Highguard has recently been the talk of the town following major layoffs at Wildlight Entertainment. As many continue to discuss what went wrong with this project, led by veteran developers from studios like Respawn Entertainment, one point has often taken center stage.
Many previously noted that the first-person shooter simply failed to stand out in a crowded market. It seems the developer behind the Ori franchise and No Rest For The Wicked agrees, stating that AAA games like Highguard look very bland in nature.
In a recent Twitter post, Thomas Mahler, the CEO of Moon Studios, used Highguard as an example to discuss the greater problem of homogeneity across the entertainment industry.
As Thomas Mahler puts it, a game like Highguard does not look bad by any means, but it highlights the greater problem with visuals in AAA games. Using Halo 4 and Highguard as examples, he notes that both titles take a very similar artistic approach at the base level even if their teams are full of individuals capable of outputting impressive results.
The developer also admits that this problem isn’t limited to just games. He points out that the latest films and TV often feature very similar visuals with flat lighting, compared to past cinematography that stood out in more ways than one.
On the subject of games, Thomas Mahler also discussed how indie productions using Unreal Engine 5 can often end up with results similar to Highguard’s visual look.
“Games like Highguard don’t even look bad. Instead, they end up looking very bland, basically generic.” -Thomas Mahler
Of course, those familiar with Highguard would know that Thomas Mahler is far from the only person to call the first-person shooter generic-looking. In fact, the game’s overall art style was one reason it was immediately compared to Concord and various other live-service titles from recent years.
This criticism is made worse by the fact that Thomas Mahler has worked on the Ori series and No Rest For The Wicked, two games lauded for their art direction.
