Crysis 2 leaps out of a lengthy campaign of marketing and hype and ground stomps into the rubble-filled streets of Lower Manhattan. When it hits the right beats it is a game which is unrivalled in its little sub genre but there are one or two caveats to that wholesome praise.
Choosing Lower Manhattan as the backdrop for a disastrous alien invasion and a heroic struggle through the collapsing buildings was perhaps a logical choice for CryTek. New York City is home to a fair few of the world’s most iconic buildings and the island nature of Manhattan allows the premise of a certain degree of isolation to be instilled. It might also have been a brave choice too.
The collapsing buildings, streets filled with mangled wreckage, rubble and the thick, beige cement dust hanging in the air can do nothing but remind almost any player of those tragic, iconic scenes on September 11 2001. For some, the recreation of a Lower Manhattan under attack might be a little too upsetting but the passage of time makes this sort of trading on deep set notions of tragedy inevitable in any entertainment medium. The familiarity in the imagery makes the narrative more believable.
[drop]That story is expertly written with more than a few twist and turns to keep the player on their toes. You begin the game as part of a squad of marines, sent in to assist with a kind of plague which has beset the NYC area, wiping out entire neighbourhoods. Your squad rapidly find themselves well and truly out of their depth and you are left as the sole survivor. At this point, you’re discovered by Prophet, the guy in the Nanosuit that is central to Crysis 2’s game play. Prophet is infected, he can’t go on. So, he drags your near-dead body to one side and stuffs you into his super suit. From this point on you will have to learn how to use the various abilities that the nanotechnology allows in order to complete Prophet’s mission and more.Your suit has a number of key features that effect game play. Each ability the suit bestows on its wearer is regulated by an auto-recharging energy meter. You can cloak, harden your armour, sprint and leap for a limited time but when your energy runs out the effect ceases and if you’re not careful you could find yourself in the midst of battle and totally exposed. The suit also offers a ‘Nanovision’ mode which acts like thermal imaging and a kind of tactical visor with zoom. This tactical visor highlights key points on the game’s many set-piece sandbox areas that you have to work your way through, giving you hints towards the various ways you can progress.
The cinematics are often extremely impressive and the in game visuals are some of the best multi platform console graphics we’ve seen. The voice work often flounders and gives the dialogue a stilted feel which is far below what the scripting deserves. This is a shame because otherwise, the presentation is really very good.
You can choose to toughen up and enter into a full on firefight with all the area’s enemies if you wish. Alternatively, you could choose to use your cloak and the various plentiful cover to sneak through or around them. In many areas you have to choose wisely as one course of action will see you die repeatedly while the other may seem surprisingly easy. In many areas it is a viable tactic to just harden your armour and run through the field of enemies to the next checkpoint.
This brings us to one of the disappointing areas of the game. The checkpointing is often poorly placed and when the difficulty spikes, admittedly usually due to the wrong tactic being employed, you will repeatedly die in certain areas. This is made all the more infuriating by the fact that you will often have to repeat ten minutes of easy progression through an area before you get to the difficulty spike and die again. Sometimes the action is just so relentless that you might have spent twenty minutes really struggling with an area full repeating waves of tough enemies only to be killed by one of the final ones and have to repeat every wave again from the start.
[drop2]It’s fortunate then, that you can upgrade your weaponry with various attachments ranging from different types of sights to under-barrel attachments and extended clips. On top of that, you can also upgrade your suit via a menu built around your suited hand, with each face button responsible for a finger, each with a different area of the suit to provide upgrades for.Suit upgrades are paid for with samples of nanotechnology harvested from fallen alien invaders while weapon upgrades are found throughout the course of your game on the different weapons you can pick up.
The single player campaign is longer than many more recent FPS heavyweights but this is both a blessing and a curse. It’s nice to have a lengthy campaign to sink your teeth into but in truth, there are some places where the pacing grinds to a halt and you’re left trudging along wondering where the excitement went. It feels like there is perhaps a quarter of the game made up with less than exciting filler and it all falls in the first half. This might put some people off but if you persevere, and you will probably still want to, the second half of the game is unrelenting action and joy. Paced with a kind of frantic desperation befitting of the plot twists and rarely tripping up over its sporadic quiet patches, the second half of Crysis 2 is better than any other sci-fi FPS on any platform.
The game is not without its issues though. In addition to the early pacing problems and the poor checkpointing, we noticed several strange glitches or bugs which were, at least, amusing for the few minutes we endured them. Ranging from disappearing guns (hot ammunition seemingly spewing forth from our consciousness) to the usually pretty solid enemy AI taking leave of its senses. There were times when enemies found the side of a container crate vastly more interesting than the super soldier with an assault rifle pinging rounds into them from two metres away. They wouldn’t even turn around for a melee attack.
So, with a comparatively lengthy campaign to work through (and new game plus a possibility) there should be plenty of replay potential in Crysis 2 without even touching the standard, persistent upgrade track (like perks) of multiplayer.
The multiplayer may be built on very similar systems and paths as Call of Duty, et al. but it plays more like a Halo game. The augmented abilities that the suit bestows on the players make the movement feel like Master Chief’s. From the time we’ve spent with Crysis 2’s multiplayer it would also seem to be a little unbalanced. The victors on the battlefield will always be those who use cloaking, Nanovision and sniper weaponry most effectively.
Pros:
- Looks beautiful on consoles, approaching the best of PlayStation 3 exclusives.
- The story is compelling and expertly written.
- The movement and superhuman abilities are used to great effect.
- Cinematics are fantastic and the vistas often breathtaking.
Cons:
- Checkpointing ranges from just acceptable to infuriatingly tough.
- Voice delivery is often a bit wooden.
- Some little AI glitches and multiplayer balancing could put people off.
All things considered, Crysis 2 is a triumph. Sure, it has its occasional issues with checkpointing and enemy AI but you will usually be having too much fun to care too much. The early pacing really does drag for a few stretches but the latter half of the campaign more than makes up for that and the multiplayer, while a little unbalanced, can present great opportunities for superhuman struggles powered by the ubiquitous Nanosuit. It plays like a strange mix of Call of Duty and Halo but in taking the best aspects from each of these series, Crysis 2 might just have found a winning balance.
Rob92
Starting to get bored of all these FPS’s. I bought Killzone 3 the other week and whilst it was breathtaking visually, I was so bored of the monotonous campaign and frankly repetitive online. Its a decent game but half the time I just feel like I’m playing the same game with a slightly different skin. This seems the same.
Wheres the variety in games anymore? Even ‘platformers’ like Enslaved went the whole serious post apocalyptic route. Wheres the fun of Jak and Daxter? I miss the different genres we used to have. Look no further than the SSX reboot, a bloody good example of this rut the games industry seems to be stuck in thanks to a certain Activision franchise.
I’m bored of games now. I’ll go back to playing Pokemon, a franchise which in itself hasnt changed much but still is more entertaining than the majority of shooters around.
OneShotWook
It’s not just videogames doing this though,our generations contribution to arts in general seems to be loaded with end world and apocalypse scenarios,well that and Jamie Oliver saving kids with tomato and mozarella.
I agree though as you probably guessed from my earlier comment,how varied can an Fps be? being able to move from side to side a bit more than usual really shouldn’t be a defining feature as has been the case with all of Cryteks releases if you forgo the graphical appeal.
Bilbo_bobbins
you should try playing Crysis 2, its actually very good. Yes its a FPS but its miles better than KZ3 IMO
Rob92
Everyone said that about KZ3, its better than COD bla bla bla. FPS’s just seem to be disposable, as soon as the next one comes along everyone will be saying its much better than Crysis 2. I’m sure its entertaining but I dont think I’ll be spending any money on FPS now, I need a break from the genre I think.
david
Ive read on Neogaf that twats are using COD tactics to inflate K:D ratios…what ever that means but still, I hate cheaters.
BIGAL-1992
They’re trying to hack the code that’s in charge of the k:d ratio, so they can make themselves look good on the servers.
david
Oh god people like this just need to die.
BIGAL-1992
Awwwwww. I really want this, but I want portal 2 as well.
DrNate86
I got this yesterday and have managed to play a few hours of it, was thoroughly impressed by the whole thing, visuals and gameplay. Not tried the MP yet but the SP feels really unique compared to the usual FPS market.
BigCheese
I’m stuck between this, Homefront, or both :/
moshi
I’m stuck between this and Food Shopping for the week, hmmmm
Smallville2106
lol get games and go to a friend’s house to eat.
moshi
Don’t think the Wife and Cats would be happy with that idea.
DrNate86
Homefront has an average of 70% on Gamerankings, compared to Crysis 2’s 88%. So I would say Crysis!
StevenHibs
Deserves a 9 / 10 due to the fact that Crytek was slated for the demo quality on PS3, myself included, but they more than redeemed themselves with the game
skibadee
well said love the game will enjoy replaying it as well which is rare these days.
Bilbo_bobbins
I agree with this, it’s definitely on par with KZ3 if not better.
Dange
Nice review, will rent and if I like enough pick it up when it comes down in price a bit. too many good games out recently :)
Dange
And the graphics do look amazing btw
SpikeyMikey23
This came through the post on saturday, havent had a chance to play it yet! the case looks nice though ;). Nice review CB, looking forward to trying it. Can imagine myself taking the stealthy route through as when I get highly frustrated by a game, I dont bother returning to it.
quinkill
**Spoilers** I’ve been playing this for a few days now and i’m really enjoying it. Both single player and multiplayer are great, for me it’s a breath of fresh air compared to CoD or Battlefield. Not too sure about this review though, granted you’ve given it a decent score and a solid breakdown, It’s the credibility of those writing this that worries me. Perhaps the reviewer din’t have enough time on it but i’m pretty sure only the first couple of levels take place in “Lower Manhattan” and yet the first three paragraphs state the the game takes place in “Lower Manhattan.” What about the Lower East side?? the Subway?? oh and Central Park?? As I said, i’m not sure if this is just sloppy or a genuine mistake, but mentioning it three times like that kind-of answers that question.
DrNate86
As CB said, it was played to completion. I imagine the mistake was nothing more sinister than perhaps a slightly shakey knowledge of Manhattan geography, if anything at all.
quinkill
maybe maybe
colossalblue
The game was completed and about four and a half hours on multiplayer.
Isn’t the Lower East Side in Lower Manhattan? And aren’t the subway sections mostly around City Hall (where I got married!) and close to Madison Park (with the metal trees, IRL?) which is surely Lower Manhattan?
The first couple of levels take place in the financial district but even moving north, I though you were still in Lower Manhattan until you almost hit Central Park at 59th (I think, my memory is failing and I was only in New York for a couple of weeks!) Then Midtown through the park and parallel streets and uptown is north around Harlem and all that?
Granted, the finale is on a chunk of the park which is Midtown (I think?) but I think everything else is south of 42nd, which I believed could be adequately summarised as “Lower Manhattan” although I’m perfectly aware that my geography and local naming customs might be off.