Crysis 2

Crysis, developed by Crytek and released by the Borg (EA) 4 years ago, was a technical masterpiece. The games graphics and presentation set the new standard for comparing video game visuals and even today it its still rarely surpassed in both beauty and detail. The game placed the player in the shoes of a special forces US commando in an ultra advance nanosuit. This piece of kit gives the soldiers considerable tactical advantages over troopers without similar attire. The suit gave the player speed boosts, strength boosts, a bad ass outfit and more importantly, the ability to bend light around themselves and blend into the background, ie turn invisible Predator style. 

Strangely, Crysis 2 despite using a newer version of the same engine, actually looks rather bland compared to its predecessor. I guess this could have something to do with this game being set in an urban environment rather than verdant jungle. However that said the visuals are still very impressive. The games setting of a recently deserted and destroyed NYC looks great. The streets and empty buildings are creepy and unsettling. The game reminded me a lot of games like Left 4 Dead and I kept waiting to attract an undead horde or interrupt some unsightly zombies chowing down on one of their mates. Luckily we have no living dead, just some rather nasty aliens so the atmosphere and overall feel are both memorable. Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed with Crysis 2. Despite the inordinate amount of time it took to produce a sequel, we were left with an unexciting and very standard military sci-fi shooter that seems to be living on the success of its predecessors rather than its own innovative merits.

One major failing of the game is the plot. Its is very poor. Like the shit storm that was the setting for Red Faction Armageddon, here its the same. The relatively decent story from the first game seems to have been almost completely ignored or forgotten. Only one of the characters from the first 2 games makes a return and is dead within the opening cut scene. The original setting, the Lingshan Islands, the gigantic buried alien space ship at their centre, the huge freezing sphere that grew to envelop them, North Korea's involvement and their own secret nanosuits, and sinking of an entire American battle fleet and all the heroism and slaughter in between is never even mentioned. Some attempt was made to link them but I was left scratching my head as I tried to connect the dots.

Long story short, an alien virus has been unleashed in New York City (yawn) causing the horrific deaths of anyone affected and the breakdown of civil and social order. It was released by the Ceph, a squid like species of aliens that are emerging from large subterranean machines and causing mayhem and destruction. The player takes control of Alcatraz, a Force Recon grunt who was sent into NYC to extract a scientist with information on the invading aliens. Alcatraz is selected by Prophet, the commanding officer of the original group of nanosuit soldiers from the first two games, to wear his suit as he has become infected by the alien virus. Prophet appears inexplicably at the exact right time to save your life and send you on your way before killing himself. 

There are a few NPCs that guide Alcatraz as you move through the game, but they are all clichéd and uninspired. The cast of characters are as forgettable as the shape of your most recent turd. This includes: the bullied but ultimately right scientist ass-hole, your grim but honourable commander, the aggressive and arrogant renegade and the sneaky corporate type who manipulates the scenes from behind. All shite we've all seen before in every military sci-fi shooter ever made.

It is not all bad though. The original game was an enjoyable experience. The stealth element was well done and the different nanosuit powers had to be balanced in order to succeed. Combat was fun and there was a large number of different weapons and tactics to choose from. Most of this survives relatively intact and fighting the different enemies, both humans and aliens, can be quite rewarding.

While the original game did have linear missions, the maps were huge, allowing the player a lot of freedom in how they wanted to approach their objective. Crysis 2 is a much more linear game with the maps confining the player to a very limited or even just one path to follow. This isn’t too bad as many of the missions can despite being intensive, are often passable on your first or second try, so your not looking around for alternate paths too often. The old quick save feature also eliminates much repetition.

The are also some brief vehicle sections. Unlike in Crysis, these sections cant be ignored or an alternate route taken. They are unremarkable and don’t add or take away much from the game. Most modern shooters have a vehicle section so then obviously Crysis 2 must have some too.

This guy allowed me pick off his whole team and he didnt move an inch

The next major point of contention is the games AI. Its awful, shocking in fact. I was very disappointed at this aspect of the game, especially in this day and age. The enemies are so stupid it can negatively impact on gameplay. Now I'm not a fan of near sentient AI that is capable of anticipating and countering my every move. Video game realism is a double edged sword. However here, we have the opposite problem. Huge alien biomechs get stuck behind lamp posts, elite foot soldiers don't pursue you if you simply leave the room. Squads of freshly dropped troops will march oblivious straight into your fire and have no demonstrable tactics whatsoever. Most annoyingly, say you find a nice vantage point for a spot of sniping, you can pick off a line of soldiers one by one. The AI wont react in anyway to me dropping 5 of his buddies in plain sight as he stands there drooling (well probably) waiting for his turn to be shot...Idiot!

Also, it was sometimes too easy to simply walk and sneak past whole legions of troops and aliens with the nanosuits cloak ability. This ability, while a stable tactic from the original game, would not always guarantee success as the games AI would attack any disturbances in the foliage or forests. Crysis 2 allows you to nearly walk right up to your enemies and kill them instantly with a melee attack. As mentioned above, insane abilities and ridiculous levels of carnage is all good, but in this instance it just feels like the developers rushed this part of the process in their efforts to get the game finished. 

Dont worry, just aim at the huge unarmored weak point

The primary enemies are unsurprisingly the Ceph. These do look interesting, with the run of the mill enemies resembling cybernetic octopi of varying sizes. Most of the common footsoldiers have shiny silver armour and exposed pink flailing tentacles. They can be brought down pretty easily with standard weapons and some precision shots into the exposed pink areas can often kill them outright. Apparently the alien armour smiths failed to notice that the large gap over your quivering exposed brain could give their enemies a tactical advantage... and then we are led to believe that these guys invented FTL technology?? Bah!

Other foes are larger aliens in more impressive suits of armour. There are some enemy fliers, but these are only found in some set battles and their strength and weaponry vary depending on the point in the plot you are at. Some large and dangerous aliens do exist, so heavy ordinance is often needed. Luckily, the inhabitants of this near futuristic version of NYC conveniently leave large caches of ammo and advanced classified weapons in every conceivable place. So whenever a large or dangerous alien is around, you can be sure some forward thinking financial executive left a nano enhance rocket launcher under a pizza box somewhere in the vicinity.

Another group of enemies is CELL. This is the human faction of enemies in the game. It seems the writers of all video games these days need to constantly remind us that humans are evil, self destructive and are only out for themselves. While I cannot argue with this assessment, why does every game or story of alien invasion always insist on including some treacherous humans to add to the slaughter... In the original game, humans are the primary enemies throughout the game, here they're just added for posterity. Needless to say they are less of a threat than the aliens and you can understand what they say to one another.

I will give an honourable mention to the alien walkers. These are quite similar to the tripods from War of the Worlds and can be a bastard to kill. They look great and the few occasions when you get to fight them are some of the better parts of the game.

There is some fun to be had in the games set battles and sequences. When your not moving though the streets picking off the lobotomised aliens, large battles in well known NYC locales are lots of fun. NYC does look great and the large scale alien structures bringing down skyscrapers in the distance do much to enhance the atmosphere. Memorable sequences involve the battle in Times Square where the aliens finally manage to knock out the power, suddenly plunging the streets into darkness. The fight in and around Central Station is also enjoyable as is running from an artifical tsunami.

So to conclude, this isn't necessarily a bad game, the fights are fun, presentation is top notch and some of the set sequences are really cool. However the games terrible writing, awful AI and boring cliched setting of NYC under siege really killed my enthusiasm and I cannot offer the game much more than C grade. Its a pity the second game in the Crysis trilogy was treated like it was as it could have been an epic addition to the franchise.

If one word could sum up my feelings for Crysis 2 it is this one: Meh