You know, a modern day co-op Golden Axe style game sounds like it might be fun. But you guys REALLY need a new art style. You've got a bad case of "gray and brown"itis that I think we all know can kill of any interest in a game.

You should seriously consider a major change ala what the guys in Borderlands did. In fact you can view there presentation here: http://cmpmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o1/vault/gdc10/slides/Martel_Brian_Borderlands_and_the_11th_Hour_Art_Change.pdf

As the main theme of this implies "Be remarkable or be invisible!" and right now you guys seem invisible. All those "Wow, I've never heard of this game until now!" comments, the press briefs and gamers wondering if it's just going to be "Gears with Swords and Bows" (a direct quote actually).

Anyway, Good luck! Game development nerd out

The screenies look good to me. Design looks very, uh... like everything else, but that's not a bad thing. It is to say just about everything is looking good these days, so the gameplay had better rock or it'll just fall on its face like lots of other games with beautiful art design. I wouldn't worry too much about that department. Certainly don't think we need too many Borderlands, with what you mention being probably one of only a few things that makes Borderlands worth a go.

Worry about whether or not the characters are fat with details, and the world is strong enough to hold them up, and the story is grand enough to push them forward, and the gameplay is fluid enough to give it all wings. Announcement was only what? Ten or so days ago. Of course lots of gamers won't know anything about it yet, that lack of knowledge is not a reflection on the design making the game invisible, though.

No, if it looks like everything else THAT IS A BAD THING. I posted a link to a bunch of successful game developers saying, very clearly, exactly why it's a bad thing.

Successful devs coming off the back of games that pretty much define recycled 'other original games' by way of design. Then in promoting a title that is a LOT like a LOT of games, they change the design enough to give it an edge? I can see how that works. "It's a bad thing because we went a different way. Here's why going a different way is a good thing." = sold units.

I like photo-realistic graphics on larger than life characters, with great character models and superb animation. Or characters with extremities beyond the norm, super slim gorgeous looking elves with briasts that should break their spines, and guys running around in power armour in a dark world that gives me the creeps but they don't seem to mind as they gun their way through it. That .PDF contained art work from some studios that have been decades in perfecting their product. IE the Warhammer 40,000 universe! Nobody can look at the catalogue of artwork from Games Workshop and sneer at it, and call it brown. Rather, they can look at a catalogue of video games that have patently ripped off the design of the Warhammer verse. lol

I get where you're coming from dude, but reading one article that defends a design choice for a game that relies on that as a selling point, is no way to go about dissing the design of the majority of games. Personally, I think a photo-realistic Crackdown 2 would kick the knackers off what's currently in production. S'just IMO, though.

What screen shots are you looking at? It seems relatively early in development, screen shots get a lot better as time goes by.

What, you want it to have the blue/orange contrast that almost EVERY game has now? Oh wait, it does have the blue/orange contrast...

I kind of think the design is fine, it looks good, and realistic, I don't worry too much about the colouring, because it seems the world they are in is supposed to be gloomy and dark.

I'm all for cool style and something different in games....however..... to say that every game should all of a sudden go to something like borderlands or cell-shading style I think is a bad idea. I for one like the art style that seems to be being used in this game and don't think they should change it for games that are meant to be dungeon crawlers. These types of games are supposed to be gray, gritty, and dirty looking, to change that to be bright vibrant and all happy and cartoonee I think might ruin the experience and imersion/feel of the game. I'm not saying another style is per se a bad idea or can't be done, I'm just afraid the results will leave much to be desired.

I agree insofar as underground places might not have a lot of color, and thus a muted color palette is suitable for a dungeon-crawleresque game. However, I think it would be nice if the game did have some areas or aspects that were vibrant - all the more to emphasize the gloominess of the dungeon/cave/whatever. Humans like color, we try to make everything colorful. Granted, the human eye can detect hundreds of shades of grey, but that doesn't mean I want to.

I thought that the black and white color scheme of Nazi-controlled areas of the game Saboteur really worked well. The Nazi symbolism was still red, and searchlights and such were still yellow, but the lack of any other color really made the Nazis stand out and made you feel a lot more like the oppressed citizen you were meant to be, not some sort of liberator. If this game utilizes their color scheme properly, I think it can definitely work out well.