Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
Games with unique artstyles are a dime a dozen these days, and of the top of my head, there are 10 or more that wouldn’t look out of place here, with titles like Wartales being a beautiful example, the simple artstyle of FTL: Faster Than Light being a personal favorite of mine, and Darkest Dungeon stands out as an example of how the horrors of H.P. Lovecraft can be made manifest. But in this list, I have tried to put several types of strategy games and styles, from artsy to realistic. Let’s find out if you agree with me or not!
7 – Company of Heroes 3
Focusing heavily on the Mediterranean theater of World War II, Company of Heroes 3 delivers a masterclass in destructible environments and tactical physics. The game features an advanced destruction engine that allows artillery shells to realistically chip, collapse, and pulverize individual stone buildings piece by piece. The infantry animations are incredibly contextual; soldiers will actively lean against walls for cover, duck as bullets whip over their heads, and kick up realistic plumes of sand as they sprint across the beautiful, sun-drenched Italian and North African landscapes.
6 – Dune: Spice Wars
Stepping away from raw photorealism, Dune: Spice Wars leans into a gorgeous, highly stylized, painterly art direction that captures the desolate majesty of Arrakis with muted, but serene tones. The game transforms what could have been a boring, brown desert into a stunning landscape of shifting orange sands, deep purple rock canyons, and shimmering, heat-hazed horizons typical of an Arabian night-style painting. It transmits a feeling of soothing and mystery.
5 – Anno 1800
Anno 1800 is an incredibly detailed, lush industrial-era city builder that looks like a living, breathing painting. The level of micromechanical detail rendered in every single building is mind-boggling. The game’s pristine water reflections, soft atmospheric smog pouring from factory chimneys, and bustling streets packed with hundreds of individual citizens create a vibrant, hyper-detailed world that you can comfortably stare at for hours.
