Here's my review for Crysis 2.

[AscAnsio]

I've just finished the game at the hardest difficulty and AI was a complete disappointment, after Cevat Yerli's comments on it, "the most sophisticated AI you'll ever see in a video game." Sadly no, AI was a disaster. Cloak mode and armor mode of your nanosuit are your biggest helpers in the game, and with them, "Post-Human Warrio" difficulty was no match. Enemies and allies, all comporting strange... Crysis 3 will be an improvement on this I hope.

Scenario: Well, the story was good honestly, being compared to most FPS. Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds and Arnold Schwarzannager's Predator are big inspirations for the writers of this game, definitely. The story takes place after 3 years of the Crysis 1 and Crysis Warhead. To be able to understand it completely, you have to pay full attention to the in-game dialogues and watch entire of the Prophet's Visions videos, which are available in unlockable section in main menu. Otherswise you'll be confused with big gaps on the fiction, therefore you may not like the story. It's like a puzzle. My only criticism here to Crytek might be the bad presentation of it. And if you don't like the science-fiction/aliens genre, this is not your game.

Crytek also appointed a science-fiction writer to write a novel, thay may help studying the story in a wider perspective. Lastly, Crysis Wikia will be enough to "veneer" your knowledge of Crysis universe, especially the page of Jacob Hargreave.

And even though the game imposes the usual alien invasion theme, Nanotechnology is an important research are in 21st century, so I kinda like it how they built the story of the nanosuit and its capabilities on it. A huge potential area to tell a story, via a game.

Gameplay: My biggest concern on the gameplay was "spawning enemies". Yeah, when you're beating the game on the hardest difficulty, spend your 30 minutes to clear a part of the map with huge effort, and after all seeing spawning enemies out of nowhere is not a nice experiment.

So FFS Crytek, drop spawning enemies from your future games.

There's no savegame function, but that's okay. My only complaint about it is the long time periods between the checkpoints. Dying after a large progression can take you back to a so early portion, which can ruin your gaming and enthusiasm.

Lastly, abouth the "Nanosuit Improvement" part... You can access this part by pressing H in-game. You're granted catalyst point by killing Cephs throughout the game, the with enough accumulation, you can buy some cools improvements. But some of these improvements are so pointless. For example, de-cloaking your invicible enemies... There were only 4 invicible enemies in the game, all of them were in the last mission, at the last part of it. Which took 1 minute for me to kill them all. Unlocking this feature took 16000 catalyst points, which was also the most expensive feature of all.

What were you thinking Crytek? Have you released the game without being finished? With the distributor being Electronic Arts, that's a high possibility. EA is known for putting stress on the developers to release unfinished products in a pushed calendar.

Musics composed by Hans Zimmer, who's known for his works in movies like Batman Trilogy, Rain Man, Gladiator, vice versa. The Main Theme was perfect.

Graphics are alreadly critically acclaimed.

So 10 points for visuals, 10 points for sound effects and musical score.

And my overall score for Crysis 2 is 8/10 with all pros and cons summed up.

Post Script: I haven't tried the multiplayer experience, I'll give it a shot when Crysis 3 hits.

Cheers, Can

[CJM]

A few points about multiplayer.

1. Anti-Cheat largely involves players policing themselves. Crytek asks that players record their matches using third-party software (Fraps?), and upload those videos to a third-party site (YouTube?) for Crytek to review.

Alternatively, try vote-kicking, if the vote-kicking function is not broken by the cheater.

2. New users often cry hacker when advanced players use their perks/unlocks. Many of which simulate scripts found in other games.

3. The game has several glitches/exploits, as well as unexpected and imbalanced perks.

Banned items on various servers include:

* FY71: Or FY71 paired with any aiming perks, as its firepower then outclasses every other weapon. Also, it isn't available to all players, giving players with money a significant advantage.

* Orbital Strike: This is an orbital laser than you can use to take out enemies. Unfortunately, it usually puts the entire map into a "Clockstoppers" moment, due to lag. Everybody can move around invisibly, and rake in as many kills as they want from enemies that are frozen in time.

* L-Tag: The L-Tag is a grenade launcher. Unfortunately, this grenade launcher has two issues. First it creates an defensive shield if you fire it at your allies on normal mp matches. Second, it makes the server unstable.

* SCAR+Laser: The SCAR is the first weapon in the game, but when paired with a laser, it allows the player to strafe and move with incredible speed and agility. This makes the player almost impossible to aim at.The laser improves the strafing speed for all weapons, but apparently has a greater effect when combined with the SCAR.

4. Perks allow better players to futher increase their advantage. Making the game much harder, and therefore more frustrating to new players.
This game is not like Mario Kart, or Smash Bros, which aids weaker players to keep the matches closer. No this game prefers to broaden the gap whenver possible.

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Otherwise, I'd say the closest description of this game is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare meets Halo Reach. It is a fun, and fairly unique experience.

[polyakoviv]

I liked graphics in this game and the fact that i'm shooting some squid aliens and that's it=(

[真「SHiN」]

One of my main complaints is the hero, Alcatraz. He doesn't speak and makes him shallow and one dimensional. He's also a tool -- never refuses any order. He's like a dog being ordered around. I was like "Whoa, think this through, pal. Don't just jam that syringe into your body. This schmuck fried your ass with an EMP trap earlier."

Sure Gould pointed out that generic-self-righteous old man never jokes around, but since Alcatraz never speaks, I can't tell Alcatraz is even aware of the dangers or just acting like a solder drone.

Second is the graphics and physics aren't as good as Crysis 1. Aside from destructible road blocks and pillars, the game is certainly catered to consoles by limiting the destruction physics. Vegetation won't react to gunfire, small houses/trailers won't blow up. Also the game feels cramped. Even in the GotY/Maximum edition, the cars still look like they're made out of cheap glossy plastic.

My biggest complaint is no big boss battles. The Pinger boss battle? Sure, it's great the first time, I don't need to fight it a few times and call them boss battles. In Crysis 1, you fight in tanks, jets, HMG mounted trucks! Against huge flying drones that freezes your ass! Crysis 1, Crysis Warhead have giant boss battles. Crysis 2? lol.

Excuse me for being ♥♥♥♥♥♥. The game didn't meet my expectations.

[CJM]

Originally posted by Fräulein SHiN™:

One of my main complaints is the hero, Alcatraz. He doesn't speak and makes him shallow and one dimensional. He's also a tool -- never refuses any order. He's like a dog being ordered around.

I just recently beat the game on easy, and it fits with the ending. So I have no complaints.



Alcatraz was dead from the beginning. So was Prophet's body. However, Prophet and the suit were joined somehow, so Prophet didn't die, he just needed a new body.

So in the end, Alcatraz died, but Prophet was resurrected.

[AscAnsio]

Originally posted by CJM:

Originally posted by Fräulein SHiN™:

One of my main complaints is the hero, Alcatraz. He doesn't speak and makes him shallow and one dimensional. He's also a tool -- never refuses any order. He's like a dog being ordered around.

I just recently beat the game on easy, and it fits with the ending. So I have no complaints.



Alcatraz was dead from the beginning. So was Prophet's body. However, Prophet and the suit were joined somehow, so Prophet didn't die, he just needed a new body.

So in the end, Alcatraz died, but Prophet was resurrected.

Hmm, I disagree with that. Prophet is still dead, and Alcatraz is still alive at the ending; but the memories of Prophet are fully integrated into Alcatraz's mind via the suit. That's why he says "I'm Prophet", Alcatraz decided to continue Prophet's legacy.