Darksiders II devs lament "next-gen grey" graphics

Darksiders II’s chunky, vibrant visual style came about because developers Vigil Games wanted to “own the style” and avoid the “next-gen grey” look that too many games opt for, according to lead designer Haydn Dalton and art director Han Randhawa.

[Kran]

Too true. The only colours most games go for is red for blood, grey, black, blue and dark green.

You don't see the vibrancy in colours in most games any more.

[remanutd55]

They should play uncharted, ratchet and clank and little big planet lol

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

team fortress 2, planetside 2 & fortnight!

[jdfoster]

And Prince Of Persia... Most colourful game of this generation... (not the movie tie in the other one :P)

[Getowned]

sure there are a few games to the exception, but I agree we need a lot more colours in our games, along with imagination. I'm so sick of apocalyptic games and there greys,browns, and dust. I've played so many I dont really care anymore.

[OhMyGandhi]

Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, Metro 2033...Crazy Taxi?

[Mutant-Spud]

El Shaddai, Bulletstorm, Alice: Madness Returns, Rayman Origins...

[Gaming101]

All these complaints, and yet that picture from their game looks pretty grey, so does the one at the source link lol

The problem is developers are drab, and have no artistic style or vision, you can probably tell from the clothes they wear whether they have taste in bright colours, the Killzone 2 team probably showed up to work in grey suits (executives) and grey drab sweatpants (the nerdy developers) lol

[zeeshan]

Ni no kuni, Valkyria Chronicles

[smashcrashbash]

Hey don't just drag every game down just because some developer shoots his mouth off. War in the original game was big mess of colors and clothing that did not look good at all. I don't think anyone who can't even make their character look like they have just splashed paint all over themselves should be talking about who uses next gen grey.At least the people using the grey know how to use it properly. What they did with War was not vibrant. It was a big jumbled mess of cloth. Make spectacular games THEN judge everyone else. Not criticize everyone before you can make any worthwhile. And before people jump to say it, no I don't think the first Darksiders was spectacular.

[Emme]

Not really, DS was a brilliant rendering of strong shapes, strong colours and daring concepts.

[pixelsword]

I don't mind people complaining about the lack of color when it's appropriate, but one thing I'm sick of is people complaining about "grey" graphics where no other colors will do. When people complained about "grey" graphics in Killzone 2 it was beyond stupid when the city was made out of concrete and not shiny blue-silver buildings which would indicate that they had money (Helgan is under sanctions which is where a lot of their money came from, for example) or just had to make do with the building materials on that planet. Really? Concrete has to have various colors for some people? That's just like complaining about Uncharted 3's dessert being "too brown".

When people complain about concrete being grey, I just stop reading and consider them too stupid for words and not worthy of a response.

[smashcrashbash]

Thank you. That is what I was going to say but forgot to put it in my original post. People cried about Helgan in KZ3 being grey and dark and it was a war torn, industrial wasteland. Did they expect it it be pink and green and orange and purple? It's steel and smoke and ash. An artist knows when to me mute and no over do things and fit colors to the situation. You make everything too colorful and bright and you can distinguish one thing from another especially in a shooter.

Look at Drake. He wears mute colors because it fits the situation. Just imagine if Drake dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, with bright purple pants, neon shoes and a large green broad brim hat. He would stick out like sore thumb in his environment. Why do you think that characters in games are only a certain amount of colors? Sonic, Mario, Crash, even realistic characters like Drake and Joel wear only a certain degree of color on their palette. In short don't tell me to have bright colors in a burnt out city. It is SUPPOSED to be grey and brown. Don't tell me to make it red and purple.

[MWH]

perhaps that's because the games you mostly play are FPS or TPS. Adventure games are far from it, take Rayman, Uncharted and many more as an example.

[Kran]

Wrong. I've played Rayman Origins (twice (360 and Vita)), Dragon Age, Ratchet and Clank, Skylanders, Sly trilogy, LittleBigPlanet, Brutal Legend, Enslaved, Portal amongst many more.

I've seen more colours than most I feel. lol

[BongSmack]

Why did you leave out purple, orange, yellow, pink and light green.....are you sue you've played rayman origins even once?

[Kran]

I said "most games". I never said "all".

You obviously also didn't read the comment i posted above yours.

[BongSmack]

I did read your comment above mine, that's why I specifically mentioned rayman origins. I thought it was funny you said you played rayman origins then failed to mention so many of the important colors featured in the game.
I'm not sure what you mean by "I said "most games". I never said "all"."-I never said anything about a quantity of games. I never even used the word "all" or the phrase "most games" in my post.

[cuddlemonkey]

Mario galaxy is the cuddliest, cutest game ever! Sack boy is cuddly but definitely not cute, although you gotta admit the Cole train is awesome !

[FragGen]

Sackboy not cute? Watchu smokin?

[Getowned]

I would think Sackboy would be alot more cute than a fat Italian plumber.. I never looked at Mario and said... damn marios Cute XD.

[WeskerChildReborned]

@Getowned, Lol so true.

[Qrphe]

Yes man, you can't possibly say a fat 40-year-old-looking midget with a stash is cuter than Sack Boy

[cuddlemonkey]

Cutest GAME, including EVERYTHING within the galaxy game, I never said Mario exclusively! You need to read correctly before posting comments that make it look like you haven't even Read properly silly, on second thoughts, sack boy is pretty cute to!

[sich92]

Meanwhile, the graphics are still PS1 level. Coming soon in 2013.

[DragonKnight]

http://eyeexam101.com/wp-co...

I think you might need this. Maybe blown up about a million percent too.

[vikingland1]

Good one LOL.

[sich92]

Yea I got'em all right woohoo.
Darksiders' graphics still are PS1 level, xbox even.

http://media.pcgamer.com/fi...

:Sohardcore

[Baka-akaB]

Adding screenshots makes your ridiculous claim looks even more ridiculous .

Everyone knows and agree the darksiders arent the prettiest games out there , but doesnt mean we'll follow you so far out there .

[Wingsfan24]

Who cares if the graphics aren't amazing. The first game was a lot of fun. I'd rather have fun than stare mindlessly at graphics.

[deletingthis34675334]

@sich92

Really? Who cares? Certainly nobody that wants the game. The game looks nowhere near as bad as the best looking PS1 game in existence. The art style in the game is more important to me than the prowess of technology. You just play games only for zOMG LUK @ DAT RELISTIK GRAFIKS LOLZOMEG!!!1!oneoneonetwothree

[Ares84HU]

sich92

I'm just assuming here that you were born in 1992 from your name but I have a strong feeling reading your comment that you have never played or seen a PS1 game in your life. It's probably because you were only 3 years old when it was released.

Anyways, just to show you how stupid you sound, check this out, this is PS1 graphics. Soul Reaver is the game that is very similar to Darksiders II. Check it out:

http://media.giantbomb.com/...

[ziggurcat]

i think he needs more than his eyes checked... probably should go over the whole head, too.

[sich92]

@Ares So smart you know how to click on profiles!
Not so smart when you think 1995 is the last year a ps was released too, idiot :) Don't show your butthurt fanboy ;)

@Baka butthurt much?

@Sega? "Artstyle bla bla bla" please stop there, just because the game doesn't have realistic graphics doesn't mean in opposite, it has beautiful, colorful, fantasy-like graphics. This game looks shitty in every aspect. That is a problem that doens't help especially when the gameplay itself is shit, and the story is cheesy.

My work here is done, you all need glasses.
I think this game was supposed to be released on PS1 but they delayed it for years and now they think it's a good time. SMH

[Omnislash]

@sich92
Son you just owned yourself with that screenshot, just sit down and let the adults talk.

[Hudahudahuda]

@sich92

You honestly come off as autistic.

[vikingland1]

PS1 graphics, really? C'mon don't you remember how pixilated Tomb Raider was? We will have to agree to disagree then.

[Getowned]

I think a lot of kids here have never had a PS1, and If they did than they need glasses.

[kevnb]

ya, I also think most games on consoles this gen look really bad. They might have these highly detailed characters, or something neat here and there... but overall the levels are tiny, the smoke and mirrors painfully in full sight, the jaggies ridiculous, the framerates atrocious etc... I hope more devs learn to design within their means.

[deletingthis34675334]

This game looks WAY better than the first Darksiders. Good for them. One of like only 3 games I'll buy for the rest of the year. Looking forward to it.

[PersonMan]

Wow, that game looks like a super nintendo game!

[OmniSlashPT]

That's because most games nowadays are war games. What do you expect in a war? Rainbows? Everything is brown-ish and grey, there's dust, debris, explosions.
Of course a lush florest form Uncharted or eye-popping colors from cell-shade games look better, but games like Gears, CoD and Battlefield are trying to go to realism and immersion.

And I don't like those brown/grey games, I think even those war games can have a splash of art on them (just like in Killzone 3 and BF3 that look astonishing real and beautiful at the same time).

[kevnb]

its just because the consoles are a bit weak. They can go stylized, or just drop almost all the colors coupled with narrow passages. Funny how infinity ward decided to just drop the quality level to achieve 60 fps and smooth gameplay. Yes I know the series is tired, but I don't get why more devs don't get it.

[Ravenor]

There were lots of Grey/Brown games before this generation, I don't get why people are "lamenting" over todays games and the colour palette.

So many games come out nowadays you can easily eliminate "grey/brown" games with minimal effort and without sacrificing your genre choices.

[Gridloc]

Metal gear 4 and resistance fall of man had no real colors but they still hold up to today's games with colors.

[krisq]

What about Limbo? Oh, wait...

[Emme]

Mentionning Uncharted is a double-edged sword, the jungle never looked convincing, and the nighttime settings showed a LOT of grey in those shadows.All in all the colour palette was either screaming oversaturated or greyish, not very pretty in places.
Uncharted 2 and 3 were better, but I have seen prettier games.

[Voxelman]

Darksiders was a really great looking game, and 2 looks even better.

I like it when games have a recognisable visual style.