Practical II

This image shows characters from many different video games done in the style of Mega-Man.
The visual impact on our perception of the characters is immediately changed from
how they are otherwise presented. The “Left 4 Dead” Zombies, for example, do not
seem as threatening or imposing and whilst there is still clearly a presence of blood
on the Witch character’s hands, she does not seem as threatening. Indeed, the
effect of having characters rendered differently affects how the character is portrayed
entirely. In a sense, it is the graphical nature of the themes being represented that
has become concerning, not just the themes themselves.

32 characters from video games of various content, including titular characters of
games restricted to older audiences and characters from games that are not, are
represented in this collection of images. In order to distinguish the differences
in character designs between video games and whether the themes in them play
a role in the visual design and aesthetic appeal of the character, it is important
to recognize important design elements such as realism and stylization.
Whilst it is not a universally observed rule, it is evident that the games with characters
that demand a higher level of visual realism are the games which feature mature themes.

The realistic characters inclide Lara Croft (2), from Tomb Raider, Captain Price (11)
from Call of Duty, Jim Raynor (19) from Starcraft II, Ezio Auditore (28) from Assassin’s Creed,
Sub Zero (13) from Mortal Kombat,Kazuya Mishima (14) from Tekken,
Gordon Freeman (24) from Half Life, Kratos (30) from God of War
and Snake (31) from Metal Gear Solid.

As opposed to characters like Link (25) from the Legend of Zelda, Crash (27) 

from Crash Bandicoot, Spyro (18) from Spyro the Dragon, Kirby (20) Sonic (9)

and Donkey Kong (1), it is evident that their design is intended to be stylized, rather

than a realistic reflection or representation as the mature theme game characters are.