Some boffins have started playing with a bunch of consumer-level tools (well… 3DS Max is *sort* of consumer-level) to create photo-realistic images of Half Life 2 characters in real-world situations.
The result is something extremely creepy and amusing at the same time, and strangely reminscent of Charlie White’s Photography. There’s a tutorial for anyone who wishes to give this a go for themselves.
Original thread with more images is here:
http://www.facepunchstudios.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21286