Quote by blaydes99:

I know this is an old post, but the whole point of the original aesthetic is to make it scary and intimidating to the player. You could say the same for the sounds and speech that the enemies make, and on and on. The goal to create a sci-fi horror environment and impact the player is what is most important, and not to be superseded by trying to make a model that is more practical or realistic in the "game world". When I first played SS2, I dreaded fighting midwives (for a while at least) because they looked creepy, sounded creepy, and did lots of damage.

I actually agree with your point here, that the horror element supersedes the realism.  Thing is, 1) if you can make something realistic without any penalty, I figure why not and 2) I find ripped off faces very underwhelming, just like I find doom monsters, aliens and everything else that's "supposed to be scary" not scary.  The images that stick in my mind and scared the crap out of me the most were subtle distortions of familiar things.  This is personal opinion of course but blood, screaming, horns, guts... it just doesn't do it once the jump scare or novelty of the art immediately wears off.  I can forget the look of some beast 2 seconds after I see it.  What will haunt my dreams is why that hot chick made breathing sounds like her lungs were half full of water and rocks.