It's All In The Details

Since there is about a month lull in games I'm interested in coming out (I'm looking at you Guild Wars 2 and Borderlands 2), I picked up, mostly on a whim, The Secret World. The Secret World (TSW), is a new MMO by Funcom (Of Anarchy Online and Conan Online fame) set in modernish times. There are a lot of good ideas at play in this game. Most of which I will blog about here in the near future. It's not perfect mind you, and won't even come with in viewing distance of the MMO throne currently occupied by WoW. But it is a solid entry into the genre and really does innovate in certain areas (and not enough in others, but another time... another time).

There's one thing about TSW that I found I really enjoyed that I never noticed before. It's one of those things about games that we often take for granted, and don't, at least consciously, realize how much it truly does add to the experience.

Details.

That's an incredibly broad term. But in this instance I'm referring to the amount of extra care given to give the world created that feeling of being real. Let me give you a couple of examples. 

Near the very start of TSW, you find yourself in a city (in my case London). There are various shops open, with a few people and NPCs running around. What really sets this apart is that when you go into some of these shops you can read the menus. That's right someone took the time to actually CREATE a menu in a shop. You can't even buy things in this cafe! Yet someone still took the time to create a fake menu to give the impression that this place is real. 

It was after I saw that I started noticing more detail about the world. There's a music shop that has records in it you can look at. There's a market that has various fruits and items out on display. There's posters on the wall with information about things that don't at all pertain to anything in the game. 

I started thinking about other games that have done this. Fallout 3, with it's various areas telling it's own story (I'm thinking specifically of the other vaults). Grand Theft Auto 4 and it's fully realized city with various shops and buildings. Assassins Creed (any of them) and the amount of detail used to re-create a historic period. 

All the small details, from a trashcan tipped over on the streets of GTA 4, or the simple clothes a beggar wears as he, yet again, impedes my chase of a target I'm supposed to assassinate in Assassins Creed. These details are, to me, what breathes life into the games we love. I'm sure any of the games I just mentioned would have been just as enjoyable to play if they had removed some of the little details. But it's those little extras that immersed me in the world and continue to make me just stop and look around.

What are some of the games you've played that you've noticed the small details? Any particular details stand out? I want to hear about what kind of small things put in a game has gotten your attention!