UnWowed

I look at Killzone's great textures and sharp post-processing, and I identifying as such. I don't think "Wow, this game looks great." Which it does; the models aren't universally great and there's a big problem with people's eyelashes, but as a whole, it looks fantastic. But I can't get beyond banal and analytical sentiments like, "Wow, this game sure cost a whole lot of money to make." When a bipedal mech and a spider-bot got toe-to-toe, I'm initially surprised, but then find myself wondering what kind of work -- and of course, how much money -- went into making it. I sure hope Guerrilla got everything they wanted out of the section, because damn, it looks expensive.

I had the same feelings about Uncharted and its sequel. And Gears, for a while. I think that this sentiment is what leads people to hate big-budget games and proceed to declare that the humble artistic efforts of smaller developers trump the money-laden blockbusters of our current generation. But I don't think that; if you want to make your game look gorgeous (as all of the games I mentioned above do), go ahead. Most people with the resources of the company you work for would do the same thing. And you should, because when you're a big enough company, you eventually enter a competition of technical prowess.

Not that I question these studios' artistic intent. Though at some point, you're not just a studio artist showing the world your wares out of a selfish sort of altruism -- you're a business. But something about seeing motion-blur, vignetting, and other technical wizardry ends up putting me in the same technical mind that's likely needed to make those effects in the first place.