Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way up front. On a properly configured Vista machine with DirectX 10 hardware, Crysis is the best-looking game we’ve ever played. Its jungle environments are lush and realistic, with plenty of wide-open areas and just a handful of loading screens in the entire game. This incredible level of graphical detail is what PC gaming is all about. Screenshots don’t do this game justice. Seeing Crysis in action will take your breath away. The perfectly rendered jungle scenes, gorgeous beaches, and water that looks better than the real thing set a new high mark for PC graphics and far surpass what we expected from a first-gen DirectX 10 title. Even more surprising, when we tested the game on DirectX 9 hardware, it still looked stunning—although we missed the fancy depth-of-field effect that is used fairly liberally on DX10 systems.
As for the game, it’s carved straight from the generic first- person shooter playbook. There are bad guys (North Koreans this go around), who are doing something they shouldn’t unearthing an alien artifact), and a hero (you) with powers (via a super suit that lets you jump higher, run faster, and be invisible) that make you uniquely capable of accomplishing a challenging goal (saving the world). It’s all very predictable. The game mechanics aren’t particularly innovative either—we’ve done all this before. That’s not to say Crysis isn’t a fun, wellpolished game—it definitely is. It’s just not revolutionary from a gameplay perspective. The game’s by-the-book weapons include pistols, a shotgun, a rifle or two, and a submachine gun, which you customize with different add-ons: scopes, silencers, grenade launchers, and a few others. While this level of customization could have added some needed depth, you generally end up choosing between the silencer and grenade launcher, depending on the number of baddies you want to take out. Because you’ll pick up most of the weapons and add-ons within the first hour or two of the game, and you gain absolutely no new suit capabilities beyond those you start with (armor, superspeed, cloaking, and superstrength), character development feels extremely weak. Where Crysis really excels is in actual combat, especially at the higher difficulty settings. While the AI seems mildly stunted at the default difficulty, at more challenging settings it’s more realistic without seeming
prescient. The brilliant AI, combined with the open maps, which let you scout an encounter unseen and then approach from the best possible side to crush the enemy, is the game’s saving grace.
As for the game, it’s carved straight from the generic first- person shooter playbook. There are bad guys (North Koreans this go around), who are doing something they shouldn’t unearthing an alien artifact), and a hero (you) with powers (via a super suit that lets you jump higher, run faster, and be invisible) that make you uniquely capable of accomplishing a challenging goal (saving the world). It’s all very predictable. The game mechanics aren’t particularly innovative either—we’ve done all this before. That’s not to say Crysis isn’t a fun, wellpolished game—it definitely is. It’s just not revolutionary from a gameplay perspective. The game’s by-the-book weapons include pistols, a shotgun, a rifle or two, and a submachine gun, which you customize with different add-ons: scopes, silencers, grenade launchers, and a few others. While this level of customization could have added some needed depth, you generally end up choosing between the silencer and grenade launcher, depending on the number of baddies you want to take out. Because you’ll pick up most of the weapons and add-ons within the first hour or two of the game, and you gain absolutely no new suit capabilities beyond those you start with (armor, superspeed, cloaking, and superstrength), character development feels extremely weak. Where Crysis really excels is in actual combat, especially at the higher difficulty settings. While the AI seems mildly stunted at the default difficulty, at more challenging settings it’s more realistic without seeming
prescient. The brilliant AI, combined with the open maps, which let you scout an encounter unseen and then approach from the best possible side to crush the enemy, is the game’s saving grace.
For: Nano Suit - stunning graphics and amazing combat. I love skulking around the jungle.
Against: Zoot Suit - Aside from obvious graphical improvements, Crysis lacks real innovation.
Against: Zoot Suit - Aside from obvious graphical improvements, Crysis lacks real innovation.
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