» Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:53 am I would like to set one thing straight. A fanboy, a true fanboy, SHOULD point out the faults. If you take something seriously anything from religion to games you should show people that there are faults. It may seem hurtful, but it is respectful to find faults. It shows that you were paying attention to what has been said or done.
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I may be going off topic but a perfect example was when the Iphone4 came out. All the "Fanboys" said it was the best phone ever, yet when people complained about the phone's reception the fanboys went into attack mode. Making comments on how you shouldn't hold a phone that way, or that the software is amazing(Sidestepping). Apple then proceeded to say it was a service provider issue but engineers of the phone knew otherwise. Eventually Apple confessed(Disgruntly) that it was a phone issue and would give people a free case or envelope. Keep in mind however that the Iphone is still very popular phone. The engineers and the PR department learned from the fiasco and hopefuly will fix the issue as more phones come out.
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Now to the game. I'm still upset what EA/Crytek has done with the game. This is my opinion, it is subjective and not Objective.
Many have complained about the storyline of crysis 2. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about it. My first gripe is the issue with the protagonist. Crytek had a character developement witht eh first two crysis games(C1 and C-W). They weren't talkative but they gave you a sense of the person behind the suit. THe most memorable of which is with Psycho in C-W, when he finds a soldier in the river after a bridge collapses. It was an intense scene but it gave you a glimpse of the character. Now I can foretell that some may note that me mentioning this scene is a tad obsessive, but its not. To me its one of the memorable moments of the game. Now in C2, the protagonist is silent throughout the entire game. This is where I get mixed up.
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I will not spoil the plot, but it could be a transformation of the protagonists. If that were the case, I could understand it, but you don't witness or notice that transformation of the character.
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Why is character developement important? Well, it tells or shows the player how the protagonist feels. This causes a bond between the player and the character. IF there is a great deal of development the player will come out remembering the game. That developement could always backfire though, but I will not get into it.
The storyline itself had a twist or two to it but it left quite a few things unanswered. There is no continuation of the first game which would of been an excelent place to start off at. But instead the story line had a very thin connection between the first game and the second. There were aliens, there were(was) a known character, and the suit(More on that). Other than that I just have a feeling that something went wrong during development of the story.
While playing the game, I was still at odds about the Suit options that was streamlined. Sure, the run feature is nice, but it took away the danger element away from me. This part is really user preference. I just prefer the old style.
The ledgegrab is something that I feel needs to be discussed. Yes, its a nice feature, but it doesn't always work when you think it should. There were several times while playing that I should of been able to ledge grab but would not work. It also didn't make a lot of sense. There would be ledges that from my perspective wouldn't be able to grab properly, like rounded edges, but would grab them. But with ledges that are squared and thus the most easy to use didn't always work properly or at all. In the end its a nice feature, I just wish that it would have been implemented correctly(hopefully a fix)
The Tactical options while a nice feature as well, gets in the way or is completely unecesary. I liked choosing the stealth option(when available) by Highlighting the option while in the display. Now once I reach the checkpoint, I would figure, that since I'm already at the spot, it would go away. It doesn't, but at the same time its not that big of an issue. I just don't find it necessary to include it. It limits the creativity of the player. For a new player, the player may think those are his only options, or spots to go to which I feel could be a drawback to a certain crowd. But to each his own.
There were some issues I had experienced while playing. Seethrough walls(both for me and the AI), melee issues, shot-em- up walls, AI glitches, and AI walls.
There were many times, where bullets would go through the floors or walls that didn't seem plausible. I understand that yes bullets can go through some floors/walls/doors/windows, but there were times I was getting shot through a foot thick cement floor(MArking the Flying drone objective). This to me isn't thatbig of an issue, but there is an issue that isn't noticed.
This issue was that the AI was shooting through a floor, to hit something on the other side, without actualy seeing the target. This happened on many occasions, hiding behind a wall or in a building, with no windows or holes, and I would get shot at or the Enemy would be aware of my presence. This kind of ruined the whole surpise or stealth tactics while playing.
The third a bit more common from reading the forums was the melee issue. Where melee would become unresponsive at times. This lead to quite a few deaths, but towards the end of the game, when this issue occured, I had to switch to C4 or grenades then return to Primary or Secondary weapons. THis issue will most likely get resolved in future updates.
One feature which I liked was the stealth kill. I used it a few times, but sometimes it would not work and ending up hitting the target instead of performing the insta kill. This may due to my part and is completely random.
After playing the entire game I still feel the same way I felt when I wrote the original post. The features that made C-1 and c-W great was the ability to destroy most of the environment. The sandbox feeling of C-1 and C-W was replaced with a fairly linear map. Sure some maps were big but they were straight forward and lacked the appeal of openess. Sure its the city, and the city doesnt have wide roads, but they do have a lot of Doors, buildings, underground passages that can be used. There was also a very prominent issue with Invisa-Walls. For a series that had a wonderful map, there are A LOT of invisable walls. So much so that I eventually got annoyed and stopped exploring alternative strategies or areas.
It has also occured to me as well as a few people(Escpecially Yahtzee from ZP) that games are including way to many chest high walls. I understand there is a new trend going on with chest high walls and video games, but they really need to tone it down a bit. This again limits the number of choices a user can make. As confusing as that sounds, a players instant response to a combat situation will be to Run and hide behind a chest high wall. This doesn't challenge a user.
There are somethings that I am knit-picking and I admit that. These are my opinions, and it doesn't mean that I am less of a fan of the series. I do not understand why the dev team change the entire gameplay mechanics of the Crysis series for the consoles. Its a bigger marker but at the same time I don't think its going to make an impact as it did in the first two games. It seems to be the same games others have mentioned. Event he parts with the crawling reminded me too much of the Atomic scene in COD. This could make the game not worth remembering in the long run. PC gamers compared to consolers are different and theres no question about that. PC'ers are a finicky bunch, and thats because we spend more time and money with a PC compared to a console. PC'ers also tend to be older than consolers for the same reason. Sure some kids can get there parents to gt them a beast of a computer but its not always the case. Unfortantly PC gamers have also been naughty for pirating games, but as long as developers put in content or talk to their consumers(Not threatening them) they will change consumers from piraters to loyal fans. I know people who pirate a lot of games but will buy games from developers which put work and effort into their games and who listen to their concerns. This is what makes a strong bond with a consumer and a seller. Even looking at the music industry can we see a change. There are more small labels than large labels. The smaller labels are usually making a better profit due to their ability to interact with their fans and get them to purchase products(including songs).
Sorry if this all seemed a bit drawn out, long and a bit non-sence at times. I will edit it when I get a chance. I try to be as thorough as possible. Also I apologize for any gramatical errors(Ha-ha)
An Extra note- Did anyone else notice the NanoSuits work differently? Not in game wise but from a technical Sci-fi stance? Granted, in C2 it kind of answers why the suit doesn't crush the player when he uses strength mode(Omit this, since strength mode is really C1 and C-w). BUt it just seems different based on C-1 and C-w videos.
