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LTTP: CRYSIS [it wasn't a tech demo, it was a great game]

I finished all Crysis games but I never played the original one and Warhead. So I finished Crysis two days ago, and I think it's an awesome game.

Crysis came out in 2007 and took the pc gaming world by storm. It was the most impressive looking game on the market. Playing it at ultra settings required some insane pc specs and even that often wasn't enough. It was a game before it's time in terms of graphics. It only came out for the pc at the time, but in 2013 a console port was released for the xbox 360 and ps3. It was an inferior port but at least console gamers got to play it.

STORY
You play as Nomad, a member of the special force group called raptor team. Some scientists send a a distress signal saying that the North Koreans are invading an island that her team is working. And you're sent in along with your team. The raptor team has nanosuites. These are suits that give the one wearing it special abilites.
Crysis basically happens on an island called lingshan island. It's actually a series of islands.
When you arrive on the island to rescue the scientists, your team will encounter some very odd things and your crew will get thinned out. That's as far as I'm comfortable talking about the story without threading into spoiler territory.

GAMEPLAY
The island is beautiful. Gorgeous lush vegetation, trees and generally an interesting flora and fauna.
The first half of the game, you'll be dealing with the Korean forces. Quite overwhelming odds considering, you're basically alone. To help you in your battle against the Korean forces there are your Nanosuit abilities. You basically have 4 abilities that your suit provides you. And they're quite useful and pretty interesting to use. There's stealth, which turns you invisible. Really great for stealth obviously. The faster you move, more your energy drains. Also, if you fire your weapon while using stealth, your energy automatically drains to zero as a way of balancing things out. It's a pretty wise design choice. The other ability you can use is the maximum strength. It basically amplifies the damage you do with your guns and melee punches. It also allows you to jump higher,which is useful when you need to get to higher ground. The third ability is maximum speed, which as the name suggests all about speed. It makes your character run very fast. But it also drains quite fast. The last ability is the maximum armor. This basically absorbs some damage you take. Also very useful for intense firefights. The Koreans should't be much of a challenge if you take the stealth route. I always found myself using stealth to get close to an enemy, then switching to maximum damage to take the shot and then again entering maximum stealth. But nobody is forcing you to play stealthy. You can go guns blazing if that's your style. But the enemy AI is actually quite smart. They'll hide, duck, get to cover and on top of that, they are very precise in their aim. Sometimes this can be riddiculous, I mean they're firing at you from a 100 feet and landing perfect shots at you while you're struggling to even see them. But generally, the AI is very good. Guns are also very interesting in Crysis. There's a standard roster of guns, nothing really special about them, machine guns, submachine guns, shotgun, sniper rifle, tesla gun, rocket launcher, pistol and an alien gun in the later half of the game. I like how you can customize your weapon on the go. You press the mouse wheel button and go in this mod selection. There you can equip your gun with a silencer, you can swap different aim attachments and more. I really like this. There are even vehicles in the game, cars, jeeps, vtols and more. I honestly rarely used them. I used jeeps sometimes for traversal but that's pretty much it. If you decide to use the vehicles, the jeep will be your main vehicle you can use. It's a fine vehicle but the controls are kinda bad. I always got stuck on pretty much everything with it. That's why I avoided it.There's a mission in the game that has you driving a tank. Now that was a really fun mission. I enjoyed that one quite much. The tank doesn't seem to have the problems like the jeep has. There's also some turret sections later in the game, that was also quite fun. These sections don't overstay their welcome. Most of them are short. In the latter half of the game, you get introduced to aliens. And they're much tougher to kill then the Korean soldiers. There's not a big variety of them, small ones that can lunge at you and hurt you pretty bad and the bigger ones that fly and soak up a lot of damage. And for the most part, they are fun to kill. I rarely used the shotgun when dealing with the Koreans, but I found myself using it quite often for these creatures.
Now when you're introduced to the aliens, there's a mission that involves zero gravity. You basically float and you need to navigate your way out of this alien cave. It was the worst mission I've played in my life. It's hard to see, the floaty controls made me dizzy and I was disoriented most of the time. It's a royal pain to get through this mission. And it's a long mission. Also, towards the end, there a mission in which you have to fly a vtol. It's something like a plane. This was a shorter mission then the zero gravity one, but it was also quite bad. I ended up quicksave scumming my way through it. Crysis is at it's best when it gives you open space and the freedom to pursue mission objectives your way. This is a linear game but with a sense of freedom. You know what you need to do and go, but how you're gonna get there, the game leaves that choice to you.
I heard a lot of people on the forums talking how Crysis was a tech demo, a gorgeous looking game with sub par gameplay. And that simply is not true. Crysis is a great game with even greater graphics. It's a 10 hour journey that is filled with interesting gameplay moments. There's always something new being introduced. You get bored of Koreans, you get the aliens. You get bored of standard grunts you get a fight against a helicopter. There are also enough missions to break the monotony. Like the tank mission I mentioned, zero gravity mission and Vtol mission. It's really a complete package.
GRAPHICS
The graphics are the best that was available at that time. Hell, it still looks insanely good even today. The foliage is gorgeous, the lighting system was so advanced at the time. There's also wuite advanced physics in the game. You can knock down almost every tree in the game. Barrels bounce around, houses collapse etc. Really impressive, even today. We all know the famous question on the internet when it comes to hardware, can it run crysis. I played at ultra, with HD texture pack installed. I also added a bit of color saturation because I feel the original colors were a bit lifeless and bland. You can even apply Reshade in the game to make it look even more beautiful. I tried doing that, but the GOG version I have, doesn't want to cooperate with Reshade.
THE BAD
What I didn't appreciate in the game is this. When you load up the game, you get a barrage of advertisements from Nvidia, Intel, Crytek. I would understand if this happens the first time you enter the game, but this happens everytime. And it lasts 30 seconds. Really annoying. What also sucks is the zero gravity mission. The most headache inducing level I ever saw in a video game. Also the Vtol mission sucks. But it's actually ok when compared with the gravity one. Also the most idiotic thing I've ever seen in a pc video game, is the aim system. You click the right mouse to aim down sights and when you release it, you expect it to exit the aim down sights mode, right? Well, in Crysis, you have to click the right mouse button again to exit aim mode. I've never seen this before. And there's no option in the game to fix this problem. But there is a third party solution to this. It's basically a script that allows you to have normal aim in Crysis. Here's a google drive link. In here you'll find the script, the program and detailed instructions on how to apply this. You're welcome. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fHc-L7T-A8DF_fo2v9AosAq5PZY7d1uQ
CONCLUSION
Is Crysis worth playing today? Well, yes it is. Especially if you've never played it before. It holds up today, both graphically and gameplay wise. It's a very good shooter. And you can find it pretty cheap on GOG. Definitly worth the price of admission. If I had to give a score to this game, I'd give it 8,7 outta 10.

I also made a 4k video review, if you're too lazy to read.
 
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diffusionx

Gold Member
I always thought the "Crysis is a tech demo" thing came from jealous console fanboys and angry PC gamers who suddenly had a toaster. Because Crysis is a fantastic game. Level design is brilliant, mechanics are super sharp, suit powers are awesome (it's basically a Predator game), and the higher difficulty modes shine. For my money it's one of the best FPS games ever made. There are a couple of shit levels at the end of the game but let's be honest here, a lot of FPS games tend to have that, even the good ones. I don't know why, it just tends to happen.

I also think Crysis 2 is very underrated.
 
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DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
I wish it had more enemies. It was a step up from Far Cry in terms of scripting and overall direction but too many areas of interest followed a specific railroad. Should've been more sandboxy. I think Metal Gear Solid 5 kind of picked up the torch.

If I was to compare the game to anything, it was like the Alien, the Predator, and the Marine from AvP2 were combined into one player-character.
 
Crysis is not just a pretty face. It's an amazing game.

I'm not a fan of the aliens. But at least they look alien. The zero G mission inside the space ship is one of my favorites.
With crysis 2 and specially 3 it felt like crytek was trying to make a halo rip off.

From time to time i reinstall and try to replay crysis 2 and 3. But i get bored halfway through.

Maybe i should reinstall crysis and warhead.
 

GHG

Gold Member
The gameplay still holds up today.

I feel sorry for the people who played it like a run and gun shooter, the suit abilities were amazing and allowed for some really creative scenarios.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
i think i never actually got further then that first island walk thing bit.
i thought it was a tech demo and pc stress test :pie_roffles:
 
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Dontero

Banned
I always thought the "Crysis is a tech demo" thing came from jealous console fanboys and angry PC gamers who suddenly had a toaster.

It came from people on PC who played earlier their Far Cry game which was much better shooter than Crysis.
Far Cry before that already was amazing looking game. This was released before half life 2 and it looked like this:

unknown.png
 
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The gameplay still holds up today.

I feel sorry for the people who played it like a run and gun shooter, the suit abilities were amazing and allowed for some really creative scenarios.
Yeah, those suit powers really can make some interesting scenarios.
Run n gun is an option, but it feels the the game wasn't designed for this. You're meant to use the suit abilities.
 

StormCell

Member
I came from Far Cry 1 and found Crysis to be a far better game. It's not a better shooter. It's just flat out a better game. Playing it is like... if you had 2 predators in a jungle situation and neither knows about the other for most of the story. You're running around mostly invisible and occasionally going into hulk mode, throwing rag doll people around and leaping around. Damn I had a ton of fun playing Crysis, and that storyline kept me going right through to the end with the Oh shit feels as you're fighting that last battle.
 

Fake

Member
Crysis is by far the best of the bunch. Crysis 2 was OK, but Crysis 3 was a mediocre game for just IMO techshow.

I know you guys spend a lot of time on Crysis for PC, but me I spend believe or not Crysis on Xbox 360 and I still find fun in that game.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
It is. Crysis is great looking game but poor shooter.
Not because of features but simply because of poor encounter design.
Game is theme park on rails and not a good shooter.
Especially later parts with aliens.

Even if you don't like the aliens, they're not even a tenth as bad as Far Cry's mutants, or as frequent. Far Cry is a solid game until the mutants show up - it's weird to not bring that up if you're comparing the two games, actually.

Crysis is just a better game in every way.
 
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Crytek in their prime.

Crysis was and still is pure PC first-person shooter bliss. At Delta difficulty setting, it needs to be mentioned.

Once you get the Nanosuit controls down pat, the gameplay flow is dynamite. D-Y-N-A-M-I-T-E. On mouse and keyboard it really feels like I am controlling a soldier wearing a high-tech combat suit.

The greatest Crysis and Crysis Warhead player ever is NanosuitNinja: https://www.youtube.com/user/NanosuitNinja/

It seems that, for some weird reason, he has removed his awesome tutorial videos from the channel but there's still a bit of Crysis gold left for pickings.
 

stranno

Member
This was the first video I saw from the game, it was mind blowing back then.



It still is, try to find something like this in, I don't know, Far Cry, for example.

Note: I swear Carmina Burana's O Fortuna was in every single video of Youtube back in the day.
 
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Fake

Member
Fun fact: I already send two email for Crytek asking Crysis to be release on Xbox and PS4 using the lastest Cryengine around. I can dream.
 
It is. Crysis is great looking game but poor shooter.
Not because of features but simply because of poor encounter design.
Game is theme park on rails and not a good shooter.
Especially later parts with aliens.
It's not man. It's on par with any shooter of that era, sometimes even better then games in that time period.
 

01011001

Banned
I'm 6h into a new playthrough and it's amazing.

but even on a GTX1070oc at 1440p I had to turn down the more demanding settings to hit a somewhat steady framerate in some levels.
but even then the cpu gets hit hard in some select scenes
 
Crytek in their prime.

Crysis was and still is pure PC first-person shooter bliss. At Delta difficulty setting, it needs to be mentioned.

Once you get the Nanosuit controls down pat, the gameplay flow is dynamite. D-Y-N-A-M-I-T-E. On mouse and keyboard it really feels like I am controlling a soldier wearing a high-tech combat suit.

The greatest Crysis and Crysis Warhead player ever is NanosuitNinja: https://www.youtube.com/user/NanosuitNinja/

It seems that, for some weird reason, he has removed his awesome tutorial videos from the channel but there's still a bit of Crysis gold left for pickings.
And you have all abilities from the start. No skill "carrot on a stick" tree.
 
I'm 6h into a new playthrough and it's amazing.

but even on a GTX1070oc at 1440p I had to turn down the more demanding settings to hit a somewhat steady framerate in some levels.
but even then the cpu gets hit hard in some select scenes
Are you using Reshade and HD textures? Adding some saturation into colors really amplifies the visuals. The og color scheme was a bit bland, imo.
 
It feels like being in the middle of a Roland Emmerich movie.
Warhead is just as good. The ice sections are incredible and the final level is a top 3 best FPS ending.
 

01011001

Banned
Are you using Reshade and HD textures? Adding some saturation into colors really amplifies the visuals. The og color scheme was a bit bland, imo.

I don't like reshade and don't use Mods.

are there hd textures for Warhead aswell? because I actually never played that one and will start it after I am finished with Crysis 1
 
Couple of handy tips.

- Maximum strength also helps stabilize your aim when sniping.
- If you're sneaking while cloaked, always switch to armor right before shooting and right back to cloak after the shooting business is done. That way cloak does not deplete as much as when shooting while cloak is on.
 
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Couple of handy tips.

- Maximum strength also helps stabilize your aim when sniping.
- If you're sneaking while cloaked, always switch to armor right before shooting and right back to cloak after the shooting business is done. That way cloak does not deplete as much as when shooting while cloak is on.
I didn't know this. I was looking through key bindings in the options to see if there's a button to stabilize aim and couldn't find it. I thought it was weird. But now it makes sense.
 

Dontero

Banned
It's not man. It's on par with any shooter of that era, sometimes even better then games in that time period.

If it was then this thread wouldn't exist.
Here is another wisdom: Half Life 2 is worse shooter than Half Life 1.
Just because you have graphic improvement and introduce narration better it doesn't mean other aspect of game can't take hit.
Crysis like i said have big problem. It is encounter design. Basically sin of modern shooters which are interested more about set pieces than actual gameplay.

Even if you don't like the aliens, they're not even a tenth as bad as Far Cry's mutants, or as frequent. Far Cry is a solid game until the mutants show up - it's weird to not bring that up if you're comparing the two games, actually.

Crysis is just a better game in every way.

You are joking right ? Sure mutants were worse part of game but they were still more or less normal enemies. They just didn't fit well story wise and that was main problem, not the gameplay. Crysis aliens are amazing looking but shit to fight with. They fit better story but they are just annoying to fight with.
 
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Fbh

Member
I always thought the "Crysis is a tech demo" thing came from jealous console fanboys.

LoL this was me. A friend who had rather wealthy parents had just gotten a new PC and I went over to his house to check it out. Playing it for the first time was like 50% being mindblown by the graphics 50% trying to find excuses why it actually wasn't that good.
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Crysis came out when COD and Halo were better options but everyone knows Crysis had the most talented developers, best graphics etc.
 
No, it was a tech demo it was just competently made compared to some of the big FPS games for the time, so having a technical marvel that was far ahead of anyone else that played well and added fun novel gimmicks like invisibility worked in its favor. But when you go back it's really a tech demo with bare minimum gameplay.
 
No, it was a tech demo it was just competently made compared to some of the big FPS games for the time, so having a technical marvel that was far ahead of anyone else that played well and added fun novel gimmicks like invisibility worked in its favor. But when you go back it's really a tech demo with bare minimum gameplay.
Man, cod modern warfare came out the same year as original crysis.
So we're talking about the single player portions of these two games. In modern warfare, what mechanics are there? Aim down sights and shoot? Use night vision? Use a sniper rifle? Sooo advanced.
But in Crysis you had different ammo types, attachments, suit abilities, tank mission, vtol and zero gravity missions (for better or worse) and a competent AI.
While I like modern warfare's single player campaign, I feel when compared to Crysis is lacking in terms of mechanics.
 
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Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
I liked Far Cry a lot more, but still thought Crysis was good. My biggest gripe is that they give you all those super suit enhancements, and you barely get to use them. Hard to feel like a badass when you can only walk at a decent speed for like 2 seconds at a time. Crysis: Warhead was much better.
 
I liked Far Cry a lot more, but still thought Crysis was good. My biggest gripe is that they give you all those super suit enhancements, and you barely get to use them. Hard to feel like a badass when you can only walk at a decent speed for like 2 seconds at a time. Crysis: Warhead was much better.
Yeah, the movement felt really slow and that maximum speed ability drains really fast.
I'm planning to get into warhead, is the movement in that game improved?
 

PhoenixTank

Member
It is. Crysis is great looking game but poor shooter.
Not because of features but simply because of poor encounter design.
Bruh. FarCry's enemies could see and shoot you through tents when the game was fully patched. The encounter design in Crysis was fine for how the game differed. Maybe a "better shooter" in the strictest sense of how an old fps plays, sure, but even Doom evolved beyond that.
At the time, hell of a game, but easily as flawed as Crysis. I still remember swimming in FarCry for the first time, though. JFC gorgeous!
I go back and play Crysis again occasionally, I don't do the same for FarCry.
 
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Yeah, the movement felt really slow and that maximum speed ability drains really fast.
I'm planning to get into warhead, is the movement in that game improved?

The nanosuit was added late in development.
I think you're supposed to use speed mode as the default walk mode. In combat it's very useful for changing position, it's not meant to turn you into The Flash with guns.
Warhead controls the same except you don't have to always pick up ammo. It looks different, a bit warmer and more saturated.

Crysis aliens are amazing looking but shit to fight with. They fit better story but they are just annoying to fight with.

Well, they fixed them in Warhead.
The railgun is super satisfying to use on aliens in both games. The rocket launcher's not bad either on the big sentinels and walkers. The mine entry setpiece in Warhead is particularly good.
 

Spokker

Member
Crysis was a weird one for me. Looking back I really did treat it like a tech demo. As a game, I played it off and on and never really went too deep into it. I had a blast in that opening area though.

I ended up really liking Crysis 2 as a game. It didn't have the tech demo stereotype anymore and I really liked the balance between linear gameplay and wide open playground-like levels. It really did let you choose how you would approach the situation.
 

jadefire66

Member
You've convinced me to give this game another shot soon. I played it when it came out and didn't like it much. It felt like a Far Cry clone because of the tropical island setting and I didn't like the suit powers (strength, speed, invisibility etc). Felt like gimmicks. Don't remember much else, I don't think I played more than 2 hours. It felt like a tech demo to me. Haven't touched it since, and haven't tried the other games in the series either.
 
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