yes DBP is capable of graphical levels compariable to any current game, however to achieve such levels of detail you have to be able to work hard for it and know what your doing.
Yes DBP can use 8,000 polygon models just like Final Fantasy IX or Half-Life2 ... however you can't have a 600,000 polygon work to go with it that doesn't have some sort of culling to only show around 1% of that at any given time.
i've seem some games that show what level of detail DBP is truely capable of, a recent so-called HL2 Beta Leak .exe capable of online play was proof of this in itself as DBP was used to create the spoof demo. And the graphics were good enough to fool alot of hardcore fans.
I'd strongly suggest if you want to pull of similar feats then learn 3D not the development graphically, but the incorporation of it withing games. Learn the little tricks to help with speed.
Think about it most here will sit here and create say 500 particles just for smoke that show in all directions that fade as well as using the alpha channel, whereas a good coder can make the same effect with a matter of 20 single billboarded particles that change texture rather than fade using the object alpha, saving the game quite alot of heavy processing.
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