First of all I haven't played Crysis 1, but still I want to share some thoughts on Crysis 2. As my last real SP game was Dead Space 2 I will compare some points to this game also:

1. Why can't Alcatraz talk? In Dead Space 1 Isaac didn't say a single word, but developers learned from it and in the sequel he tells the player his thoughts, he is commenting on orders that other characters give him and simply says "****" or "****" in the right moments. In C2 I run through levels, listen to some orders and this is pretty boring after some time. In the first part of the campaign I want to tell Gould: "Hey stfu, I'm not Prophet!" When meeting him Alcatraz still doesn't say a single word, instead he shows him a video...

2. Super Powers: So I can kick around cars, rip of heavy mgs from tanks, but when there is an exit door that developers don't want me to use then I simply can't use it. Why is that? I'm playing a hero with a supersuit and can't open doors, instead I can use toasters, printers and stuff...

3. When meeting Gould we get ambushed by snipers. I got a sniper rifle myself, so I want to shoot this bastard... but hey, game doesn't allow this. Seriously... wtf?

4. Car keys and other collectibles: Whats the sense of this? I find a key and unlock the picture of a car... amazing!

So I finished the first 4 stages and I'm pretty bored. I have no motivation at all to continue as this game somehow feels like Bad Company 2 SP... run from point to point, kill all enemies, listen to some orders, go on.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate everything about this game. It definetively looks awesome and stuff, but something is missing. Something that motivates me to go on. In my favorite game magazine this game got 88%, like Dead Space 2. When I have to compare both, then Crysis 2 should have gotten 80%...

EDIT: The game actually really gets better once you fight the aliens instead of cell. From the second half on its really great!

EDIT2: Finally I finished the SP campaign. It was ok, boring in the beginning, but nice from the second half on. One funny thing that I need to mention: After the last video the game crashed

If you'd played Crysis, you'd see why almost everybody who was a fan of that game is crying foul over Crysis 2.

1. The fact that Alcatraz is a nameless/faceless grunt is a terrible flaw in his "character," if you can even call it that. Player has zero emotional investment. In Crysis, you played as Nomad, who's face you never saw, but he had a voice at least. In Warhead, you played a Pyscho, who had a voice, a face, and a kick-ass British personality. It seemed as though Crytek were moving in the right direction, and then....

2. Crysis2 is a corridor shooter. You can't open doors because the game ushers you along a single path and for the most part, there's only one 'right' way to go. Crysis and Warhead were both semi-open world environments - you were moved from one mission to the next, but it all felt much more organic and the environment you had to play around in was MASSIVE compared to Crysis2. Being able to pick up every object you see is a hold-over from Crysis that doesn't really fit in Crysis2. In Crysis and Warhead, you could interact with -every- aspect of your environment, from shooting down trees to knocking over Korean fishing huts, to picking up terrified game birds and flinging them to their demise

3. Who cares?

4. Dumb "collect everything in sight" mentality aimed at the console game market.

Crysis2 gets better as you progress, but FFS pick up a copy of Crysis Maximum Edition. It's lightyears beyond this game.

Well the whole human AI part is boring. This game is only awesome when you get to the alien AI.

Alcatraz can't talk because he has ruptured lungs.

But if you read/download Crysis: Legion, which is a book in Alcatraz's POV, you find out a lot about him and exactly what he was thinking.

Games will use silent protagonists to help the player feel like they actually are the character in the game world. This has been done in video games for decades. Whether or not it works is a matter of opinion.

Well the whole human AI part is boring. This game is only awesome when you get to the alien AI.


Ok I'll try to get to this point.

Alcatraz can't talk because he has ruptured lungs.

But if you read/download Crysis: Legion, which is a book in Alcatraz's POV, you find out a lot about him and exactly what he was thinking.

So I need to buy and read a book in order to be able to identify with the protagonist? Kinda... dunno.

Games will use silent protagonists to help the player feel like they actually are the character in the game world. This has been done in video games for decades. Whether or not it works is a matter of opinion.

Personally I thought that the times of silent protagonists were gone with the invention of DVD's
Well I could identify myself more with Isaac Clarke or Geralt from Riva than with Alcatraz.

4. Dumb "collect everything in sight" mentality aimed at the console game market.


Hahaha. Easter Eggs and Concept art unlockables are/were much more a part of PC games. Your average console player doesn't give two **** about concept art or what went on behind making the game etc. etc. Stupid comments are stupid.

Personally I thought that the times of silent protagonists were gone with the invention of DVD's
Well I could identify myself more with Isaac Clarke or Geralt from Riva than with Alcatraz.

It's a matter of opinion. Some people like it, some don't.

the silent protagonist in crysis 2 is pretty much like gordon freeman in the half-life series. YOU are the character. It svcks when the character you play is some douche bag like the protagonists in games like call of duty.

A-TO THE-MAZING!

given that Alcatraz seemed to be sick on the sub, the sub sank, he got hit by aliens, and he did some crazy stuff, i don't complaint about his muteness.

single player svcked.

alcatraz not talking in the game doesnt work, and doesnt fit in with this game. him having ruptured lungs isnt really an excuse because his lungs being ruptured served zero purpose in the game and could have easily taken that out with no affect on the game.

alien AI is just as terrible as CELL ai.

corridor much? Gotta love the 'waves' of enemies gameplay. kill the 3 dudes, ceph dropship drops in a few more. rinse/repeat. Gotta keep the enemy count low to accommodate the consoles guys! People think that these so much sandbox in crysis 2 but they are just too blind to notice is a corridor shooter with little choice.

i can go on forever. but its not worth it. if you think the game was good your obviously a dumbass who likes mediocre games anyways, and theres no hope for you.

the silent protagonist in crysis 2 is pretty much like gordon freeman in the half-life series. YOU are the character. It svcks when the character you play is some douche bag like the protagonists in games like call of duty.


There was someone in HL2 that acted as a counterpart to Gordon. Alyx. She "gave" her opinions and showed emotions towards Gordon and that created a sense of empathy between player and character because you could see the evolution of their relation. And she tells him when she meets Gordon something like "you don't talk much, do you?". That's a great line of dialogue that get's the fact that the main character is silent right out of the way.
Alcatraz is a lone wolf whose sole mission is to kill, evade, fall from buildings, etc. Without a sidekick we might not have a big sense of empathy. That might be reached if the goal is something overcoming or enormous, like saving mankind as usual. Or if the odds are truly against him. Like Master Chief.
Sometimes it's the environment that connects you to the character, like Isaac Clarke. Him being silent in the first game didn't prevent me from connecting because the terror was palpable. Fear overcame all other emotions and that was the link between the player and Isaac.
On the other hand Sam from Splinter Cell was easy to connect, especially through his dialogues like the one with Grim where he says "You're talking with a guy from the Hi-Fi era." and she replies "Hi-Fi? What's that, like High in Fiber?"

4. Dumb "collect everything in sight" mentality aimed at the console game market.


Hahaha. Easter Eggs and Concept art unlockables are/were much more a part of PC games. Your average console player doesn't give two **** about concept art or what went on behind making the game etc. etc. Stupid comments are stupid.

Nobody gives two asterisks about the kind of crap-tastic concept art that Crysis2 rewards you with, but that's not even what I'm talking about. I didn't say anything about Easter Eggs or Concept Art. Maybe if you read it again, slower, you'll understand it? It's only one sentence.

Games will use silent protagonists to help the player feel like they actually are the character in the game world. This has been done in video games for decades. Whether or not it works is a matter of opinion.

A much more effective method of making the player feel like he/she actually is the character is called 'character creation' and we see it mostly in RPG's but increasingly in other genres as well. This "silent protagonist" crud is either the product of dimwitted developers or an extremely low budget, and we know it's not the latter.

the silent protagonist in crysis 2 is pretty much like gordon freeman in the half-life series. YOU are the character. It svcks when the character you play is some douche bag like the protagonists in games like call of duty.

Comparing Alcatraz to Gordon Freeman is pretty off-base. Freeman is a fully fleshed out character, whether or not he has a voice. We know absolutely -nothing- about Alcatraz at the end of Crysis2. He's not only voiceless, he's faceless and has no personality/no foil like Alyx to bring out any sort of character.

single player svcked.

alcatraz not talking in the game doesnt work, and doesnt fit in with this game. him having ruptured lungs isnt really an excuse because his lungs being ruptured served zero purpose in the game and could have easily taken that out with no affect on the game.

alien AI is just as terrible as CELL ai.

corridor much? Gotta love the 'waves' of enemies gameplay. kill the 3 dudes, ceph dropship drops in a few more. rinse/repeat. Gotta keep the enemy count low to accommodate the consoles guys! People think that these so much sandbox in crysis 2 but they are just too blind to notice is a corridor shooter with little choice.

i can go on forever. but its not worth it. if you think the game was good your obviously a dumbass who likes mediocre games anyways, and theres no hope for you.

And it's obvious that you are too blinded by fanboy-ism to see that Crysis 1 was a very linear affair. It just had bigger corridors than Crysis 2. There are no more or less tactical options and choice for each situation in Crysis 2 as there were for each situation in Crysis 1.

gotta love the people who apparently utterly hated the game and yet are still here complaining....

And it's obvious that you are too blinded by fanboy-ism to see that Crysis 1 was a very linear affair. It just had bigger corridors than Crysis 2. There are no more or less tactical options and choice for each situation in Crysis 2 as there were for each situation in Crysis 1. All games are linear in some respect. Of the 3 Crysis games, the first is more fun (and re-playable) because the corridors were larger allowing for more tactical options.

single player svcked.

alcatraz not talking in the game doesnt work, and doesnt fit in with this game. him having ruptured lungs isnt really an excuse because his lungs being ruptured served zero purpose in the game and could have easily taken that out with no affect on the game.

alien AI is just as terrible as CELL ai.

corridor much? Gotta love the 'waves' of enemies gameplay. kill the 3 dudes, ceph dropship drops in a few more. rinse/repeat. Gotta keep the enemy count low to accommodate the consoles guys! People think that these so much sandbox in crysis 2 but they are just too blind to notice is a corridor shooter with little choice.

i can go on forever. but its not worth it. if you think the game was good your obviously a dumbass who likes mediocre games anyways, and theres no hope for you.

And it's obvious that you are too blinded by fanboy-ism to see that Crysis 1 was a very linear affair. It just had bigger corridors than Crysis 2. There are no more or less tactical options and choice for each situation in Crysis 2 as there were for each situation in Crysis 1.

Crysis is not "very linear." The difference between Crysis and Crysis2 is that Crysis2's visor tells the player every single possible approach to every single encounter in the game. In Crysis, you had to actually think for yourself. That's probably what tripped you up.

meh, in this game I think the silent protagonist works. It allows you to take the place of the character in a very personal SP experience (there are a decent amount of ways to play it) and is plausible considering the guy is battered and little more than a walking corpse from the start. Personally, as it's available in Classic mode, I would have preferred a first mission as a marine. I think it would allow you to feel more powerful in comparison.

Crysis is not "very linear." The difference between Crysis and Crysis2 is that Crysis2's visor tells the player every single possible approach to every single encounter in the game. In Crysis, you had to actually think for yourself. That's probably what tripped you up.

The amount of linearity is the same. The visor has no part in the argument. The number of routes I could go with each situation encountered in Crysis 1 is the same amount of routes I could go with each situation in Crysis 2.

In both games you have a pre-defined set of objectives you need to reach and complete. In both games you have multiple ways to tackle them as well as multiple ways to reach them.

The two games do have differences, I don't deny that. And if people don't like changes that have been made, that's fine too. There are alot of things about Crysis 2 that I don't like either. But don't just say stuff that isn't true just because you don't like the sequel. Don't go saying that Crysis 2 is linear while implying that Crysis 1 wasn't just because you don't like they fact that they shrunk the map sizes.

lunarf1264
Games will use silent protagonists to help the player feel like they actually are the character in the game world. This has been done in video games for decades. Whether or not it works is a matter of opinion.

Very true!!! bioshock and half life 2 did this wonderfully. crysis 2 made a mistake with this tactic. In bioshock you had choices you could make so you didn't feel detached from your character. In both bioshock and halflife 2 there were great engrossing characters to fill you in on the story. Crysis 2 characters did this a little but not enough. Audiotapes could have really solved this problem; they could have told you more about the characters, making them more interesting; they could have also used them to fill in all of the PLOT HOLES...because there were tons of them!

lunarf1264
Games will use silent protagonists to help the player feel like they actually are the character in the game world. This has been done in video games for decades. Whether or not it works is a matter of opinion.

Very true!!! bioshock and half life 2 did this wonderfully. crysis 2 made a mistake with this tactic. In bioshock you had choices you could make so you didn't feel detached from your character. In both bioshock and halflife 2 there were great engrossing characters to fill you in on the story. Crysis 2 characters did this a little but not enough. Audiotapes could have really solved this problem; they could have told you more about the characters, making them more interesting; they could have also used them to fill in all of the PLOT HOLES...because there were tons of them!

Half-life games have pulled this off well because the way the characters interact around you shapes the character of Gordon Freeman and how you percieve him. The characters in Crysis 2 don't do this very well. They are pretty much just "telling you" the whole game instead of interacting with you on multiple levels.

Games will use silent protagonists to help the player feel like they actually are the character in the game world. This has been done in video games for decades. Whether or not it works is a matter of opinion.

Well now lets ask why did developers do this for so long? Two main reasons that come to mind are: money and space.

Some decades ago companies didn't sell millions of copies of their games and also space was very limited in times when we used floppies or even CD's, but there was no excellent audio and video compression software on the market.

Expectations of players rise as gaming became a huge market and restrictions are nearly gone (at least compared to some years ago). Unfortunetaly most companies tend to save money on characters and the plot, while pumping it into visuals. While the story of Crysis 2 is average, Alcatraz is as fascinating as a moldy slice of bread.

Personally I'm really tired of those one-sided and silent run-through-the-map-fullfill-all-orders-to-save-the-world characters. Its like going for the dozenth time to the cinema watching Rambo, while there also awesome movies with great characters like the Christopher Nolan's Batman out there.
Whoever has played "The Witcher" or "Dead Space 2" knows how interesting and profound video game characters can be.

Crysis is not "very linear." The difference between Crysis and Crysis2 is that Crysis2's visor tells the player every single possible approach to every single encounter in the game. In Crysis, you had to actually think for yourself. That's probably what tripped you up.

The amount of linearity is the same. The visor has no part in the argument. The number of routes I could go with each situation encountered in Crysis 1 is the same amount of routes I could go with each situation in Crysis 2.

In both games you have a pre-defined set of objectives you need to reach and complete. In both games you have multiple ways to tackle them as well as multiple ways to reach them.

The two games do have differences, I don't deny that. And if people don't like changes that have been made, that's fine too. There are alot of things about Crysis 2 that I don't like either. But don't just say stuff that isn't true just because you don't like the sequel. Don't go saying that Crysis 2 is linear while implying that Crysis 1 wasn't just because you don't like they fact that they shrunk the map sizes.

There are points in Crysis where the player can either take a motor-boat down the river, get in a jeep and drive down a dirt road, or jump into the under-brush and run through the jungle to reach his/her destination. That is pretty much the definition of "non-linear." We're not only talking about 3 distinct routes here, but 3 distinct methods of travel. Does that sound like a straight line to you? I'd ask you to point to one instance in Crysis2 where anything like that is possible, but we all know there isn't one. Crysis2 is one straight line after another, aka, LINEAR. Crysis, on the other hand, doesn't draw a line for you to follow. It opens up multiple paths, any of which is as viable as the other for the player to take in his/her course through the game.

I think the action-bubbles needed to be more 'open' (like Crysis Warhead), but I didn't mind a more focussed campaign. It is hardly an on-rails shooter like goddamn Black Ops (1 path with nothing but scripted events).