Sarcasticgamer

People love to love the Halo series. Heck, people love to hate the Halo series. It is undeniable, however, that the Halo series does get a couple of things right. Open battles, unscripted combat and making the gamer feel like a one man army up against hopeless odds, are just a few of the things that Halo does oh, so very right. Back in April, 2010, I asked, could Crysis 2 out Halo, Halo: Reach? Maybe not in sales, but in the way Crysis 2 does what Halo has done, only better?

On Tuesday, Crysis 2 was released on all platforms and did just that. It beat Halo at its own game. How? Read on.

Crysis 2 and the Halo games, or Halo, as I’ll refer to them collectively here, have a lot in common. They both share similar stories of alien invasions of Earth. Both have one man facing down this alien horde as man’s last, best hope. Both games feature supermen that can do things no ordinary man can do. Both games feature linear storylines. Both games feature unscripted, open area battle sequences that change every time you replay them. Except, Crysis 2 does it better.

In Crysis 2, we see our titular superman, Alcatraz, jumping and punching and shooting and destroying everything in his wake. In Halo, Master Chief does almost the same thing, yet, Alcatraz can do more than Master Chief, because he can turn invisible. This alone changes the core gameplay. One could even argue that the mere existence of the stealth mechanic differentiates these two games enough so as to make them too dissimilar to compare. Well, maybe. Except that the same stealth mechanic was present in Halo 2 and virtually everything else is the same. So, I believe that the gameplay comparison is apt. Sure, in Crysis 2, you have to activate powers that Master Chief does automatically, however that, in and of itself is another reason why Crysis 2 is a step beyond Halo.

The way that you play Alcatraz is far more personal than how Master Chief is played. In Halo, the only way you can customize your play style is through weapon selection. Weapon selection is often random, or level specific. In Crysis 2, not only can you alternate your play style with your weapon selection, but you can alter it two more ways via the Armor and Stealth powers. You can run and gun your way through the game in a very Halo like way, or you can play sneaky, flanking enemies and picking them off one at a time… or, you can simply avoid them altogether. These types of options are simply not present in Halo.

The way you play Crysis 2, in the big, open and unscripted battle areas similar to Halo, becomes much more dynamic as a result of the numerous options at your disposal. In Halo, you are limited, which definitely presents its own challenges and fun, but in Crysis 2, you could play that same way and a multitude of different ways because of the different power combinations. Accordingly, Crysis 2 offers much more during the same “Halo styled” encounters.

While Halo has the edge in simple vehicle combat (Crysis 2 only offers a few short driving sequences), the promise of defending New York against an alien menace is far more enticing than defending a fictional city in Africa, ala Halo 2. Many a fanboy went into Halo 2 drooling over a possible Earth defense against the Covenant, only to be let down by a return to space and the exact same combat in a similar location as the original.

The weapons in Crysis 2 also outpace the similar weapons of Halo. All of the weapons in Crysis 2 are customizable, and you can *gasp* aim down the sights of ALL weapons, something any good soldier would always do… To be sure, the weapons in Crysis 2 are far more standard fare than the exotic alien weapons of Halo, but when you’re facing off against a number of enemies, all you’re really looking for in a weapon is something that shoots straight and gets the job done, something that the underpowered weapons of Halo can’t always say.

In the end, Crysis 2 out does what Bungie had created in their open area, unscripted battle sequences. Crysis 2 creates a more kinetic and frenetic fight, with more diversity and bone crunching kick-ass than anything ever offered in any Halo game. Simply put, Crytek has beaten Bungie at its own game.

http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/index.php/2011/03/crysis-2-beat-halo-at-its-own-game.html

except review scores and sales. 

cool

I agree. I'm enjoying Crysis 2 more. Halo needs a makeover. I loved Halo:Reach but it didn't have the lasting appeal. We need to see Master Chief soon and in a new way.

I'm really looking forward to playing Crysis 2 multiplayer when i buy it this weekend. I played Halo Reach for a month straight compared to the 2 years I played Halo 3. Hopefully Crysis 2 lasts longer.

1:  lol, cause every game should let you aim down the sights, right? Jesus, can't imagine how lame awesome shooters like Unreal Tournament would've turned out if they did this.

2:  Yeah, let's just keep adding generic real life weapons to games because they get the job done. No need for fun and awesome redonkulous weapons that add so much spice and variety to games, amirite?! Let's keep giving the player AK's and SCAR's in every shooter, because they're real life weapons that are also used alot in real life, so that's the way it should be in video games. Very exciting.

well......

This is an article of retardism. Halo hasn't been killed, and unless the multiplayer servers randomly disappeared one day, it won't ever be killed. This guy obviously has somethin against the game because Crysis 2 is nothing like Halo, unless you wanna scrape the bottom of the bucket and compare the two just because they're both sci-fi'ish. Whoever wrote this obviously doesn't know why Halo is such a huge game.

I'm playing through Crysis 2 right now and it is hella awesome but this article is pretty much fail.

No one can better Halo at what it does best IMO and thats why it has become the HUGE juggernaut franchise it is. 

He does know every halo game has stealth/camo in it right? I do hope it plays like halo though, I prefer run and gun to CoD style games. May have to get this instead of homefront as i hear that plays like CoD.

I also disagree on the aiming down sight for all weapons. Its a good way to balance some weapons to not allow them to aim down sight.

Other than that this sounds like my kind of game

I admit I only skimmed the article but from what I skimmed it talked about since Crysis 2 and Halo both focus on a super powered soldier with a fancy suit that fights aliens they're somehow really close?

Right.  Super Mario Bros. and Little Big Planet are both platformers.  Light Big Planet and Half-Life 2 both focus on physics gameplay.  Half-Life 2 and Left 4 Dead were both made in the Source engine.  Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising both feature zombies and have dead in their title.  Dead Rising and Heavy Rain both have main characters that are reporters.

OMG Heavy Rain beat Super Mario Bros at its own game!