**WARNING**: Spoilers are highlighted in black....like this
Well since recently getting both Crysis and SMG I have been somewhat at odds with which game I wanted to play. But the decision was made for me over the last few days as I have constantly found my Wii in use by people wanting to play GH3, Z&W, and/or SMG but mostly SMG. And so rather than play the bit of "giant asshole" and booting them off so I can get my face time with Mario I decided "How about I just go play Crysis with my new fancy speakers!" (Fear not! I am already 55 stars or so into SMG, so I haven't neglected it or anything).
And so I have now completed the game, seen the credits roll, and I am ready to report my impressions. This is more or less a review but I am not including a score so if you are looking for that you're not going to find it. Feel free to score the game for yourself as any score you give it is far more meaningful for you than a score I would give it.
Graphics:
Well I think there has already been a lot of coverage of this area in particular and even so I feel compelled to share some interesting portions that I noticed. For instance at one point during the game you call in an air strike on a destroyer and watch the thing sink while docked in harbor. But the cool part was that a few minutes later while swimming under water I was stunned to be confronted by this submerged goliath structure....I don't know why but this left an awesome impression on me and I took some pictures of the before and after to possibly help you understand what I am referring to.
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Click on any image to see full size version. |
But on top of neat stuff like that there is just so much they got right with the game. From light shafts filtering through the trees to glare off the water etc...All in all I don't think there is a more complete and convincing game graphically speaking. This is plain and simple a game that redefines what you think of good graphics and the fact that other games have to live up to this standard now is..well quite frankly not fair! I look forward to seeing how other developers handle this "challenge" and I am really excited to see if/where Crytek goes next with this technology.
And I will also say I am sure companies like NVidia, Kingston, Corsair, etc... are all thrilled with a game like this which will likely send hardware flying off the shelves!
Lets finish off with a few more examples for good measure:
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PS - You'll have to forgive the image quality a bit, photobucket likes to chop images down a quite a bit when you upload them. And yes I am being serious, these are a noticeably lower quality than what you actually see in game.
Sound:
Well I think for the first time I got a really good taste of what a nice speaker system can do to enhance your gaming experience. Hearing a jet soar over head and having it sound right but also sound like it is coming from the right places around you is just awesome. The surround sound effect of hearing bullets patter against leaves about you as you run for cover from a helicopter is just awesome. And all in all my impressions with Crysis and sound are excellent.
I will say that in a lot of ways I think I am impressed with my new speakers, so this area may not be "superb" for folks who are used to the surround experience as a basic aspect of every game. Or in short, this is new for me so it may not wow you like it do me because of the "newness" factor. Just trying to be open/honest about my perspective for folks who are sound aficionados.
Gameplay:
Ok well lets go over the bad and get it out of the way. I felt like some of the missions were a bit on the repetitive side. The opportunity to command a tank or pilot a VTOL after your pilot bites the dust was nice and helped to break things up a bit so overall this wasn't too bad. Still though, there were several instances where they just wanted you to "go to [location] and download data" , or "go to [location] and find hostages". The problem being that [location] was some where on the other side of the moon and you are forced to dredge through jungle and past patrols to get there...this is fantastic the first time you do it amazing the second...fun the third...but the fourth time I was left thinking.."again?.../sigh ok...". Not that it wasn't fun the fourth time..but I would have preferred they have multiple different approaches to getting the player to move from point to point. A minor/medium gripe at best.
I will also point out that the AI has a hard time with anyone taking the sniper route. If you throw a silencer on your weapon and grab a nice sniper scope you are going to be able to find a nice perch and fire down with relative impunity utilizing the strength mode ability to stablize your shots because the enemy is too far away to see you. Where it gets even worse is when you are in a guard tower and are sniping the area immediatly below you and for some reason the guys below are incapable of climbing the ladder to come kill you...no they instead wait on the ground....in fact any time you see a ladder in my experience you can get away from the AI by climbing it so long as their isn't another route that involves stairs or a ramp.
Ok with the negative out of the way lets get into the good stuff. There is something that is just innately fun (for me at least) about having such a massive advantage over your enemies and utilizing it to instill terror and fear. The ability to cloak gives you that functionality and provided you use it intelligently it can be a devestating tool for inflicting death from all sides and without warning on hordes of KPH patrols and search parties. In short the suit is beautifully done and it really adds something special to game that allows you to customize your experience on the fly and completely integrates the "why can I do this?" into the basic story and makes it believable (in a sci-fi sense).
But on top of the suit are some pretty interesting weapons, for those who don't want to see the weapons ...well don't highlight....Pistol(s), SCAR (basic machine gun), FY-17 (i think that was the acronym, basically another machine gun the KPH use), Shotgun, Precision Rifle, Guas Gun, Minigun, SMG, Rocket Launcher (laser guided), and everyone's favorite the tactical nuke launcher (don't remember the name...but it was bitchin!) it is possible that I forgot some BTW, so don't freak out on me if I did =P
The nice thing about the weapons is the ability to customize them for the situation. I found myself constantly swapping out scopes, adding/removing flashlights and laser pointers, and in general this system got a helluva lot more use than I anticipated going in. A very nice touch and one that truly allows players to pick a weapon they like and make it their own. The system won't make or break a weapons usefulness but it will give you an edge if you know what scopes to use and when, etc...
And finally, flying the VTOL and commanding the tank were a lot of fun. They gave you the thrilling feeling of effortlessly killing those enemies by the dozen that were giving you problems while on foot and really help you let of a bit of pent of frustration..real or otherwise =)
Story:
Well without ruining anything the story is overall just above what I would consider mediocre. Its compelling enough to keep you interested but just cliche enough to have you rolling your eyes at spots. The fact they do in fact leave you with a cliff-hanger at the end is sort of annoying especially since in my opinion you really haven't dealt with much of anything at that point. Basically you prove that you know how to kill all sorts of aliens and it just sort of stops...rather aggravating honestly.
But the voice acting is top notch and I think does a great job of helping pull you into it a bit more. If they had skimped on the voice acting I think it would have ruined the story but its hard to say. The important thing is that with the exception of the things your character says I was very happy with the voice acting.
Its sort of hard to talk about the story without going into specifics which I really don't want to do. So I will just leave it here.
Overall:
Crysis is without a doubt a worthy FPS purchase for any PC gamer. There really is no other way to put it. With all of the FPS games coming out and competing for people's hard earned cash right now I think you have to be picky with which you go with. And for my money Crysis was worth every cent. Granted you will have to have the PC muscle to make it purr but if that isn't a problem for you then this purchase is truly a "no-brainer". If your PC is close to being up to snuff then I would recommend you consider those upgrades very seriously...it really is a treat for PC enthusiast who puts a lot of time into their PCs and want to see something special and it truly delivers, and in more ways than just graphically.
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| To Each Man, Responsibility |
