 Review By: Andrew Joy |
Developer: | Crytek |
| Publisher: | Electronic Arts | |
| Genre: | FPS | |
| ESRB: | Mature | |
| # Of Players: | 1 (32 online) | |
| Online Play: | Yes | |
| Accessories: | Supports DirectX 10 | |
| Buy Now: |   |
This freedom extends beyond just gameplay, though, as you can customize just about every aspect of Crysis from game tweaks to cursors. As such, there isn’t much point in enumerating the controls as I usually do, as you can merely switch them around to suit your tastes with the click of a few buttons. However, as Crysis is a Games for Windows title, the game does have to meet certain requirements (Achievements, sadly, are not among them), including support for the (wired) Xbox 360 controller. So, if, like myself, you’ve been an almost exclusively console gamer, you may find it a suitable replacement for the old mouse and keyboard. If you are using one, the game will recognize it automatically and adjust, even going so far as to change the onscreen prompts for it (a very nice touch). Apart from just generally being mapped out to the gamepad, there are a few changes to the gameplay that should be noted, most of them for the worse. While I did find it easier to control my character on-foot (I’m not quite acclimated to the WASD setup just yet), driving is a little odd, as the left analog stick controls both direction and acceleration. As for the firefights, the real meat and potatoes of Crysis, yes, it may be more familiar with the Xbox 360 controller, but your speed and accuracy is noticeably diminished from the standard point-and-click gunplay, so you may not want to venture online as such, lest veteran PC gamers hand you your ass. It is also worth noting, since these controls cannot be changed, that you will not be able to go into a prone position when using the Xbox 360 controller, which may be of concern to a certain style of player.
If there is one area where Crysis is, without exception, exceptional, it would have to be its presentation. Now, I’ll be perfectly honest with you right up front: My computer cannot run Crysis on its very highest settings...but then again, the game is so demanding that even God was forced to run out and buy a new PC for the occasion. Sure, I played around with the high end setup a bit, but more often than not, the experimentation resulted in either a sideshow played to the tune of a skipping, 8-bit quality soundtrack of blips and bleeps or a sort of psychedelic nightmare that I’m sure can’t be reproduced elsewhere without the aid of certain toads, mushrooms or cacti. However, even on Medium – where I could still tweak a few settings without the chance of having flashbacks a few decades later – things still looked damn good. In fact, they looked downright realistic at times, especially early in the game when you’re running through a lush jungle in the first light of dawn. While the realism may not extend into the often confusing, catacomb-like spaceships – where the aliens look like a mix between the Spielberg-re-envisioned War of the Worlds Tripods and the Sentinels from the Matrix – some aspects, such as the lighting and explosions, never ceased to amaze me. One of the reasons the explosions were so impressive was due to the physics, which cause objects to tumble around wildly, bodies to contort and trees to splinter in half (something which actually distracted me for a good half hour or more when I got my hands on a mounted machine gun). Likewise, the audio in the game is equally nuanced, with Oscar-worthy sound effects and even some nice little touches, like the use of (I’m told) authentic Korean when you play through the game on its hardest setting.
Crysis also performs admirably in multiplayer as well, which is quite comforting considering the main game – with an annoyingly repetitive, albeit massive final boss and something of a cliffhanger ending – is a bit disappointing. Even though there were more planned initially, the game only offers two different modes, each with six maps and supporting up to 32 players online. Instant Action is little more than your standard deathmatch, but the real draw for me was Power Struggle, which combines the in-depth campaigns of strategy games with the quick skirmishes and firefights that the FPS genre has come to be known for. By making kills, completing certain objectives and taking over strategic resources on the map, you can equip your team with the best weapons and vehicles. However, thanks to nuclear weapons and alien technology (not to mention a ton of really good players), the balance of power is always in flux, which adds a great deal of appeal to this mode over Instant Action (though it is no slouch either). Unfortunately, for as much fun as it was, it should be noted that when it comes to online gaming, there is also a chance of running into people who won’t think twice about ruining the experience for everyone else and, from the time I spent out there, I would say Crysis is no exception. Of course, if you’re willing to weather the hackers (or glitch-exploiters), the game’s longevity gets propped up by an expansive level editor (though you don’t necessarily have to go online for that, since you can drop in and test it out at any time with amusing results). But that’s hardly what you paid money for this game and any PC upgrades for.
Bottom Line:
While I’ve never met one of the 30-something virgins living in their parents’ basement that the media likes to project gamers as, I wouldn’t have too much trouble believing in them thanks to games like Crysis. By that, I mean it has a lot less to do with the amount of time they spend gaming, and more to do with the knowledge of what awaits them. You see, a video game is a lot like a woman. When you first meet a girl, more often than not, all you have to go on is looks, but that is just superficial and anyone but the shallowest among us is also hoping for brains and personality, too. When it comes to a video game, you’re looking for roughly the same things: looks (graphics), brains (gameplay) and personality (a good story). All this game has going for it are looks. And then there’s the multiplayer, which I guess means she...um, gets along well with others. So, Crysis is a bit like an escort! If you can pay the price, you’ll have a great night, but don’t try to build a long term relationship around it.
If it isn’t too late to put it succinctly: If you have a PC that can play it, you could do a lot worse than Crysis, but it’s not worth upgrading for.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
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| 7.5 |
Posted: 2008-04-08 17:31:06 PST