Do you like Call of Duty and Halo? Well you?re in luck, because the two made a sweet, sweet love child, unfortunately it was born prematurely and slightly deformed, but no worries! The doctors managed to dip it in some shiny bloom effects and slap the radio system from Bioshock on it before throwing it out into the world! Now I?m no fan boy, but I have played and enjoyed every entry in both of the previously mentioned franchises. As such, I can admit that neither are perfect games, far from it in fact. But take everything that was wrong with the two and cram them together into one big, shiny package and you get Crysis 2!
There?s nothing specifically wrong with this game, the controls are tight and the graphics are good, but it all reeks of sameness. I can?t count the number of times aliens attacked the earth and I am THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE US! But I can excuse that because a game about the adventures of a Steve, the secondary character who dies in chapter 4, wouldn?t be very fun at all; but I can?t help but wonder that there are more stories to be told that don?t have me playing the one man who IS HUMANITYS ONLY HOPE!
The basic story in Call of Halo 2 is the age old epic wherein aliens attacking New York City, presumably because Chicago and LA weren?t important enough. After a series of bullets to the chest, you find yourself bleeding out when, all of the sudden, a mysterious man wearing perhaps one of the sexist Nano-suits in gaming history saves you bloody little self. I have never quite understood why, in FPS?, the main character is always able to stay conscious after losing several buckets of blood and watch rather lengthy plot specific events; I assume it?s because you are just that bad ass. But let?s be honest here, if you came here looking for an epic tale of friendship and betrayal, than it?s a safe assumption you have a small hamster on a wheel for a brain.
The combat controls well enough, but it suffers from its computer roots. Often times you will find yourself opening the wrong menu, or activating the wrong power. It?s just slightly too complicated for a console game. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the online multiplayer. Twitchy online competitive modes and strategic combat just don?t mesh well; this will usually result in cheap or ridiculous deaths. In fact I would go as far as to say its broken; too many of the ?perks? are far too powerful, most of the weapons are just different pieces of metal with similar stopping power, most of which will remain invisible the whole time. Here arises an inherent flaw with mixing cloaking powers and multiplayer; they just don?t mesh. Entire matches can come and go wherein the entire roster of players remain cloaked as long as possible.
The crowning jewel of Half Life: bland edition is the supposed staggering level of graphics on display. I, having a less than limitless amount of disposable income, do not own a computer capable of playing this game, so I opted for the 360 version, as I heard the PS3 version managed to suck harder than a cheap hooker. Sadly for Crysis, the graphics are unimpressive at best. I?ve seen better, much better, Uncharted is better, hell Reach is better looking than this. It?s obvious there going for the photo realistic style of graphics, which is bound to fail as all the imperfections become so much more obvious.
All and all I?m not entirely convinced that Crysis isn?t a cheap cash-in. The story is uninspired, the setting is old and stagnant, and the gameplay is about as diverse as the Republican Party. If you?re just dyeing to shoot some dudes in New York City than Crysis 2 is meant for you. If, however, you want a deep, thoughtful and entertaining game, just go out and get Portal 2. In my book, Crysis 2 gets 6.5 out of 10.
There?s nothing specifically wrong with this game, the controls are tight and the graphics are good, but it all reeks of sameness. I can?t count the number of times aliens attacked the earth and I am THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE US! But I can excuse that because a game about the adventures of a Steve, the secondary character who dies in chapter 4, wouldn?t be very fun at all; but I can?t help but wonder that there are more stories to be told that don?t have me playing the one man who IS HUMANITYS ONLY HOPE!
The basic story in Call of Halo 2 is the age old epic wherein aliens attacking New York City, presumably because Chicago and LA weren?t important enough. After a series of bullets to the chest, you find yourself bleeding out when, all of the sudden, a mysterious man wearing perhaps one of the sexist Nano-suits in gaming history saves you bloody little self. I have never quite understood why, in FPS?, the main character is always able to stay conscious after losing several buckets of blood and watch rather lengthy plot specific events; I assume it?s because you are just that bad ass. But let?s be honest here, if you came here looking for an epic tale of friendship and betrayal, than it?s a safe assumption you have a small hamster on a wheel for a brain.
The combat controls well enough, but it suffers from its computer roots. Often times you will find yourself opening the wrong menu, or activating the wrong power. It?s just slightly too complicated for a console game. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the online multiplayer. Twitchy online competitive modes and strategic combat just don?t mesh well; this will usually result in cheap or ridiculous deaths. In fact I would go as far as to say its broken; too many of the ?perks? are far too powerful, most of the weapons are just different pieces of metal with similar stopping power, most of which will remain invisible the whole time. Here arises an inherent flaw with mixing cloaking powers and multiplayer; they just don?t mesh. Entire matches can come and go wherein the entire roster of players remain cloaked as long as possible.
The crowning jewel of Half Life: bland edition is the supposed staggering level of graphics on display. I, having a less than limitless amount of disposable income, do not own a computer capable of playing this game, so I opted for the 360 version, as I heard the PS3 version managed to suck harder than a cheap hooker. Sadly for Crysis, the graphics are unimpressive at best. I?ve seen better, much better, Uncharted is better, hell Reach is better looking than this. It?s obvious there going for the photo realistic style of graphics, which is bound to fail as all the imperfections become so much more obvious.
All and all I?m not entirely convinced that Crysis isn?t a cheap cash-in. The story is uninspired, the setting is old and stagnant, and the gameplay is about as diverse as the Republican Party. If you?re just dyeing to shoot some dudes in New York City than Crysis 2 is meant for you. If, however, you want a deep, thoughtful and entertaining game, just go out and get Portal 2. In my book, Crysis 2 gets 6.5 out of 10.
