i appreciate the graphics in Dubai so much… everything is so great and shiny. IOI’s artists did such a great job. here’s a graphical analysis of various scenes that nobody asked for 
i love the way you can see the sun and the sky reflecting off the top of the building. plus i love the tall buildings peeking out from under the clouds.
literally everything is reflective in Dubai
even these support beams that could’ve just been left a solid material. but they decided to make them reflective, and that’s greati also like the way the sun shines and reflects off the distant buildings and makes the water sparkle
i love all these buildings that are halfway covered by the clouds. really gives you a sense of scale
i like that some parts of the building are foggy if they’re further away.
i also really like the way the sky and the ground converges into the skyline, and you can see the burning oil rigs alllll the way in the distance
planar reflections! IOI tricked a lot of people into thinking this was raytracing. to be honest, i dont blame them.
planar reflections essentially just renders the scene twice, and applies the second scene to a surface (like the windows of the Sceptre). it’s a great technique and works extremely well here.
i like the way you can see 47 holding the camera
also the windows distort and warp the reflection quite nicely
i just wanted to point out this crazy detail. they even added reflections to this insignificant windowsill
their attention to detail is crazy
more crazy detail from IOI’s artists. they add reflections to the floor and ceiling. this is new, and i’m really glad they’re starting to add reflections all over the place. ceilings can be shiny too!
planar reflection for mirrors, just like in 2016 and H2
their use of screenspace reflections in the lobby provides a great first impression when you walk through the curtains. especially with the gold elevators
another application of ceiling reflections!
this scene shows a limitation of screenspace reflections. the way SSR works is that it reflects whatever you see on the screen. so… if something is behind you, it can’t be reflected, because the camera can’t see through you. and that’s why there’s a weird outline above 47’s head where the scene isn’t reflected. because the camera can’t see behind 47’s bald head
i like the little water fountain here. it’s not the best water effect ever, but it gets the job done.
…
lens flare aside, the sun’s rays actually make the scene look really great. the way the sun creates a “fog” that covers the NPCs is a very nice effect.
another showcase of the limitations of screenspace reflections. you can see the weird outline in the reflection under 47’s left hand.
but other than that, the reflection of the gold fountain is nice and shiny.
the reflection in the glass seems to actually use planar reflections (instead of screenspace like the rest of the ground reflections). you can tell, especially with the guy on the right, because his head is still visible and reflected on the glass even though it’s out-of-frame.
i think this is a good move because the level of detail in the reflection is already extremely low, so using planar won’t be as GPU-taxing in this specific instance.
and finally, the reflection technique used in the big windows seems to be cubemap reflections. they essentially just take a screenshot of what the reflection would look like and then paste it into the surface. it’s the worst looking reflection technique, but it gets the job done when you don’t really need active reflections on that specific window.
sorry for this long post, but i hope some people find it interesting