Motion blur, chromatic aberration, bloom… we’ve discussed many times whether these effects deserve a spot in a game’s settings menu or are the hellspawn of satan’s computer graphics division. Now it’s time for you to chime in. One final reckoning; until I have the same idea again in five years’ time. I am nothing if not returning to this well over and over again.
It’s your classic knockout format: Two effects go head-to-head and only one makes it through to the next round. There are four initial rounds, then we’ll move onto semis, then regional semis, regional quarter semis, semi regionals… nah, we’ll make it quick. There are three rounds total.
Here are the initial head-to-head rounds:
- Depth of field vs vignette (voting is open)
- Chromatic aberration vs dirt (voting is open)
- Motion blur vs lens flare
- Film grain vs bloom
Got it? Get your votes in below. Then y’all can argue about it in the comments, and say stuff like, “well, actually, motion blur serves a very important purpose.” Yeah, whatever.
Examples
Motion blur
You’ll have to take my word for it that both of these screenshots were taken as I aimed swiftly to the side in Hunt: Showdown. The difference is day and night.
Lens flare
There’s a lot of neon lights in Cyberpunk 2077. That makes for lots of lens flare. Though it can be quite subtle at times, like in the top left of the image below. Yeah, right there, in the dark patch.
