Beautifully Designed Video Game Environments

Published December 2, 2014
Updated January 19, 2018

If you want to see some of the most groundbreaking modern art, just spend an afternoon playing video games with your teenage cousin. Given the increasing capacities of digital technology, video games are well on their way to becoming not just one of the most entertaining industries out there, but also one of the most artistically innovative.

Blending objectives, aesthetics and storytelling into one seamless package, game designers provide players with the opportunity to explore fascinating, incredibly intricate new worlds.

Okami

Video Game Environments Orochis Cave

Source: Kotaku

Originally released as a PS2 game in 2006, Okami has been revamped for Nintendo and re-released in 2012 for the PS3. The story is compelling and lengthy, enough to keep any player entertained for quite a while.

Video Game Environments Okami Plants

Source: Kotaku

What’s unique about Okami is how the entire world resembles an ancient Japanese painting, except for the fact that it’s been gloriously rendered in 3D.

Bioshock Infinite

BioShock Infinite’s main location is the floating, failed utopian city of Columbia that hovers over North America. It was built in a neoclassical style and was meant to be a monument to both religious and political ideals.

Elizabeth, one of the main characters from Bioshock, sneaks into Fink Manufacturing – Columbia’s largest and most corrupt business. This massive feat of architecture one very large secret about Elizabeth’s past.

Bioshock Rapture

Source: Buzzfeed

The city of Rapture existed fictionally in the 1940s, and is an art-deco enthusiast’s dream. Here, the prosperous guests unknowingly look out over a city that will soon be war-ravished and torn apart.

Pikmin

Video Game Environments Red

Source: Wikia

Pikmin is a romp through a whimsical world where realism and cartoon stylization meet. Most characters are only an inch tall; this includes plant-animal hybrids rounded up and commanded by a small extra-terrestrial named Olimar. The eye-popping environments of Pikmin are one of Nintendo’s hallmark gaming achievements.

Pikmin Pond

Source: Wikia

author
Erin Kelly
author
An All That's Interesting writer since 2013, Erin Kelly focuses on historic places, natural wonders, environmental issues, and the world of science. Her work has also been featured in Smithsonian and she's designed several book covers in her career as a graphic artist.
editor
Savannah Cox
editor
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.