Gaming graphics have evolved rapidly over the past decade, taking advantage of the tremendous advances in faster processors, more powerful memory, and graphics card technology. Early games consisted of simple still images and polygons of characters, since it was impossible to bring rich visuals to life at the time.
Although these game characters were just pixels and geometric shapes back then, they all became our heroes. Now, let’s take a look at how these characters look, how they came from the past to the present.
- Max Payne
- Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
- Link (Legend of Zelda)
- Leon and Claire (Resident Evil)
- Nathan Drake (Uncharted)
- Kratos (God of War)
- Spider-Man
- Captain Price (Call of Duty)
- Scorpion and Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat)
- Solid Snake (Metal Gear)
Max Payne
- First game: 2001
- Last game: 2012
Max Payne is a revolution in gaming history. Max Payne, which can be considered the ancestor of 3rd person shooter games, was developed by Remedy. The face of Max Payne character, which was released in 2001, is the face of Sam Lake, one of the founders of the company. Later, in Max Payne 2, our brother Max was played by an actor named Timothy Gibbs.
Max Payne’s rights were purchased from Remedy in 2011 and transferred to Rockstar Games, where Max Payne was played by an actor named James McCaffrey. However, although the gameplay mechanics of Max Payne did not change much, of course, the graphics were at the top with the quality of Rockstar Games. It’s fascinating how Max’s face went from being a .jpeg file of a real human face when it first came out, to being animated with motion capture technology in 2012.
Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
- First game: 1996
- Last game: 2018
Of course, if we do not mention our older sister Lara Croft in such a list. Lara Croft, who first conquered the hearts of gamers in 1996, was really just about painting geometric shapes back then. In fact, the fact that Lara Croft’s breasts were triangular at that time was a joke today.
With the Tomb Raider series, which was revived in 2010, of course, Lara Croft has undergone a big change. The new Tomb Raider series, produced by Square Enix, really amazes with its graphics and the magnificent portrayal of Lara Croft is not enough to watch.
Link (Legend of Zelda)
- First game: 1986
- Last game: 2022
If you are an actress, the character we play in ‘Legend of Zelda’ is not named Zelda!’ You’ve probably heard the phrase hundreds of times. Link, the main character of The Legend of Zelda, has undergone a great change from the past to the present, anyway, the first game was released in 1986, how can you not stop?
The first Legend of Zelda game was released in 1986 and was developed by Nintendo. One of Nintendo’s most successful series, the first LoZ game was an 8bit platform game. The biggest change of the Link character took place with the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild game. By the way, the second game of Breath of the Wild will come in 2022.
Leon and Claire (Resident Evil)
- First game: 1996
- Last game: 2021
The Resident Evil series, one of the first representatives of the horror and tension theme in the game world, was developed by Capcom and entered our lives in 1996. We got to know many of the characters that still exist in the Resident Evil series with this first game, but the two most loved characters were always Leon and Claire, who came into our lives with Resident Evil 2.
Resident Evil 2 came out in 1999, where Leon S. Kennedy, who was an officer in the Raccoon City Police Department, and Claire Redfield, the sister of Chris Redfield, crossed paths. With Resident Evil 2, which was later remade in 2018, it’s a real treat to see how these characters look today.
Nathan Drake (Uncharted)
- First game: 2007
- Last game: 2016
Perhaps the most ‘relevant’ game on the list may be the Uncharted series, because its first game was released in 2007, the PlayStation 3 era. But that doesn’t mean that Nathan Drake hasn’t changed tremendously to this day.
When the first game was released, it was labeled ‘Tomb Raider with Indiana Jones’ from the game world. However, Uncharted managed to mislead these people with its gameplay, story and graphics that were up to that time. With the remaining games in the series, Nathan Drake has become one of the most recognizable characters in the PlayStation world. With Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, released in 2016, Nathan Drake became completely different from the first game.
Kratos (God of War)
- First game: 2005
- Last game: 2018
Kratos’ place is different for PlayStation players. Maybe God of War, the game series that we can call PlayStation that made PlayStation, was a ‘Hack & Slash’ themed series with its first three games and side games. We only saw our character from above and didn’t focus on the story as we cut through what was in front of us. Still, we all remember Kratos’ pale gray body and red tattoos.
Both this gameplay of God of War and that PlayStation 2 appearance of Kratos took a completely different turn with God of War (2018). God of War’s Kratos, which has come to a state that we can call a kind of Last of Us-like in terms of gameplay, was no longer as hard-eyed as before. However, it was graphically different.
Spider-Man
- First game: 2001
- Last game: 2020
Of course, the first thing that comes to mind when Spider-Man is mentioned is the movie, not the game. Tobey Maguire is not a pipe after all. Of course, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland should not be slandered. However, the reason why we especially focus on Tobey Maguire is the Spider-Man game adapted from his movie in 2001. Maybe most players don’t remember that game, but we’re sure there is a niche audience that does.
Spider-Man game at that time had been a game where many fans spent their childhood. The last Spider-Man game developed by Insomniac in 2018 was inspired by no movie. He even became a Spider-Man with his own universe. It doesn’t end with explaining the details in this game, but even just the version of Spider-Man is enough for you to understand.
Captain Price (Call of Duty)
- First game: 2004
- Last game: 2019
The Call of Duty series has hosted many legendary and iconic characters such as Soap, Roach, Captain MacMillan, Sandman, Ghost, Reznov, Mason, Hudson, Woods and Yuri. However, as you know, none of them succeeded in establishing a throne in our hearts as Captain Price.
Not many people know that the Call of Duty series had a Captain Price before Modern Warfare. Captain Price, which was released in 2004 and took place in the second world war, was loved so much that he came back to the series as his grandchild with the Modern Warfare series. Of course, with the new Modern Warfare coming out in 2019, Cpt. Price has changed yet again, but his truly iconic appearance is in the classic Modern Warfare trilogy.
Scorpion and Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat)
- First game: 1992
- Last game: 2019
Mortal Kombat, which is the most popular fighting game in our country, was first released in 1992, and the Mortal Kombat characters at that time were the combined images of people dressed in real costumes in action.
The two most well-known characters of the Mortal Kombat series are, of course, Scorpion and Sub-Zero. With Mortal Kombat 11, we no longer see these characters in only 2 dimensions and we can watch their stories. You can really feel like you are in a movie while fighting them in Mortal Kombat 11.
Solid Snake (Metal Gear)
- First game: 1987
- Last game: 2018
The Metal Gear series is a bit of a mess, it didn’t always have the same characters. However, the most well-known character of the series is of course Solid Snake. When Solid Snake first appeared, he had a depiction covering his eyes with a bandana.
With Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain, the Solid Snake character has become truly admirable. Both the game’s innovative gameplay mechanics and Solid Snake’s new charisma make you feel completely different.
Thus, we have come to the end of our content where we list the changes of the game characters we love from the past to the present. Please do not forget to share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section below.
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