“Can it run Crysis?” was the statement many have heard that has turned into a meme in an instant. Often stated to be the benchmark of PC. To just being a meme to poke fun on the game as well as the hardware that is in question. From its graphics intensive detail to the more unique and genre defining details. Crysis managed to turn heads for more than its visuals alone. Crysis is that special unique title that has endured and even has its fans asking for more. Personally for me, what Crysis remake has done was a job well done. The reason is, it ticked all the necessary checks for the right way of doing a remake. In that it stayed as close as to its original and it is quite warranted given the time when it was released.
Just a heads up, game play has remained true to its original root. Meaning what you see is what you get. That being said, Crysis offers a variety of game play quirks that is still unique on its own. One of the most prominent is its suit. What it has is the option that lets you tackle the upcoming combat with more than just shoot them till they are dead option. How? the suit you have has two modes (three if you consider inactive as its own mode), which is either armored or cloak. Another key feature of the suit is that it monitors enemy’s awareness level. Thus allowing you to sneak up and or gun them down when all things fail. From its namesake, armor mode let’s you up the ante and go in guns blazing with full on assault to bring down the hammer. It lessens incoming damage and even fall damage that can often make surviving the heaviest of combat feasible.
Then comes my favorite mode which is the cloak mode. It made the game more fun and challenging that more than often, I try to sneak up and pick enemies one by one or even just sneaking around. Turning the game to an ad hoc stealth game. The variety of missions gives more options to tackle each mission. With all of these, the thing that makes Crysis a more balanced game is the energy meter that depletes when you turn on the modes presented to you. So it isn’t an easy cakewalk. You have to make sure that you have ample energy when sneaking or even fighting head on.
Another unique aspect of the game is that because of the nano suit you have, it has an added benefit that lets you amp up your push, your jump, and even your melee to some extent. These actions also consumes your energy. As for your weapons, gun nuts like me might find the game off putting with the measly amount of weapons you can use, and not just because you can only wield 2 weapons at a time, but the weapon pool is quite low.
However, in exchange for these lack of weapons, you can easily customize your weapons attachment. As such, you can play dress up with your guns. Add silencers, have a reflex sight. It will be up to your discretion on how you approach every engagement. I would like to add that later in the series, using silencers particularly pistols does not break cloak in an instant. Thus giving you a leeway to either reposition before your energy runs out or finish the remaining enemies. Crysis 3 also introduces the bow that is heavily featured in its ad. What does this add to the game? A more integrated stealth while firing. Meaning you can easily eliminate enemies without the fear of decloaking. But that is not all, you can also customize your arrows to suit your combat taste. And yes, exploding arrows is an option.
With all the fuzz from its release, how well does it run these days? Particularly for the PS4. Surprisingly, Crysis manages to not only run seemingly perfect but also with as little bug as possible. Sure the first Crysis is quite rough compared to its sequels, but you have to remember that this was released in 2007. While you can argue that the remake is just that a remake, the way the devs managed to optimize the graphics and the hardware is commendable. But for the Crysis 2 and Crysis 3, graphics is more refined and honestly more beautiful compared to some current titles in in the market with the same type of graphics setting. With this being said, the way the remake was done is highly commendable that no model is out of place. The fidelity is quite admirable. No stuttering nor delays.
With all that being said, I have to be honest. Personally, I don’t feel the personal attachment to the characters nor the stories. BUT this isn’t a statement that the story is completely bland. Just a personal opinion. If looking outside my perspective, the story throughout the series initially revolves around a covert operation to rescue stranded scientists being held by North Korean forces which quickly went wrong with the death of the first member at the start. Quickly, the whole operation blew once they knew that not only are the North Koreans their only enemies but also an alien race that has been in the earth for millions of years and has laid dormant.
In Crysis 2 and Crysis 3, you battle your way throughout the game against both Military and alien foes alike. Does the game get repetitive in the times since the premise? Humans first, then adding aliens to the mix just for the sake of it? Nope. You feel that each faction has a clear objective. That their goals would completely be against one another. One seeks domination, the other world conquest. And as the protagonist, your goal is to stop both of them.
New comers might think, “Hey, hasn’t this been done before?” With that I completely agree. If you discount that many has been released prior, the story of Crysis is quite unique from its release in that the premise is not well explored as others. One might compare this to the likes of Halo or Resistance but their set piece and overall theme is quite different if we take a proper look at it. That being said, the trilogy offers a unique blend of sci-fi and a healthy dose of covert ops that is still enjoyable at this age.
Crysis Trilogy remake has stayed majorly true to their original namesake. And while what they did is still commendable in terms on how they managed to properly optimize the gameplay, what is not brought up is their multiplayer that is not present on any of the remaster. The exact reason for excluding the multiplayer is unknown, but it can be due to the fact that Gamespy, which has been the primary server for it, has closed shortly when Crysis 3 was released (just 2 days to be exact). It is personally unusual that besides the campaign, multiplayer is one of its key feature that draws its fans to the series. Should they have gone out of their way and look for other ways to have a multiplayer option? Yes, the setting is perfect for a more tactical approach on multiplayer. We can only hope that when Crysis 4 is released that they can include multiplayer. And this is from a guy who isn’t really a big fan of multiplayer modes on games