“But can it run Crysis”, has become a meme since the original Crysis was released, a game that was notoriously hard on even the highest end PC systems. And still to this day, it’s one of the most realistic looking games you can get. So it’s with great anticipation that PC system owners are looking forward to Crysis 2, too bad the game has been “consolized” to some extent, meaning that the visuals aren’t as groundbreaking as they were before. But they’re still very, very pretty. And the game isn’t that bad either. Read on for our full Crysis 2 review.
Crysis 2 is set in New York City, which has come under attack from aliens, and you, sporting your trusty Nano suit, get to kick a lot of ass. The game isn’t as open as the previous Crysis, where you could roam the island and do what you want, Crysis 2 in comparison is a lot more streamlined and linear, but fortunately, not as linear as, say, Call of Duty. The combat is great and your three suit functions: strength, armor and stealth add depth to the gameplay, where you have to decide how to attack a certain objective (and make sure that your suit energy doesn’t run out). However, the great gun play and action is somewhat inhibited by a disappointing AI, which isn’t as smart as we anticipated in a title like this. In many ways, the AI in Crysis 1 felt smarter. Some times, you’ll attack enemies and they won’t respond, or will notice you but won’t fire. But it’s never a huge issue in the game, and it doesn’t affect the campaign to much. And may we add, the singleplayer campaign is great, albeit a bit too linear, but thoroughly enjoyable.
The same can’t be said about multiplayer. Up to 16 players can duke it out in what we can only describe as Call of Duty: Future Warfare. The amount of features Crysis 2 “borrows” from Call of Duty is staggering, down to the point where you need a certain level to join certain game types. And the nano suit, which is also available in multiplayer, offers lots of unbalancing issues. It just feels that Crysis 2 could have tried something new with multiplayer, but instead opted for the obvious choices that everyone else is doing.
Visually, the game is a looker, but PC owners might be a bit disappointed, seeing how the game was developed with consoles in mind. The PC version doesn’t support DirectX 11 and isn’t visually as revolutionizing as its predecessor, but we really can’t complain about the looks of the game: it looks gorgeous! We reviewed the PC version, but briefly played the Xbox 360 version, and it was one of the best looking games we’ve played on that console. But even on the Xbox 360, as with the PC version, there are some technical issues like frame rate drops, some texture popping and shadows sometimes tend to disappear. Overall, Crysis 2 is a solid shooter, and one of the better looking ones. Too bad the multiplayer is too by-the-books, with little innovation.
The Good:
Great, intense campaign
Awesome visuals
The Bad:
A few bugs and glitches
Disappointing multiplayer
Bad AI
Overall score: 8/10