(OK, maybe not you, Rise Of The Robots)
“Ah, it’s not about what it looks like – it’s how it plays!” Try to think about how many times you’ve heard a variation on this sentiment over the years. You’ve probably even seen it within these pages occasionally. And it’s coming from a reasonable enough place. Going all the way back to Dragon’s Lair, allowing ourselves to be consumed by visual pizzazz has rarely led to satisfying outcomes. But it’s not always an easy line to walk. Game designer (and former Edge columnist) Gary Penn once told a story about the difficulties he experienced trying to get an artist colleague to create a prototype using squares in place of characters, in order that there would be zero distractions from what was happening mechanically. The artist could barely manage it because it simply contradicted his instincts.
But in some respects attempting to extricate visual presentation from a game’s whole is pointless. We recall a review of a Star Wars game some years ago that talked about how it wouldn’t be particularly notable if it didn’t have Star Wars characters in it. Which is a bit like saying the steak dinner you chose from the menu wouldn’t hit the same spot if it didn’t have steak in it. The reality is that the visual language of the videogame has evolved so much in recent years that it is more important than it’s ever been, igniting an explosion in variation and experimentation. In this issue alone, consider how games such as Sifu, Saturnalia, Card Shark, Genesis Noir, PixelJunk Raiders and Mundaun might be diluted if they weren’t able to really explore their artists’ potential in casting their spells.
And then there’s cover star Deathloop, shot through with a word not associated with videogames often enough: style. From its promo art to its environments and its characters’ clothing, here is a game that feels like it’s beamed in from a different universe. Its parts aren’t interchangeable with those of other games. Its visual makeup is a defining point of its identity. That it doesn’t seem to have much in common with Dragon’s Lair in the gameplay department is a pleasant bonus. Our report begins on p56.