Games that the Console Generation missed: Crysis (2007)

A PC-buster in its day, but now yielding easily to the latest tech...

Crysis (2007)

With my purse strings currently pulled tighter than Hilary Clinton’s face after another round of botox, I was overjoyed to see Steam’s summer sale offering me cut price deals on almost all of their big titles. Indeed, what with the current new games drought (Naughty Bear does not count as a game in my eyes), it was a ray of sunshine on the otherwise bleak forecast.

Although I have had the fortune of playing various Betas in recent weeks, none seem to provide sufficient longevity in order to quench my parched gaming pallet. So when I saw my old friend Crysis sitting there at a knocked down price, I knew what to do. BUY BUY BUY!

"Crysis was no ordinary, run of the mill game. Crysis climbed to what we thought was the peak of gaming excellence and then kept on going"

Before I go on, I must bore you poor readers by first quantifying the statement “old friend”. I had little or no gametime with the gaming equivalent of a silverback mountain gorilla, but the scant few seconds that I got on my friend’s computer just three years ago made me pine for a PC that was capable of running it at peak efficiency.

Crysis was no ordinary, run of the mill game. Crysis climbed to what we thought was the peak of gaming excellence and then kept on going. The processing power required to run the game at its highest settings was unfeasible when it was first released and even to this day Crysis is used as a benchmark in computer tests. Crysis is no ordinary, run of the mill game; it is extraordinary in everything that it does.

Crysis in action The developers Crytek have often been rather mute in their response to the praise lashed upon their shores. Perhaps being so humble meant that many outside of the gaming elite failed to pay any attention to what was a defining moment in playable photorealism. Hell, X-Play gave it 3 out of 5 as they criticised the steep hardware requirements, as well as claiming that the game is overhyped with average gameplay. Crysis was so good that not only did it push most graphics cards to hit standards and temperatures that put warranties at risk, it clearly bamboozled many lazy FPS players with its “you decide how to complete your mission” ethos.

Once it was finally downloaded, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise in anticipation. At last, with my newly purchased desktop pc ready (and more importantly capable), a two litre bottle of lemonade and an unhealthy amount of Haribo, I was finally going to live out my long held fantasy: a long, hard, gruelling night of playing Crysis in the dark. Yes, that’s right, where many hold dreams of lifting the World Cup, becoming a world renowned singer or just shooting David Cameron in the face, I have always wanted to play Crysis on a machine that’s capable. That’s not too weird, right?

"The story is both compelling and intellectual as it inverts concepts from the Vietnam War (this time it’s the Americans sneaking through the jungle fighting with guerrilla warfare tactics), whilst you can also see it pulling inspiration from a myriad of different sources...

Thank goodness I picked a dream that I could fulfil and, more importantly, didn’t let me down when it came true. Crysis to this day stands head and shoulders above many of its competitors as it embodies nearly everything that is good about the gaming industry. Gameplay is smooth and seamless whilst it demands thought as well as skill. The visual package as a whole is literally breath-taking right from the very first moments. Even the menu system is slick, suave and stylish. The story is both compelling and intellectual as it inverts concepts from the Vietnam War (this time it’s the Americans sneaking through the jungle fighting with guerrilla warfare tactics), whilst you can also see it pulling inspiration from a myriad of different sources including games like Half-Life, novels like War of the Worlds and comics such as Iron Man.

But most of these positives have been extolled by a plethora of other writers long before me, so I’ll not dwell on them. What astounds me is that no one appears to pick up on its most obvious flaws. Vehicle control often feels as if we’re Mr Bean, sitting on the roof in an armchair steering by pulling strings and accelerating with a push of a broom handle. This perplexed me for many reasons, most notably because of the size of the island that you’re on. Surely, for something that big, if you wanted the player to move around quickly you would have improved vehicle control to a level such that it was possible to drive something for more than ten seconds without inadvertently crashing into a tree. I can appreciate that the nanosuit is a thing of beauty and it should be utilised at every given opportunity, but when I have to run across the island for thirty minutes to get to the next checkpoint because the vehicles are that bad, that’s not intelligent gameplay, that’s called padding out of the single player experience.

"What astounds me is that no one appears to pick up on its most obvious flaws. Vehicle control often feels as if we’re Mr Bean"

The constantly swaying scope ensures that you’re never going to be Sam Fisher, effectively picking off enemies stealthily, because the ability to get a head shot is hugely diminished. It isn’t a huge problem I grant you, but surely if a nanosuit can give you extra strength, speed, invisibility and body armour, why can’t it give you the magical power of holding a rifle steady? If it has to sway, then why wasn’t there a ‘hold your breath’ button a la Call of Duty 4? Minor, I know, but it seems totally contrary to the skill that Nomad (the protagonist) is supposed to possess.

Crysis - a PC-buster in its day

Moreover, since when do North Korean’s speak with American accents? The voice acting has to be the poorest aspect of the game. Considering so much time and energy has been put into almost every other facet of the game, it’s a shame that they didn’t feel that it was necessary to get a decent cast. Still, if they were working from a list, they’re able to tick off a host of stereotypes: brash alcoholic Londoner (apparently us Brits only have one accent, the saaaaf east London one), check; a gung-ho “I’ll sacrifice myself for others” US marine corps officer, check; a North Korean general intent on world domination, check; and a crazed archaeologist/scientist, check. All that they need to scream “BINGO!” is an Australian talking about BBQs, a Jew complaining about their sinuses and a Hispanic person having a nap.

As I peered out of the window to see the sun beginning to rise, I knew I had to stop playing. Was this everything I thought it would be? Completely, utterly and wholeheartedly, yes. Crysis revealed to its audience that photorealism was not a pipedream, that the gaming industry can push beyond the limits of technology to produce something awe inspiring. Likewise, it revealed to me that some dreams can become reality (only if you have the money to make it happen, I hasten to add).

It’s a shame that its sequel is being produced for both the Xbox 360 and PS3, as well as for the PC. Not that I don’t want the series to receive the sales and acclaim that will no doubt come with it, rather I had hoped that they would once again put the newest technology under pressure to perform as it did with Crysis. Still, it would be rather idiotic of me to assume that CryEngine 3 will be anything less than a huge leap forward once again. Until its release later this year (Autumn 2010), I can imagine that I will spend many more nights sessioning Crysis in the dark whilst munching on Haribo. “A one way ticket to diabetes, poor vision and good times please!”