There’s some debate as to what was the first true 3D game. Some would award the title to 1980’s Battlezone, which used wireframe vector graphics to render 3D tanks — though the tanks themselves could only move in two dimensions. Others might give this title to 1996’s Quake, arguably the first game that featured levels composed of rooms on top of rooms, truly giving the player the possibility to move through a 3D space. There are as many candidates as there are definitions of true 3D, and so the discussion continues.
How times have changed.
Today, games increasingly incorporate vast, complex 3D worlds. Players can move through cityscapes, or even across entire planets, with as much fluidity as in the real, physical world. Environments are immersive and breathtaking. Games are appreciated not only for their playability or compelling mechanics, but also for their sheer beauty.