New Visual Style in Video Games, "Realism and Darkness"

[hardcore_canadian]

i guess it was bound to happen, seems every game has now turned a corner onto a new street Called "Realism". But the problem I see with this is that it's become a synonym for Gritty, Gray, and Unbearably Dark. Take for Example, Grand Theft Auto, which has been barreling down this hill since Vice City, Which had a Slightly Toon Like Appearance, in San Andreas, it became less so, and in GTA4, it's Dead. The City Is Gray, the People are Gray, and the Sky is.... Gray.

Even Games like Call of Duty (Even during War, there are Sunny Days and Pretty Green Grass etc.) Jericho (Seriously, Everywhere you go, It's a Brown Castle, a Gray Room, or a Grayish-Brown Citadel). It seems more like a Horrid Filter we see the world through rather than something in the Game. Like a game designer let one of their kids go over everything with a mess of Crayons... Daycare being as expensive as it is these days...

My question for all of you, Do you Agree? Disagree? Have another Opinion?