Due to my PC lacking the required specifications I never had the pleasure of sampling the original Crysis back in 2007, so you can imagine my genuine excitement when it was announced that its sequel would see a release across all formats. Fast forward to 2011 and Crysis 2 hit the shelves to critical acclaim, racing up the charts to plant itself firmly at the number one spot in its first week; wowing gamers with its stunning visuals, presentation and style.
Yes, let’s talk about those visuals for a moment, because few games look quite as impressive as Crysis 2 and fewer still can boast the amount of detail lavished upon each and every element of Crysis 2’s world. It’s clear that CryEngine is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, (from a visually technical standpoint), on home consoles and one almost applauds developer Crytek’s achievement; Almost.
Upon hitting the half way mark, (and the initial wow-factor of the superb visuals has subsided somewhat), the reality of what you’re playing is in fact as generic and straight forward as first person shooters come really begins to hit home. That’s not to say it’s a consistently dreary, tiresome game because as far as generic FPS gameplay goes there are definite moments of adrenaline fuelled excitement to be had, but these moments are very few and far between and for the most part Crysis 2’s gameplay is one of simply moving from checkpoint to checkpoint, clearing out enemies along the way, dealing with the odd boss, repeat ad infinitum.
Some would argue that the choice to play as a covert-op or a trigger happy tank mixes up the gameplay and that each level offers varying ways on which to approach a situation, but that fact remains that Crysis 2’s core gameplay is so banal that it rarely encourages you to try a different plan of attack and/or apply all your protagonists skills and abilities to their maximum potential and so go pretty much unused. For example, it wasn’t until about half way through that I suddenly remembered I could upgrade our hero’s nano-suit, but it was because I had proceeded so far without needing to improve my chances of survival with incremental upgrades that I questioned why I needed to in the first place; as long as I had plenty of ammo and the ability to disappear with the cloaking device everything else was pretty redundant. Even the suit’s tactical visor and enhanced armour only ever seemed to be engaged during cuts scenes where I was encouraged to activate them, which again prompted the question ‘why bother then?’
A lot of Crysis 2 is a game made up of smoke and mirrors; a visual tour de force cleverly disguising the fact that what’s on offer is simply a run ’n gun affair, one that lacks any real spark or originality, and as you draw ever nearer toward the games closing chapters you’ll be willing it to end just so as you can go and partake in something a little less tedious. In an industry such as this where first person shooters are ten-a-penny, Crysis 2 doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen a hundred times before; it just looks really pretty doing it.
When I'm not doing my regular day job I enjoy spending time with my Wife & two children, painting toy soldiers and playing and writing about video games. I'm also co-owner and all round, flat-cap wearing old chap of somewhat snarky gaming website, Rosetintedgamers.com. "
