The Art of Battlefield 1 HC Book Review
Summary: A wonderful book for lovers of Art, game design or just people who can appreciate some glorious images.
4.3
Art of War
I don’t know if it was the first time I was aware and interested in behind the scenes sneak peaks but I do remember our family coming across a book of Ralph Mcquarrie’s concept images for Star Wars. With the advent of DVD’s filled with extra features we frequently get to see behind the curtain of movies these days… but now it seems the world of gaming is also getting in on the genre and I am very happy they did.
Writing
Throughout this book there are little snippets of what the sketches are for and how they came to be, from the resources utilized for inspiration to the notion of wanting to tell a story and how that could be done visually. It’s a wonderful little sneak peak into the world of the people who help draw us (pun intended) to the gaming world we know and love.
Artwork
Obviously as the main focus of this book… this is where it shines. There’s a great range of artwork in here too from basic concept sketches of different characters and locations in the now somewhat familiar fashion designer style sketches all the way through to publicity shots and everything in between. There’s a lovely page that I came across and I was immediately struck with the notion “these images could be used in an art gallery”… I then read the little notes and discovered that these were the pieces of art made to be used in game as paintings etc… so essentially they were meant to look exactly like they could be in an art gallery or a stately home. For some reason I’d never really thought about these things being so well fleshed out before (or perhaps I just dismissed them as possibly being scanned from known works rather than created for the sole purpose of background art). That is kind of the point though… the artists involved in this project are simply stunning artists. The use of light and shadow is so masterful that indeed they can tell a great deal of the story that the player will follow, using only a few images.
Final Thoughts
If you are a lover of great art I can easily recommend this book… you don’t even have to be passionate about games… the artwork in some sections really does look like it is part of the classical style. If you enjoy learning how elements of a game came to be… again this is a great option. If you are interested in the field of concept art yourself, this is a really great example. Taking us through the initial concept images of player looks and landscapes to the later artwork that would actually form part of the game world. A real kudos to everyone involved… it’s not wonder this franchise has captured our attention. Given that World War 1 (and 2) have long been a popular theme for gaming it’s important to stand out from the crowd. These images have jumped out at us from the beginning.
Book Details
Publisher: Dark Horse
Artist: Robert Sammelin, Eric Persson, Tahir Tanis, Nicholas Shardlow, Frej Appel, Henrik Sahlstrom, Per Haagensen, Mattias Haggstrom, Jonathan Kuo
Cover Artist: Robert Sammelin
Genre: Art Book
Format: FC 184 pages, HC
Release Date: Oct 25th 2016
About the Author
Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. Gaming at home since about 1982 with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond PC's have been central to my gaming but I've also enjoyed consoles and hand helds along the way (who remembers the Atari Lynx?). Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none.
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