I'm surprised they are hedging against the visual style of Gears this early on. I mean, most of us of course know what they're talking about - even if they don't convey it as well as they could - but I think it's dangerous in this present 'textures-crazed' environment to say you're actively not going that route.
Just don't say anything about it at all and people will default to 'looks beautiful' on pedigree alone. Now everyone's going to be taking the textures to the microscope instead to see what exactly they mean.
I agree with ya on this. Halo is already established with its own graphical appeal and style. But I guess everyone and their mom is comparing every game to GOW in terms of graphics now. GOW is the bar for the forseeable future it seems to many esp the media press.