Articles
Crysis-Online Review of Crysis
Posted: 14 Sep, 2008 16:47
by
Tom
It\'s been over 24 months since I first laid eyes on CryENGINE 2, and about 20 Months since I saw the name Crysis for the first time. It\'s time for me to give my opinion on the game that we\'ve all been waiting so long for.
My Review
After just completing the final level of Crysis, I\'ve left the game feeling good, but not as good as I thought I would. After then getting a 30 minute taste of multiplayer, I\'ve left feeling frustrated at the amount of obvious bugs which have made it through to the retail version of the game. Although the lack of polish in Crysis isn\'t near as bad as BF2 was when it were released, it\'s definitely not the best. Besides the bugs, I think in the case of Crysis, Crytek have been their own worst enemy. I feel that Crytek showed off too much of the game, too early; and they advertised too many things (through screenshots, videos and interviews) which never materialized in the final game.
Singleplayer
Overall, the game was very enjoyable (especially the first 6 or so levels - some of the later levels let the first levels down a bit), but it was the apparent lack of polish which has got me most upset. I spotted the first major bug on only the second level, which involved a tank which slowly floated up into the air forcing me to reload my last save point only to see the same thing happen (I got lucky on my 3rd attempt). However, what Crytek have done with the physics is truly next-gen, and therefore, I forgive them for the odd physics related bug like this one.
It became especially noticeable the more I played that the quick save feature (and I guess the general save feature as well - untested) was flawed; or possibly it\'s the quick load?. After dying and loading a quick save, many of the things which happened between the time I had saved the game, and the time I had died, remained after reloading. This bug wasn\'t just annoying, but it made certain missions impossible as it would ask to complete certain objectives even though they had already been completed before I reloaded my last save. This usually required me to quit the level or the game, and reload the save point from scratch.
A few other bugs I noticed included surface clipping, relatively minor lighting and shadow issues and a few minor glitches with the AI. Mind you, Crysis is packed with so much stuff that I\'m actually surprised there weren\'t more bugs. Overall, it was fairly obvious that Crysis got a little rushed towards the end of development. For a game which has incorporated so many next-gen features, more testing, tweaking and bug fixing should have been carried out.
Moving onto the story, I walked away from Crysis feeling like I\'d just watched a new release blockbuster on the big screen. Although it is a little shorter than maybe most first person shooters, I think it\'s the perfect length. Some objectives did seem a little pointless though, which made me feel that they were only there to add extra time to the singleplayer campaign. The last level really lacked the final level atmosphere which one would expect. For a final level, it wasn\'t all that enjoyable. In fact, it was probably the least enjoyable level of the game, and where I found most bugs. I\'m also not sure what the go was with the end boss which was probably the most daggy thing I\'ve seen in a game. Moving slightly off topic, was I the only one who couldn\'t manage to find sufficient ammo for the SCAR, which is supposed to be your main weapon?
Like any game, picking and prodding at various aspects of Crysis is easy - especially after the fact that Crytek had promised so much which they failed to deliver. But I really think Crytek deserve praise for the many things they\'ve done well. Crytek really do need to work on how their games end though as like FarCry, Crysis seems to get progressively worse after completing half the game, when really it should be the opposite.
Multiplayer
I haven\'t spent too much time in multiplayer, and that\'s because of two reasons. The bugs, and the lack of time I have to play it. Bugs aside, from what I experienced in my 30 - 60 minutes of multiplayer gameplay, I can say that I did have quite a bit of fun. However, to hopefully move it up Cryteks\' list of priority fixes, the most annoying bug I\'ve come across involves creating a new loadout. When creating a loadout, I\'ve found certain events such as factories and spawn points being captured, will cause the on-screen loadout menu to disappear. I once spent 3 minutes selecting a kickass loadout, only to have it wiped due to someone capturing a base. This same bug was present in the beta also. I don\'t know how anyone can bug test a game and not come across this one - unless for some reason I\'m one of only few who have come across this.
I do plan on spending more time in multiplayer though as it really does seem like some quality fun is to be had, much like how the beta was. Could certainly be more fun though as others have pointed out.
On that note however, I\'m not liking this EA + Crytek relationship. Money and customer satisfaction are meant to go hand in hand, you\'re not meant to sacrifice one for the other. What I\'m talking about obviously is the current DX9 vs DX10 situation. For example, apparently DX9 can\'t do a day/night cycle in multiplayer as it would put too much load on the server. We all know how CPU intensive it is to keep track of the time of day. I think the same for the multiplayer physics also. I dare say that there would be no technical barrier which would prevent Crytek (who have some very talented coders) from being able to achieve all the physics of singleplayer, in DX9 multiplayer (like in DX10). Moving on, the biggest headline over the past couple of weeks is the whole \"Very High Settings on DX9\" thing. If you\'re going to limit graphical features to a specific audience (DX10 users) for money related reasons only, at least do it properly so people don\'t discover it\'s all a lie.
Sandbox Editor
What a truly incredible piece of software the sandbox editor is. If there\'s one thing I admire Crytek for, it\'s their extensive support of the modding and mapping community (CryMod is another testament to that). The Sandbox Editor is in my opinion one of the greatest tools ever developed, and in my opinion, redeems Crytek of the slightly lacking and buggy Crysis. There\'s really not much to say about this tool except that with the power of CryENGINE 2 combined, It\'s bloody awesome. Superb job on delivering this gem Crytek. It makes me wonder though why it\'s not installed with the game by default.
Conclusion
Crytek definitely deserves an award for what they\'ve accomplished with Crysis. They decided to take a risk and go the hard route by supporting all the current and next generation technologies such as DX9, DX10, 32-bit, 64-bit, Windows XP and Windows Vista, and they\'ve managed to do so while introducing many next-gen game enhancements such as a semi-destructible and highly interactive environment along with dynamic AI to suit, a fully dynamic graphics engine with real-time soft shadows, high quality shading and day/night cycle as well as a collection of other things which really haven\'t been done in any other game (at least not to the same extent as in Crysis). The nanosuit is also a great addition and in my opinion, really boosts the fun factor. Crysis also features 4 hugely different environments which of course includes the Jungle, the Frozen Jungle, the inside of the Alien Ship and of course the Carrier. All these things greatly slow down development by introducing many technical barriers, challenges and just more work in general. In the end, I think what Crytek have achieved is excellent. However, if they delivered on every single thing they had advertised since Crysis was first announced, it would have been absolutely earth shattering. I\'m still yet to play a game which forces me to change my pants (or carpet for that matter) - I\'m looking forward to that day surprisingly.
The bugs, the lack of many once advertised features, and the obvious money > customer mindset, has certainly made me change my views on Crytek. Sure, Crysis is a very expensive game if not the most expensive ever made, but keep in mind, Crytek now have a very powerful game engine which in the end will probably more than cover the costs of Crysis; through engine license sales that is.
If I was to rate Crysis using the same scoring method as sites like IGN and Gamespot use, I\'d probably give it a 9 out of 10 as when comparing it to other games, Crysis is definitely up there with the best of them. Seeing as though Crytek now have their new award winning engine complete, I expect their next game to be truly incredible. Ditch EA though Crytek; they\'re nothing but bad news.
There will be some people who disagree with this review, and that\'s fine, but just accept that this is just someone’s opinion, and that you\'re entitled to your own. Posting a review like this on my own FAN site probably isn\'t the wisest thing, but I feel it\'s required.
My Review
After just completing the final level of Crysis, I\'ve left the game feeling good, but not as good as I thought I would. After then getting a 30 minute taste of multiplayer, I\'ve left feeling frustrated at the amount of obvious bugs which have made it through to the retail version of the game. Although the lack of polish in Crysis isn\'t near as bad as BF2 was when it were released, it\'s definitely not the best. Besides the bugs, I think in the case of Crysis, Crytek have been their own worst enemy. I feel that Crytek showed off too much of the game, too early; and they advertised too many things (through screenshots, videos and interviews) which never materialized in the final game.
Singleplayer
Overall, the game was very enjoyable (especially the first 6 or so levels - some of the later levels let the first levels down a bit), but it was the apparent lack of polish which has got me most upset. I spotted the first major bug on only the second level, which involved a tank which slowly floated up into the air forcing me to reload my last save point only to see the same thing happen (I got lucky on my 3rd attempt). However, what Crytek have done with the physics is truly next-gen, and therefore, I forgive them for the odd physics related bug like this one.
It became especially noticeable the more I played that the quick save feature (and I guess the general save feature as well - untested) was flawed; or possibly it\'s the quick load?. After dying and loading a quick save, many of the things which happened between the time I had saved the game, and the time I had died, remained after reloading. This bug wasn\'t just annoying, but it made certain missions impossible as it would ask to complete certain objectives even though they had already been completed before I reloaded my last save. This usually required me to quit the level or the game, and reload the save point from scratch.
A few other bugs I noticed included surface clipping, relatively minor lighting and shadow issues and a few minor glitches with the AI. Mind you, Crysis is packed with so much stuff that I\'m actually surprised there weren\'t more bugs. Overall, it was fairly obvious that Crysis got a little rushed towards the end of development. For a game which has incorporated so many next-gen features, more testing, tweaking and bug fixing should have been carried out.
Moving onto the story, I walked away from Crysis feeling like I\'d just watched a new release blockbuster on the big screen. Although it is a little shorter than maybe most first person shooters, I think it\'s the perfect length. Some objectives did seem a little pointless though, which made me feel that they were only there to add extra time to the singleplayer campaign. The last level really lacked the final level atmosphere which one would expect. For a final level, it wasn\'t all that enjoyable. In fact, it was probably the least enjoyable level of the game, and where I found most bugs. I\'m also not sure what the go was with the end boss which was probably the most daggy thing I\'ve seen in a game. Moving slightly off topic, was I the only one who couldn\'t manage to find sufficient ammo for the SCAR, which is supposed to be your main weapon?
Like any game, picking and prodding at various aspects of Crysis is easy - especially after the fact that Crytek had promised so much which they failed to deliver. But I really think Crytek deserve praise for the many things they\'ve done well. Crytek really do need to work on how their games end though as like FarCry, Crysis seems to get progressively worse after completing half the game, when really it should be the opposite.
Multiplayer
I haven\'t spent too much time in multiplayer, and that\'s because of two reasons. The bugs, and the lack of time I have to play it. Bugs aside, from what I experienced in my 30 - 60 minutes of multiplayer gameplay, I can say that I did have quite a bit of fun. However, to hopefully move it up Cryteks\' list of priority fixes, the most annoying bug I\'ve come across involves creating a new loadout. When creating a loadout, I\'ve found certain events such as factories and spawn points being captured, will cause the on-screen loadout menu to disappear. I once spent 3 minutes selecting a kickass loadout, only to have it wiped due to someone capturing a base. This same bug was present in the beta also. I don\'t know how anyone can bug test a game and not come across this one - unless for some reason I\'m one of only few who have come across this.
I do plan on spending more time in multiplayer though as it really does seem like some quality fun is to be had, much like how the beta was. Could certainly be more fun though as others have pointed out.
On that note however, I\'m not liking this EA + Crytek relationship. Money and customer satisfaction are meant to go hand in hand, you\'re not meant to sacrifice one for the other. What I\'m talking about obviously is the current DX9 vs DX10 situation. For example, apparently DX9 can\'t do a day/night cycle in multiplayer as it would put too much load on the server. We all know how CPU intensive it is to keep track of the time of day. I think the same for the multiplayer physics also. I dare say that there would be no technical barrier which would prevent Crytek (who have some very talented coders) from being able to achieve all the physics of singleplayer, in DX9 multiplayer (like in DX10). Moving on, the biggest headline over the past couple of weeks is the whole \"Very High Settings on DX9\" thing. If you\'re going to limit graphical features to a specific audience (DX10 users) for money related reasons only, at least do it properly so people don\'t discover it\'s all a lie.
Sandbox Editor
What a truly incredible piece of software the sandbox editor is. If there\'s one thing I admire Crytek for, it\'s their extensive support of the modding and mapping community (CryMod is another testament to that). The Sandbox Editor is in my opinion one of the greatest tools ever developed, and in my opinion, redeems Crytek of the slightly lacking and buggy Crysis. There\'s really not much to say about this tool except that with the power of CryENGINE 2 combined, It\'s bloody awesome. Superb job on delivering this gem Crytek. It makes me wonder though why it\'s not installed with the game by default.
Conclusion
Crytek definitely deserves an award for what they\'ve accomplished with Crysis. They decided to take a risk and go the hard route by supporting all the current and next generation technologies such as DX9, DX10, 32-bit, 64-bit, Windows XP and Windows Vista, and they\'ve managed to do so while introducing many next-gen game enhancements such as a semi-destructible and highly interactive environment along with dynamic AI to suit, a fully dynamic graphics engine with real-time soft shadows, high quality shading and day/night cycle as well as a collection of other things which really haven\'t been done in any other game (at least not to the same extent as in Crysis). The nanosuit is also a great addition and in my opinion, really boosts the fun factor. Crysis also features 4 hugely different environments which of course includes the Jungle, the Frozen Jungle, the inside of the Alien Ship and of course the Carrier. All these things greatly slow down development by introducing many technical barriers, challenges and just more work in general. In the end, I think what Crytek have achieved is excellent. However, if they delivered on every single thing they had advertised since Crysis was first announced, it would have been absolutely earth shattering. I\'m still yet to play a game which forces me to change my pants (or carpet for that matter) - I\'m looking forward to that day surprisingly.
The bugs, the lack of many once advertised features, and the obvious money > customer mindset, has certainly made me change my views on Crytek. Sure, Crysis is a very expensive game if not the most expensive ever made, but keep in mind, Crytek now have a very powerful game engine which in the end will probably more than cover the costs of Crysis; through engine license sales that is.
If I was to rate Crysis using the same scoring method as sites like IGN and Gamespot use, I\'d probably give it a 9 out of 10 as when comparing it to other games, Crysis is definitely up there with the best of them. Seeing as though Crytek now have their new award winning engine complete, I expect their next game to be truly incredible. Ditch EA though Crytek; they\'re nothing but bad news.
There will be some people who disagree with this review, and that\'s fine, but just accept that this is just someone’s opinion, and that you\'re entitled to your own. Posting a review like this on my own FAN site probably isn\'t the wisest thing, but I feel it\'s required.
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