Unreal Engine: is it being used for too many games?

Granted, it is a very good engine, having made some of the best games around:

Rainbow Vegas 1, 2; Gears of War 1, 2; Army of Two 1, 2; The last Remnant, Infinite Discovery, and upcomingMagnaCarta 2, Resonance of Fate, Shadow Complex,

but what I'm saying is, is it good that then all these games pretty much have the same look to them ...yes, they are of different game material, but they really do all look the same -color palette and all- and so, is this a good thing? I mean, there is Euphoria -with GTA4, and upcoming Red Dead- and the Terminal Reality might offer some good stuff (haven't played Ghostbusters yet, so don't know), Grin has a few games, but so far is a bit lacking in the delivery area...so, what is the alternative? That lacking then gives Unreal the playing field? Anyway, just thought of asking because I like my games to look good, but above all, a bit different than the last game I just put in, right??? Anyone?

There was a time when it seemed like every other game was being built using the UE 3.0. However is it being used too much? The answer is no. Many bigger developers/publishers have opted to develope their own internal engines whether RAGE for Rockstar, CryEngine for Crytek (moving into its 3.0 version which will work on consoles), Infinity Wards Engine, Assasins Creed engine (used in the new Prince of Persia too) or any number of proprietory engines developed inhouse.

Are the limitations of the engine at fault for why games using the same engine look the same? No not really. Developers willing to do so can make their games look as unique as they want to using the technology, Mirrors Edge, Bioshock, Mass Effect, DC Universe Online and Lost Odyssey are all games which use the UE 3.0 and look different enough from each other to demonstrate that using an engine doesn't limit you to the look of your game. Whatever makes developement easier is better for the gamer and technology is probably one of the least important reasons why games may look the same.

Are the limitations of the engine at fault for why games using the same engine look the same? No not really. Developers willing to do so can make their games look as unique as they want to using the technology, Mirrors Edge, Bioshock, Mass Effect, DC Universe Online and Lost Odyssey are all games which use the UE 3.0 and look different enough from each other to demonstrate that using an engine doesn't limit you to the look of your game. Whatever makes developement easier is better for the gamer and technology is probably one of the least important reasons why games may look the same.

Arath_1

Couldn't have said it better myself.

It's like this.

game engine is like different paints. Unreal Engine is like oil paint and Quake engine is like water color.

It might have different effect, but you have the freedom to draw whatever you want.

Unfortunately, most of artist out there would rather make generic art instead of trying something different.

There are...many games with Unreal Engine

Very Old Games

Unreal 1
Return to Na Pali
Adventure Pinball
Rune
Nerf Arena Blast
Wheel of Time
Deus Ex
Klingon Honor Guard
DS9: The Fallen
Unreal Tournament
Mobile Forces
Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
America's Army
Undying
Raven Shield
Unreal 2
Unreal Championship
Splinter Cell
Deus Ex 2
Unreal Tournament 2003
Unreal Tournament 2004
Devastation
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
New Legends (XBOX...wow)
Desert Thunder
XCOM: Enforcer
Sephiroth 3rd Episode The Crusade (download at: https://www.sephiroth.co.kr/down/down.jsp)
XIII
Magic: The Gathering Battlegrounds
TNN Pro Hunter
Thief: Deadly Shadows
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (GCA)
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
Advent Rising (Xbox)
Advent Rising (PC)
Pariah
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

Just Old Games

Lineage 2
Dead Mans Hand
Raindow Six Athena Sword
Shadow Ops: Red Mercury
Tribes: Vengeance
Marine Heavy Gunner: Vietnam (???)
Men of Valor
Brothers in Arms
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
Star Wars: Republic Commando
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
SWAT 4
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
Disney's Brother Bear
Harry Potter 4

New Games

Unreal Tournament 2007 (III)
Gears of War
Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45

Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Huxley
RoboHordes
Hoopworld
Chronicles of Spellborn

Postal 2

Tactical Ops (free download )

I know I am missing several.

I wouldn't say it's used too much. It's just a game engine. You can do whatever you want with it. You could make a Mario style game with bright colors if you wanted to. The problem is that companies are like, "Yes!!!! We have the Gears engine!!!! All we have to do know is blatantly copy the gameplay and art style and we'll have a Gears level hit to our credit!!! Haha Epic, all your base are belong to us!!!!!!!"

That fail based logic and approach to game making is the issue. The fact that Epic makes a user friendly game development tool that is popular isn't the problem.

wow, didn't know unreal was that old, and actually used for that many games!! wait, how could the games be that old if epic isn't that old?...anyway, those other few are ones I didn't know about, and so, yeah, I guess, the user is the end quality...thanks for the teaching...the thing though that was getting me was that I was just annoyed by the loading of the graphics in some places and it seems all games that use the engine have this in common...maps/sceces load bit by bit and just seemed like, "here we go again.." but I didn't really notice that in Bioshock so...anyway, thanks for the talk, I'll shut it and go enjoy some army of two again...:)

Sort of, but that's not really a bad thing especially as many devs are really rebuilding/tweaking the engine to their visual style (not always the "plastic" look"). Titles like Mass Effect, Mirror's Edge and Splinter Cell are games built with the Unreal engine that stray away from the average Unreal look.

and with that, dev teams can put more of their time working on other parts of the game instead of creating their own engine.....