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Crysis
Released in 2007 this next-gen shooter from Crytek caused quite a stir. The German developers had already blown everyone away with their previous hit, the jaw-dropping “Farcry” so hopes were high for Crysis. The screenshots and press releases hinted at a game that was light-years ahead of the competition in terms of sheer graphical power but also meant that a monster of a computer would be needed to even run it close to its maximum potential. When the game was finally released it was widely heralded as the best game of all time and people didn’t mind overlooking all the flaws because it looks so damn good. Two years in the games industry is a long time and now that Crysis has hit the bargain bins let’s see if it is still worth the cash.
The game takes place in the year 2020 and you play as a Delta Force operative sent on a rescue mission to an island in the South China Sea. Apparently a group of US archeologists uncovered something of great importance but were seized by the North Koreans. To avoid all out war you and the rest of “Raptor” squad is sent in wearing the latest in high-tech nano suites. Things go wrong right from the start however and you end up separated from the rest of the squad. To make matters worse the island has more dangers than just the Koreans and to survive you will have to fully master your equipment and learn to outwit your foes. First things first, the graphics are amazing. Even two years later Crysis still looks better than quite a few other games currently on the market. The color palette is a bit more muted than Farcry so it’s not as vibrant and colorful but things almost look photo-realistic in places. The environment is incredibly detailed and littered with ambient creatures like frogs, turtles and chickens to further bring it to life (or end the lives of your enemies!). There’s nothing like watching a sunrise over the ocean or sunlight filtering through the trees while walking through a forest. It’s not just pretty pictures either as the scenery is very destructible and shooting a tree will break it in half causing it to fall realistically, hopefully crushing an enemy or building in the process. Later on in the game the lush open ended jungle levels give way to more linear ones but the graphics remain impressive throughout and contains some of the most epic set pieces I’ve seen in a game. Unfortunately the game is still a resource hog and even modern hardware will have to be top of the range to display everything at its best. While the graphics certainly deserved all the hype and praise it got the gameplay is a different matter. The much vaunted “open-ended” gameplay was much more linear than I thing most people wanted to admit and Crysis has its fair share of flaws. If you took away all the fancy graphics there is still enough to make a good game but certainly nothing as groundbreaking as it was made out to be. The nano suite armour that grants your character abilities like extra strength, speed, protection and camouflage is a nice gimmick but easy to abuse (the cloak-headshot-cloak combo can see you through half the game) and the weapon modding has been done before (and better too). The vehicles you can drive is nice but the controls for them was a bit of a chore and usually they just make you a bigger target. I found the story to be pretty interesting albeit clichéd but it provided some epic set pieces and huge battles. The game is a bit on the short side and the last half feels rushed and out of place compared to earlier missions but with a promised two sequels things are far from over. Speaking of missions they are mostly of the “go-there-kill-that” variety sprinkled with some frustrating “baby-sitting” ones. The game also loves throwing helicopters and stuff at you which with ammunition in short supply is not fun. You will learn to use head-shots on everyone in sight too as shooting them anywhere else is a waste of ammunition. The audio isn’t too bad but the phrases that enemies shout, especially the cursing becomes very repetitive. The voice acting is pretty average but gets better after a while. A nice touch is the Koreans actually speaking in their native language on higher difficulty settings making it harder to predict their plans. The music is suitably epic and fits the game perfectly although there were no “standout” songs for me. I wasn’t able to check out the multi-player part of the game but a quick scan of the internet revealed that not many people are playing it online anymore. While Crysis certainly didn’t live up to all the hype in my opinion (apart from the groundbreaking graphics) it is still quite an achievement and well worth checking out especially as it’s part of a planned trilogy. If you missed out on Crysis because of the steep requirements and hefty price tag then now is as good a time as nay to check out what all the fuss was about. Just don’t go expecting the “best game ever made”. |
System Requirements
TAGS: Crysis, Crytek, Nomad, Delta Force, 2020, South China Sea
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