Lately I've been disregarding the part of the NDA that says I can't say I'm in beta, so why stop now? One of the reasons these screenshots look bad is (I'm pretty sure) that they're old screenshots. Massively doesn't do the game any favors by featuring dated screenshots because more naive players simply assume they're current and that the game's graphics are bad. The game as it is now in beta (and there is no doubt that further graphic polish is coming soon) has great textures, good lighting, shadows, etc.

Anyhow, graphics aren't everything, and they're one of the less important factors for me personally. I always think it's kind of sad when someone blows-off a game without giving it a legitimate try simply because they think the graphics aren't cutting-edge, but to each his own I guess. Icarus deserves props; they've been working on this game from the bottom up (even designed their own engine) for years without all the rich, popular publishers helping them.