. But there are two major differences: firstly, the game is nonlinear, and secondly, supernatural forces do not fight against the hero, but are on his side, or rather, the hero himself has supernatural abilities.
Life Is Strange
This game is one of my favorite games in the movie genre. It perfectly conveys the feeling of separation from the real world, conveying the life of a small provincial town that is gradually dying out over time. It shows interesting characters who have a lot of different problems that need to be solved. The game has a wonderful soundtrack from a bunch of licensed pleasant music.
The game is just good for relaxing for a couple of evenings while playing through it. The game is very interesting to monitor your surroundings, immerse yourself in this mysterious world and try to understand it. Isn’t this a wonderful example of a good game in which everything is great, not excluding the atmosphere?.
Initially, Dontnod Entertainment conceived only one part of the game, completely finished in all areas of the plot. Then, after the success of the first part, Square Enix invited the development studio Deck Nine Games to work on the prequel of this game, who coped with their task and skillfully complemented the world of the game.
After all this, Dontnod Entertainment announced work on the second part of the game. Unfortunately for me and for many players the game did not live up to expectations. Personally, I didn’t appreciate the second part at all and don’t consider it a worthy game, after the success of the first part and its prequel.
But among these games there are also those, mostly indie ones, that are remembered mainly due to their atmosphere alone.
Night in the Woods
Night in the forest is quite an interesting project in itself. The Infinite Fall development team, consisting of three developers living on different sides of the world, gathered around their first project, which started on Kickstarter. Okay, we’re not going to talk about the history of creation here, so let’s move on to the atmosphere. The game follows the daily routine of a cat named May living in Possum Springs
And the game does it damn well. The game is really addictive with the opportunity to wander around the city, communicate with May’s friends and meet fatal strangers. Speaking of friends, communicating with them is essentially a game, you hang out here and there, do all sorts of crap and play bass in a band.
Speaking of music, original music was written for the game, its author is Alec Holowka.
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