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There's a lot more going on than a close, low-poly landscape could display well.
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What you're describing are different objects on different spacial planes. They could still be low poly, and just have a bang-up paint job. Something I learned while working on Arenas and just observing game artistry in general is that you can create a surprisingly stunning looking result by slapping a good paint job on a shapeless mass. This is especially true in the case of static environmental props. The only thing you have to watch for is dynamic lighting, which can often negate the illusion of depth if it's shining on an object that has little/no polys.
Oddhunter provides a fine example with Sonic. The polys are low, and the coloration is cartoony and simplistic, but there are still several spacial planes at work in that environment, more than two depths of field. Apply an Oddworld-worthy paintjob to that same environment and I guarantee it would still look pretty damn impressive. I think if they're clever enough, JAW can make a game that looks as good as Trine or better without relying on polygonal complexity.
So, I guess what I'm saying is, it takes less to render a simple 3D object with a good paint job than a complex one. On that note, I hope the environmental artists they hire are magnificent.
