Speaking about normal mapping, it needs to be done better, especially with LOD and skin tones. HDR was a pretty much pointless step up (in my eyes), because it is simply a modification of the process of bloom with higher contrast and saturation. More accurate forms of occlusion for volumetric light would be much appreciated. Also, soft shadows are worthless unless someone can find a way for antialiasing to not cause odd edges on the shadows along with it (as is apparent in a few games out now). I especially would like to see a process that compensates for the distance an object is away from the surface its shadow is being mapped onto for soft shadows. The closer, the sharper the shadow, the farther, the more soft the shadow becomes. FEAR is a good start in terms of shadows and ambient light reactivity with shadows.