[b]THE FUTURE IS FEELING LIKE YOU'RE IN A MOVIE, NOT A CARTOON.[/b] I'm a Director/Cinematographer and the idea of this advanced game taking a step back can be evaluated on the graphic nature of the design style. D2 now feels like a Lucas film where teddy bears are swinging from the trees. Bungie should have employed more of a JJ Abrams talent-pool to the graphics, a warranted esthetic given the nature of unique, complicated weapons and armor options not to mention vastness of direction within maps. Someone was off strategy on this one. Obviously someone got replaced with a Jar Jar Binks mindset, taking a huge step in the opposite direction of realism to help make the game seem sophisticated for a true feeling of escapism. A sophisticated game play requires sophisticated graphics. That said the information of graphics even though a little daunting are extremely artistic nonetheless. [b]GRAPHICALLY MORE CHILDLIKE MOVING IT BACKWARDS[/b] Although they seem more intense the color saturation is so brilliant that there is no depth of field so everything comes at you with no ability to focus on key elements. It makes the environment a little flat in that sense, making it seem like everything is front and center, more like a video game than a feature. James Cameron said he had a flop in the seventh month of developing his Avatar characters and it wasn't until the characters looked more real to life that he thought otherwise. Bungie could have employed that mentally here. As a for instance, you take a look at the vegetation in the tower and you see what is being said here. What is impressive are the weather conditions and feeling of nature's fiery during the opening storyline. Impressive to say the least. Players during game chat universally felt the graphics are a little too cartoonish and child-like in nature. The attempt is there but falls short of a what D1 held. The gun characteristics in D1 were distinct with noticeable advantages. In D2 the characteristics seemed to be dumbed down making it hard to see which guns held styling cues that make your character and way of playing unique. It just feels like Bungie listened to 10 year-olds instead of more sophisticated players. The beta is over for me in just a couple of hours and already playing D1. The hope is that Bungie makes adjustments to a larger playing audience one that fits strategy with graphics and abilities on a more advanced note. Players and audiences are growing in sophistication which is where D1 gained its popularity from. Time to get back on the mark of moving the needle forward Bungie. The future is feeling like you are in a movie not a cartoon. Nonetheless, it should be appreciated for all that went into creating D2. It's just not for me.