GameLight Review – Crysis 2

Official Site: http://www.ea.com/crysis-2

Source: Youtube Channel Crysis

Developer: Crytke Frankfurt, Crytek UK

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Platforms: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360

Release Date: March 22, 2011

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Pros:

-Incredible city-scape environment with beautiful graphics

-Unique upgrade system favors to different play-styles for both single-player and multiplayer

-Immense freedom in allowing various ways to reach a goal

-Plenty of maps, weapons, and builds to keep multiplayer fresh

Cons:

-Story wasn’t as good as the first installment

-Odd glitches are prevalent throughout the game (though hilarious sometimes)

-Some checkpoints can be pretty far apart while others are very close

-Higher level players have a lot more abilities than lower level ones in multiplayer

The plot and progression of Crysis 2’s story doesn’t have the same surprising and engaging experience that the first one did; however, the gameplay excelled in every way.  The boost mechanic is simplified and works much smoother and efficient compared to the clunky wheel menu it utilized in the first one.  Combat is a lot more intense and dynamic with more upgrades, enemy types, weapons, and play style options.  Although I enjoyed the story to the first Crysis, I felt that it didn’t flow very well and that there were a lot of boring and/or frustrating gameplay.  Crysis 2 was constantly entertaining with tension always on the rise and challenges present in every battle.  What I really enjoyed in both single-player and multiplayer is the versatility in upgrade customization that changed the play style.  You could take it slow and eliminate enemies from far range, ram through with high armor and high rate of fire, or my favorite: you can discreetly eliminate enemies using a new and improved stealth mode that makes so much more sense than Crysis 1.  It was an overall enjoyable experience and possibly the best single-player campaign for a first-person shooter that I played throughout 2011.

Aesthetics

Crytek put a lot of time, effort and thought into how they were going to create an urban jungle out of the city of “New York”.  The environment is enormous, bright, clean, beautiful, and feels so good to look at.  The animations and effects to the destructible environment, alien objects, and objects are top notch with an immersive world presented by such details from the art department of development.  The animation to models and attacking also deserve praise for giving such a satisfying feeling after silently subduing an enemy or shredding through a horde of enemies with a turret gun.  The aliens were a surprise seeing how they differ dramatically from the ones from Crysis 1.  The design of each alien seemed carefully thought out so that the player had a general idea what threat each one might possess before even fighting them.  The HUD is clean and informative and was also used as a way to further drama during parts of the game when the suit wasn’t functioning correctly.  There were some problems with glitches that created some odd graphic problems.  Upon entering some areas, the enemies would be stuck in their T-stance and stay there until the player hit them or until they’re dead.  Other times, enemies would be stuck in objects or floating in mid-air.  The hit-box for some buildings or obstructions would not match the model and so gun fire at enemies behind cover would not connect when it’s clearly visible to a shot (this happens in both single-player and multiplayer).  The soundtrack and sound effects compliment the futuristic setting well though I thought the voice acting was standard (there weren’t that many chances to show that much emotion).  There was only one audio glitch I ran into while playing and it was my audio for sound effects were entirely muted in the middle of battle.  It did not return until after I had died and was reloaded to the checkpoint.  Graphics and music may not be the most important aspects in a game, but I believe that they were a pivotal aspect that made the game stand out from other shooters of its genre.  Aesthetics: 9/10

Buttons

I really liked how the controls to Crysis 2 felt.  I especially liked how the boost effects worked.  I no longer had to fumble around with a wheel menu and switch between 4-5 different modes.  Having armor mode and stealth mode was sufficient to create a dynamic combat experience.  I really liked how you can execute your enemy in stealth rather than just shoot them and causing attention to your position like the first one did.  The ability to jump incredible high, grab and hoist yourself up edges, and drop kick enemies “boot to the head” style felt so natural due to the familiar control layout and ease of use of them.  The usual “aim-shoot-crouch-run” key mappings are the same as other shooters and should be fairly easy to learn to even those who never played one.  Some of the difficulties in controls is bringing out grenades (double tap triangle, which can be troublesome when trying to quickly switch between primary and secondary weapons), switching between boosts in mid fire fight (in multiplayer), and when trying to ground pound as the right thumb needs to leave the right analog stick which leaves the player wide open if the attack didn’t kill the enemy (I guess PC players don’t have to worry about this).  Although the boost system is simplified and easier to switch between, the problem occurs when the player is practically out of energy but could use that 1-2 second of armor to win a firefight.  The player might accidentally turn it off when they want to turn it on or vice versa depending on the energy usage which causes the player to fumble between modes.  For the most part, the controls to the game are very smooth and fairly easy to learn after a while of playing and experimenting.  It’s also a whole lot of fun sliding around.  Buttons: 9/10

Concept & Content

As I’ve mentioned, the story isn’t that great.  Crysis 2 picks up shortly after the ending of Crysis 1 and introduces a new character that didn’t have that much of a personality.  There weren’t any other characters that were meaningful, interesting, or “that” important.  The enemy didn’t have a true face or leader, but rather the entire alien race is the enemy.  Crysis 2 is pretty much “guy fights to save world” kind of storyline.  I didn’t mind too much as I found the gameplay to be really engaging and challenging.  One of the aspects I thought they would take out is the freedom that Crysis 1 had since the 2^nd one was in a city and didn’t have that many vegetation and space to make it as large.  I was happy to be proven wrong as the city has sewer lines, subway stations, high altitude building tops, and all sorts of cover on ground floor to create a large, dynamic map to get through.  What really got me into the game was the new and improved stealth mode where the player can subdue enemies quietly and even avoid an entire fight by walking through enemy lines undetected.  The armor mode didn’t have too much of a change, but the player is still able to run quickly and have the strength to take down enemies if upgraded.  Because of this versatility, the developers didn’t stick with all the boosts that the first one had as switching between power, armor, speed, and stealth was cumbersome and annoying.  Crysis 2 didn’t seem to have as much dynamic variety in environment that Crysis 1 did, but I felt that the level designs were used much more creatively and effectively in the 2^nd one.  Still, there were some parts of the game where it was boring from the map being to empty or repetitive in task if not frustrating from having little to no ammo.  I was a bit disappointed with the last level of Crysis 2, but I don’t want to spoil anything so I won’t say anything past that.

As for multiplayer, utilizing all the skills, weapons, and abilities in online combat was truly a unique experience for a first-person shooter.  The level system is unbalanced and unfair for low leveled players after level 10 as those with high levels have a significant amount of abilities and weapons that does affect the balance in advantage unfortunately.  The level system; however, has a lot of depth and content for the player to unlock as a player puts more hours into multiplayer.  There’s a fair amount of maps and modes to play from, so variety isn’t too much of an issue.  Although multiplayer is quite entertaining, it doesn’t seem to have a pull factor where it makes me want to continue to play other than to unlock more items.  The original concept Crytek had for Crysis in futuristic abilities, open map goals, and dynamic load out customization is further used more effectively and creatively in Crysis 2.  Everything, in terms of gameplay, feels more polished and thoughout.  It’ll be interesting what Crytek will do next for the series.  Concept & Content: 8/10

Duration

I’m actually not sure how long I spent playing Crysis 1 or 2, but I do know that Crysis 1 felt like an eternity while the 2^nd felt more leisurely.  The flow of Crysis 2 was a lot smoother and connected each event between missions.  The game constantly felt engaging and challenging at a fair level (though sometimes not) when compared to its predecessor where some events seems really amazing but is followed up by really annoying or boring gameplay.  Crysis 1 felt like a lot of great ideas pieced together along in a jumble.  Everything felt disconnected and the broken flow between fast-action fire fight, slow moments of sneaking away from a helicopter, and frustrating enclosed areas with minimal ammo made Crysis 1 very difficult to enjoy.  Crysis 2 had a lot of the same ideas with vehicle chases, enclose areas to fight, and some parts where the player can sneak through; however, the gameplay felt consistent and enjoyable throughout each of those events.  The different between the duration of Crysis 1 and 2 was that I couldn’t wait to reach the end of Crysis 1 while I didn’t pay much attention to getting to the end in Crysis 2.  I felt the campaign was a decent amount and multiplayer could have a lot of hours put in if I really wanted to continue playing it.  Duration: 8/10

Fun

I’ll admit it; I had a lot of fun with Crysis 2.  When the game was announced and finally released, I didn’t care too much for it.  When I finally decided to play Crysis 1 and somewhat enjoyed it and partially didn’t, I was skeptical about how the 2^nd one would be like.  I went and played Crysis 2 anyways as to continue the story that left off from Crysis 1 as it was one aspect I actually liked about the game.  Unfortunately, the game’s story just got really boring and I stopped caring; however, the gameplay was surprisingly fun for using similar concepts from the first one.  I essentially played the game like a stealth game unless I was found out and play the game like a brawler when I got close to the aliens.  I just had a lot of fun deceiving the enemy, silently killing aliens and having the occasional chaos blow up in their faces.  It was also fun utilizing the different abilities to jump around like a platformer, grab onto ledges, sliding around, and ground pounding from high up.  There were frustrating battles in some areas, but none compared to some of the shenanigans I had to perform in Crysis 1 in order to finish the mission.  I was also disappointed with the last mission as it lacked the challenge that the rest of the game had throughout my playthrough.  Still, it was fun playing through Crysis 2 and multiplayer was fun for a while too.  If I had the time and given the chance to play Crysis 2’s campaign again, I’d be willing to do so.  Fun: 9/10

Overall

Crytek pushed their technology as far as they could and revised the interesting concepts that made Crysis 1 a revolutionary game to the first-person shooter genre and create a compelling action experience in Crysis 2.  There’s beauty, creativity, and variety to make up for its lackluster story and that’s okay because the game is ultimately a lot of fun.  Whether you like to play games strategically, covertly, or outright gung-ho, Crysis 2 seems to satisfy all playstyles.  The freedom and challenging campaign is possibly the best of 2011 for first-person shooters while its deep and engaging multiplayer is sure to entertain casual and highly competitive players alike.  I would recommend this game to anyone who wants a fun single-player campaign or something different in their online multiplayer in their first-person shooters.  Overall: 8.6/10