As consoles get more powerful and graphics get closer and closer to photorealism gamers need to remember that better graphics do not make a better game. A shit game that looks amazingly cool, will still play like shit, and while having a nice presentation can definitely help a game, it will never be the end all be all solution. After all, unlike movies, you don't play videogames to marvel at the visuals, you play them to have fun. Having something cool to look at doesn't hurt though.
Photorealism can help a game. I believe the Mass Effect series benefits from this, despite it's sci-fi setting, using it to ground it's cast of characters. Another game, like Zelda uses a variety of art styles between games to keep it fresh and unique within each game.
Art style can make a game way more appealing to people who might have never played that genre of games, but I feel that developers are still playing it too safe. Survival horror for example hasn't strayed far from it's "realistic" roots, and many of the games in the genre just cover the place in darkness. While this is definitely an effective way of getting a mood across but I would love to see a survival horror game, or just a horror game in general that is just covered in bright colors.
I would love to go on and name a bunch of examples, but in truth, I can only trust that developers put enough care into the art style of the game, and not depend on the photorealism or some of the gunmetal grey's and dirty brown colors and experiment with making the game look unique. Red Steel looks like a typical shooter, while Red Steel 2 looks a hell of a lot better with it's new style, and it took the shooter to new heights and highlighted it's new gameplay mechanics. If it just used the same style, I think the game would have honestly failed.
Developers, please experiment, and have fun. After all, if you have fun developing the game, chances are, we'll have fun playing it. Of course, you probably didn't need me to tell you that.
No comments:
Post a Comment