Game graphics continue to improve drastically every year. As the most immediately noticeable element in any game, graphics remain and always will be extremely important to players' experiences. Besides the artists who design the actual look of each game, programmers are charged with the highly competitive responsibility of creating increasingly impressive 3D graphics engines to bring their games to life. The following five games featured the most technically advanced graphics this year and therefore offered some of the most noteworthy visual experiences.

Based on the already-impressive Quake III Arena engine, American McGee's Alice manages to push this engine to even greater limits. The game's highly detailed, constantly shifting 3D environments and incredibly lifelike 3D characters are very impressive, and they represent the highest echelon in 3D graphics technology on the PC.

This quirky action game is notable for many reasons, not the least of which is its incredible appearance. The 3D engine renders the game's eye-popping archipelagos far into the horizon, and each of the game's vividly detailed, quirky units is depicted to scale - all the way from the squat Smarties on up to the humongous monster, Kabuto.

Swedish developer Massive Entertainment has produced an incredibly immersive real-time strategy game in Ground Control, which is so spectacular largely because of its fully 3D graphics. Its 3D engine renders very realistic-looking terrain and gives you complete freedom to zoom in and out on the action, but the level of detail remains constantly high regardless of how close you get.

It's no small feat to realistically portray a gigantic 80-ton walking tank strapped down with an arsenal of futuristic weapons, but MechWarrior 4 succeeded at this with very dramatic results. The MechWarrior series has always helped set the highest precedent for 3D graphics quality in games, and the latest installment is certainly no exception.

Strikingly realistic visuals help realize this ambitiously lifelike motorcycle racing simulation from EA Sports. The game accurately re-creates various international racing circuits, along with weather effects and of course the high-powered superbikes themselves. The motion-captured drivers are also particularly noteworthy, and the detail in the game's 3D graphics is consistently excellent.