As i'm sure many of you have noticed, a slew of announcements have come pouring out of Gamescom today including the announcements of games like Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, Resistance 3, and Postal 3. However, I consider those to be widely known quantities so it's no wonder the reveal of the Crysis 2 multi-player caught my attention the fastest.

Not only is Crysis 2 going to be my first opportunity to partake in the eye sex that is Crysis, it will be my first time to play around in a shooter where the character himself is potentially the most interesting weapon. The nanosuit always seemed like a great idea but I went into media blackout when Crysis was released because I knew it was outside the realm of possibility to even play it. I had to resist temptation. Now, with the shift to consoles, Crysis is finally a relevant IP for me to show interest in. While shooters typically hover somewhere around moderate excitement for me, Crysis 2 strikes me as a something that could be truly unique and one of the best shooting experiences on a console... if handled correctly. Take a look at the multi-player reveal and then I will sound off my thoughts.


Upon hearing that Crysis 2 would be coming to consoles, I was immediately overjoyed and pumped to get my greedy little hands on the details. When they announced the setting would be shifting to New York City, I found myself stuck between anticipation and concern. The environment certainly has potential for amazing storytelling, set piece moments, and vertical game-play but a part of me will always miss the elaborately detailed jungle setting of the original. With this reveal of the multi-player, it certainly seems that the change in setting was made with Multi-player in mind. Here are a few things I noticed about the footage:

    • The sound design in Crysis 2 seems breathtaking.  The impact and resonance of the battle sounds is striking and seems to hold it's own against the gorgeous visuals.  This game will certainly be among the best looking/sounding games of this console generation.
    • The ability to traverse the environment by climbing and jumping seems to give it a bit extra edge and encourage players to think on their toes in ways that simply weren't possible in CoD or Halo.
    • The Nanosuit is certainly a fun looking toy but I hope that they take it much further than what shown in the demo.  Turning invisible and snapping a dudes neck is great but where is the super-human strength and agility.  I expect those stats to improve as players progress.  I feel the suit should be the cornerstone of player progression in a game like this and not the arsenal.
    • Speaking of weapons, the weapons in the trailer looked and sound beautiful but seemed a bit uninspired for a sci-fi shooter like this.  Can anyone comment on the quality and originality of the weapons in the original and perhaps your hopes for the sequel?


It is still too early to tell but I am hoping that Crysis 2 will come together as one of the more memorable, rewarding shooting experiences of next year.  Before PAX begins, one of the first things we will be doing is getting some hands on time with Crysis 2 multi-player so stay tuned over the next few weeks to get some hands on impressions.

Comments

  • Avatar
    Hegs94
    14 years, 3 months ago

    I have just become 10 times more interested in this game (Not that I wasn't before), but I don't know what to do, I can't afford to buy all the awesome games coming out this season. Last year we got like nothing, now we're getting too much, someone please tell the Industry to make up their damn minds lol.

  • Avatar
    Shotokanguy
    14 years, 3 months ago

    I've been interested in Crysis 2 for a while now since I read about their aim for the general gameplay. They've used sandbox to describe it, but also choreographed. I assume that means scripted.

    So imagine being able to tackle New York City with your super suit in a plethora of ways, while still running into great scripted moments. Sounds cool. One of the reasons I loved Halo and Halo 3's single player was you could approach the obstacles in several different ways. Freedom in an FPS makes it fun. I'm hoping I get to do all kinds of things in this game.

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    Sgtpierceface
    14 years, 3 months ago

    Nick, are you serious about liking the way the game sounds? I don't know if it was because of my computer speakers, but for almost the entire trailer there is a constant pop-pop-pop of machine guns, and it automatically struck me as annoying. The shooting looks the same as a Battlefield or Call of Duty, but with no gimmick or distinguishing trait to differentiate itself. To me, this looks like a FPS that brings absolutely nothing new to the genre.

    I did like the traversal mechanics though, and I'll give it the benefit of a doubt that it looks amazing, and a low quality video isn't representative.

  • Avatar
    Crytreky
    14 years, 3 months ago

    Did Crysis 1 play as good as it looked? Crysis 1 looked good but played like shit. I expect Crysis 2 to be worse. Crytek is a company that overhypes their graphics because they don't want to talk about their mediocre gameplay.

  • Avatar
    Okrag
    14 years, 3 months ago

    The weapons in Crysis 1 were pretty cool, though they may seem generic, the customization in single player was great. Also there was a minigun and a railgun.

  • Avatar
    inthenameofharmon
    14 years, 3 months ago

    I say go out and play it, since no matter what it seems like an adventure worth having, good or bad. Example: Wipeout, for the wii. I expected it to suck when my friends bought it but the multiplayer is refreshing and hilarious due to how glitchy and crazy it can get.

  • Avatar
    TheRoosterIllusion
    14 years, 3 months ago

    Postal 3?

  • Avatar
    Rhineville
    14 years, 3 months ago

    If you look closely, in the demo you can see a bunch of dudes shooting each other.

    Should be a unique gameplay experience.

  • Avatar
    zzman305
    14 years, 3 months ago

    I hope they can pull off the controls to make vertical gameplay good, if not then the game will definately suffer

  • Avatar
    jomei64
    14 years, 3 months ago

    My friend was fortunate enough to have the specs to run Crysis 1 on his computer, and he let me try it out when I was over at his place. He showed me a little gameplay from his in-game save and I saw the potential of the game, and was already formulating how I would tackle obstacles and traverse terrain even as my friend was. Then came my turn. I played about 10 minutes into the 1st level and lost all interest. It felt clunky, awkward, and too much like your basic shooter. Also, the Power mode, guns blazing, running cover to cover approach I tried only resulted in my death. My friend then suggested I use Stealth mode, which worked like a charm. You could argue that I really didn't give it a chance, but when a game presents the opportunity to play through however you like, I find it discouraging that only one mode makes the game feasible to play. I hope for it to be a one-of-a-kind innovative shooter, but Crysis 2 isn't even a blip on my radar right now. Plus, the multiplayer looks a lot like Section 8, which was meh.

  • Avatar
    Anonymuzz
    14 years, 3 months ago

    The first half of the original Crysis was repetitive and boring, but the second half blew me away in probably the most exciting game experiences of that year. Crysis 2 looks like a step in the right direction to me. Considering the first half was just "kill infantry, wander through jungle", I'm wholeheartedly welcoming the environment change.

  • Avatar
    Muddy_Donuts
    14 years, 3 months ago

    Having never played Crysis 1, I am really hoping this game will be great, so i can experience what gamers have been bragging about ever since its release.

  • Avatar
    Anon
    14 years, 3 months ago

    Wow, they turned it into a VERY generic xbox FPS didn't they..

    Why in the hell are you excited for this junk...?

  • Avatar
    Frieden
    14 years, 3 months ago

    Crysis was kind of "meh." Crysis: Warhead, on the other hand, was one of my favorite games that I still play today. It was more optimized than the first, and the gameplay was far more exciting.

    With that in mind, Crysis 2 will be a day one buy for me.

  • Avatar
    G_money
    14 years, 3 months ago

    Hell, it looks beautiful and it sounds f**king amazing. But, I was a little concerned with the sensitivity of some of the people who were playing. It appeared that the controls had a sort of weight on them making it a nusiance to move around, kind of like Bad Company 2.

    As for the weapons; they seem like the typical run of the mill weapons, sith a little bit of a futuristic twist. But if it is anything like the original, the customization should be pretty tight. Picture MGS4 customization, a little like that.

  • Avatar
    wilko2603
    14 years, 3 months ago

    cant be any worse than the first game don`t get me wrong it looked amazing but the main story blew chunks all over the game, no matter how polished the graphics are i play games for the story firstly and graphics just come as a nice bonus.