SpyParty concept art shows level makeovers
SpyParty's visual upgrade is progressing nicely, with a set of environmental concepts showing replacements for the old "ugly" art.
Speaking with Joystiq, whence come these images, Hecker said he's not ashamed of SpyParty's current visual incarnation, which he called "really ugly", because he's proud of the gameplay.
"If the game had looked like this when we first showed it, people would want to talk about how pretty it was, too, and that's just a distraction," he added.
The concepts below are indeed very pretty, but they're a long way off still.
SpyParty is an asymmetrical, two-player versus game in which one player is a sniper and the other is a spy attending a party. The spy completes various objectives while attempting to blend in with NPCs. It's much harder than it sounds, but skilled players have a ball with it and the community of over 10,000 is very supportive and welcoming of confused newbies.