CommanderKirov said:
What the fuck is wrong with the area around her eyes?
Its a weird result of the makeup, complexion and semigloss surface they have given her.
Her eye makeup ends before the inner corner of the eye, which works from a distance; it makes the eyes look rounder and more open. Doesn't work as well up close, in my opinion.
The biggest issue for me here is that they've made her complexion perfect- I don't mean just acne-free, I mean that there is absolutely no rings around her eyes. Most people have a bit of a darker ring between the ridge of the nose and the inner eye and nose ridge, which helps to give a bit of depth for the eye socket and nose.
If you use more than just a makeup base (whose purpose is just to make one's skin tone more consistent and less glossy) and try to conceal the darkness around one's eyes, and you wind up with this slightly off, wall-eyed look.
You don't really see much darkness around the eyes of women in posters 'n magazine covers, but that's because those shots are precisely devised and photoshopped to look more than reality.
The third thing, of course, is the reflectivity of her face. I get it- she's all soldering 'n what not, she's going to be a bit sweaty. But for some reason the fact that different parts of the face are more oily- and thus more reflective, seems to be overlooked in games these days. The upper cheeks, brow, above and below the lips, and especially the nose produce more natural oils. The eye area and the lower portion of the face tend to be much less so.
While this detail usually goes unnoticed in-game, a still like this makes one realize that this unnatural consistency in reflectivity makes it look like FemShep rubs vasoline in the corners of her eyes.
And I know it works for dramatic lighting, but if she were wearing eye make up, she'd also be wearing base, which would make her skin be much less reflective, and would be a little caked from all the action. >.>
