Perhaps John ages as the story in the game progresses. 
 
Like Assassin's Creed 2.

They did retouch his face numerous times. They did the same with Niko in GTA4. I'll try and find the thread on GTAforums with all the pics.
 
edit: here .
 

" Perhaps as the story in the game progresses, John ages.   Like Assassin's Creed 2. "

" @TheMustacheHero said:

" Perhaps as the story in the game progresses, John ages.   Like Assassin's Creed 2. "

not quite..Etzio merely grew facial hair while this guy has a change in facial structure "

" @luce said:

" @TheMustacheHero said:

" Perhaps as the story in the game progresses, John ages.   Like Assassin's Creed 2. "

not quite..Etzio merely grew facial hair while this guy has a change in facial structure "

You're over-analyzing my point. Yes Ezio merely grew facial hair, but as the game progressed time passed, and Ezio got older.  This is not my main point though, my main point was that John might get older. "

" @TheMustacheHero: I really really really doubt it. There might be a prologue where he's young, but I'm sure the stuff in the pics was the team trying differing looks. "

" @TheMustacheHero said:

" @luce said:

" @TheMustacheHero said:

" Perhaps as the story in the game progresses, John ages.   Like Assassin's Creed 2. "

not quite..Etzio merely grew facial hair while this guy has a change in facial structure "

You're over-analyzing my point. Yes Ezio merely grew facial hair, but as the game progressed time passed, and Ezio got older.  This is not my main point though, my main point was that John might get older. "

That wasn't the point of the thread. I'm asking why John's face looks redesigned. It's not just a younger to older look, he looks different. "

" @luce said:

" @TheMustacheHero said:

" @luce said:

" @TheMustacheHero said:

" Perhaps as the story in the game progresses, John ages.   Like Assassin's Creed 2. "

not quite..Etzio merely grew facial hair while this guy has a change in facial structure "

You're over-analyzing my point. Yes Ezio merely grew facial hair, but as the game progressed time passed, and Ezio got older.  This is not my main point though, my main point was that John might get older. "

That wasn't the point of the thread. I'm asking why John's face looks redesigned. It's not just a younger to older look, he looks different. "

"  When you make a thread, you are asking for other's input on the topic. That was mine."

It seems like they can't strike the perfect balance between Nathan Drake and Clint Eastwood and are constantly going back and forth.

" @TheMustacheHero said:

" @luce said:

" @TheMustacheHero said:

" @luce said:

" @TheMustacheHero said:

" Perhaps as the story in the game progresses, John ages.   Like Assassin's Creed 2. "

not quite..Etzio merely grew facial hair while this guy has a change in facial structure "

You're over-analyzing my point. Yes Ezio merely grew facial hair, but as the game progressed time passed, and Ezio got older.  This is not my main point though, my main point was that John might get older. "

That wasn't the point of the thread. I'm asking why John's face looks redesigned. It's not just a younger to older look, he looks different. "

"

Thank you for your input but if you honestly think the change in his face is simply because of age then you need to get your eyes checked. That and I don't think (according to the info released so far) that the game takes place over several years "

He kinda looks like Karl Urban in some of those shots.  

Well, it looks like some of those pics are from in-game, some are from cutscenes, so maybe it's just a matter of the amount of detail they could put in. And perhaps some of the pics are from flash-backs, but you're right, it's not just age differences. Maybe the expressions they're having him make mess with his face a little bit? I dunno.