Graphical fidelity is on the rise. One look at Naughty Dog’s sublime Uncharted 2 and it’s clear that photorealism – which has been the aspiration of games developers for more than a decade – is an inevitable part of the medium’s future. It makes perfect sense too, given the praise afforded such titles by the gaming press and community alike. Responsive AI, flowing hair and motion-captured animations are nothing short of demanded given the strength of today’s hardware, with adventures such as Nathan Drake’s latest proving that ambitions of a life-like experience are indeed justified, even possible given enough time and money.

Look a little closer, however – more specifically into the eyes of Drake’s sexy siren, Chloe – and the resulting trip to the Uncanny Valley will remind you that you’re sat in a living room while playing with rendered characters. The fact is, today’s titles are still a far cry from achieving perfect realism. Undoubtedly, environments are much easier to render than people and the very concept of ‘playing a movie’ is still a fair way off, though it is something developers will continue to strive for until, if ever, the rest of us are satisfied.

Now consider this: what happens when they succeed? Blood spilling and limbs flying may raise few eyebrows today, mostly down to the characters appearing false enough for us to consider them animated targets rather than anything to be concerned over, no matter how much the Alan Titchmarsh show might disagree. While the abuse levelled at our beloved way of life has always been met with an irritated eye-roll, we’ve also been able to brush the statements off as ignorant and misinformed. The concern is how that might change when the adventures of Niko Bellic in ‘Murder Simulator 4’ begin to convey believable pain in those who are being afflicted. In such a case, artistic direction becomes more important then ever.

History dictates, however, that the wildly stylistic approach rarely yields financial success, as many western gamers tend to bypass titles that do not conform to their usual tastes. Instead, we’re seeing subtle changes in style between franchises; Gears of War 2 has its own look separate to that of Call of Duty for example, but both franchises strive to be more realistic with consecutive instalments. It’s a fair bet that Gears 3 has a gruesome death reserved for anyone who dares go by the name of Carmine, though it’s unlikely to feature in the pages of the tabloids largely due to the subject material. Games that base themselves in the realm of fantasy get an easier ride as it is, such as God of War 3 and its fantastically cathartic moments of life-ending brutality. Now, should you apply this brutality to a shooting game set in Iraq then a lunchtime news spot is to be expected. To put it simply, bypassing modern sensitivities seems the easiest route to a quiet, controversy free life…at least in theory.

Overwhelmingly, graphical realism continues to evolve the right way, with Uncharted 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2 standing tall as superb examples of how acts of violence can be handled tastefully in a fairly realistic setting. Women can also be presented as sexy, smart and vivacious all at once, and this reflects how changing attitudes have been applied via realism; Lara Croft herself has dropped a cup size or two, yet remains an attractive, albeit more proportioned character. It’s not an exaggeration to say that developers can be very good at reading the market and designing their games accordingly, while striving to produce the very game they imagined from the outset.

It didn’t always appear to be the case however, with the advent of the current generation heralding complaints from some noteworthy developers. Hideo Kojima (the mind behind the epic Metal Gear series) famously commented that many studios would simply find it too difficult to fully utilise the hardware and true enough, should a game fail to make sufficient impact in the first few months of release, it can spell disaster for those involved; one prime example being the closure of Grin following a disastrous turnaround for their failed effort, Bionic Commando. Even the team responsible for the smash-hit Devil May Cry 4 have reported difficulties in learning the new hardware, so it’s hardly an isolated problem. We’re now a few years into the current generation and many of the development issues Kojima spoke of appear to have been fixed; yet the high production costs remain, as does the intense pressure on studios to keep up with the competition.

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