Version tested: PC
Strange fate that of Crysis 2. A highly anticipated sequel, chatted, criticized and finally, just so as not to miss anything, also leaked a game that the vast majority of those who have been waiting for many months now, have not even played. In theory, it should be easy to do better than a 2007 release: four years is an abyss and in the meantime Crytek has grown in size and ambitions, yet the cross-platform nature of a much larger project in terms of names involved, marketing and resources complicates. not just the matter. Users of three different platforms demand, indeed they claim, technological supremacy because nothing else would ever be accepted as a success. At the same time, the need to keep one's name high, as well as the desire to raise the bar from a narrative point of view, have imposed a major change in the approach chosen for the design of the levels. And finally, just so as not to miss anything, it was necessary to set up a multiplayer sector that can stand up to other giants of the genre; stuff that four years ago was enough to insert a few maps and a handful of modes and instead today no one considers you if you do not have a good metagame, growth systems, classes and this just to begin with. Forced by coat of arms and legacy to focus on certain aspects of the experience, prevented by the greater breath of the project to do so following the original plan, the German developer only had to try to reinvent his most famous creation.
The other jungle
As now well known, Crysis 2 is set in the city of New York in 2023, doing somehow as a follow-up to the events, which took place three years earlier, told in the original and in Warhead, even though it is then far enough away from these to be entirely enjoyable by anyone who has no familiarity with the series. Without going into the details of the plot, the themes of alien infestation, conspiracy and the "greater good" return once again to animate events which, it should be said right away, are not as exciting as they were in the past. Of course, the events are many and some puzzles left unresolved are solved, just as someone will be pleased to receive answers on the fate of certain characters, but considering the involvement of the writer Richard Morgan and the latter's words on the inadequacy of the plots of modern shooters, it makes you smile to notice how Crysis 2 fits in exactly the same groove. Even qualitatively. Not bad, however, because if science fiction is not a prize Hugo, the realization of the city takes care of compensating for the lack: abandoned the tropical atmosphere that has characterized Crytek's work since Far Cry, New York itself turns into a jungle ; only of concrete, glass and steel. It loses its status as a multicultural temple of modern civilization to be devastated by the alien attack - but not only - in progress.
The artistic work is very good, excellent considering that it was in the past one of the weakest aspects of the Teutonic developer, and the views chosen for the levels are all very famous even for those who have never set a foot in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, who will be perfectly capable of recognizing the degree of devastation. It is impossible not to acknowledge the courage to choose only well-known settings and to have to face the comparison, rather than inventing from scratch locations that should only seem plausible, as usually happens. From an imaginative point of view, we move from environments that do not need any presentation, such as Central Station, Time Square or Central Park, to relatively less known environments, such as Roosevelt Island, from which, however, the protagonist skyline can be enjoyed. of a thousand postcards, or famous not as independent commercials but as more complex entities, such as the subway.
The effort made to recreate the city while giving it its own specific dimension, peculiar to Crysis 2, he puts himself at the service of a campaign that, as a first big point in favor, can have a longevity well above the average: the writer has spent eight hours to complete it but it was a rather rapid crossing, with at least a handful of other turns of the clock that could very well be employed by those wishing to choose more reflective approaches.
Among other things, in this case, the design of the open levels justifies an increase in longevity as the selected challenge level increases, because the scenarios can be crossed in a more or less cautious way and consequently it is worth experimenting with different strategies. The typical level has a direct path, the one that declares its presence to the enemies leading to the most classic of clashes, and a couple of alternatives that are usually a shortcut to use to shorten the path by hiding from enemy view, and then a position strategically favorable, raised or with a fixed location from which to fire. However, there are several exceptions with more linear areas, with a more marked scripting, moments in which to defend the position from the enemy attack and other variants that give a good amount of different situations, allowing as inevitable the side to moments of slight decline compared to others but always maintaining good quality standards. The emphasis given to the vertical component to compensate for the smaller horizontal extension has also been implemented in order to reconcile properly with the need to stick to the aesthetics of New York.
Nanosuit and other lethal toys
The double threat fought, human and alien, and above all the usual condition of numerical inferiority, must be faced by exploiting a paraphernalia involving the Nanosuit, here in version 2.0. The latter is revised and corrected compared to how it was in Crysis and Warhead: while the enhancement of the armor and the invisibility are still activated through a special selection, the speed is directly linked to the use of the button for the sprint and the power jump can be exploited by prolonging the push of the button used to make a normal jump.
Similarly, the charged melee strike, applied to an enemy or to some elements such as cars scattered on the streets, must be performed by prolonging the execution of a melee attack. The result is less articulated in terms of number of interactions - and therefore also more suitable for the use of the pad - but this simplification is compensated by a freer use of the energy available for the powers, since they can now be combined with each other in extensive, although temporally limited. If the infrared vision is linked to the use of the energy charge available, it was instead chosen to exclude from the set of "paid" powers of the Nanosuit the augmented reality to which the protagonist has access at any time: when activated it does not allow to shoot or interact with the environment except by jumping, but the sensitive strategic points and supplies are indicated on the screen. In short, the gadgets with which to dabble are many and the points collected by killing the menacing Ceph aliens, especially in the second part of the campaign, must be spent to unlock new active or passive skills. These are divided into four categories and range from greater silence to the ability to detect enemies equipped with optical camouflage, from the availability of an area shot to be performed while landing from a jump to an enemy shot tracking system and so on. . In Crysis 2 as in its two predecessors, in short, we see the commitment in wanting to give the player a good variety of different choices to enjoy, which also extends to the customization of weapons which in any case does not represent anything ever seen either in quantitative terms or for types of upgrades. For so many instruments of offense, it is right to imagine an equally worthy amount of targets on which to vent and in fact the choice is not lacking. With the exception of some exceptional encounters such as a spaceship fought once or a gigantic mech encountered three others, two on foot and one aboard a vehicle, the remaining variety of opponents refer to humans, belonging to the paramilitary group CELL, and then to the already cited humanoid aliens Ceph.
The former are presented differently armed depending on the situation while the others have not only different attacks, from distance or melee, but refer to different types, with for example an armored version that closely resembles the Halo Hunter . All the variables mentioned so far depart Crysis 2 from the standard of the "Call of Duty" shooter and the less intensive use of scripting is in itself, as mentioned above, an aspect that makes the gameplay more interesting. It is therefore a pity that the biggest flaw found in the single player of the game is also the natural extension of this reasoning: artificial intelligence should in fact be one of the most advanced aspects from a technological point of view to meet the freedom of movement and use. of powers, unfortunately this is not the case and shows some shortcomings. From medium range, when the firefight is open face, the enemies behave in an almost acceptable way and the Ceph, decided to attack closely, also have a credible gait. But as soon as you start to exaggerate with your imagination in the use of invisibility or when you use the sniper rifle to keep a lot of distance between yourself and others, then several flaws are highlighted. For those who thought that Crysis held a technological record with its graphics undefeated since 2007, just think that the artificial intelligence of FEAR, year 2005, is still pursued.
Console in comparison
On the sidelines of the test along the entire campaign that took place on PC, it was possible for us to spend a couple of hours dividing ourselves on the two console incarnations, where we played a handful of levels each. Also in this case, as mentioned for the Windows PC version, it was specified that they were not final copies, therefore subject to possible changes. The two versions seemed comparable to the lowest of the levels of customization available on PC, Gamer, but in spite of how this may sound, this did not translate into a type of detachment other than that foreseen. Certain elements, such as lighting, are on less advanced consoles and the same goes for details related to less rich corners of vegetation, especially with some missing grass points, or the presence of a little aliasing. The fluidity is also lower which, however, apart from some drops, has clearly improved compared to the first meetings. Overall, Crysis 2 on console is excellent to look at and retains all the positives that make it a joy to behold on PC as well. In all of this, the Xbox 360 version seemed to have more convincing colors than the PlayStation 3 version, which also showed some clipping. However, we did not find the same performance abyss visible in the multiplayer demo which, while waiting to verify the copies on sale, was subject to a downgrade that we did not detect in those proportions in the single player campaign.
Mission Impossible
Visually Crysis 2 it had the impossible task of repeating what its predecessor was in 2007, an exceptional graphics benchmark but for some time unusable at its peak in a fluid way, even on the highest-end machines. And in fact the direction taken was different. To see, in the PC version tested, the title is spectacular and the visual component certainly deserves the price of the ticket, thanks to the use made of CryEngine 3 to model New York in a convincing way.
Certain elements, such as the use made of HDR or effects such as lens flare, take the image away from Crysis's cleanliness and in general smaller spaces combined with a shorter visual distance, can leave you disappointed because not only do they not evolve. as seen in the past, but they seem to make him take a step back. In reality, the compromises, which could be foreseen from the beginning, were well balanced by an artistic direction that this time had to commit itself to making the streets of a city credible instead of the green patches of the jungle, managing to balance the spectacular nature of the second part of the two first episodes - protagonist the beautiful glaciation - with environments gradually more and more destroyed, flooded, devastated passages and an unexpected version - panoramic, we would say - of Central Park at the end. From an interaction point of view, there remains the possibility of destroying the plants with the thinnest trunk and certain concrete roofs, with even the columns and walls losing pieces in their outermost part when hit by bullets, even if the absence of shacks and areas entirely covered with plants gives a feeling of less dynamism than in the past. On the other hand, the levels enjoy enormous visual variety and an equally pleasant fidelity in reconstructing the most evocative passages of the metropolis. With some nice choices in terms of atmosphere too: for example a distressing assault on Time Square at night, suddenly left in the dark due to a black out. For the review we were able to try a version that we were told not yet final and on a computer made available by Electronic Arts: for these reasons we cannot unbalance ourselves on the possibility of accessing, in the copies for sale, the configuration files and the demo they were encrypted.
In a similar way we will return to the discourse of the controls, hoping they will fix the problem of semi-automatic aiming if you use the pad, and of DirectX 11, when EA and Crytek will make more clarity. Instead, we have already enjoyed playing a few hours in 3D, through Nvidia 3D Vision, with a really excellent result both in terms of image cleaning - darker and less defined on the sides than when you deactivate the stereoscopic effect, but always much better than the standard one that can be experienced at the cinema - than for the optimization work done, able to make you lose very little in terms of images per second. The whole soundtrack that properly accompanies the ups and downs suggested by the events is very good, while the dubbing in Spanish is inserted in the average, which leaves as always the preference in English, possibly accompanied by subtitles.
Healthy competition
Complexity and depth are the two key elements on which Crytek seems to have built the multiplayer component of Crysis 2 in an attempt to combine with an unprecedented mix what has already been seen within the main exponents of the genre, in particular Call of Duty and Halo. The multiplayer is developed through a particularly long-lasting multi-level system that involves on the one hand the general level of the player, necessary to unlock up to 5 custom configuration slots of their class (bypassing the 4 by default), the various game modes and weapons, and on the other three different levels for the powers of the Nanosuit that grow according to the use of the same during the game.
The latter are used to earn unlock points to invest on the perks of the suit which can then be mounted (one per power) during the customization phase. The perk system also involves the weapons that we can upgrade by carrying out a whole series of objectives ranging from the most disparate kills to the time of use. In this way you can buy the equipment to assemble: from various sights, to secondary shots for the weapon, passing through more capable magazines and so on. In short, it is clear from these few lines the great depth of multiplayer and from this point of view the work done by Crytek is impeccable. The gameplay is very tactical, forcing the player to use the powers of the Nanosuit properly with the correct timing to never get "discovered" in the vicinity of the enemy. The suit, in fact, is powered by a small reactor that provides a limited amount of energy, which begins to decrease each time the stealth or power armor is activated, but which recharges very quickly if the Nanosuit is "turned off". The problem is that running or super-jumping also consume supplies, and if for some reason the gauge drops to zero, it takes a few seconds to reactivate the charge. The result is therefore a very frenetic game action, but which never loses its tactics and depth, thanks to the substantial customization of the perks explained above.
If you want to look for the classic nit, such a complex multiplayer could initially scare the more "relaxed" player, as well as make the first hours of the game frustrating: being in front of an opponent 15-20 levels higher can in fact make the fight you learn and this situation, especially at the beginning, does not happen infrequently. This aspect is mitigated for the first 10 levels, as all matches can be launched by asking to meet only players who fall within this range of levels. The modes are six and range from the classic deatmatch with team variant to a capture the flag and the inevitable king of the hill here in alien sauce through pods to be captured and maintained until their explosion. Then there are two further modes that involve one the defense or theft of futuristic tanks and the other, Assault, the acquisition of confidential information from special terminals. The peculiarity of the latter is given by the Nanosuit that will be given to a single player during the game. For all of them the limit is set to 12 simultaneous players
Comment
Resources4Gaming.com9.1
Readers (999+)8.9
Your voteThe very long wait for Crysis 2 has been rewarded by an excellent campaign, long and full of an unusual number of different situations, based on a style of play not new to the series, but here well adapted to the needs imposed by the New York setting. The new Nanosuit is designed to give the player different possibilities of approaching the levels, now built in a more vertical way, at the same time conforming to a tighter pace than in the past. Too bad only for the not exciting plot and for an artificial intelligence that still needs some finishing touches. Elements that are however bypassed by the multiplayer sector that manages to add enormous depth to the gaming experience especially in terms of longevity and depth of the mechanics, making Crysis 2 one of the most interesting games in the multiplayer landscape on consoles and PC. Visually, the compromises imposed by the multi-platform nature have been balanced by a technique that is nevertheless remarkable and by an artistic work that, level after level, decomposes more and more New York, making it become a battlefield that remembers only from a distance the city it once was.
PRO
- Long campaign with great variety
- Fun gameplay thanks to the use of the Nanosuit
- A deep, tactical multiplayer with an excellent level of customization
- Very good certain technological solutions and 3D ...
- ... even if the cleanliness and spaces of Crysis are missing a bit
- The plot is rather superficial and never seems to "take off"
- Artificial intelligence is rather subdued especially in the management of humans
PC System Requirements
Test Setup
- The computer was provided by Electronic Arts and the configuration could not be retrieved.
Minimum requirements
- Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 2Ghz processor or higher
- 2GB memory
- 9GB of hard drive space
- NVidia 8800GT video card with 512MB RAM or higher, ATI 3850HD with 512MB RAM or higher
