Look, I’m not going to sit here and argue whether video games are art of not. At this point, it’s a tired debate that’s doesn’t need any more attention. However, Ryse: Son of Rome’s game design director, PJ Estevez, will make the case that his team’s Xbox One exclusive is more than just standard video game art. He told OXM that the action game has taken a bold new step.
“I think we've crossed the line from making video game art to just making really beautiful art,” Estevez said. “Because everything is so high-res, you're not pulled out of that experience, you really feel like 'holy crap this world is amazing, it's really alive,' you know."
It’s a technically impressive game, and likely one of the best looking pieces of software on the Xbox One’s launch lineup.
"I think before you had these kind of cutscenes where you would have your higher-detailed character and then in-game it would look different,” he continued. “And you always thought like, 'wait a minute, why doesn't my guy in-game feel as good as that guy?' So definitely, we've blurred the lines there.
"But for me, not just as a developer but as a gamer, we're just able to push more on the screen. So artistically, Ryse is beautiful. People seem to kind of forget [with] the whole tech argument; there are actual artists and craftsmen that are making this. Some of the scenes in Rome, the architecture, the detailing, is absolutely stunning."
Look to hear more on Crytek’s next big thing in the near future.
