[kendo65]

I don't buy games purely for graphics either. But for me it is one of the elements that are important to get right - on a par with many others (including FM, dM, accurate modelling of aircraft, good gameplay, ability to run with adequate fps, etc).

Failing on any one of them can bring a game down. And of course each individual will rate the different facets higher or lower according to his personal taste. For me currently COD fails on terrain/landscape.

(something to make clear - COD's rendition of terrain is heavier resource-wise and more advanced technically than either ROF's DX9 implementation or the old il-2. But I prefer ROF and many old il-2 maps to the current COD. COD's map failing is in its artistic direction/implementation and a resulting lack of coherence in the end result.

Strong evidence suggests that the failings are due to a combination of botched then remade earlier versions, technical difficulties (SpeedTree), and insufficeint resources/time to get things right - in other words the same as with many of the other problem areas in the game.

And from the recent screenshots for the Russian sequel they seem to have learnt lessons and are getting better results by passing off the map-making to a third party.)