I remember playing this game and being floored by the first level, it was amazing, a glimpse at next gen running on a machine I already owned.

This is what it looked like:

Some claimed that this was hands down the best looking game of the generation. But my experience after that first level went notably downhill visually.

This is more like what I remember:

All these screens are from the Xbox version all from IGN BTW.

I remember various threads with debates about this games visuals vs RE4. My argument was that RE4 was consistently throughout the entire game, visually impressive. Whilst Chaos Theory had an amazing looking first level and the rest was nowhere near as good. Looking at these screens and remembering, I feel I was right in that assertion.

However, then I see screens like the following. And some seem unrecognisable, or recognisable yet sharper and more colourful than I remember:

I do remember this pic^ yet in game the frame rate wasn't all there and the aliasing changed with the camera.

And I remember this room in particular, it did look like that.

So there is no real point to this thread, I was just out of curiosity looking back at old pics. What are your visual memories of this game and do you think that it deserved all the visual praise it garnered at the time? Do you feel that it kept up its visual splendour throughout the game or not?