It's... it's... beautiful :O

[Martok]

The low poly birds in STW for example would be looked on with scorn by many. To me they were almost origami like in their elegance. Something about them was quite sad and haunting and added to the ambience of the game. Realistic high poly birds that sang and moved realistically wouldn't have had the same effect.

That was well-said, Caravel; I especially agree with the birds possessing an origami-like quality. (I wonder if that was deliberate on CA's part, or if it just happened to work out that way?) It's the little details like that that really help bring a game to life.

I personally feel MTW still has a lot of atmosphere (particularly in the battles), but you're right in that Shogun is definitely superior in this area. In fact, I would go so far as to say that--at least for me--no other game has as much atmosphere & ambience as STW. I experience an immersion like no other title I've ever played.