Computer Graphics World

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2010

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■ ■ ■ ■ Gaming A 18 BY JOHN GAUDIOSI As technology advances, game developers are given more choices when it comes to creating the next generation of protagonists and antagonists that captivate gamers for hours on end. During the past few years, as studios have become more acclimated to current-generation con- soles, they have been pushing their processing power further, and as a result, gamers have seen a variety of diverse character types evolve. From photorealistic, motion-captured characters that seem to eerily live and breathe within the game worlds of Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain to the epic, ripped-from-a-painting, blood-soaked beauty of Sony Santa Monica Studios’ God of War 3, there’s something for every graphic artist to dive into. During the past several months, titles like Gearbox Studios’ Borderlands took the shooter genre in an entirely new direction with a unique cel-shaded, “living comic” look that had never been seen before, especially running on Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3. A derivative of that comic-book style can be seen in characters like Ryu in Capcom’s new Super Street Fighter IV, and that studio is pushing this vibrant, pop-out-of-the-screen style even further with the 2011 fi ght title Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. T ere are also games that are focusing on story and utilizing more robust, more human characters in story-driven titles, such as 2K Games’ interactive crime story Mafi a II and Visceral Games’ survival horror/adventure Dead Space 2. And then there are studios, such as Epic Games (Gears of War 3) and People Can Fly (Bulletstorm), which like to infuse hulking, arcade-style caricatures who carry big guns and let the ammo do the talking. Here we examine some of the unique characters in these game titles and the CG techniques used to create them. August/September 2010

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