Western games with good art?

D

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
Whenever I hear a "bad art" thread, it is almost exclusively in response to a Western-made game... it has me wondering... is there any Western games with "good" artwork? All I can really think of is, I liked the Boris artwork on some older games (Swords and Serpents on NES being one)... And Fable's box art was pretty good, too.
 
Such thing doesn't exist. Much like bad art doesn't exist in Japanese games.

*barfing rolleyes*
 
Good/bad art is subjective.

With that said, I don't like most of the Western art-styles in games and that is one major reason why 95% of the games I like are Japanese. :p
 
Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2 Win.
Flawless Victory.

The Sanctuary in Prime 2 is the best looking area in a video game this generation.
 
olimario said:
Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2 Win.
Flawless Victory.

The Sanctuary in Prime 2 is the best looking area in a video game this generation.
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IAWTP
The sanctuary was gorgeous, and the concept art was gorgeous as well. Character design is second only to Shinkawa's.
 
Prime 1/2 don't really count, though. They're just taking pre-existing art and sorta embellishing upon it.

Do the games have to be new? If not, I always really liked the art in all of the classic Lucasarts (and some Sierra) adventure games, with the hand-painted backgrounds and all.
 
OG_Original Gamer said:
Surprised this comment came from you.
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I told people that my tune might change once I got the chance to play the final product.
Everyone should admit that the demo of Prime 2 was bland as all hell.
 
Beyond Good and Evil had some good early concept art. That's a french company though.

Kinda sucks they made her "edgy", but otherwise, pretty solid.

In general though, western developers focus on the technical side of making things look good, rarely on the artistic side.

Now some people will list some RPGs that use western fantasy art styles. I personally don't like that style of art, but I guess it could be considered good.
 
Art design on old 2D PC games have their own unique artstyle and are appealing. The issue here is the bad artwork found in modern 3D PC & console games.
 
bobbyconover said:
Prime 1/2 don't really count, though. They're just taking pre-existing art and sorta embellishing upon it.

Do the games have to be new? If not, I always really liked the art in all of the classic Lucasarts (and some Sierra) adventure games, with the hand-painted backgrounds and all.
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:lol
Right! All that beautiful environmental artwork was already done by somebody in Japan...
All those wonderful enemy designs in both titles were already done by japanese artists...
Those new suits in Prime 2 were all EASTERN!!!

The art in those titles is wholly original and done by the talented Western artists at Retro like Andrew Jones.
 
bobbyconover said:
Prime 1/2 don't really count, though. They're just taking pre-existing art and sorta embellishing upon it.

Do the games have to be new? If not, I always really liked the art in all of the classic Lucasarts (and some Sierra) adventure games, with the hand-painted backgrounds and all.
Click to expand...
The old lucasarts adventure games were gorgeous. Anybody who disagrees should definetly buy a mac and play Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max, Indiana Jones and the fate of Atlantis, or Full Throttle. All have beautiful art, and all are western. Thanks bobby for reminding me of the Lucasarts games.
 
Shantae - Aside from the obvious reason, Matt Bozon and the Wayforward Pocket team really injected a lot of personality into the characters and worlds in the game.

Outlaws - Sweet ass PC game.

Interstate '76 - It was pretty cutting edge, back in - uhhh. . . damn, 1998? :P

Snowblind also makes some really swell looking games for the PS2.
 
bobbyconover said:
Prime 1/2 don't really count, though. They're just taking pre-existing art and sorta embellishing upon it.
Click to expand...

Oh, hogwash. They got some basic character design concepts from the old Metroid games, but otherwise that's all Retro. Give it up for those dudes, they have some of the best art direction in the biz. (And look, I'm agreeing with Olimario, so you know I mean it.)

Blizzard, natch. EA Canada has some good artists and character design people, too -- Def Jam, NBA Street, SSX, that kinda deal.

DFS.
 
The Take Out Bandit said:
Shantae - Aside from the obvious reason, Matt Bozon and the Wayforward Pocket team really injected a lot of personality into the characters and worlds in the game.

Outlaws - Sweet ass PC game.

Interstate '76 - It was pretty cutting edge, back in - uhhh. . . damn, 1998? :P

Snowblind also makes some really swell looking games for the PS2.
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There is another Lucasarts game.
Both Primes had excellent art. I might go as far as to say they have the best art this gen. The environments were absolutely gorgeous, and the weather effects were beautiful, and the character designs were gorgeous. Samus's character design is easily one of the best. That's all Retro art baby.
 
The Take Out Bandit said:
Interstate '76 - It was pretty cutting edge, back in - uhhh. . . damn, 1998? :P
Click to expand...

Stepping a little bit sideways from there, the Incog guys put together some pretty sharp art for Twisted Metal Black, and I liked the cockeyed monster-movie style they came up with for War of the Monsters.

DFS.
 
I blame EA for that. They rule the NA market, and they haven't made a single game I can think of with "good art". They've bought companies that used to make games with good art, but I can't think of a single console game they've made that was artistic at all.

So most NA companies seem to follow suit with EA. Technical graphics seem more important to the NA consumer I guess. So actually, I blame the NA consumer that EA caters to.
 
Tabris said:
I blame EA for that. They rule the NA market, and they haven't made a single game I can think of with "good art". They've bought companies that used to make games with good art, but I can't think of a single console game they've made that was artistic at all.

So all other NA companies seem to follow suit with EA. Technical graphics seem more important to the NA consumer I guess. So actually, I blame the NA consumer that EA caters to.
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IAWTP, except for the fact that NA companies follow EA. See Bioware, and Retro Studios.
 
I really liked the art direction in Soul Reaver 1 & 2 and Defiance. I'm excited to see what they do with Tomb Raider.
 
Half Life 2
Doom 3
Warcraft
Starcraft
Diablo
Splinter Cell (in game not cutscenes)
Ratchet and Clank series
Jak and Daxter series
 
Ironclad_Ninja said:
IAWTP, except for the fact that NA companies follow EA. See Bioware, and Retro Studios.
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Bioware caters to the "hardcore" crowd more. Retro Studios is owned by a japanese company.
 
Vampire: Bloodlines has great art, really amazingly well done animation too.

Too bad the technical implementation of said art is a buggy piece of crap.

Edit: Pirates! has great art too. Halo 1 had some beautiful outdoor scenes (I kinda prefer it to Halo 2's more cramped feel actually).
 
wipeout364 said:
Half Life 2
Doom 3
Warcraft
Starcraft
Diablo
Splinter Cell (in game not cutscenes)
Ratchet and Clank series
Jak and Daxter series
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Not Doom III
Not Diablo

I strongly agree with Warcraft, Starcraft, and Half Life
I somewhat agree with R&C, J&D, and Splinter Cell.
 
Tabris said:
Bioware caters to the "hardcore" crowd more. Retro Studios is owned by a japanese company.
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Doesn't matter who owns Retro, they are not going to force art on Retro. Sure Kensuke Tanabe was a producer on the game, and he flew from Japan several times a month to meet with Retro, but he is not going to force anything on Retro.
 
WarPig said:
They got some basic character design concepts from the old Metroid games, but otherwise that's all Retro. Give it up for those dudes, they have some of the best art direction in the biz.
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Oh I'll totally give it up for them, I think both games look fantastic. I especially loved some of that hi-res concept art that popped up before it was released. I just don't really think it's fair to use them as examples of 'good western art' when the entire original direction of the art was created in Japan and used in several other games before they took over. I agree that they've done an awesome job working with it and expanding upon it, but it just seems to me like we should be focusing on entirely, inarguably western games here.

Those new suits in Prime 2 were all EASTERN!!!
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No, but they were embellishments upon an existing design. Which I think is exactly what I said.
 
fallout 1/2 - yeah they're old, but they capture the feel of mad max and 50s comic books pretty well.
NOLF and NOLF2 - art is highly stylized with a 60s look that feels authentic.
everything Blizzard has made except the diablo series.
Retro's work on both Metroid Prime games.
Valve's work on Half Life 2 is awesome and way better than any other game's art I've seen this gen.
 
cg_art_spanx_redmonds.jpg
 
6.8 said:
Such thing doesn't exist. Much like bad art doesn't exist in Japanese games.
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well you said it. IAWTP. :)

There is a difference between ART and polish though. Japanese titles are way more polished. Art aside, you would not get the sort of technical snafu that reminds you that you are playing a western game like when you are playing a western title.

good art / lacking in polish
HALO2 | pop ins
KILL ZONE | haha
GTA | pop ins + slowdown + fugly

AND OH. THIS TOPIC/DEBATE HAS BEEN DONE TO DEATH ON GAF
 
Metroid Prime / Metroid Prime 2: Echoes have the best art this gen. And we're talking about fantasy settings here, not games like MGS3 that mimic the real-world. That's not art nor talent.
 
MrAngryFace said:
Nature is art, stf stupid nintendo fuck.
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Hey stupid fuck, a nerd stealing nature's art and placing it in a game isn't exactly talent. It's downright plagiarism. Now get a friggin life already. I've seen your picture and I've read your posts; you're the embodiment of a net junkie with a bleak future. Prove me wrong by doing something useful. I'm off to the gym in a few. Hint.
 
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