you're talking about 1 of the 1000s of video games that came out this year.

LLamaStar

Karoshi

navvywavvy

Reneg

...I'll compliment them though on the guts it takes these days to rely on wooden crates and exploding barrels. They're fun, but there's such a backlash against them. Valve seems to take pride in the crates even.

fuchikoma

I think you got this backasswards.

humperdinck

Iocarios

EdwinJ85

When consumers put their dollars to something that is truly unique instead of letting the game (and game studio) die because it didn't make nearly as much as Madden (Okami, Shadow of the Colussus..and on and on) then we will start seeing a shift for more varied art styles and experiences.

It's like giving an artist a blank canvas and only paying enough for his next meal and rent if the people down at the pub likes his artwork. What do you think he's going to make?

Hopefully with the democratization of art tools and the opening of channels for future games (indie, etc) we can start seeing more and more of this.

JohnnyLA

gique

smitty1123

but ya know..the vast majority of games just don't.

djcoffee

copying the same old gritty cyber punk style is a waste of time. it's not particularly good for gameplay (maybe even bad, since it's hard to see stuff when everything is covered in debris), and it doesn't immediately stand out. any smart studio will learn from TF2 and employ a unique art style that serves gameplay well.

yes, Gears had some pretty cool stuff - but you really had to play the game to appreciate it (i'm just assuming the cool stuff's there - i haven't played the game much). but if you're playing the game, then you're beyond the marketing already. point is, most ppl who see Gears just briefly see the same old derivative art style. yet these are the eyes the game's art should be marketing to, and it fails. i played the game for about 30min, and i still didn't see anything unique - it failed as a marketing device.

Mass Effect fails as well in this respect. when the average person sees the trailer or gameplay vids, they basically see, "evil aliens want to take over the universe, you have to save it by blowing shit up in space." absolute failure. it does not communicate the depth of the story (again, i'm just assuming the story actually has more depth than that..i dunno).

djcoffee

Also, I can think of several games with fantastic art direction that came out in the last few years-- FFXII's environmental design was probably my favorite thing about the game.

SpaceWhale

Also for people complaining about the color palette in Gears - switch to "vivid" in the options and things will get a lot prettier.

luxarific

NumberONE

ara

And Half Life 2's art direction was so good at recreating a dreary grey boring world that I nearly stopped playing it after the first few levels. Great work, guys.

kev007

etho

*BLOOOOOOD*

EnigmaNemesis

That's the thing, making a good looking game is honestly only like 5% based on actual graphical capabilities of a system. Shadows of the Colossus and Final Fantasy XII still are loads more pleasant to look at than 90% of the next gen games we have out now thanks to sheer artistic skill.

Think that's something only artists think? Seriously, get a non-gamer in to compare your next-gen Medal of Honor to Shadow of the Colossus. Is your mom gonna like the realistic, fairly smooth, straight up WW2 soldier, or this fantastically portrayed, living, breathing mountain that's slightly more jaggy (but only if you're ridiculous enough to look that close.)

The only demographic that really cares about system specs and HDR lighting over games just plain looking good from good artistic skill is the 'hardcore' gamer set.

...Now who in their right mind decided to call a bunch of losers that refuse to play more than one or two genres of super-masculine-only game 'hardcore?'

P-Flute

It's there if you look for it. Just don't be shocked if you don't find it in American FPSes... I'd even heard Gears did it pretty well in terms of architecture and such, I guess it depends what you're going for.

fuchikoma

NumberONE

RobTheBuilder

Sorry, couldn't resist. :)

Doomstalk

As for art direction, I agree as well, but I'm willing to cut a little bit more slack. Someone very early in the thread mentioned Okami, and I think that's a great example of what we can see now that we've moved out of sprite animation and out of early 3-D. I thought Viewtiful Joe (also Capcom, go figure) was a great landmark for visual style and flair in games.

Actually, the hell with it - come to think of it, Capcom has pretty much the best art design teams in the industry today. And that includes Squeenix (who kind of comes off as a one trick pony sometimes).

Tonx

The artists in Mass Effect made a very capable, effective, and workable "stylized realism" art style that did what it had to do with a very small amount of frills and extra stuff, with the exception of the occasional energy leyline on a gun or wall. It's not to say the game is a failure by any means (no, that's more the fault of the criminally short story and cookie-cutter "unexplored planets"), but the art style just wasn't groundbreaking or unique by any means, especially if you compare it to KotOR.

Archaotic

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

Mecharine

nemyhlovecraft

Karoshi

davidjay247

epherlite

I am completely sure, once gamming abandon the infancy, will be imposible to create a game where the art direction rule on evernthing and gameplay. This will be imposible. So now we can try very crazy stuff, and experiment.
I think this times are interesting.

And look at the 8 bits, these guys where crazy!!!.. we sould look at the 8 bits era, and avoid the 8 bits gameplay :D

Tei

Also, Gears's ruined utopia wasn't just a collection of burnt out warehouses and vacant apartment buildings, but rather looked like a collection of elaborately designed architecture plunged into ruin with detail.

If you really want to pick on a popular game for having no originality and ripping off every other sci-fi movie when it comes to art direction and design, might I suggest Halo?

VicViper

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

Ever since the move to 3-D (and the death of the American made adventure game) game art direction in the US/Canada has become, well, predictable. They strive for hyper-realism. "Look at how real it looks" they all say. "My game has a billion polygons on screen at the same time"; and so on and so on.

Say what you want about games like Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy (new and old), etc.

Japan made games actually have an art direction that is as important as game design. The flip-side is that because they put so much time and effort into the art direction, they tend to want to show it off (ala heafty cutscenes).

In any case, (and yes I'm trolling a bit here), art direction can make or break a game. See "Celda" (Wind Waker). Nobody would argue against the animation in the game but the art style was just fugly.

angry_gamer

In Gears of War Sera is a world destroyed by weapons of mass destruction and years of war. The building are crumbling and destroyed, life came to a halt and everywhere is abandoned - desolate... only lingering remains and artifacts show that these places were once lived in.

In Half-Life City 17 is a place still lived in. People are pulling through, but barely. It looks like a massive rubbish heap because that's what it's meant to evoke. Humanity is down on the ground, fighting over scraps while the combine and their forces are high above in the citadel, dumping all their shit on humanity, using are waste to power their empire.

They might share the common theme of humanity fighting a loosing war but it's the subtle differences that make them stand out as separate places and I believe your calling out Half-life's weak points in an unfair comparison.

Marcus117

Shadow

Whoaaaaa... stop! Please!

FranUnFine

GlompWorthyGamer

The FPS genre is probably the most stagnant in the gaming world. Not much has changed at all since Wolfenstein and Doom. This is not surprising at all.

Some games have great art direction though. Super Mario Galaxy for one. Even the Sonic games (*prepares to be incinerated*) have some pretty trippy levels. Secret Rings really leaves the PS3/360 embarrassment in the dust, as well as all those mini-game compilations (sure, it has a Mario Party mode of its own, but entirely separate from the main game).

I'll take a break from my futile cause for now. Where's some other good art direction... oh yes. Metroid. Corruption has some truly trippy levels, with Alien-style horror bits to boot. Oh, and Team Fortress 2 dammit. Okay, it does rip off Pixar with more violence, but in a good way.

It's not hard to have good art direction in games. It's just not common.

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

Also, I wouldn't put Assassins Creed in the 'something great' stack. I kinda got the feeling Ubisoft didn't want to risk too much on an unproven franchise and tried to limit the cost by making you play out the same few missions over and over rather than paying to make the assets needed for the futuristic missions. It explains why all you can see out the window is glare.

DaftDethMonkey

RobTheBuilder

Really, though, visual styles becomes secondary since often it's developed after story and gameplay are sketched out. The art is to accentuate the 'game' part of the game, and not the other way around. As you said, there's stuff for everyone's taste.

epherlite

But there's a problem with taking the safe bet. Eventually, you go bust anyway.

Insomnia Bob

btw, totally agree about SotC.

DaftDethMonkey

Captain Impulse

I'd disagree and say it's the opposite.

With realism, anything that looks a bit off, no matter how little it is, is always immediately picked up on. You can't fudge perspective or shape or movement. You can with styles that aren't: animators have been doing it for years.

But, I'll nod to the fact that realism is the safe style. Better stay with something tried and true that will only flop if it doesn't look right, then take the bigger chance with a completely new style. Still, for me, if they're going to go realistic, I'd wish they'd try to make the atmosphere unique. I mean, Shadow of the Colossus was done in a realistic style, but that atmosphere was something special.

epherlite

However, lets not forget those that get it right.

Okami, Ikaruga, Vib Ribbon, LocoRoco, WipEout etc

RobTheBuilder

But think about it...

...

It's a gun with a fucking chainsaw on it.

If the mess left on the screen after chainsawing a locust in two isn't 'art', I don't know what is.

Impulse

QFT

Impulse

Game developers make things look realistic because you cant argue with realism, you cant find fault in stylistic choices if they choices weren't in the hands of the developers. No one wants to spend 2 years and several million dollars making a game only to see it fail because the lead artist wasn't as talented as you thought he was and the style just didn't catch on with the audience.

DaftDethMonkey

Also, I have to completely disagree with his comparison between Star Wars and 2001. While 2001 is a good movie in its own way, Star Wars is a better movie (and IMDB seems to agree). Also, specifically with regards to the art direction, I don't seem to recall that much in 2001, it's all very bland and minimalist.

Honestly though, there are a lot of movies that also have bad art direction, it's not like games are unique in this regard. Certainly game art design might not be as mature in some ways, but there are still quite a few titles out there with quite good art direction.

darthmole12

Captain Impulse

I wouldn't say never, remember SaGa Frontier 2? Had hand painted watercolor backgrounds. Not a great game, but great art.

ara

Is that what you guys are comparing in the subject of art direction? Clearly no one here has played Okami, Shadow of the Colossous, and Ico. I know there's a few more, but my mind is drawing up blanks.

FIRST!!!

At the same time, in the 4000 years worth of art history, which ones would people really remember, or would want to play? Most of the post 1900's artwork is so conceptual and abstract and very specifically message-driven that to go all the way with that style would probably detract more than attract (like, er . . . Vito Acconci's 'Seed Bed' for an example of 'what the hell') and just be really dated. I mean, I love the Dadaist movement, but I just can't see how it's anti-art, anti-war, chaotic, impermenant message could translate well into a game stylistically. Other styles like woodblock printing, Impressionist, or cave art would be interesting, but is that concept appealing enough to sell games?

Then you move back to the years between Renaissance and early 1800's: that really super-realistic style that isn't really any different from the realism games try to portray today, except for maybe softer edges and some changes in palette (I realise there's a difference between the style than just that, but I'm generalising here: and they have been realistic in portrayal).

Yes, a few games were very visually different. Okami is obvious, as is LoZ: the Wind Waker. Other games just have a unique visual atmosphere: Shadow of the Colossus and Prince of Persia are my picks for that. However, on the whole, I find console games tend to fall more onto the realistic style.

It's great that the new consoles can render realism that much better now, but it seems that the only games that are willing to experiment on visual style is on handhelds, and specifically, the DS. Seems like the inability to push for super-realism lets other styles florish.

I'd personally love a game in J. M. W. Turner's pencil and watercolour style [www.tate.org.uk] . But that will never happen.

epherlite

Games do have great art directing, so all his complaints are not valid. I think the current generation pixel shaders are one thing to blame. If developer just uses all the shaders from developing tool the result will look similar to everyone else, one of the drawbacks of 3D is that since everything is drawn to the screen by the same mathematical algorithms it's really easy to end up looking generic.

And on the other hand, movies have art directing too, and there the tools are much more subtle, like color temperatures, etc. So I might be hanging on to some distant past when every game used to have distinct look and feel, maybe I need to update my view of the matter.

ara

Why are people posting lists of a handful of games that they think have good art styles? It really only points out that the majority of games out there don't put a high level of importance on art direction. Really, I think this problem stems from the fact that games are more related to technology than they are to entertainment or art. This is seen in the media, where, at least in my city, games coverage is put in the tech liftout, or on gaming websites where importance is put on technical details such as framerate or draw distance. He's right, art direction (as well as other aspects) in gaming are in their infancy. Once these aspects of games become a non-issue, I think (hope) that a greater emphasis can be placed on art direction.

shiwasu

Captain Impulse

-

Many games have art direction, some are recognised more than others. Even crackdown, or stalker had art direction, but compared to somthing like Team Fortress 2 its effect can be different to a certain extent.

muscrat_01

"For it really not to be utilized, and for the industry to basically dwell in a certain type of genre which has been around the 1980s up to present time, it's pretty much all they're embracing."

What does that even mean? Is he trying to say that all games look the same or... that what he's saying, right?

Maybe its just his point of view, after working at Valve for a while, but it seems to me that God of War and Animal Crossing are just a little different. Yo Francke, look around! Its just you!!!

DaftDethMonkey

Seriously my appreciation for it skyrocketed after buying the 'Raising the Bar' book. Stuff like the giant citidel contrasting against the city, as it slowley consumes it are amazing, as is the awesome graffiti art, and urban design.

muscrat_01

Insomnia Bob

Insomnia Bob

Have exellent art direction.

And whoever thought GeOW had a better art direction than HL2, should re-think their opinion.

muscrat_01

Theres your art direction

ArmyofJuan

If you haven't read it yet, please take a look at this post I made: brent_w:

I think it explains my thoughts a little better.
.
I never seem to get my posts right the first time around ... boy I wish there was an edit button. :-D

brent_w

As for matching 2001 in art style, well, you need a hell of a lot of creative control and a company that is willing to take a gamble on a "unique" art style.

nadimal

floppylobster

Chainsaw? a lot of fun
Stomp? even more fun
Gangrape a downed person while swinging a grenade? priceless

JakeDunn

Insomnia Bob

kleggnutt

Witzbold

These days, most developers are lucky if they even have a pool of staff artists to work with. More often than not, modelers (and sometimes coders) end up pulling double duty, and end up doing character or prop designs. Now, sometimes that's fine. A fireplug just needs to look like a fireplug. Pretty much anyone on the team could probably make a passable model of a football.
But when you've got decidedly right brain personalities doing left brain work, a lot of the time the result falls short. Case in point: Doom 3 and Quake 4. Blegh.

@brent_w: Are you drunk? Did you seriously just say that Gears had better art direction than HL2... because it's less realistic? The textures in HL2 alone show better art direction than Gears! It's got HUNDREDS of the damn things. Pretty much everything in Gears was either concrete gray, or brown.
As for showing it's age... maybe it's different on the home console versions, but the PC version has had an engine update twice now, and still pushes the bounds of my brand new system. HDR lighting, texture specific reaction effects, and a god-damn dynamic lit flashlight?
And, to top it all off, Half Life 2 shipped with something Gears never got around to: a fucking plot.
Now, I'll accept that your prefer Gears of HL2 as a matter of personal preference. But from a technical standpoint, I just can't stay quite on that. It's crazy talk.

Insomnia Bob

I'm sorry, but there's nothing wrong with the industry's art direction.

Captain Impulse

floppylobster

Witzbold

computermachina

aribus

Captain Impulse

@tuteja1986: instant lie. have you played mass effect? i mean i liked the game and all, but god damn, those planets were some boring fucking planets. Barely a sign of plant life in site. Actually, barely a sign of any life aside from some shitty space monkeys and a dune worm

ArmyofJuan

Spend 90% of the time talking about our problems and 10% of the time doing something about them.
.
And Star Trek had an excuse for this stuff.
It was a TV show with a limited budget ... why do most aliens look like humans with colored skin and funny things on their head?

Because lots of makeup is cheaper than special effects.
.
But whats Mass Effect's excuse?

brent_w

Wait, what? I love both said games, but Gears had a much more stylized art direction than Half-Life did.

Mr. Mastodon Farm

Shin-Kaiser

brent_w

justhesh

Luke Plunkett

They all go out of their way to distinguish their "look" from star trek, but in the end they just manage to make it even cheesier ... and when you get right down to it, it still feels like you're watching an episode or reading a novel of star trek.

And don't get me started on the "90% of life in the universe amazingly as pretty much the same body shape & proportions as Homo Sapiens Sapiens"

brent_w

justhesh

Anemone

A ray of hope: ectochrome.

Padriac

Either you have no idea what Mass Effect looks like, or you have never in your life watched an episode of Star Trek.

justhesh

But heres the difference ...
In Gears it came across very gritty, and rather creepy.
In Half Life, as much as I love the games ... I always felt like I was trudging through one large garbage dump ...

2 games going for the same setting, but one pulled it off so much better.

brent_w

photoboy

HL2's art direction, with the exception of the combine designs, tends to go for realistic. And while it manages OK, the engine is starting to show its age at this point. The Combine designs are ok ... but nothing amazing.
.
TF2 has an excellent style, very fun ... even if it does look uncannily like they started out making a "The Incredibles" license.
.
Gears is at least slightly stylized. And boy does it pull off "gritty"
.
KoTOR 3 *cough* I mean "Mass Effect" ... again, not much of an art direction ... IMO it looks like just another Star Trek rip-off cable show.

brent_w

With this current generation, you have games look more realistic (or representing realistic settings). The more things look like they can exist in our world, the less we can take it for being artistically creative. But who says realistic ideas cannot be made to represent an expression of creativity?

I'm probably taking this the wrong way, though. My definition is probably not what most would think.

Torusan

Torokun

"A.D. 2131, the non nuclear world war which had destroyed the world almost completely ended. Deunan Nuts was wandering in a ruined city."

watch the opening and you will easily mistake it for gears of war. [www.youtube.com]

tuteja1986

Schmeg Peg

I think you missed the point of what Moby was saying.

Killalaz

Sure, there was really nothing new brought to the table story-wise, and its all machismo talk and grunting, but they have a gun.
With a freaking chainsaw on it.

Think about it people.

edb87

Also- this man's obviously never played Okami.

SkutSkut

tuteja1986