[C+C] The Thing knockoff

[Shnurbs]

Hi! For fun I'm trying to concept a game that's a knockoff of "The Thing" by John Carpenter, and so far I've got this little cover image. Thoughts?

[Rydin]

Does the guy on the right have a mini-gun? I don't remember their being a mini-gun in The Thing.  I mean, it's your knock-off, and you can take the liberty to add whatever you want to, but...

The point is, if I can't tell if it's a mini-gun or what, then the pixels aren't doing their job. The pixels have to help portray what is there. Seems obvious, but it's harder than you think.

[Shnurbs]

Does the guy on the right have a mini-gun? I don't remember their being a mini-gun in The Thing.  I mean, it's your knock-off, and you can take the liberty to add whatever you want to, but...

The point is, if I can't tell if it's a mini-gun or what, then the pixels aren't doing their job. The pixels have to help portray what is there. Seems obvious, but it's harder than you think.

Okay, I upped the brightness on the weapons and I think I made the minigun a bit more clear. How does it look now?

[Rydin]

It doesn't seem all that brighter.

Something to consider is the range of hues and values you are using. Right now you are using just a mono-color palette of blues, and that's fine. But the values of these blues are all very close to each other. You can really make your work pop if you employ the full range from all the way white to all the way black.

Also, keep in mind the material that you are trying to represent with the pixels. Metal grabs light and shines it back very hard and bright. Fabric absorbs the light with dull softness.