Why is it illegal to have vibrant color in violent games nowadays?

Has anybody seen the new Spec Ops screenshots? There is NOTHING but brown in that game. Brown grass, brown trees, brown sky, brown water, brown everything. Why on Earth did they do this? Oh wait, let me guess, its because its a "violent" game and adding a tiny bit of color will transform it into a kids game like Mario Party or Viva Pinata. Pfft, yeah right. I mean, will these people even give us the option to re-enable color in the game in the options menu like Gears of War did? Probably not.

People need to understand that putting realistic color does not make a game kid-friendly. Ever played BioShock, Dead Rising, God of War, or Ninja Gaiden? Those games had crazy amounts of blood and violence, yet they were still very colorful. Does the color transform them into kiddy games? Hell no. Its a sad shame that so many developers dont understand this. Even the Halo Reach screens looked dull in color, despite the previous games having glorious color. In my opinion, the only games where brown is suitable are post-apolyptic games like Gears of War and Fallout 3. Brown is okay AFTER the world has already been destroyed, not before it.

Thoughts? Are you tired of violent games abandoning color? Or do you like the brown skies and brown water etc?

There are no vibrant colors in a war zone such as the one fround in Spec Ops ... so adding "vibrant colors" would make it unrealistic.

Its called setting atmosphere. I think using a war oriented game is a terrible example. What would Killzone 2 look like with vibrant color? Less immersive.

There are no vibrant colors in a war zone such as the one fround in Spec Ops ... so adding "vibrant colors" would make it unrealistic.

3sFan

It's just a art choice. I think there may be an assumption that a violent game may need a dark, gritty look to fit the feel of the game. I suppose it depends on the realism of the game. I'm just playing Brutal Legend now and it has a lot of vivid colors and a lot of blood as well. True is more fantasy than realism, but it still has plenty of violence.

I've never been in a real battle, but I imagine there could be vivid colors, other than red and orange and yellow for blood and fire.

There are no vibrant colors in a war zone such as the one fround in Spec Ops ... so adding "vibrant colors" would make it unrealistic.

3sFan

Its called setting atmosphere. I think using a war oriented game is a terrible example. What would Killzone 2 look like with vibrant color? Less immersive.

Blue-Sky

There are hardly any colors at all in MadWorld.

Has anybody seen the new Spec Ops screenshots? There is NOTHING but brown in that game. Brown grass, brown trees, brown sky, brown water, brown everything. Why on Earth did they do this? Oh wait, let me guess, its because its a "violent" game and adding a tiny bit of color will transform it into a kids game like Mario Party or Viva Pinata. Pfft, yeah right. I mean, will these people even give us the option to re-enable color in the game in the options menu like Gears of War did? Probably not.

People need to understand that putting realistic color does not make a game kid-friendly. Ever played BioShock, Dead Rising, God of War, or Ninja Gaiden? Those games had crazy amounts of blood and violence, yet they were still very colorful. Does the color transform them into kiddy games? Hell no. Its a sad shame that so many developers dont understand this. Even the Halo Reach screens looked dull in color, despite the previous games having glorious color. In my opinion, the only games where brown is suitable are post-apolyptic games like Gears of War and Fallout 3. Brown is okay AFTER the world has already been destroyed, not before it.

Thoughts? Are you tired of violent games abandoning color? Or do you like the brown skies and brown water etc?

PandaBear86

My favorite this year...

And this gen...

So yeah, I like a bit more color when doing my killin. :P

[QUOTE="3sFan"]

There are no vibrant colors in a war zone such as the one fround in Spec Ops ... so adding "vibrant colors" would make it unrealistic.

PandaBear86

There is NOTHING kiddy about Viva Pinata, that game teachs animal cruelty, poaching, child abuse and promotes obesity. It is the Devil's work! A pox on thee, A POX! :evil:ImOldGreg

Diablo 3, which i am assuming will have a Mature 17+ rating, uses vibrant colors.

[QUOTE="ImOldGreg"]There is NOTHING kiddy about Viva Pinata, that game teachs animal cruelty, poaching, child abuse and promotes obesity. It is the Devil's work! A pox on thee, A POX! :evil:locopatho

MS/Rare, make the new Conker announcement already.

Only kids and casuals like bright colors. If you like brown and gray, that makes you mature and h4rdc0r3.

Only kids and casuals like bright colors. If you like brown and gray, that makes you mature and h4rdc0r3.

Senor_Kami

Pretty much agree. The 1 color scheme is a abit shallow and crappy looking and overdone.

Because of the Three Tough B's - Brown, Bloom & Blur! It's the new trend, get with the times. ;)

[QUOTE="Senor_Kami"]

Only kids and casuals like bright colors. If you like brown and gray, that makes you mature and h4rdc0r3.

Thunderdrone

There is NOTHING kiddy about Viva Pinata, that game teachs animal cruelty, poaching, child abuse and promotes obesity. It is the Devil's work! A pox on thee, A POX! :evil:ImOldGreg

There are no vibrant colors in a war zone such as the one fround in Spec Ops ... so adding "vibrant colors" would make it unrealistic.

[QUOTE="ImOldGreg"]There is NOTHING kiddy about Viva Pinata, that game teachs animal cruelty, poaching, child abuse and promotes obesity. It is the Devil's work! A pox on thee, A POX! :evil:SpruceCaboose

[QUOTE="SpruceCaboose"][QUOTE="ImOldGreg"]There is NOTHING kiddy about Viva Pinata, that game teachs animal cruelty, poaching, child abuse and promotes obesity. It is the Devil's work! A pox on thee, A POX! :evil:SecretPolice

It's a dramatisation inherited from the movie industry. As others have said, it's for setting the scene and mood of the war game, but it's overdone and once you've seen it used a few times, in movies or games, fails to make an impression and begins to annoy.

[QUOTE="Thunderdrone"][QUOTE="Senor_Kami"]

Only kids and casuals like bright colors. If you like brown and gray, that makes you mature and h4rdc0r3.

bf2nutta

^... isnt' this GGD?

^... isnt' this GGD?

Senor_Kami

[QUOTE="3sFan"]

There are no vibrant colors in a war zone such as the one fround in Spec Ops ... so adding "vibrant colors" would make it unrealistic.

locopatho

I am assuming the game takes place in the middle east which consists of deserts, valleys, canyons, sand, etc. The only color your gonna get other then various shades of browns is blue sky.

Uncharted 2 says "hi".

Developers tend to think that "brown" equals "realism." Which isn't the case. The world is full of colour. I guess they think they are "deep" or "artistic" for making the "choice" to go brown.

Has anybody seen the new Spec Ops screenshots? There is NOTHING but brown in that game. Brown grass, brown trees, brown sky, brown water, brown everything. Why on Earth did they do this? Oh wait, let me guess, its because its a "violent" game and adding a tiny bit of color will transform it into a kids game like Mario Party or Viva Pinata. Pfft, yeah right. I mean, will these people even give us the option to re-enable color in the game in the options menu like Gears of War did? Probably not.

People need to understand that putting realistic color does not make a game kid-friendly. Ever played BioShock, Dead Rising, God of War, or Ninja Gaiden? Those games had crazy amounts of blood and violence, yet they were still very colorful. Does the color transform them into kiddy games? Hell no. Its a sad shame that so many developers dont understand this. Even the Halo Reach screens looked dull in color, despite the previous games having glorious color. In my opinion, the only games where brown is suitable are post-apolyptic games like Gears of War and Fallout 3. Brown is okay AFTER the world has already been destroyed, not before it.

Thoughts? Are you tired of violent games abandoning color? Or do you like the brown skies and brown water etc?

PandaBear86

I'm pretty sure the game is brown because it's set in DUBAI! I don't think it would make much sense if the had green and purple levels in a city surrounded by desertsEvz0rz

This = fact. The last person I saw enjoying a game with bright colors was my stepmom... and it was Wii Fit :?

Senor_Kami

I don't think it was the bright colors she was enjoying as much as it was with the workout itself. Adults and non-gamers in general tend to be indifferent towards visual style, so trying to typify color as though it were associated with maturity really doesn't make much sense.

Its called setting atmosphere. I think using a war oriented game is a terrible example. What would Killzone 2 look like with vibrant color? Less immersive.

Blue-Sky

Halo is war oriented and it was full of color. Immersion is also determined by the person, not the game.

Agreed with TC. I really hate the games that have either brown or gray . I'm looking at you: Killzone 2, Fallout 3, COD4, COD MW2, AC1 &2, Gears 1&2...

Uncharted series have vivid, vibrant colors that's one of the main reasons I love them.

*Shrugs* I'm not fixated on how colorful a game is or isn't. If the artists nail the vibe they are going for, that's good enough for me. Killzone 2 looks like an industrial hell and some of the battles have a great sense of scale (there are usually lots of particle effects, flame effects, cloth effects and whatnot going on).

I'm excited about Spec Ops (the game the TC holds in such disdain). Fighting big battles amongst skyscrapers and shifting dunes of sand looks extremely fun.

Its called setting atmosphere. I think using a war oriented game is a terrible example. What would Killzone 2 look like with vibrant color? Less immersive.

Blue-Sky

There are no vibrant colors in a war zone such as the one fround in Spec Ops ... so adding "vibrant colors" would make it unrealistic.

Unfortunately because the concept artists don't know what their doing and think making everything grey and blury is some huge artistic achievement.

Sad but true.

Because of the Three Tough B's - Brown, Bloom & Blur! It's the new trend, get with the times. ;)

HenriH-42

[QUOTE="ImOldGreg"]There is NOTHING kiddy about Viva Pinata, that game teachs animal cruelty, poaching, child abuse and promotes obesity. It is the Devil's work! A pox on thee, A POX! :evil:SpruceCaboose

And this is why I prefer the Wii. The PS3 and 360 have superior graphics but alot of their games only utilize brown and gray and maybe black. Rarely do you see vibrant colors.

Halo is war oriented and it was full of color. Immersion is also determined by the person, not the game.MadVybz

I doubt that Halo is considered particularly atmospheric and immersive.

Games that are going for a bleak, desperate atmosphere tend not to use overly colorful palettes. Makes sense to me. Some do it better than others, though. Games like Half-Life 2, Manhunt, Max Payne, The Witcher and Company of Heroes pull it off really well and they're extremely atmospheric and immersive. It's a legitimate artistic choice, although like I said, results tend to vary.

While I think this argument has good reasoning with other games, I don't think it does with the new Spec Ops game for one reason. It takes place in the middle of a sand storm, why would you expect a bunch of different colors in a sand storm?

And this is why I prefer the Wii. The PS3 and 360 have superior graphics but alot of their games only utilize brown and gray and maybe black. Rarely do you see vibrant colors.

Pixel-Pirate

Actually, its not as rare as you think. There are plenty of PS3/X360 games that have lots of colors under the rainbow - R&C: Future, Eternal Sonata, Dead Or Alive, Soul Calibur 4, Tekken 6, Banjo Kazooie, Fable 2, Street Fighter 4, RE5, Prince Of Persia, Assassin's Creed 2, LittleBigPlanet, Valkyria Chronicles, Uncharted 2, etc. And that's a drop in a bucket.

There are color in some of those games, and very little color or bland colors in others (RE5 and GOW3 I'm lookin at you!)

It's rare I see a hyped or well known PS3/360 game with any colors. Maybe I'm missing them all but they all seem to use a bland grey and brown color scheme. The best looking game I've seen on the PS3 is flower, because it's just beautiful.

Unfortunately because the concept artists don't know what their doing and think making everything grey and blury is some huge artistic achievement.

Sad but true.

bad_fur_day

No, it's because they know what they're doing. It's called art direction or production design. Art, color, and style not only sets the atmosphere but also the tone of the game. This also applies to movies and comic books.

Where do you think the humor and craziness from Borderlands came from? Borderlands was originally like Spec Ops the Line with muted brown colors and realistic in tone. But that changed once they changed the art style and the developers built on that new style making the game a different experience than originally intended.

But it's not just Borderlands. The art and the colors they use depends on the game. Bioshock and Left 4 Dead had a lot of colors but the style of the games are different then, like for example, Fallout 3 or Batman Arkham Asylum. These games show that the concept artists and art directors know what they're doing and they're experts at it. Do you think Fallout 3 would be good if it had neon lights, clown outfits, and a Super Mario Bros. color pallet? How about Batman Arkham Asylum? Do you think this game would be the same if it had vibrant colors? No, it'd be a game off of the old Adam West Batman TV shows!

Maybe the question this topic should be about is NOT on "why developers don't put vibrant colors in violent games," but more on "why developers keep making the same type of game."