» Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:33 pm
For a review of what I think so far of the single player campaign...
Graphics: Pretty great with exception of some somewhat low res textures, but mostly unnoticeable when playing. Sometimes I see decals flicker off/on depending on direction I'm looking at them, but is rare so far. While the lighting is very nice, I am annoyed at all the lens flares from things that shouldn't even be producing them, and there is a LOT of lens flaring going on most of the time. Same problem I had with killzone 2 demo on PS3, flares from every slightly bright area, that shader is way overdone I think. Other than that, I think overall the graphics range from great to amazing. Also, some hiccups in animation of characters, and the lip syncing seems very lacking in game. Compared to the first time you see Prophet in the first game, the character's faces don't animate very well.
AI: Somewhat poor this time around. The first Crysis didn't have revolutionary ai, but most of the time they didn't throw grenades into walls and stand there while they blew themselves up. They also sometimes seem to know where you are, even when you were well behind some obstruction, or go after you in an area you were never at. My worse complaint about AI is the spawning. So many times I would clear an area, then walk into a small field office, walk out and I'm surrounded all of a sudden. If the nano-suit can see an enemy location from a thousand feet away through buildings, how do enemies just pop up next to you without even footsteps sounding off? I think the spawning system for enemies needs to be fixed seriously, cause the guys just appearing near you really kills the feeling of new enforcements rolling in.
Gameplay: I can see that some areas were made well with different approaches to getting through it, but I often feel very confined this time around. Not cause of the surroundings being urban, but the artificial barriers put there. Over all, I like the way the game feels, but the ai problem hurts this one a lot for me. Doesn't mean I don't enjoy it, just can see what should of been if it were not made to fit on console memory. I like the ability to slide and power hit by holding the melee button, but it makes little sense that a power jump only uses a little power, but a power hit or throwing something as small as a bottle with force requires all your power reserves. Other than glitching here and there, it is a fun, if somewhat mindless shoot em up. I just feel like they wanted to make it playable for young people who they know will buy it, even when they are getting it against the rating system age requirements (much like COD). I feel too often I'm pulled into a sequence for training me how to use the game even though I know that already, and anyone who's played first person games should know it. I guess "Dumbed down" is the term I'm looking for. Its certainly more fun than Black Ops in my opinion, but that game doesn't hold a high rank in my list of FPS's with great single player gameplay.
Controls: I think they are improved in some ways, while a step backwards in others. I really like the idea of incorporating the suit powers into normal actions such as just using speed when running, power jumping with a hold of the jump button, and having a button mapped to stealth and armor. I really dislike that lean is now just a context sensitive mouse command instead of letting me lean on my own, especially since not all good sources of cover can be leaned out of now.
Final thoughts on what I've played so far: It seems like it might as well been made into another game all together, cause it doesn't feel like a sequel to "Crysis", but more of a different game completely that has been made to suit its namesake only in that it uses the suit and a couple characters. The aliens seem completely different, the game flow is different, the locations are, obviously, completely different. I would of still enjoyed this game, and possibly more if it were its own game, and not having to live up to the previous game's reputation so much. Overall, visually its fantastic (except over use of lens flares/motion blur), and mostly fun to play with some minor annoyances to the gameplay and level design. It also runs remarkably well for the visual's being presented.
Final note: Where are the low and medium graphics settings (and more importantly, the cvar commands and Sandbox Editor??)? I'm using the highest graphic settings available, but its still such a gimmick to start the settings with "high". Its as bad as when you get a drink from the store now, and they don't have "small", but medium, large, and super. If there isn't something to compare "High" with, then your just using a gimmicky marketing trick that I don't think even the 13yr olds are going to fall for.
Give us the sandbox editor, and unlock the console for us please. Then we can make it the game we want to play, ourselves, and if someone has something good enough, can license it for distribution perhaps.