Game design is not all about big guns and armour…

Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s Art Director lets educates us on some of the game’s more cultured influences.

Speaking to IncGamers, Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s Art Director, Jonathan Jacques Belletete has revealed the myriad of influences that have contributed to the game’s visual style.
“In terms of specific influences, I’m a big fan of the Japanese games. You can see bits from Metal Gear Solid, Ghost in the Shell and all that kind of stuff. It’s not something I’m trying to hide at all, it’s all out there in the open.
“The gold and black palette of the game comes largely from the Renaissance. If you look at painters from the Baroque-era – Vermeer, Rembrandt etc – a lot of that stuff is very black and gold because they would often paint by candles at night and that kind of thing.”
Aside the world itself, when IncGamers asked about the influences that led to the visual flair displayed by the game’s characters, Belletete explained that:
“We thought about the characters less in terms of character designs and more about fashion design… [it’s the writers] who design the characters, who they are, where they’re from, what kind of person they are.  
“My role is to give them cool clothing, actual fashion. We think so often in the games industry that character is about designing big armour or big guns, but it’s so much more than that. People like Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood have a tendency to pull a little bit towards that Baroque, or even Renaissance, aesthetic, so that helped us quite a bit.”
Read our full interview with Belletete here.