The year in fancy graphics: 2014's most beautiful screenshots

Virtual photography

2014 was a nice year for pretty games. The new consoles mean the homogenized cross-platform look has improved a lot, and when full attention is paid to the PC, we get fancier technology and unlimited resolutions to toy with. With a bit of effort, we can do some pretty mad stuff, like take 8K screenshots which, when downsampled, look brilliant.

To celebrate all these pixels, we've collected our favorite screenshots from our weekly Pixel Boost column—and taken some new ones—in this gallery of 2014's most graphics-ey games. Yes, some great looking games have been left out (there just isn't enough time in the year, is there?) but watch our Pixel Boost column throughout 2015 for more. Also note that the focus here is on games we can tinker with (high resolutions, HUD removal, free cameras), so while Transistor is beautiful, for instance, there's no particular value to our screenshots over any others.

I also encourage you to check out Dead End Thrills—a repository for gorgeous screens—and our own Andy Kelly's Other Places series, in which he composes striking video tours of beautiful game worlds.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Screenshot by James Snook | Game by Monolith | 7680x4320

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab. Find more screenshots from Shadow of Mordor here.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Screenshot by James Snook | Game by Monolith | 7680x3586

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab. Find more screenshots from Shadow of Mordor here.

Alien: Isolation

Screenshot by Tyler Wilde | Game by Creative Assembly | 7680x4320

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab.

Alien: Isolation

Screenshot by Tyler Wilde | Game by Creative Assembly | 7680x4320

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab.

NBA 2K15

Screenshot by Tyler Wilde | Game by Visual Concepts | 5120x2880

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab.

Far Cry 4

Screenshot by: Tyler Wilde | Game by: Ubisoft Montreal | 5120x2880

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab.

Far Cry 4

Screenshot by: Tyler Wilde | Game by: Ubisoft Montreal | 5120x2880

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab.

Lords of the Fallen

Screenshot by: James Snook | Game by: CI Games, Deck 13 | 7680x4320

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab. Find more screenshots from Lords of the Fallen here.

Lords of the Fallen

Screenshot by: James Snook | Game by: CI Games, Deck 13 | 7680x3840

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab. Find more screenshots from Lords of the Fallen here.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Screenshot by James Snook | Game by The Astronauts | 7680x3241

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab. Find more screenshots from The Vanishing of Ethan Carter here.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Screenshot by James Snook | Game by The Astronauts | 7680x3241

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab. Find more screenshots from The Vanishing of Ethan Carter here.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Screenshot by Tyler Wilde | Game by Sledgehammer | 5120x2880

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Elite: Dangerous

Screenshot by Tyler Wilde | Game by Frontier Developments | 7680x4320

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Dragon Age: Inquisition

Screenshot by James Snook | Game by BioWare | 5120x2560

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab. Find more Dragon Age: Inquisition screenshots here.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Screenshot by James Snook | Game by BioWare | 5120x2560

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab. Find more Dragon Age: Inquisition screenshots here.

Watch Dogs: Bad Blood DLC

Screenshot by James Snook | Game by Ubisoft Montreal | 5760x2880

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab. Find more Watch Dogs screenshots here.

Watch Dogs: Bad Blood DLC

Screenshot by James Snook | Game by Ubisoft Montreal | 5760x2880

Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the image to enlarge, or open it in a new tab. Find more Watch Dogs screenshots here.