#3 Most Artistic Game

In my number three spot we find a game that has a bit of age on it. Originally released for the Dreamcast (which I still believe was a very good console). Jet Grind Radio was released in June 2000 by Sega and developer Smilebit.

Jet Grind Radio brought a fun cell shaded adventure with light hearted punk undertones. A game devoted to the idea of using graffiti to defeat not only rival gangs but an oppressive government. With a colorful (literally) cast of characters perfect music pairings and an almost arcade fell Jet Grind Radio for me was an incredibly enjoyable experience.

We see in Jet Grind Radio a great portrayal of Japanese popular culture(J-pop. The outlandish wardrobes of the character made even more stylized by the bold color choices truly reflects the J-pop feel that the games' artistic style is drawn from. One main ass est of the game is the world design. Due to Jet Grind Radio's sandbox play style the environment needed to be not only incredibly interactive (from a game design perspective) but it needed to be more then a pretty backdrop. Given the games cell shaded style this was going to be a daunting task for developer Smilebit, but that pulled it off seamlessly. Buildings and cars seemed to be made from layers of cardboard drawn into the game with certain exaggerated details and brilliant colors. The layout of actual buildings were kept simple yet effective to make navigating them easy, a great help in game play especially when you graffiti artist was confronted with tank brigades invading the streets.

Overall Jet Grind Radio was a fun, light hearted experience that brought the vision of J-pop culture to a video game in design that was simple, effective, and stylized in a way to enhance the feel and experience of the game.

Working with torque 3D

Just a quick update post. I have recently been doing some work with Torque 3D on a small game design project. However I have been getting some sluggish performance from it when importing 3D models onto the stage. I have to admit I was a bit surprised considering how well my PC runs 3DS Max. Well regardless it may be time to start looking at updating at my graphics card or a new stick a ram.

Online 3D modelling and Animation classes

Taking a quick reprieve from the countdown to share something intresting I found while checking the articles today over on the 3D World Blog. A small company called Digital-Tutors has recently started up and has created quite a stir in the 3D art community. To celebrate their creation Digital-Tutors is offering several free beginner level classes. Check out the article on 3D World

#4 Most Artistic Game

Number four in our countdown of most artistic game should be no surprise (well at least not a surprise making the list). Our number four game is Okami, put out by the Japanese developer Clover Studios Okami is truly a sight to behold.

Clover Studios originally founded by Capcom Japan as their own development studio was originally known for its work on the incredibly successful Viewtiful Joe series, a game whose ingenious design and art style won Clover Studios the attention of consumers around the world. When after finishing the Viewtiful Joe franchise after five installments they wasted little time launching Okami only a year after publishing a PSP port of Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble.

Okami released in 2006 on the Playstation 2 at first suffered from poor sales because of the decision to release it onto the Playstation 2 rather then to delay it for the soon to be released Playstation 3. Despite this unlucky distribution planning Okami still went on to be well awarded winning IGN's 2006 game of the year, as well as developing a sort of "cult" following in the video gamer community.

What makes Okami stand out to me and pushes it onto my list is that Okami features (what seems to be) a very traditional Japanese folk tale, and while that is not the focus of this analysis that story is what influences the art style of the game and what makes it stand out so much in my mind. Okami borrows heavily from traditional Japanese painting and calligraphy so much so that it is a major game mechanic in the game play itself.

Character models are colored and textured to imitate classes calligraphy brush strokes, details in the environment feature obvious markings from brushes to make the game feel more like a moving painting then an actual 3D rendering. The artists also made great use of a limited pallet of color, choosing faded color tones of mostly browns, reds, and greens to tie in each element beautifully.

I also feel I have to go into a bit of detail about one major game mechanic in Okami, this mechanic being the Celestial Brush. Throughout the game when the player encounters a puzzle or obstacle he will (more then likely) have to use the Celestial Brush, what this does is changes the perspective of the game into a 2D ink drawing that the player can then manipulate with an on screen brush. Drawing onto the game to cut down trees, kill an enemy, or cross a gap in the terrain. This Celestial brush brings a whole new interactive element that not only further draws the player into the idea of Okami being an interactive painting but allows the player to be part of that painting in a new and exciting way.

#5 on the Countdown

For number 5 on the countdown we have a relatively new title, which many would think is obvious with the advances in 3d modeling technology and higher processing consoles (but this is not entirely the case). So we are looking at Batman: Arkham Asylum, Arkham Asylum was developed by the independent studio known as Rocksteady Studio of North London, England and published by Edios.

As of note this is only Rocksteady Studios' second AAA release (its first being Urban Chaos), and what a breakout title it has been for the studio. After the incredible way it was received by the gaming community and the industry as a whole it is no wonder it rocketed Rocksteady Studios into the 24th most successful studio in the world (according to the annual listing on studio100.com). Arkham Asylum has been praised all over the industry receiving rave reviews from IGN, Game Rankings, Spike TV, and holds a Guinness Book of World Records record for "most successful super hero game of all time". So as you can see before I even delve into an analysis of the game it already has proved itself in many other categories. This does raise the question though of why then does it fall at number 5 of my list, well lets take a look.

Batman: Arkham Asylum's art team is led by David Hego, David has worked with Rocksteady since 2004 originally working as their senior FX Artist and then moving on into his position as Art Director, and from the results of his labor on Arkham Asylum I can certainly see why.

Now enough of that, on to the game itself. Arkham Asylum gives the franchise a much needed dark twist. The entire game seems to coated in a heavy layer of sludge that not only brings the prison interior into the right perspective but binds the whole art style together. Throughout the game we are introduced to all of our favorite villains; Joker, Harley Quinn, Bane, Killer Croc, and many others. And from that first image of the Joker the player can see what they are getting into. The Joker is brought to life dirty, depraved, and frightening. This is the first time we see these characters portrayed in such a mature way from their comic book origins and then later cartoon reimaginations.



Artfully mapped faces mixed with frighteningly smooth motion capture truly brings these characters to life which is exactly what the game needed to get across to give the characters their frighteningly deranged personalities. Throughout my play through of the game I caught myself being put off at times by the antic of the Joker and the sheer monstrousness of Killer Croc and Bane ( not to mention what we all thought seeing the new style of Harley Quinn).

These reasons are why Batman: Arkham Asylum has made it onto my list, it is a beautifully crafted game that breathes a new life into the super hero game genre (which was almost killed by Superman 64). However Arkham Asylum is only at number 5 so it is not all good. While the art direction brings it into the dark and gritty that Batman so craves it feels held back. Whether it was the lack of total freedom with IP or from the publisher the art seems to be constantly reeled back in from reaching a new plateau. After seeing what the studio was capable I would have loved to see a new villain or two, something that could truly show their abilities. While yes they did an amazing job bringing new life to an amazing cast, it is a bit disappointing to only see familiar faces . I understand that it may not have been Rocksteady's choice but rather an IP restriction but in my opinion is is a major loss to the potential of the game.

So Batman: Arkham Asylum beautifully brings life back to a franchise that was begging for an overhaul, but in the end is simply just bringing back old faces with a new polish. I look forward to the rumored sequel, as I would love to see more work from David Hego and his team and hope that they can build upon their previous success and make their next Batman game something that can push the industry forward.