Crysis 2

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $16.52
Today's Bonus: 59% Off

Crysis 2 is a game that I am sure many people were anticipating, and also skeptical about. While the first game had some hard core graphics it clearly was more of a visual benchmark than game at times. Going forward Crytek has made some changes to the formula, most for the better, and produced a high quality game that will not disappoint both fans of the original Crysis and FPS gamers in general.

GAMEPLAY Single player

Right off the bat Crysis 2 doesn't hold much back. The campaign starts quickly and holds its pace fairly well throughout the near 12 hour SP campaign. If you played the MP Demo for Crysis 2 you will feel right at home with what changes have been made to the suit controls, as well as what to expect visually from the game and the AI itself. This game comes across as a solid shooter. During the campaign you will have many tools at your disposal to dispatch your foes including a variety of weapons, suit powers, environment items etc. The suit powers are very stream-line on the console version, having been mapped to your controller. Running automatically enables speed, while thumb buttons controlled the Armor and Stealth. You have the ability to customize your weapons load-out via unlocking mods you find throughout the campaign as well as upgrading your suit via contact with Alien DNA.

What impressed me the most about Crysis 2 was not actually the graphics, but the thought put into the gameplay. While enemy AI can be pretty stupid at times (I played on SOLDIER difficulty) the game gives you plenty of methods in which to tackle areas. You could stealth past everyone; stealth assassinate everyone; RAMBO your way though; use strength to toss enemies about or perhaps pick up an object and smash em with it. While the campaign has a typical "Linear" aspect to it, the variety at your disposal makes tackling the areas feel fresh each time and just a blast to change up your gameplay style.

Multi-Player: I have not tackled MP that much but from what I've played, expect your typical formula for MP in Crysis 2. If you played the MP demo then you would have an idea what to expect really. What I did like was the "custom class" concept where as using your unlocks you can create a unique build for Multi-Player. A nice little concept that keeps the MP feeling fresh I think.

STORY/SOUND

Okay.. this is Crysis we're talking about so don't expect a riveting storyline like RPGs might bring to the table. The storyline isn't bad though as you could tell there was an effort put in to make a normal storyline here; It kind of is just enough to keep you occupied during cut-scenes and give you a good reason to go forward essentially. ** SOUND in this game is just awesome! I thought Killzone 3 had some wild sound effects, Crysis 2 pretty much takes the cake! The weapon sound effects are very quality, including the nice echo effects when firing rounds off in an open quiet area. The voice acting is 'average' I'd say. Not bad but not award winning acting either. The sound track this game has is mind blowing!! The tracks are very epic and will have your blood pumping from start to finish with how good the music sets the tone.

GRAPHICS

The graphics are stunning especially for a console game. Are they the best...hard to tell but then again I really have not seen a game best this game graphically. On the PC however this game is just insane. Running it at 1920x1080 w/ full setting will just blow your mind. Once you see it on the PC it becomes quite obvious that the console versions had stuff held back. Even with the graphics toned down they still do look great, but there are some small hickups. I found a few times the frame-rate chugged a little bit in high volume areas especially with fires or explosions. There is also some texture flickering going on in certain spots that are hard to ignore, also accompanied by texture pop-ins. For the graphical level this game pumps out I am not surprised though, especially once you see how large some areas can be. The alien design this time around I enjoyed. They had a lot more detail put into them and a better variety as well.

REPLAY/LENGTH

For the campaign, on soldier difficulty, it took me about 10-11 hours to complete. I was not rushing though the game and I mixed it up between stealth and Rambo style. I could see this campaign being about 11-13 hrs for people who LOVE stealth killing, or as short as 8 hours if you simply run past certain areas without bothering to fight. This puts the Length of the game at a decent length. There is plenty going on in the campaign and I could find myself playing through the campaign a few times more as the gameplay really lends itself to creativity/variety (a bit like Bulletstorm just without the Skill-Shot system). Throw in some decent MP that has some longevity to it and you got yourself a game that could easily last you well until the next big shooter hits the market.

OVERALL (93% 9.3/A-)

I gotta say this game is just the complete package. Having played Bulletstorm, Killzone 3 and Crysis 2 there is a clear line between all three games. Crysis 2 for me, falls in the category of a fantastic, long SP campaign with a solid MP setup. The gameplay has great variety to it and, in my opinion, worth revisiting a few times. The multi-player is quality, clearly not just *tacked on*, and it brings a lot of fun to the table making for even more variety in the game itself. I give Crysis 2 a 93%... It is a game well worth playing and adding to your FPS collection

**NOTE: Killzone 3 and Crysis 2 are both fantastic games. I scored KZ3 a 91%. While I feel Killzone 3 has a better overall MP element (for the PS3), Crysis 2 feels like a more complete package due to a better SP-Campaign(in my opinion). Graphically I feel Crysis 2 is better but also contains more graphical glitching

**NOTE: The PS3 version ran almost flawless for me (except for rare FPS drops and the graphical hick-ups). I wouldn't worry to much about performance when it comes to 360 vs PS3. Get the game on whichever system you feel more comfortable with.

Click Here to Read More Reviews >>

I have been looking through the reviews for this game and most of them have been fair. This game is absolutely awesome. However, what some are referring to as "boring" is the fact that you have the option to utilize tactical planning. The beginning of the story is very much like every other first person experience such as call of duty. Emergency surprise attack, you pass out and then you are revived etcetera. When this ends is when the game gets interesting. The suit and the benefits provided by it provide unlimited possibilities with weapons upgrades and suit upgrades. Heat sensitive visors allow you to see through smoke, the tactical planning visor gives you the opportunity to plan your attack instead of just rushing in and shooting mindlessly at the enemy. The stealth mode where you become invisible for a certain period of time depending on how much energy you expend is very unique and fun. The suit armor is also just one of many things that make this game interesting and fun. You can also take control of vehicles much like the Battlefield games. The game is longer than most games released recently, and finally it is one game worth the money. I purchased Bulletstorm and was very satisfied with the fast paced game play and carnage. The only problem is that it took only about 5 hours to complete. The replay value is high in both games, but Crysis 2 is much longer and it actually takes some brains to play. Mindless carnage is fun, but carnage and tactical planning are fun and interesting at the same time. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but there is no justification for this game getting 1 or 2 stars for a rating.

Buy Crysis 2 Now

I don't usually write reviews. Typically, I rely on the opinions of others. However, I felt quite compelled to pen an article on Crysis 2. I must say that I was skeptical when watching previews and builds of the game. And never having played Crysis on the PC, I was flying into this purchase blind. I had just recently got done playing COD: Black Ops, Bulletstorm, and Killzone 3. All of which I got some level of enjoyment out of. Bulletstorm I enjoyed for its crazy action. COD I enjoyed for the giant set-piece moments that led through some of histories notables. Killzone 3 was just gorgeous on every level.

Crysis 2 is something different. Not only is the lighting spellbinding, but walking the crumbled streets of New York has some emotional weight. You want to see the Ceph suffer. Thankfully, you have a cloaking device (ala predator), and a slick armor enhancement. You can also leap tall building in a single bound and slide from cover. You can kick cars, snap necks, and stab your antogonists in the throat. It's a brutal affair, and the sound effects are up to the challenge. I would constantly change my tactics by using the Nano Vision (an infrared sensor on your visor), and jumping in and out of invisibility. When I grew weary of playing cat and mouse I would amp up my armor and jump into the fray. No matter how I played Crysis 2, I was engaged.

When I was kid some 15 years ago, I hungered for a game like the film Robocop. 15 years later I have found this in Crysis 2. Even the music echoes the 80s film that is a part of me. The soundtrack is great as well. I loved the story and the character and the idea that the machine was keeping the husk of a man alive inside of it. In Crysis 2, you really are a dead-man walking, and the developers did a great job of conveying the pain and damage Alcatraz takes on his quest through a dying New York. As you lay in a heap in Times Square and have to self-defibrilate to fight the next fight, you can't help but cheer the protagonist on. I read a lot of reviews that claim that you cannot really connect with Alcatraz because he is a silent protagonist, but as he gives up his body for the fight, you can't help but like him.

What Crytek has acheived is pretty awesome and I cannot count how many times I just stopped and looked into the sky to admire the way the buildings blotted out the sun. Or when I swam around the fallen head of the statue of liberty just to admire the design and texture. The world really works here and I am truly impressed.

However, Crysis 2 is not without its issues. Sometimes enemies would get stuck in a stupor and allow me to blast the living hell out of them. Sometimes a new stage would load and my gun would not equip. Hopefully, they fix these things with an update. I have not had a chance to tackle the multiplayer yet. However, these are small gripes engulfed by a fantastic campaign. When I am jumping from skyscrapers onto a flaming car and power punching a drop troop in the head only to cloak and drop into the sewer before focusing on my next target, I have a hard time faulting anything. Maybe I am just a forgiving gamer.

I hope Crysis 2 brings out your inner Robocop.

Read Best Reviews of Crysis 2 Here

It is a great game, with only very minor issues. Here is a detailed review of my experience with it so far.

9/10

Pros:

Great graphics and lighting, good art

compelling story IMO (at least in relation to many other FPS games, keep in mind too, that I am interested in this type of thing, nano-biotech stuff, and alien invasion)

Highly immersive

Fun gameplay

good/smooth animations

Cons:

Slight frame rate issues

a few Texture Pop ins

some AI bugs

a couple animation glitches

The Pros far out weigh all of the cons this game produces. As far as texture pop in, it is only noticeable if you have a trained eye for it, or you are looking for it. Otherwise there is enough going on that you likely wont notice a texture pop. Framerate issues are the same and in no way detracted from my first play through. AI is usually spot on and quite a bit better than most games, but every once in a while an enemy will just be walking into a wall, or something else strange. Doesn't really detract too much, but it happens. I have seen some weird animations like gabbing a guy by the foot, and then suddenly I have him by the neck as it is supposed to be. Or else I saw a guy shift through a wall and then shift right back into my room the middle of a melee fight.

None of these things were huge concerns for me, as they are pretty common in many games with large scale and a lot going on, and they are surprisingly not as common as some reviews were making them out to be. In fact the larger the scale, the more bugs you will see. Just look at fallout 3. Either way, the pro's far outweigh the cons as I have said. The graphics are great, especially the lighting. The story is pretty cool and it is highly immersive, as it is told entirely from first person perspective. Some of the ways the camera moves to look at things and stuff is all pretty highly believable. Now on my second play-through I am really enjoying the story of the nano-suit; which is really what the story is about. I didn't quite understand what all went on with some of the ending parts, but it is mostly coherent, and IMO quite cool (I don't know, I think Nanotech and Biotech are really cool and the Nano-suit is a really cool idea with it's own artificial intelligence.). It is really fun to have the nanosuit at your disposal as you try to stop the alien invasion. The AI is some of the best I have seen. I played through on veteran and had a pretty standard FPS experience in terms of difficulty, but it isn't difficult because some the AI can just spot you and have a lock on, it is difficult because sometime the AI will put you in a sticky situation, or, because you put yourself there. It isn't so much running and gunning as it is tactically determining how you want to accomplish your goal, as you have to maintain energy levels. It isn't a hard game per say (even on the hardest difficulty), you just have to be careful, in which case it can be quite easy. I am playing through again on super soldier and enjoying it even more.

An example of the AI: At one point, I killed two guys fairly discreetly, and generally the guy up on this bridge will spot you and start shooting at you, so I turned and noticed him running instead, I followed him a bit in stealth mode, and found that he ended up calling over and grouping up with another group of soldiers behind some traffic barriers in a fairly defensible position. Not super unique I know, but it is pretty dynamic, because they definitely don't do the same thing every time.

I have only briefly tried the Multiplayer, but it seems pretty good so far and doesn't seem to lag as much even though I have bad internet. When I get some better internet I will really be able to see, but it seems to have better netcode than games like COD BO where I can't even play online because the lag is so frustrating on my bad internet. Needless to say I was pretty surprised it ran as well as it did when I played yesterday. It was all very smooth. There are likely to be some balance issues this early on, but almost any game will have that to start, that is why they patch games these days. And as far as that goes it didn't seem that imbalanced as far as I saw. I can't really give a good review of the Multiplayer so you'll have to read elsewhere. I'll try to remember to update this when I get better internet late spring/early summer.

So all in all, it was a stellar game. If you have a PC that can run it buy it on that. If you have an XBOX 360, I have heard it runs better on that. The PS3 game runs fairly smoothly though so if you do not have any other system, like me, I assure you, you are not missing out. Although, I would be interested to see it running on DX11 on PC. It is supposed to look super good. I am amazed at the realism presented on the PS3, the "worst" of the three versions, so I cannot even imagine how it looks on a high end PC. I would give this game a 9/10 or even a tiny bit higher like a 9.2. The only reasons to take off points are for graphical and AI bugs, glitches, and errors, which are quite seldom, and really didn't detract from the experience I had / that I am having (also, give me a break, what game doesn't have slight graphics and AI bugs?). Another area to take points off is the slightly short campaign. I finished in 8 hrs or so, It could have been close to 9 cause I didn't really look, but still. I would like to see games that are at least 15 hours long, so that is where that comes from. Some people prefer the 7-10 hour thing, and then jumping into the multiplayer, so if that is you, then this is perfect. I realize it is hard for developers to deliver a solid action packed and interesting 15+ hour experience, but I am sick of developers skimping on single player. not that they skimped on this, there are some truly spectacular set pieces and such, but that seems to be the trend these days, shorter and shorter single player games, because multiplayer is where the business is at right now, that is what people want. I am just a bit ticked because Crytek claimed it was a 13 or so hr experience. Maybe I finished it quickly but I really don't think so, it is a 7-10 hr thing I think, which is decent, but I want more. Perhaps there will be some single player DLC down the road, that would be pretty cool.

Want Crysis 2 Discount?

I never played the original, the system requirements were more than I could afford at the time. I bought this on a whim from Amazon. I watched some gameplay footage and basically couldn't help myself, it looked amazing.

Story:

After completing the campaign what I got was not what I had expected. With a name like Crysis, I expected ground-breaking...just because of their previous work on the original. In C2, I think they nailed the graphical part of things...the game looks great, I mean really great. The story however never really grabbed me...I never got to know my character and at no point did I ever feel like I was properly introduced into the story. What I mean is that I felt lost as to who or why I was playing. I felt as if my background was missing, and to me that's a huge part of story. During almost the entire campaign, I had no idea what I was there to do. So I just completed objectives and kept going. To me the campaign was forgettable, something developers do not want to hear.

Gameplay:

I think what I liked best about the gameplay was the ability to add attachments on the fly as long as I had previously discovered them. This makes a lot of sense to me. I also liked the amount of weaponry in the game...there are a lot of guns (at at least it felt that way) and it was fun playing with each to just wreak havoc on the enemies. As far as the suit, it is a great tool to have. However, because I am given the option to stealth out, I feel as if I need to...just because I can. And I think this took away some of the chaos that is inherent to 1st person shooters. I like to be put into a position where I am drastically outnumbered and I must rely on good tactics to get out of it. There were only two times that I could think of in this game where that happened to me...and twice is not enough. It just makes things too easy, regardless of how cool it is. Maybe I should go back and try playing without stealth and just use the armor, but I don't know...there's nothing really there to make me want to do it all again. And lastly, maybe I'm used to CoD and MoH type campaigns as of late where 6 hours and you were done, but this campaign lasted well beyond that. I don't know how much time I put in, but I can't help but feel that it dragged on in the end. I literally at some points was asking myself "when is this going to end?". If the story was better I probably wouldn't have felt like that.

Multiplayer:

I'm only level 6 atm, so I haven't spend much time playing. I did play a few rounds last night and I wasn't doing all that well and was about to quit. Then I realized that I had earned an equipment unlock, so I purchased a red dot sight and figured I'd try one more round. Bam! 16 / 3. It was a great round and I earned multiple dog-tags. Because of that I will be coming back for more tonight. This situation is no different than any other other 1st person multiplayer...good rounds keep you coming back. So I do think they did a good job on the multiplayer aspect, but I still need to spend more time with it to be sure. Also, it's fun learning new maps...they really do look good.