The title basically says it all: I’m looking for games with first person perspective that have interesting architecture, preferrably modern or scifi, but historical or fantasy is fine too. The genre isn’t important, neither is the quality of the game, as long as it’s playable.
An example for this is P.A.M.E.L.A. It’s as if the game was an afterthought (and the gameplay definitely feels like an afterthought) and the main goal was to create a plausible scifi city, down to the realistic amount of toilets.
Another one would be the VR game Ghost Town, which had fascinating recreations of Trellick Tower in London.
Are there any more? The more obscure, the better.
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NaissanceE is a freebie and is excellent for this.
If you own Quake, the Quake Brutalist Jam 3 has some unique constructs in it. Does kind of involve a few steps to install, and you may want to select lower-difficulty levels to find people more interested in neat architecture than hard fights.
I played Quake Brutalist it’s really great. Architecture wise it’s not that interesting for me, though, because it’s all non-functional in the classic 90s FPS style.
NaissanceE looks nice, but It’s not really what I’m looking for since it’s too surreal.
The architecture was just about the only thing I think The Talos Principle 2 improved over the original. It’s a 3D navigation puzzle game, but where the original used ruin assets that were heavily repeated (still creating a beautiful melancholy atmosphere in the process), the sequel has great architecture in several different architectural styles.
The story and its in-game social media features ruined it for me, and the architecture is monumental/artistic rather than practical, but maybe it’s worth checking out.
Bioshock might also qualify, exploring a ruined art deco city built on the bottom of an ocean. Its story is also good. Prey (2017) may also be worth checking out. Like Bioshock, it’s exploring an art deco setting, this time a semi-realistic attempt at a space station, with artificial gravity in some sections and not in others.
I don’t know if it’s what you’re looking for, but Mirror’s Edge (2008) also makes gorgeous use of brutal/industrial spaces, with its parkour gameplay getting you to engage with it in interesting ways.
Mirror’s Edge was great in that area, though there was hardly any time to take it in - and it fell apart if you managed to do it. Prey (2017) was good too.
Bioshock on the other hand always felt to gamey for me. It basically has levels, not architecture. I think you need a certain openness for surroundings to feel like actual architecture.
Talos Principle looks interesting, but I don’t think I could get into it.
I don’t have any hidden gems in this genre up my sleeve I don’t think, unfortunately. The only things that come to mind are obvious things like Cyberpunk 2077, Dishonored, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and BioShock
I know it’s not first person but I also want to cheat and mention Assassin’s Creed: Unity as revolutionary Paris is still one of the best and most well made video game cities ever.
I think third person games like Assassin’s Creed never are quite right, because everything feels like a miniature. The graphics can be perfect, and I still feel like looking at a model.
BioShock was kind of bad with the architecture. Nothing really made sense building-wise. Still a good atmosphere, but nothing that would get me to play it again after all those years. Deus Ex is a bit bland there, too. Cyberpunk is a good tip though. I haven’t tried it yet.
You thought Prague was bland in Deus Ex? I guess that shows me why I’m not an architect. I thought those environments were great, and Golem City was absolutely incredible.
Maybe I should take a second look at it it has been, gosh!, more than ten years!
The Dishonored games! Same guy who designed Half-Life 2’s City 17 and it shows.
INDUSTRIA is sort of bland gameplay-wise, but the architecture and level design really stood out to me, so I revisit it often.
Chernobylite used laser scans and HD photos to recreate parts of Pripyat. The sequel went in a different direction and from what I hear is not as good.
Prey, if you count a massive space station as architecture.
Still Wakes the Deep, if you count a massive oil rig as architecture.
I would do anything to go back and play Half Life 1 for the first time again.
Lorn’s Lure, if you want some megalophobia.
If you really want to get into it, check out Quake Brutalist Jam
Thanks! I think I’ll try Industria when it’s on discount. I’ve heard bad things about it, but that’s more or less a good sign in that case. I think I own Chernobylite, but never tried it since I played enough STALKER over the years. Half Life is kind of the opposite of what I’m looking for. There’s no real architecture, the levels are built to serve the gameplay. I think Lorn’s Lure might be similar there. Same goes for Quake Brutalist Jam, but it’s one of my favourite shooters of the recent years. Quake just can’t stay dead.
I played this old game long ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versailles_1685
It’s pretty clunky but charming and is a pretty faithful recreation of the palace and grounds.
That’s something! I would have preferred free movement, but I really love clunky old first person puzzle games. Most Cryo games I’ve played had very awful and uninspired puzzles, but an interesting atmosphere.
I remember being pretty impressed with the architecture in Wheel of Time. It’s a fantasy game loosely based on the books. It’s regularly on sale at GOG.
I only reached the second level, maybe I’ll continue some day.
Are you into Escherian architecture? Manifold Garden has that. There is a basic amount of puzzling but you mainly enjoy the scenery.
Viewfinder is a first-person puzzle game that mainly features modern architecture floating in a bottomless sky. It has a really cool central mechanic, too.
Now, you said first-person perspective, but maybe you’d be interested in Kitten Burst’s architecture anyway. It’s actually a third-person flying/racing game but it has a lot of empty futuristic architecture representing a post-apocalypse cyberspace.
Finally, The Beginner’s Guide is a walking simulator that tells its story partially through its varied level designs.
Interesting, but not really the thing I’m looking for. It’s too surreal, not something you would actually build, or that would work in real life.
