Obvious or not, it's a theme that hasn't been particularly well done at all by the industry. Deus Ex is one of few high quality examples.
Supernaturality isn't something I'm particularly interested in, you can't draw real world parralels as easily, and it is easy to lose subtlty and get into the realm of OTT. Perhaps a single supernatural element, or preferably aliens, and no the big green type.
You could have a single corporation profiting so much through arms sale during the third world war that they rose to such dominance they could achieve a similar position, whatever you like. "Government" is simply a word used to describe an institution of social control, and the tension between that and the bulk of society, and the individual, is pretty mush... well... human history.
The story doesn't have to be particularly wacky, if you take a theme, build a subtle and believable world around it, then throw it into conflict with you at the centre picking your way through the details, you've got yourself a solid story.
I think the industry should concentrate on delivering something tight like that.
3D would be fine for char models I suppose, but backdrops = 2D all the way for me. Hand drawn illustrations are what bring them to life, give them character. The moment you start pre-rendering you start to lose that personal touch, and with it goes a lot of the atmosphere, and then when you step into full 3D, unless you can afford insane megapoly HDR type stuff like Uncharted or Bioshock, you're just hacking away at the detail you could be achieving with illustration.
I mean look at Ghost in the Shell - that game should have been a major influence on this genre.
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