Chapman's Games

Visual Styles in Videogames

Visual Styles relate to how the Videogame is represented towards the Player, giving them a frame of feeling and atmosphere. There are a variety of different Visual Styles, for example; The GTA series are typically Dark, Violent and Gritty. Visual Styles are not to be confused with Genre which is a type of a Videogame, I.E: Action-Adventure, Survival Horror, Etc.

Cartoony

A Cartoony-style is a style that depicts Cartoon or Comic Book-like characters in humorous situations normally with colorful and outlandish designs. Games made in the Cartoony-style are designed to make the player laugh and feel compelled to replay the game when they are feeling down. Videogames of this caliber are normally Cel Shaded.

Borderlands I and II
World of Warcraft
Castle Crashers
Alien Hominid

Violent

Violent-style games are often rated 16+ and 18+ because they are designed for older Players. Often, Violent-style games are highly-graphic in nature and contain strong violence and profanity, scenes of nudity and drug related themes.

Grand Theft Auto: IV
Hitman: Bloody Money
Resident Evil: 1
Gears of War I and II

Atmospheric

Atmospheric-style games are designed to keep the Player’s attention engrossed in what is happening in the game and their surroundings. Often, they are designed to be open-world free roaming-based games with a lot of exploration and puzzle-solving involved. Atmospheric-style games typically invoke distinctive moods in the player, such as adventure or nostalgia.

Fallout 3
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Assassin’s Creed II
Shadow of Colossus

Teamwork

Teamwork-style games are often cooperative or coordinated games involving a group of players acting together as a team or act together in the interests of a common objective. Typically, Teamwork-style games can be often aggressive and competitive.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Lego: Star Wars
Baldur’s Gate
Gears of War I and II

Gritty

Gritty-style games often have storylines, backgrounds and situations that are typically old, dirty and risqué-looking. They are also often violent, dark and mature with a “gritty” way of pushing the subject matter in the game forwards

Grand Theft Auto: iV
Gears of War I and II
Fallout 3
Batman: Arkham City

Mystery

Mystery-style games are often designed with a puzzling murder or paranormal even in mind, with the Player actively trying to solve cause behind said events. Mysteries are normally dark, eerie and brooding in terms of gameplay, with a long and sometimes complicated backstory.

Silent Hill 2
L.A Noire
Heavy Rain
Alan Wake

Sporty

Sporty-style games often involve the outdoors and sports. They can be quite fast-paced and competitive when playing against other players or the game’s A.I. Typically, Sporty-style games make use and represent real-world teams or events, rather then made up ones.

Wii Sports
FIFA 13
Madden 25
NBA 2K14

Fast and Furious

Fast-and-Furious games often make use of face-paced and adrenaline rush mechanics. Typically, any Racing game or game involving vehicle theft are classed as this.

Grand Theft Auto: IV
FIFA 13
Wii Sports
Gran Turismo 6

Upbeat

Upbeat-style games are often cheery, happy and rhythmic in terms of gameplay or setting. They are designed to give the player a feeling of entertainment and friendly competition. Upbeat-style games normally have a high-rate of replay value.

Mario Brothers
Sonic the Hedgehog
Donkey Kong 64
Pokemon

Rough-and-Tumble

Rough-and-Tumble is a style that is usually gritty, profane and violent, often involved in Fighting, Beat em’ Up, Sports and Action-Adventure (Typically, Crime-related games). Most of the games that use the “Rough-and-Tumble” style are “outdoor” games and often incorporate the use of exaggerated character designs, backstories or even fighting styles, like the Hadouken (Fireball), Shoryuken (Dragon Fist) and Tatsumaki (Spin Kick) used by Ryu and Ken from the Street Fighters. This can also extend to missions, such as the ones used by Saints Row or Grand Theft Auto.

Tekken
Street Fighter
Saints Row
Grand Theft Auto: IV

However, Genre can have a big impact on Visual Style. A lot of Videogames can incorporate multiple Visual Styles and Genres which can mesh well and complement one another. For example, one Videogame could be upbeat and cheery, whilst another Videogame could be risqué and gritty. These Visual Styles will fit in with Storyline and the Setting of the Videogame by acting as a complimentary foil.

Silent Hill 2 (Konami)

· Psychological Horror

· Dark, Morbid

· Exploration, Puzzle

· Dilapidated, Broken and Old

· Rarely Funny

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)

· Black Comedy

· Dark, Violent and Gritty

· Fast-Paced

· Angry, Profanity

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)

· Atmospheric, Exploration, Puzzle

· Medieval, Fantasy

· Sword-and-Shield, Action-Adventure

· Fast-Paced

· Weapons, Moderate Violence

FIFA 13 (EA Sports)

· Upbeat, Fast-Paced

· Teamwork, Competition

· Simulation

World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

· Cartoony