Uncharted 4’s Hyperrealistic Visuals are ‘Close to Film’, Says Lead Character Artist

The lead character artist of Uncharted 4, Frank Tzengi, believes that the upcoming game’s visuals are “really close to film.” 

It goes without saying that Uncharted 4 is going to be the best-looking game to date that Naughty Dog has worked on, and according to Tzengi, the graphics are only going to get better in due course. 

“Game quality is really close to film right now, look at the stuff we do in Naughty Dog,” he said in an interview with CG Master Academy.

“This character can easily be a digital double in a film. Based on the quality, the detail, the blend shape, the color, everything that we put on the character this is basically a film character to me. So to me, videos games are getting really close to film quality, and this is exactly what I wanted to do.”

The rest of the interview has Tzengi talking about the struggles in the evolving world of computer generated art, and how he got to where he is today. Check it out below.

Despite the hyperrealism of the game’s graphics—especially with regards to the character models you see in the game, one can’t help but feel like the characters still fall into the uncanny valley. Maybe it’s the imperfect lighting or the lack of proper facial muscle definition, but it’s certainly not lifelike enough to present itself as a photograph or a film. 

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is a PlayStation 4-exclusive title and is slated for release later this year.