Artistic influences

Hello all once again I am back to disuse all things gaming. And yet again I am talking about a Artistic influence but this one is on of my favorite game companies with in my opinion some of the best artist in the gaming industry. This company embodies everything I love about the game industry strong stories, enjoyable game play, sweet music and beautiful art styles. This is the one the only Naughty Dog.

About the company

Naughty Dog has made several different games since it was first created in 1984 but back then it was known as Jam Software then latter renaming to Naughty Dog in 1989. I like most people were introduced to Naughty dog with the Crash Bandicoot franchise which starred a 3D orange Bandicoot running forwards in a level picking up fruit, smashing boxes and spinning around to kill enemies.

Crash Bandicoot

Crash Bandicoot was made to be the Playstation's mascot but because of the limitations of the system the art team had to go thru different redesigns of Crash. That's why crash has no neck so they could save on polys. The levels are quite barren and they needed to fill them with something so they chose wooden crates because of low poly count. The enemies were quite detailed dew to them being based off real animals like echidnas, armadillos, possums and turtles.

Jak & Daxter

The Jak games were amazing due to Naughty Dog putting a lot more effort in the style of the world and characters. Jak had a massive open world with lots of different environments so the art designers could try different colors and lighting to show the player how difficult the area is. The bright village and beach at the beginning of the game invites the player to explore where the dark claustrophobic jungle and temple worn the player of the danger and mystery of the area.

Uncharted

The uncharted games are centered around a explorer who dives into jungles and temples looking for treasure so the colour scheme is very natural with a lot of greens, grays and browns. The game is set in our world so everything looks realistic. The shading creates an atmosphere of curiosity and mystery that tells the player to look under every nook and cranny for collectibles. What I find most interesting is that Naughty Dog would build good looking and fun to play levels and then cobble them together to make a plot.

The Last Of Us

The last of us is Naughty Dog's latest game to come out and it shows due to it looking, sounding and playing amazingly. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic zombie filled nightmare. The detail in the levels and in the characters themselves is amazing because it builds this immersive world that sucks you in. everything interlocks from characters, level design, art to music it all works together to tell an amazing story.

Michael Knowland

Michael Knowland was the lead character artist for The Last Of Us he is the one who worked on Joel and Ellie and he came up with the idea to make fungal based zombies which is now known as the clickers.

Nate wells

Nate Wells was the art director for The Last Of Us and he worked on concept art and game sceneries. He also worked on other amazing games like Bioshock Infinite and Rise of the Tomb Raider.

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