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Realistic water and wetness were seen for years as a litmus test for photorealistic graphics, but by the PS3 generation, developers had it nailed: water shaders had become so sophisticated that Nathan Drake would emerge from a full dousing of seawater and slowly dry off, with his clothes soaked, and skin glistening. It was a mesmerising effect: it’s difficult to describe to younger people how incredible it was to see this mundane environmental phenomenon happening, in real time, to a video game character.
Of course, now these graphical effects are so commonplace that they scarcely raise an eyebrow. Aloy’s clothing dries off at varying rates, does it? Who cares. Seen it, mate. But given that, I thought it would be a challenge for our regular panel to come up with the best game ever where your character gets wet and stays wet for a bit. To find out how they got on, you’ll simply have to watch or listen to this week’s Best Games Ever podcast.
