Author Topic: Crysis was a really fun game (Read 3039 times)

Fragamemnon · « **on:** January 20, 2009, 04:29:44 PM »

So I spent some time last week finishing up Crysis-not Warhead, but the original 2007 release that I never got around to playing because I was too busy playing SMARTY MANS games. I just got a GTX 260 about a month ago and adored the way that Far Cry 2 played on it, so I figured I'd give Crysis a spin since it was just sitting around and because I really enjoyed the demo when it was released.

I sort of approached the game with some concern-all the talk of "the alien bits RUIN the game" and "game goes to shit when the aliens show up" sort of turned me off, because it reminded me of the Xen parts of Half-Life which really were pretty terrible. I knew going in to crank the difficulty all the way up to compensate for intelligent use of the nanosuit, and that was a very good decision-the game really took a nice "think, decide, perform quickly and accurately" tone as a result of that decision. It was challenging but never cheap-unlike any Call of Duty game-and a lot of the combat intangibles like supression and cover really emerged well as a result of the difficutly-if I had played it on normal I probably could have runned and gunned it, which would have been fun but not necessarily a fufilling game experience.

The first half of the game-usually the part praised by people-went really well. The AI was pretty decent, and the huge open vistas really allowed me to approach a situation as I saw fit. The huge amount of weaponry and modifications also let me tailor my approach on the fly-going from scoped assault rifle to combat shotgun let me "think on the fly" a lot more as I worked my way from open terrain to buildings and villages. The North Korean AI forces took some shots to kill, but not any more than killing a player would require in multiplayer, which is just the right amount given that they rarely came in teams larger than five or so unless you boned something up and trained a whole garrison on you. However, at no part was the game really ever a "delta force" style tactical shooter-it was always a pretty standard FPS with just a bit more room to work with, and I think that some people that REALLY wanted to believe that the game was a tactical shooter in these parts caused a lot of the buzz about the latter parts.

Speaking of which, the game does NOT go to shit when the aliens show up. DOES NOT. Blame the aforementioned "TacFags" on that meme-they just wanted a game that was headshotting koreans and sneaking around, and got pissed when the game couldn't be played in that one-dimensional manner once the aliens showed up. The game took a decidedly more scripted an action packed part, but it only lasted a few hours when you hit that point-perfect timing, definitely didn't overstay its welcome and devolve into something that felt overly on rails and boring. The last bits were exceedingly epic, with some huge setpiece fights and some seriously fun places to shoot up aliens in. The game's overall plot is silly stupid, but who cares about plot? Plot is for talky talky games, not a "eat this gauss rile shot holy shit I feel like a fire warrior with this gun wearing this suit" game.

The vehicle bits in the game were also very well done and worth a mention. I especially liked the fact that they embraced a lot of battlefield chaos in them, which made things more belieavable and interesting than if you could inch your tank bit by bit and kill everything. They were hectic and fast paced, enemies and friends alike both die a lot, and they did a good job of recreating the out of control nature of a active battle.

Very fun game overall. If you're a normal FPS player and had sort of shyed away due to some of the alien level complaints, let me say that it's welll worth checking out. Only if you have a 8800GT/8800GTS 640 or above in your computer, as the game I feel doesn't run well on anything lower than that.

cool breeze · « **Reply #1 on:** January 20, 2009, 04:41:06 PM »

You have to understand that the reason the Alien segments were so poorly regarded was because the transition between the A > B style of gameplay was so quick and different. I don't think it was ever so much that the Alien segments were so bad in themselves, but just that the general progression of the game was wonky because of it. If you are thinking about picking up Warhead in the future, it manages to have a nice balance between the two without any jarring switch between them.

I don't think anyone should have been avoiding the game because of the Alien segments since in most cases people would praise the initial parts so highly, even if they would later trash the Alien segments (which, again, is a bit overblown). Even playing half the game and quitting still makes for a great shooter if you were really worried about the Alien segments.

And I've actually been thinking about replaying the original Crysis since several drivers have come out for the 8800gt and performance in my other games have gone up significantly. It still ran fairly well back when I did play it outside of the ice levels.

Eric P · « **Reply #2 on:** January 20, 2009, 04:42:29 PM »

waiting for price drop but i liked the demo well enough.

i haven't played it since the new super driver came out from nvidia, so hopefully that adds a nice increase in performance as well

demi · « **Reply #3 on:** January 20, 2009, 04:59:28 PM »

This game fucking sucks and I hate PC gamers because of it

Fragamemnon · « **Reply #4 on:** January 20, 2009, 05:02:01 PM »

shouldn't you be playing some terribad jrpg demi

demi · « **Reply #5 on:** January 20, 2009, 05:02:48 PM »

The Last Remnant is coming to PC too, distinguished mentally-challenged fellow

Owned...

Fragamemnon · « **Reply #6 on:** January 20, 2009, 05:10:31 PM »

last remnant isn't terribad though.

demi · « **Reply #7 on:** January 20, 2009, 05:13:49 PM »

Exactly. It is not terribad. Like Crysis.

Fragamemnon · « **Reply #8 on:** January 20, 2009, 05:20:43 PM »

I didn't think Crysis was bad at all, but I am looking forward to Last Remnant when it comes out on the PC. Though who the heck knows when that will be (wiki says Spring, which I guess means May or something)

Crushed · « **Reply #9 on:** January 20, 2009, 05:23:31 PM »

Crysis was awesome. I'll admit to being somewhat of a "tacfag" when it comes to the alien parts, but they were okay. I'm just annoyed that with both it and Warhead, Crytek can't seem to make a game without it turning into a bunch of scripted action sequences at the halfway point.

cool breeze · « **Reply #10 on:** January 20, 2009, 05:25:35 PM »

you make it sound like they're Sonic team or something

the scripted segments in Warhead still allow for a lot of freedom compared to the original or most shooters out there. Some of them are pretty cool too, like that train part.

Bebpo · « **Reply #11 on:** January 20, 2009, 05:35:18 PM »

I really should upgrade my videocard so I can play this. I keep hoping for a dumbed down console port so I can sit and upgrade my GPU once every 8 years like I've been doing so far, but it doesn't seem like it's coming.

Can you get a card under $200 these days that can run this well at 30fps+?

demi · « **Reply #12 on:** January 20, 2009, 05:41:14 PM »

8800GT runs it fine

Kestastrophe · « **Reply #13 on:** January 20, 2009, 06:13:38 PM »

Definitely one of my favorite shooters. I liked the set pieces in the game and I thought everything was very well done, except the story (which was just average). I would have preferred that they used in game story-telling exclusively instead of the cinematics. I didn't like Warhead very much though. It just felt like an even cheaper story and Psycho is a shitty character imo.

duckman2000 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:13:49 AM »

Crysis

dark1x · « **Reply #15 on:** January 21, 2009, 08:29:27 AM »

Quote

You have to understand that the reason the Alien segments were so poorly regarded was because the transition between the A > B style of gameplay was so quick and different. I don't think it was ever so much that the Alien segments were so bad in themselves, but just that the general progression of the game was wonky because of it. If you are thinking about picking up Warhead in the future, it manages to have a nice balance between the two without any jarring switch between them.

I disagree with that, actually. I thought they built up to an excellent climax against the Korean forces while bringing the player ever closer to the looming monolith in the distance. When the situation changes and the player is left alone in the mountain, I feel the entire zero-g segment really eased the player into this new battlefield. There was very little combat and it left you wondering just what the hell was going on for a decent period of time. When you reach the exit, you expect something to change and it does. I don't see how they could have handled it better. Would you have preferred an anti-climactic battle with the Koreans?

I loved the game from beginning to end and it stands as one of my favorite FPS titles of all time. I thought Warhead was a step down all around as well.

cool breeze · « **Reply #16 on:** January 21, 2009, 09:37:01 AM »

Quote from: dark1x on January 21, 2009, 08:29:27 AM

Quote
You have to understand that the reason the Alien segments were so poorly regarded was because the transition between the A > B style of gameplay was so quick and different. I don't think it was ever so much that the Alien segments were so bad in themselves, but just that the general progression of the game was wonky because of it. If you are thinking about picking up Warhead in the future, it manages to have a nice balance between the two without any jarring switch between them.
I disagree with that, actually. I thought they built up to an excellent climax against the Korean forces while bringing the player ever closer to the looming monolith in the distance. When the situation changes and the player is left alone in the mountain, I feel the entire zero-g segment really eased the player into this new battlefield. There was very little combat and it left you wondering just what the hell was going on for a decent period of time. When you reach the exit, you expect something to change and it does. I don't see how they could have handled it better. Would you have preferred an anti-climactic battle with the Koreans?

I loved the game from beginning to end and it stands as one of my favorite FPS titles of all time. I thought Warhead was a step down all around as well.

I think it would have worked a lot better if they had a few segments before the Zero-G parts where there was sort of a 3-way battle between you, the aliens, and the Koreans going on to give you a taste of what's to come; maybe even throw in a few brief scripted battles to make the transition seem better. I can somewhat agree that based on the story it made sense what they did, but when it comes down to what you experience when playing it, it's a jump from one style to the next.

dark1x · « **Reply #17 on:** January 21, 2009, 10:25:34 AM »

Quote from: swaggaz on January 21, 2009, 09:37:01 AM

Quote from: dark1x on January 21, 2009, 08:29:27 AM
Quote
You have to understand that the reason the Alien segments were so poorly regarded was because the transition between the A > B style of gameplay was so quick and different. I don't think it was ever so much that the Alien segments were so bad in themselves, but just that the general progression of the game was wonky because of it. If you are thinking about picking up Warhead in the future, it manages to have a nice balance between the two without any jarring switch between them.
I disagree with that, actually. I thought they built up to an excellent climax against the Korean forces while bringing the player ever closer to the looming monolith in the distance. When the situation changes and the player is left alone in the mountain, I feel the entire zero-g segment really eased the player into this new battlefield. There was very little combat and it left you wondering just what the hell was going on for a decent period of time. When you reach the exit, you expect something to change and it does. I don't see how they could have handled it better. Would you have preferred an anti-climactic battle with the Koreans?

I loved the game from beginning to end and it stands as one of my favorite FPS titles of all time. I thought Warhead was a step down all around as well.

I think it would have worked a lot better if they had a few segments before the Zero-G parts where there was sort of a 3-way battle between you, the aliens, and the Koreans going on to give you a taste of what's to come; maybe even throw in a few brief scripted battles to make the transition seem better. I can somewhat agree that based on the story it made sense what they did, but when it comes down to what you experience when playing it, it's a jump from one style to the next.

I thought their introduction added to the mystery and intensity. If you had started to encounter them along with the Koreans I think it would have been far less interesting overall.

cool breeze · « **Reply #18 on:** January 21, 2009, 12:04:57 PM »

Quote from: dark1x on January 21, 2009, 10:25:34 AM

Quote from: swaggaz on January 21, 2009, 09:37:01 AM
Quote from: dark1x on January 21, 2009, 08:29:27 AM
Quote
You have to understand that the reason the Alien segments were so poorly regarded was because the transition between the A > B style of gameplay was so quick and different. I don't think it was ever so much that the Alien segments were so bad in themselves, but just that the general progression of the game was wonky because of it. If you are thinking about picking up Warhead in the future, it manages to have a nice balance between the two without any jarring switch between them.
I disagree with that, actually. I thought they built up to an excellent climax against the Korean forces while bringing the player ever closer to the looming monolith in the distance. When the situation changes and the player is left alone in the mountain, I feel the entire zero-g segment really eased the player into this new battlefield. There was very little combat and it left you wondering just what the hell was going on for a decent period of time. When you reach the exit, you expect something to change and it does. I don't see how they could have handled it better. Would you have preferred an anti-climactic battle with the Koreans?

I loved the game from beginning to end and it stands as one of my favorite FPS titles of all time. I thought Warhead was a step down all around as well.

I think it would have worked a lot better if they had a few segments before the Zero-G parts where there was sort of a 3-way battle between you, the aliens, and the Koreans going on to give you a taste of what's to come; maybe even throw in a few brief scripted battles to make the transition seem better. I can somewhat agree that based on the story it made sense what they did, but when it comes down to what you experience when playing it, it's a jump from one style to the next.
I thought their introduction added to the mystery and intensity. If you had started to encounter them along with the Koreans I think it would have been far less interesting overall.

but you already did encounter them earlier on, just in various segments when you couldn't fight them. I'm talking purely about helping the gameplay/pacing here.

dark1x · « **Reply #19 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:17:40 PM »

Quote from: swaggaz on January 21, 2009, 12:04:57 PM

but you already did encounter them earlier on, just in various segments when you couldn't fight them. I'm talking purely about helping the gameplay/pacing here.

Yes, but their appearance was little more than a hint at what was to come as their screen time was so brief. I can see what you are getting at, but I still think the way they handled their appearance was most effective. I believe tweaking the actual enemies themselves would have been more effective.

patrickula · « **Reply #20 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:52:03 PM »

It is a fun game. I'm looking forward to replaying it at a better framerate and native res after an upgrade some day

Warhead's good too, ran a bit better on my rig as well. I don't think it had any levels as good as the best from Crysis but it was more solid throughout.

Bebpo · « **Reply #21 on:** March 05, 2009, 06:32:19 PM »

I upgraded!

After installing a XFX 9800GTX+ BE in my somewhat old setup, and putting everything in Crysis on HIGH at 1280x720p going out to my tv, I'm getting about 20-25fps, which is playable but not quite there. I know if I upgrade my cpu I can get above 30fps, but I'd rather save $300 for now and see if anyone here has any tweaking tips to get the most fps out of Crysis while having it look hot.

I played the first 30 mins or so and game seemed pretty fun. I'm looking forward to finally playing this and then Warhead.

Also what do you guys with only 2 mouse buttons set your superpower select to? It seems like something you need to use constantly, and the best I can think of is putting it on "e".

FatalT · « **Reply #22 on:** March 05, 2009, 06:35:22 PM »

I had my superpower set to the middle mouse button. You DO have a middle mouse button right? I hope you do, at least. The scroll wheel thingy.

Bebpo · « **Reply #23 on:** March 05, 2009, 06:37:14 PM »

I only have a wheel ^^;

I use a decade old logitech trackball with 2 buttons & a scroll bar. I'm thinking it might finally be time to get a new mouse, but I'm so used to using a trackball I don't think I could go back >_<

cool breeze · « **Reply #24 on:** March 05, 2009, 06:41:56 PM »

I haven't used a mouse with less than 5 buttons in years, so I just put that menu on the side mouse button.

Now I have a Logitech G9. 8 programmable buttons

Bebpo · « **Reply #25 on:** March 07, 2009, 12:05:22 AM »

I just got to Assault where you start out at night and get off the plane and there's colored flares everywhere and artillery going off nonstop.

It looks awesoooome. Call of Duty but better!

Mrbob · « **Reply #26 on:** March 07, 2009, 10:49:04 AM »

Can't wait to try it out. Just picked up Crysis. And Warhead. You can get both for 10 dollars at best buy right now with their reward zone coupon.

fistfulofmetal · « **Reply #27 on:** March 07, 2009, 01:29:12 PM »

When you get to the level where you go into an Alien ship, just stop playing. The game is over at that point.

Kestastrophe · « **Reply #28 on:** March 07, 2009, 01:37:36 PM »

I didn't mind the alien levels, and I thought the spaceship level was very creepy. It's definitely not as dynamic as the korean levels, but I don't think the alien levels are without value.

For $10 Warhead is a good game, but I wouldn't pay anything more than that. Pretty disappointing after playing through the original

Draft · « **Reply #29 on:** March 07, 2009, 05:20:20 PM »

Quote from: Mrbob on March 07, 2009, 10:49:04 AM

Can't wait to try it out. Just picked up Crysis. And Warhead. You can get both for 10 dollars at best buy right now with their reward zone coupon.

Mr. Bob

Swung by Best Buy after the gym, got the last copy of Crysis AND Crysis Warzone for $20. Also, in a metaphorical up yours to 2G2D, I bought the collectors edition of RA3, even though I already own the regular edition.

Eel O'Brian · « **Reply #30 on:** March 07, 2009, 05:46:27 PM »

Man, Crysis Warhead is the first game I've run into that really trashes my system. Even on mainstream settings I still dip below 20fps in certain bits. If that's optimized, I know the original would just eat up my poor PC.

cool breeze · « **Reply #31 on:** March 07, 2009, 06:51:54 PM »

original Crysis actually ran slight better on my PC for some reason

and yeah, the Crysis games are the only games that really humble my PC. I mean, I can't max out Far Cry 2 or STALKER Clear Sky either, but I can get those settings pretty high in those games when I need to compromise with Crysis (no v-sync, etc.)

Bebpo · « **Reply #32 on:** March 07, 2009, 07:12:45 PM »

Quote from: swaggaz on March 07, 2009, 06:51:54 PM

original Crysis actually ran slight better on my PC for some reason

and yeah, the Crysis games are the only games that really humble my PC. I mean, I can't max out Far Cry 2 or STALKER Clear Sky either, but I can get those settings pretty high in those games when I need to compromise with Crysis (no v-sync, etc.)

Does v-sync really hurt your performance that much? I keep it enabled in every game because I can't stand tearing.

cool breeze · « **Reply #33 on:** March 07, 2009, 07:32:22 PM »

I can tolerate tearing unless it gets way too bad, which I haven't experienced with Crysis, so I keep v-sync off to get as good as frame rate as I can get. Some games, like Bioshock, kill my eyes with v-sync off.

Bebpo · « **Reply #34 on:** March 07, 2009, 08:03:18 PM »

During this first half of the game, my only complaint is that for all the non-linear gameplay, everytime the game says "we need you to blow up 'X"" it boils down to finding X and then walking around the perimeter until you find a missile launcher or c4 explosive and then using it on X.

I wish the game was a little more Crackdown-ish with the super powers so you'd have more creative freedom in how you handled these situations. Like I'd rather just pick up a car and throw it at the object so the car explodes taking X down with it. Or just punch X into pieces. I guess it would make it too easy, but more fun.

demi · « **Reply #35 on:** March 07, 2009, 08:11:07 PM »

Quote from: Eel O'Brian on March 07, 2009, 05:46:27 PM

Man, Crysis Warhead is the first game I've run into that really trashes my system. Even on mainstream settings I still dip below 20fps in certain bits. If that's optimized, I know the original would just eat up my poor PC.

I'm pretty sure Warhead was shit on everyone's machines.

Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich · « **Reply #36 on:** March 08, 2009, 03:06:01 PM »

Finally got my videocard (9800GT) after a couple days of waiting (and using shitty integrated video). Can't wait to break it in with Crysis.

PC gaming

Bebpo · « **Reply #37 on:** March 10, 2009, 11:55:50 PM »

This game has become amazing.

Far Cry was the game that taught me non-linear FP = NO LEVEL DESIGN. Besides the Trigen screwing FC up, my main beef with FC was that once you enjoyed the amazing open island gameplay in the first hour, you've basically enjoyed the entire game since the entire game was just JUNGLE JUNGLE OUTPOST JUNGLE JUNGLE OUTPOST. Oblivion kind of re-enforced my disinterest in non-linear big open maps as everywhere in Oblivion looked the same and had almost no level design.

But hey, Crysis has actual level design :O The game has done a really good job at mixing it up and every section of each level feels like a pretty unique experience with multiple ways to tackle it.

I'm in the mines right now and it feels like a whole different game from the mine entrance chaos, which felt like a whole different experience from securing the landing zone refinery, which was quite different from the AAA guns and the tanks, etc...etc...somewhere along the way the team learned that variety is nice

Time flies by playing this and I already want to do a 2nd replay once I get a new cpu/motherboard.

Bebpo · « **Reply #38 on:** March 11, 2009, 05:45:38 AM »

Beat it.
Awesome, awesome game. Definitely top3 fps campaign material. I can't believe these are the same guys that made Far Cry.

The first 2/3rds were like Far Cry done 10x better so it actually works and the last 1/3rd was like Halo with ZOMG graphics and great set pieces. Loved every minute of it.

The whole tanker level was

visually. Most impressive graphics ever, jeez. My system held up ok for most of the game except for the final boss which I did at 3-5fps using a lot of quick-saving and dozens of deaths. But it looked SO GOOD so I wasn't willing to turn things down for it.

So with the ending...does that mean they're making Crysis 2? Is it going to be made by some other guys like FC2? I'd like another Crysis game by this team.

Best game I've played this year so far.

Tauntaun · « **Reply #39 on:** March 11, 2009, 11:18:52 AM »

Crysis was teh awesome. MP was a lot of fun too.

Mrbob · « **Reply #40 on:** March 12, 2009, 04:20:08 PM »

Just got to the part where Prophet was taken away....digging the game big time.

I'm basically playing this game like the predator. Using one shot headshots to pick off the enemies one at a time, hiding in thick bush cover. Cloaking myself, recharging, and going at it again. I don't really use the speed or strength ability so far. Speed I used when I was fighting the two tanks. After I took out one I needed to find some more ammo so I would take potshots while zooming around the area. Strength mostly relegated to jumping higher areas. Although if I clear out an area besides one guy....I'll mess with him cloaked throwing barrels his way, going back into hiding. Running around behind him cloaked, switch to strength...pick him up and carry him to a tall ledge to throw him over. I did hop onto a building with 3 enemies inside and pounded on it until it collapsed on them!

Weapon tweaking on the fly is awesome as well. I scope out my shotgun, set to the burst to direct fire and I can do some major damage from a distance! The only problem is this fire can alarm other enemies in the area! But then I take them out as well!

I did see the tanker out in the distance. I've thought about attempting to swim out there and see what happens!

After I finish the game, I might try to play through it again with hacked abilities which don't diminish your energy bar. See what crazy scenerios I can come up with for taking out enemies. I can't believe it took me so long to get this game, but I'm happy I finally have it. People who call this game a tech demo are crazy.

Bebpo · « **Reply #41 on:** March 12, 2009, 06:47:27 PM »

I've noticed a few of the reviews also say they hardly used speed.

Which is interesting because I was on speed 70% of the time and cloak the other 30%. Hardly used strength at all. Speed with shift running let me outrun ANYTHING in fire fights, including helicopter fire. It also let me zoom across openings when stealthing through jungles in a flash before anyone could see me and then I'm cloaked again. It also let me RUN LIKE HELL TO THE NEXT OBJECTIVE POINT if I was in a pinch

Just goes to show how open the game is

It'd be cool if people made mods with new powers.

Mrbob · « **Reply #42 on:** March 13, 2009, 01:37:35 AM »

Is there a way to take down these choppers without a rocket launcher?

I'm trying to see if I can snipe the pilot but I never get a good shot. They are a bit annoying because they follow you around even if you are cloaked. Trying to take out the second AA gun, this chopper is a pain in the ass to shake off.

Fragamemnon · « **Reply #43 on:** March 13, 2009, 01:51:18 AM »

Quote from: Mrbob on March 13, 2009, 01:37:35 AM

Is there a way to take down these choppers without a rocket launcher?

I'm trying to see if I can snipe the pilot but I never get a good shot. They are a bit annoying because they follow you around even if you are cloaked. Trying to take out the second AA gun, this chopper is a pain in the ass to shake off.

I think I sniped one in the cockpit once, but it was a freak accident. Use the rocket launcher or just keep moving and try to evade/sneak away from them if you can.

Mrbob · « **Reply #44 on:** March 13, 2009, 03:36:11 AM »

Yeah I'm cloaking and going really slow....don't have the firepower to take it out. I wonder if I can put on maximum strength, take one of those exploding canisters and chuck it at the chopper. Might have to test this out!

Like Far Cry, the AI line of sight of sometimes too good in this game. You think you are in cover and hidden and all of a sudden an enemy spots you from way off in the distance.

Mrbob · « **Reply #45 on:** March 13, 2009, 03:48:23 AM »

Nice, will have to try out!

Is the day/night cycle in this game triggered when you get to certain areas, or does it happen in game real time?

The beginning setup of the AA mission is awesome. It was night, you see AA guns going off everywhere, mortar fire reigning down. So much destruction, smoke, sky lighting up, and fire happening everywhere I thought my computer was going to choke and die for a second! Crytek really did a fantastic job with the set pieces in this game. Especially for how open they are. At least from what I have played so far!

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Author Topic: Crysis was a really fun game (Read 3039 times)