Everyone is loving Titanfall now. I see the videos and I wonder if we would we ever see a world like that — a reality full of mechs, flying infantry, ekranoplanes, and missile batteries orbiting in the Asteroid Belt like the awesome designs of Al Crutchley.
Crutchley’s futuristic military illustrations are delicious eye candy. I see them and I kind of want them to be real — but only because that would mean that something like interplanetary travel would be possible.
Then I look at NASA’s budget and compare it to the Pentagon’s. Are humans destined to always advance through war and destruction? Would Earth’s future be militaristic — full of giant mechas and aircraft like those created by Crutchley — or a peaceful Star Trek-ish Federation in which technology is only used for the wellbeing of everyone, exploration, and science?
The answers to those questions are depressing right now. As much as I love these concepts, I hope Humanity never sees them in the real world.
Al Crutchey is a designer and artist who currently works for Crytek. You can follow his work on his blog and Twitter.