Even more :
You can see on Iphone games that looks incredibly good and lot better than A8 !
And Iphone don't have all the power of a PC and all the PC shaders also !

so why it is possible ?

Simply because they use talented 3D artists to make the models
, textures, choose and appropriate lightening etc ....

And don't forget if you use clever LOD , you can have really good performances with A8 !
LOD changes all the performances

It's like some AAA games on PS3 using really good tricks like shaders on some objects , and baked normal map and lightening on others (Drake 2 on PS3) !
Lot of times the floor is simple textures baked on some areas also !
And i have other game examples where you are tricked
and don't see it caus you are running all the time !!

So use LOD, bake textures and lightening some times,
and use tricks also !

Well A8 is what is is, for programmers first !
And with a talented 3D artist if your game target is not too much like to compete with last AAA game you can really get somewhere and make a good game with it !