Western games with good art?
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God's Hand
Banned
Probably my favourite. What's great about MP/MP2 concept art is that the in-game models and texturing look near-identical. I can't wait till the next-gen.
bobbyconover
Member
Aw man, don't re-rail the thread.. It was just looking like it might get good!
Western developers tend to make games that center around fun, and doing fun things that you normally couldn't do-- so naturally the art tends to take a backseat. It doesn't help that a lot of these companies misunderstand the role of the art director and think the more the better. So the situation is often multiple art directors hanging over the artists' shoulders telling them to fix this and do that. It's just poor management in many cases, though there are plenty of other possible reasons.
I am honored to meet another Tennapel fan. The man's a genius when it comes to taking the bizarre, and putting his own spin on it. I have read Creature Tech like twelve times, and have convinced everyone of my friends to buy it. Didn't take much convincing either. Gear was awesome as well. Absolutely hillarious.impirius said:Preach it!
Metroid Prime 1 and 2 are outstanding.
The in-game art for the GTA games isn't great, but I dig the cover art.
Do The Mario
Unconfirmed Member
My personal favorite
Kanbee-san
Member
There are too many to list. You cant be an art lover and not appreciate western art.
crimsonheadGCN
Banned
Metroid Prime 1 / 2
World of Warcraft
Half-Life 2
World of Warcraft
Half-Life 2
Musashi Wins!
FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
A lot of obvious examples.
Technically it doesn't always come out great, but I think GTA: San Andreas has wonderful art. One of my favorites, actually.
Those Metroid Prime stills/concept art are great, their far more impressive to me than the in-game implementation even though technically it's very impressive.
Killzone shares some of Half-Life 2's aesthetic, even though the latter showcases it whereas...whereas Killzone runs it like shit.
Technically it doesn't always come out great, but I think GTA: San Andreas has wonderful art. One of my favorites, actually.
Those Metroid Prime stills/concept art are great, their far more impressive to me than the in-game implementation even though technically it's very impressive.
Killzone shares some of Half-Life 2's aesthetic, even though the latter showcases it whereas...whereas Killzone runs it like shit.
NotMSRP said:
Exactly. There's quite a difference between quality concept art on paper and quality in-game/CG models and textures. The latter is what most western games lack, IMO.
Just look at the Morrowind stuff posted above -- it looks great. But ingame the characters look like pure ass.
Date of Lies
Banned
Baldur's Gate 2 easily has some of the best in-game environments, along with Planescape: Torment.
Also, Grim Fandango has some great art.
Say what you want about it's technical aspects but I've always dug the art style of the GTA series. The boxart and loading screens in particular are quite cool.
I'm not sure if they count but I think the art in the Def Jam games is quite nice. I'm not sure how much of the actual style Aki is reponsible for. Actually, the EA Big games in general are pretty satisfying artisticly.
I want to echo the mention for Incog as well. Both War of the Monsters and TM:Black are very stylish games. Shit, despite some cliched character designs, Downhill Domination looks pretty good too.
I'm not sure if they count but I think the art in the Def Jam games is quite nice. I'm not sure how much of the actual style Aki is reponsible for. Actually, the EA Big games in general are pretty satisfying artisticly.
I want to echo the mention for Incog as well. Both War of the Monsters and TM:Black are very stylish games. Shit, despite some cliched character designs, Downhill Domination looks pretty good too.
Wait, are we posting examples of shitty american art now because there's a lot crap in this thread.
The problem I have with a lot of American art is they try to hard to make everything look ultra-realistic and they just end up making the art look creepy/cheesy/awkward. The Japanese on the other hand, for the most part, keep things simple and stylized. Much more suited to video games and the level technology at the moment.
The problem I have with a lot of American art is they try to hard to make everything look ultra-realistic and they just end up making the art look creepy/cheesy/awkward. The Japanese on the other hand, for the most part, keep things simple and stylized. Much more suited to video games and the level technology at the moment.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Mercurial said:
You just hit the nail on the head with regards to the endless debate about Japanese vs Western art. Western art, the sort that's used in stuff like game design, is usually obsessed with realism. "Better" art is art that looks more like "real life". Also, the style of Western art often tries to cover up inadequacy in fundamentals - for example, look at Western game and comic illustrators who attempt to draw something in a "simple" or cartoon style. A hell of a lot of the time, it looks very poor - with all the "texture" detail taken away, you see how form and structure are not clean, not logical, and the artist has poor command of composition and design. I'm not trying to sound elitist, darn it. It's just, working REALLY REALLY HARD every day to learn art, I involuntarily cringe when I see a lot of "professional" Western illustrations. I see how guys obviously have talent but can't seem bothered to learn how to draw human faces well or even line up eyes! - or when they try to draw "cartoon" art don't understand the principles of cariacture, or hell, even economy of line.
Japanese pro artists more often look like they have a scary mastery of fundamental art concepts. Even when they draw styles of art that don't appeal to Western people ("OMG ANIME DIE"), the technical ability still shows through. And yes, they also tend to understand how to make cleaner art and more consistent art.
Thing is, I've seen a ton of really awesome American artists. Most of them however, are doing non-Superhero comic books and individual freelance illustration. Some of the hobbyist art I see on these guys websites blows 99% of Western game illustration away, and eats a majority of Japanese art. Some of them, like Don Seegmiller, -do- make concept art for games. However it seems even when there is actually good concept art, the guys actually doing in-game art (even for still cutscenes) are usually much less skilled. Sigh.
Late Stage Marxist
Member
I'm not even going to dignify this thread with a list.
ScientificNinja
Member
I second WipEout. Designers' Republic ruled.
Kanbee-san
Member
Mercurial said:
I think creepy, cheesey and awkward art is only a feature of the japanese.
Redbeard said:Armed & Dangerous
I wish I could find a pic of the level where you fly through the mountain village.
Awesome. I love this game a whole lot on my Xbox. The stage where youre using the jet pack to jump above the kingdom,where you see everything before you is breath taking. You literaly want to shoot the bark off the trees and chip the brick chimeneys. The game has a really nice art direction.
Virgin Wii
Banned
I played AD&D 2nd edition, when Planescape was still alive, and I'm pretty sure that Solars are supposed to be bald. And have golden skin. And are always male. (might be wrong about the last part)
Maybe I'm thinking of Planetars though. But I think Planetars have blue skin. Whatever. Either way, it ain't bald and doesn't have gold/blue skin. It's TEH INCORRECT!!
For best art, I'd have to say Out of this World.
That Morrowind art reminds me of the guy behind the art for the Labrynth movie, but I can't think of his name off the top of my head. I'll second Earthworm Jim. Bioware and NWN is some pretty stuff, but its basic fantasy art. It doesn't really translate into in-game. As someone said about the Retro Studios team, the art to game closeness is great. It's not just that the art is pretty to look at,but the use of color and motion in Sanctuarary in Echoes is really impressive. The red squares shooting out with black shadows in Sanctuarary, for those that have played, is just a great use of color. It's not copied from the older Metroid games or other sci-fi, but more an Escher sort of feel and influence to it. It's really just a small little detail that ads a personal, unique element to the world created.
While I think the east shows more daring in their art, some western games show there is certainly talent here.
While I think the east shows more daring in their art, some western games show there is certainly talent here.
Kanbee-san
Member
skip said:yeah, totally.
OMG its Kurdt Kobain back from the dead ! :lol
Nice try BTW, all i need to do is mention hentai.....
Alex Anderson
Member
No Rayman series love yet, specifically Rayman 2? (unless pictures have been posted, on 56k here)
SolidSnakex
Member
Kanbee-san said:
Why? He didn't disagree about the Japanese having creepy, cheesy and awkward designs, he just disagreed with your statement that its only the Japanese that has creepy, cheesy, and awkward designs.
Kanbee-san
Member
SolidSnakex said:
How was that western pic creepy, cheesey or awkward ? Its just simply crap.
Its like saying that because 1 out of every 500,000 troops are women that you should call the troops people instead of men.
Littleberu
Banned
Takuan said:
What's this from? Looks like a DKC game, but polygonal.
It's Jungle Beat. It's like a DKC game, but polygonal, and this time, apparently fun.
Do The Mario
Unconfirmed Member
RE4 vs. SH4 said:
I played AD&D 2nd edition, when Planescape was still alive, and I'm pretty sure that Solars are supposed to be bald. And have golden skin. And are always male. (might be wrong about the last part)
Maybe I'm thinking of Planetars though. But I think Planetars have blue skin. Whatever. Either way, it ain't bald and doesn't have gold/blue skin. It's TEH INCORRECT!!
For best art, I'd have to say Out of this World.
Its a planetar named solar, blue skin red hair
Hair could be a head piece, how can you tell the color from the picture?
Play the game it's teh correct
Doc Holliday
SPOILER: Columbus finds America
Lucasarts
Blizzard---the games look a lot better than the the actual designs IMO
Oddworld Inhabitants---Kickass!!!
Shiny- i dont know what happened to them, but they had some really cool ideas back in the day
Blizzard---the games look a lot better than the the actual designs IMO
Oddworld Inhabitants---Kickass!!!
Shiny- i dont know what happened to them, but they had some really cool ideas back in the day
FortNinety
Member
I'm also of the camp that aruging about who has better art is rather pointless since its to subjective. Case in point...
I think that's insane, but I guess I can see where he's coming from.
And Liono, that's an AMAZING avatar...
demi said:
I think that's insane, but I guess I can see where he's coming from.
And Liono, that's an AMAZING avatar...
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