Crysis 2 preview

Preview-wise, what has been shown of Crysis 2 has been controlled,
calculated and carefully choreographed. That in itself is not unusual
for high profile games such as this, but what is actually being omitted
is perhaps more telling and slightly worrying. It’s very easy to get
excited about Crysis 2, but every now and again, taking a step back can
help you see the wood through the hyperbolic trees.


For all its talk of player choice and crafting the experience to suit
particular play styles, Crysis 2 has a few obstacles in its path – ones
that weren’t present in the original. Firstly, it’s quite rightly
taking advantage of everything that New York offers – its height,
architecture and emotional resonance as a beacon of human achievement
(though why New York wins out over newer cities such as Tokyo says more
about the audience Crytek is chasing, we feel) have all been touted as
key decisions.
The ‘urban jungle’, with its familiar grey and drab façade, isn’t
anything that new, but it is easier to forgive Crytek’s art direction
when its engine looks as good as it does. But an urban environment is
still far more static and less dynamic than a jungle, no matter how much
you dress it up with recognisible landmarks and differing locations.
Crysis 2 is really less about how much the engine can be pushed and more
about what can be done with the existing tools.
Clearly, New York offers gameplay that will differ greatly from the
foliage-infested nature of the Lingshan Islands. But Crytek has
conveniently washed over the fact that its Big Apple environments are
more like ‘instances’ or areas for action to happen. Crysis 2 will give
players a streamlined and more linear experience – it will restrict
players to areas in which it will house its clearly frantic FPS antics.
Is there a danger of it being far more restrictive than we’ve been led
to believe? It’s a possibility, and one Crytek has vehemently rejected
as being detrimental to the experience. Crysis 2’s ‘levels’ will still
allow for the same open-ended gameplay as the original – albeit this
time with improved visuals, greater emphasis on narrative and
streamlined nano-suit abilities.


In fact, another area that has seen EA and Crytek direct media
attention towards is the surprising way in which players interact with
the unique abilities the nano-suit provided in the original game. Crysis
2 will simply help you achieve this by allowing easier access to speed,
armour etc, and grouping together abilities that are useful, such as
strength and armour. It’s an intelligent choice and at least doesn’t
simply pander to the console audience in the way some PC games have done
in the past, but the fact remains: how will the gameplay structure
change when you’re moving from one enclosed space to the other?
Perhaps we’ve had our pessimistic hats on too much recently; we can’t
deny we’re not excited about Crytek’s general design – it’s incredibly
accomplished in every regard – but there is a lingering doubt that the
gameplay that has been shown will live up to the memories of the
original. The careful drip-feed of information has certainly whetted our
appetites, but it’s also tricked us into overlooking some of Crysis’s
more glaring issues. Without the benefit of some hands-on (which,
incidentally, no one has had) it’s difficult say if too many concessions
have been made. As they say, time will tell.
It’s hard to say which way Crysis will go at this stage, but right now we’re cautiously on the fence.

Cant fucking wait for this shit