Infotaxis Blog

Now that I’ve played the multiplayer I feel it’s time for a review of this stunning title from Crytek. Seeing videos of this game before release, it’s hard to believe that they could ever deliver on the crazy levels of physics and unique gameplay with free-roaming and extremely intelligent AI, but they have.

The biggest features of this game include:

• Fully DX10 capable title (DX9 Available, but not nearly as impressive)
• Very destructible environments
• Intelligent AI
• Nanosuit “Superpowers”
• Weapon customization
• Free-roam capability
• A very good story
• An editor
• Multiplayer
  

Now, it’s to be expected that as time goes on, graphics improve. In 2006 we all saw Oblivion in it’s glory, as it towered high above all games with it’s impressive arsenal of graphics. With mods, it is still impressive today, but comes nowhere near to Crysis. Allow me to illustrate with screenshots:

This is a screenshot of Oblivion, on relatively high settings. You can see that great shading was implemented around the gate, there are smoke effects, three-dimensional sprite-comprised plants, and good lighting.

Here we see a screenshot of Crysis. Shading is implemented for everything. The lighting system is absolutely flawless. In games like Oblivion, which were leading at the time, the night/day system would gradually turn the sky darker, then gradually turn the sky lighter, transitioning between skyboxes as it went. In Crysis, there’s an actual sun that moves through the sky, sets, rises, and affects the lighting directly. The lighting is such that beams and shadows from trees and objects are clearly visible. It is impossible to fully illustrate unless you see it in a video. There is so much more, and this video covers it pretty comprehensively:

You can see that the graphics of the modern game have grown in leaps and bounds through Crysis and it’s CryEngine 2. Physics are intense, with 90% destructible environments (a few objects cannot be destroyed, and the terrain cannot be destroyed). You can chop trees down and into pieces with your gun at the points you shoot them, and then pick the pieces up. The game engine also has proper animations for picking most objects in the game up, and for those it doesn’t, comes as close as possible with a generic animation that still looks good on most objects. These objects can then be thrown or sometimes wielded (you can hold a stick as an off-hand weapon and whack people with it!). The possibilities are endless for gameplay and replayability.

As though all this weren’t enough, it has the nanosuit and weapons customization. Your nanosuit allows you to expend energy to use certain powers, accessed with the V key. These include:

• Strength (bash things/people and jump high, as well as no recoil)
• Speed (run fast and jump far)
• Cloak (invisibility, lasts longer the slower you move)
• Armor (absorbs damage using energy, heal faster)

On the menu you’ll also find an icon for the weapons customization menu (a gun), or you can press C.

In this view, you can add/remove components of your weaponry, allowing you to custom-tailor your weapon for the situation or your preference. You can add a variety of scopes, a silencer, lasers, flashlights, various attachments (grenade launcher, sleep darts), etc. It truly adds an element of tactics to the game. An assault rifle can become a sniper rifle, if necessary, for example.

This game has an intense story, but once you’ve beaten that, it’s not over. Not only does the game provide for a sequel, but it includes an editor which not only allows you to fully create new game worlds and modes, but provides an amazing feature that was previously unheard of. The editor actually includes the entire game engine, and you can test your map/world without loading up the game. Simply press a key and it transforms the editor view into a game window complete with weapons, a hud, and sound. You can place soldiers to fight, test their guarding positions, and tweak to perfection in moments. It’s a pleasing development environment, to be sure.

As well as the amazing grade and span of single-player content, there is a great multi-player to be had as well! With a cool mode known as “Power Struggle”, players attempt to combine control of various locations to charge their team’s power level to max, enabling weapons of mass destruction (black hole tanks and nukes, anyone?). Along the way, it also enables certain powerful alien weapons and human prototypes at 50%, making the stakes to control the main facility (which enables power generation and buying of said technology possible) that much higher. When you’ve got WMDs, your task shifts from point control to a combination of defending the main structure, and destroying the enemy’s main base. It provides for a unique type of gameplay that will have you playing for hours.

If that isn’t your cup of tea, it also provides a good old-fashioned shooter style mode, called “Instant Action”, in which an FFA deathmatch ensues. Weapons are found scattered on the map, instead of buying them like in PS. This is your standard FPS battle, and the uniqueness of the nanosuit and weapon customization carry over to this mode as well, still providing a great and enticing experience, even if you don’t like PS.

A major difference between PS and IA, which I should note here, is that PS has vehicles (as well as larger maps to use them on).

Regardless of your play style, if you like any FPS games, this is definitely worth checking out.

BTW - Readers, I’d appreciate it if you’d comment on my blog. I’m interested in seeing what sort of posts you enjoy reading most, and I’ll tailor my writings to your interests a bit. I’m always glad to get feedback, negative or positive, and will even take article requests and review requests.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, December 23rd, 2007 at 10:25 am and is filed under game review. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.