I was wondering if any of you have ever been awed by a game's vision on architecture or landscape architecture, and if so, which games have had that effect on you and why.

I'm tempted to write a lengthy love letter to Horizon Zero Dawn here for exemplification purposes, but I'll begin instead with a relatively counterintuitive example and mention Shadow of the Colossus. I wonder if you agree with me on this one but in my opinion, the ruins scattered throughout its world represent one of the things I enjoy the most in real-life architecture, and those are the memory of time and the feeling of anticipation.

I can think of some other examples but I'd rather not turn this into a boring soliloquy. So anyway, what's your take on the matter?

P.S: If you enjoy the subject, this article could prove interesting: Architecture in Video Games: Designing for Impact: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DeannaVanBuren/20151012/254238/Architecture_in_Video_Games_Designing_for_Impact.php

Clive Barker's Undying for general architecture
Thief 2 for the landscapes in the Trail of Blood and that level on the City roofs.
Neverhood for all the amazing hand-crafted clay stuff.
Unreal Tournament for the classic functional map design

I thought the combined "Train Station / Aviary" (Barrockstadt) in Syberia was pretty unique.

This video on Control and Brutalism may be of interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n7ylXPueYE

I definitely agree! That whole game has a lot of unique architecture that's a joy on the eyes.

Do you remember the landing pad/city-scape scenes you got in Freelancer whenever you landed on a planet? I used to leave them on as a sort of screensaver/animated background for hours. I especially like their view on Bretonian architecture, a mix of Late Gothic with space-faring modernism.

Some of the locations in Morrowind were interesting with their unusual design and layout. Combine that with strange flora and fauna, and you have setting that is a nice break from the usual Tolkien-esque fantasy.

I remember how great the Art Deco architecture looked in the first BioShock! The bathysphere ride really set the tone for the whole game.

Does anyone know of any other games that have similar Art Deco styles?

ECHO might fit the bill, although it's more straight-up Baroque/Rococo than Art Deco.
Thinking about it, there actually hasn't been any other game's art direction/design, especially regarding architecture that blew my socks off as ECHO did.

I guess it's not just the visually very pleasing neatness, literally as well as symmetrically, of the prevalent Baroque/Rococo style but also the juxtaposition with the other two architectural styles present in the game (angular Sci-Fi & biomechanical Giger'esque) that, at least in my case, makes ECHO really stand out.

https://images.gog-statics.com/7b713b31592a7f8b5b0ade04e6020a1d64d525cc951b274730f5169c6e8a1637.jpg
https://images.gog-statics.com/9d89aedd344f9442457ae54a7b9ee3ac90150f1530cb654494560c9945c0c8fd.jpg
https://images.gog-statics.com/0fbbde719c6a6e045178a4eca9cf39d23795502056dec37b450f221b785409bb.jpg
https://images.gog-statics.com/0afda9907312ace4d61c26e0edbf8b871bb837ce226101efc9cc6f9ea4b22594.jpg

Most Ubisoft games have awesome graphics representing "real" buildings.
Fe The division 2 there is a space museum , it is so cool broaf brutalism , it was made to break the will of the people and should be outlawed

[url=https://noclip.website/#ztp/D_MN07;ShareData=AaE3WUs59!T%7BCA@9HzE:W9Gv%5E6Ok,9UuS;uUu%7B*A=eF7NUnDip94%7Cc!Ui,%5DR=2]The City in the Sky.[/url]

(56k warning, that's literally the 3D data for the entire dungeon.) It speaks to the alien nature of the entire dungeon that you largely have to navigate it via the clawshot, though I've got to admit the occupants being the horrific Occa do not help the reasoning to it's existence.

In 98 it was Thief. As someone highlighted earlier, many Ubisoft games tend to have an incredible architectural vision.

I also enjoyed the first gears of war and its cover mechanics in that sense.

I definitely second Morrowind - many of its settlements have very creative and original architecture, particularly the organic style of the Telvanni settlements, grown from giant plants.

I'd say Planescape Torment is also worth mentioning. The city of Sigil has some quite unusual architecture and I felt that game captured it pretty well.

The post-communist Eastern Euro architecture of Half-Life 2 is probably the most obvious one, City 17 has this dystopian, abandoned feel I love. Especially the concept of advanced technology transplanted over old archtecture, the way the doors look like they could be from th1 1950's but they have the Combine locks on them.

The Dwemer ruins in Skyrim have very well done Art Deco!