Joystiq [PlayStation]

Lead character artist for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Richard Diamant, has shown off a couple of rather spectacular looking character renders from the game during an interview with 3DTotal.com. Those of you looking for any new information on Uncharted need not read on. The interview covers his rise to glory at the top of Naughty Dog's character design team and not much else. Though this may interest you if you're interested in 3D graphics as a hobby or career.

Among the artwork that adorns the interview can be found a couple of familiar faces. High resolution renders of Drake and Elena, from the neck up, take pride of place at the top of the article. These frankly gorgeous shots have stirred up a wee bit of debate on the PS3Forums as to their role within the game itself. While it is true that models, textures and shaders in this high detail could (arguably) never be processed in real-time on the PS3 hardware, there's nothing to say that they will not be utilised in cut-scenes. Not yet, at least.

Comparing these shots to previous screen captures show quite a bit of improvement, though there is every possibility that they are simply concept pieces. Personally, I think we'll see them in the game, if only in cut-scenes involving facial close-ups. Failing to use these great models would be such a waste.

Check out the hi-res images here and here and if you're into your 3D CGI, then read the interview here.

[Via PS3 Forums]