Gaming Crysis 2 PC Review

^ Wow, way to kick a reader in the face, just for having an opinion.

 

Just expressing my opinion in a reasoned manner, in the face of disparaging comments against my colleague.

 

Yes, ¬ symbol is a math symbol for negative. Wiki Link

I tend to agree with the reviewer with regards to the control system as well. People all too quickly assume that just because something has been done for the console market it must immediately mean it is a rubbish idea/change!

 

As a standalone shooter the score may be justified, but as a retconned sequel to Crysis 6/10 maybe, provided you squint.
Pro: Smaller streamlined combat bubbles [a la C1 without the fun sneaking through the jungle inbetween], simplified suit [less suit menu grappling, but far less fun], easier AI, multiplayer progression with some groovy maps.

Cons: Simplified suit, vertical FOV setting [really annoying to calculate without this], smaller resolution textures than C1 in many cases, no fists, no quicksave/quickload, no switching to speed mode for a fast reload, no huge open vistas, nano collection bug, multiplayer hacks galore making it unplayable, enemy AI suspect, I'm not Gunny but it took me 3hrs 36mins to first death on veteran, no advanced graphics options, no DX11 on release, no 64bit support on release, CrossfireX and SLi flickering lights bug, console tips all the fracking time [I know it's V to powerkick you $%£ I don't have the memory span of a mayfly], mouse control iffy [for me] without console commands, enourmous cutscene intro [I waited 20 mins to start the game and then it was unplayable thanks to the CrossfireX bug].
Please dear Buffy in heaven let's have a nice big PC patch soon.

 

I think 8/10 for this game is well out of order; unless you're a fan of (desperately boring - IMHO) HL2 / CoD / etc. similar linearly scripted games, which are very different from the Far Cry lineage, it's one to avoid.

 

You're kidding, right? If you mean what I think you mean, this is a fantastic example of a software company assuming that the only reason you own a computer is to run their software.

They really love to do everything in their power to make these things unbuyable, don't they...

 

This is incorrect...

The EA Download Manager can sign itself in automatically if you let it save your password. AND you can stop it from running automatically when you boot your PC. AND you don't need to be running it to launch the game.

This is the only bit of the review I disagree with - I can get past all that rubbish about being owed something better by Crytek, because what they have done is deliver a streamlined game which actually runs on year-old hardware without compromising settings this time, and it's still an enjoyable experience. Not as ground breaking as C1, and I haven't (probably won't) play MP so don't really care about any issues with that side of it.

Dave

 

I agree with BAZ his comments are spot on, PC gamers act as if devs owe them something because we have bought expensive hardware, they gave us Crysis and it was pirated a lot. Ok it did sell over a million but if a dev wants to keep making AAA quality games it needs to sell a hell of a lot more, a million just isn’t that much in the grand scheme of things and a lot of those games were sold at reduced prices, my copy was 6 quid for example.
So of course Crysis 2 had to accommodate the consoles too, its simply not possible to release a PC exclusive title with insane graphics because it wont sell enough to pay for those insane graphics.
The hardcore gamer market isn’t growing at all so devs need to make sure their product is accessible to all. The alternative is they make casual games for iphone. Even if a new generation of consoles come out I don’t think graphics will improve a lot since we're already at a point where good looking games are costing multiple millions to make and so must sell millions of copies to be profitable, its just too risky.
So I think PC gamers need to get of their high horses and accept console ports are going to be the norm, any way there is a big difference between a good console port such as this and a bad one, so we shouldn't be giving Crytec such a hard time.
And I Know people will mention BF 3 is being developed on PC first and ported to console, and that’s cool I love BF 2 but if that game doesn’t sell well on consoles I don’t think we will see another PC lead BF because the console market is too important.
I've been a hardcore PC gamer since 96 but do have an xbox and enjoy playing that too.

 

That was a great review guys, well done! I would like to see all the PC game reviews on Bit-tech done like that, ie thorough on both the technical and gameplay side.

 

so... the fact that GTA4 for Xbox360 was one of the most pirated titles a month prior to release totally shows that PC gamers tend to pirate games more...

Every month when a multi-platform game comes out, all you need to do is check torrent sites... the console versions are out there weeks if not months before the PC version is even cracked...

the fact that consoles are so easy to crack (specially Xbox and Wii, hell Wii has a software "crack") should actually make companies look with a better eye to distribution systems like steam on the PC...

but hey... even SteamGuard can easilly be bypassed

 

Thanks... It seems I don't have to update Maybe for BF3 later this year...

 

Just for the record. I loved the original Crysis. Creeping around the jungle was a blast and the gfx were outstanding. But I never got to grips with combining suit commands to do anything more than aim better or go invisible when in the **** and needing some cover. That is why I am looking forward to the simplified controls. I'm hoping I might actually leap over a building, land on an enemy and kick his face to the other side of the map without accidentally going invisible and then fumbling over my keyboard.

Hold on. Steam Guard, that stops you logging in to my account without access to my email account can be bypassed so you can log in to my account with my username and password?

Are you sure about that?

Because that is what Steam Guard does. It stops people phishing usernames and passwords and gaining access to accounts, Steam Guard doesn't stop piracy.

 

What are the difference in controls exactly? The Crysis 1 suit menu was practically unusable but that is why they had all of the shortcuts. To do a maximum speed jump in the first game all that was necessary was to be in speed mode, then double tap jump while sprinting. How much easier can the new controls be?!?!

Double tap crouch to cloak and double tap sprint for speed seemed pretty intuitive to me. The only shortcut that was ever a slight problem was double tapping backwards for armour.

And yes tilde is ~, ¬ is the negation symbol

 

Now its hold jump to jump higher press q for armour, press e for invisible, hold crouch to slide.

 

I like how the suit controls have been simplified. It's natural that when you hold down shift you sprint, not double tapping or bringing up a menu to boost your speed. Same with power mode, speeding up to someone then having to switch to power mode to give a KPA a good old death punch was annoying and often didn't work if it wasn't timed correctly. Holding down space for a power jump or holding another key for a power kick/punch feels to me anyway, much more natural.

As for the graphics, I've tried both PC and 360. Looks so much better on PC. And I can run it no problem at 1080 with my ageing 4890. Fair enough it's not as good looking as crysis was. But when crysis was released it took me almost 2 years to have decent enough hardware to play it on full settings.

I think we're lucky it's come to PC at all. And at the same time as the consoles. Loads of other games have either had a massive delay in the PC version shipping or it was cancelled completly.

 

Of course PC version is better, there is no surprise in that.

It will be more interesting if the PC use for test cost the same as the cheapest version of console, say $200.

Build the PC, hook it up to your TV, and compare it which version, for $200, play crysis 2 better.

Any one can recommend a system build that up to the challenge?

 

It is a very good game and I wonder what the reaction would be like if there wasn't a console release at all. There are of course some issues with the AI which is disappointing but I don't think there are enough negatives to spoil my enjoyment of the game, in some ways it's better than Crysis and in others it is behind.

There are 2 levels I can think of that had me almost squealing with joy with how they looked and played out matching the Assault level on Crysis in scope and replayability. Speaking of Assault, the multiplayer game mode of the same name is probably the most balanced and fun I've played for a good while, it really is excellent

 

Im hoping DX11 patch is where the "can it run crysis" mode is.

 

It would be exactly the same. I don't give a stuff if Crysis or any other game is released on consoles. What bothers me is when gaming interfaces and graphics are dumbed down in order to accomodate consoles - Rainbox Six is a perfect example of this. Compare the controls of Raven Shield to any of the Vegas games and see how the game has been scaled down and dumbed down.

 

I think I'm going to wait for the price to come down. If the multiplayer was good, probably would have picked it up on release.