2009
Welcome back true believers.
Yes, we have indeed been silent for quite some time. Far longer than any of our other gaps as well. But fear not, we have not forsaken you yet. A great deal has been happening in the real world of late. Jedireaper and myself are now living in the same abode. He gives me money and I let him use my spare room, MUWAH! But seriously. Due to personal reasons that I’m not going to cover here, he and I are now flatmates. This means that both of our games libraries have now increased significantly. We, in fact, have a few reviews lined up already.
Modern Warfare 2, Saw and Crysis to name but three. And remember that special project we were talking about way back when? Well, we haven’t forgotten about it. And that, too, will be seeing the light of day in the not too distant future.
Unfortunately, we also have some bad news. Sadly, Lissa is no longer with us. She and I had a parting of the ways. Which is a good thing as it transpires. Though it really sent my head South at the time. Thankfully, not as far as hers. She now believes herself to be a vampire, her new boyfriend is a demon, and she wanted to drink my four year old daughters blood. I shit you not, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.
Intense
2009
So what’s the big Crysis?
By: The Almightyly Impressed (and soon to be visited by the Jedireaper) Bobfish Category: Crysis, PC
GODS WHERE DO I even begin?
Crysis is one of those games that comes around sometimes. It gains masses of attention from both sides of the fence and leaves you wondering who to trust. Is it really that good? Can you judge a game entirely by it’s visuals (which are utterly amazing btw)? Is it all about the plot? Is it the game-play mechanics? Perhaps the enemy AI? Or the level design? Or could it be most important who has developed it and how much effort was put in?
Long story short , I honestly don’t care. I loved the game and I give my strongest recommendations for playing it. However, be warned. Though the listed specs are surprisingly low, they’re also massively inaccurate. Running even at recommended levels you will find yourself struggling with anything more than even low end settings. It’s a massive, swirling abyss of system drain that leaves you with a sense of having being violated in a most invasive, but nourishing and satisfying way. Much like a rather infamous moment at the end of a certain, pie oriented, teen comedy.
However, let it be said, Crysis is still some way from being the perfect game. It has a lot of strengths, but a few weaknesses as well. Some of which are elementary, though forgivable considering how relatively new Crytek are to the annals of video-game legend. Mark my words, the Cry Engine, if not Crytek as a whole, will be firmly entrenched in our memories for many years to come. Especially with the upcoming Cry3. It’s performance and visuals are, in my opinion, less pronounced than it’s first iteration, but considering it runs as efficiently on the two high definition consoles as well as the PC, and is only a little lower quality (High as opposed to Very High) this is something that could well be the next major breakthrough. But that is something to be decided by the release of Crysis 2, which is possibly due even as early as the middle of next year. Just remember to take that with a very large pinch of salt, because I will not lie to you, at this point, that release date is nothing more than fanciful speculation.
Anyway, to Crysis strengths I will list, of course, the visuals. I was only able to run on High with my rig, Very High requires DX10 or above which is not available to XP based operating systems. Though considering I was running at an average frame rate of 15, perhaps I should be glad of that. It removed the temptation to “crank it all the way up to 11” and fry my motherboard. I’ve done that in the past, and it’s not a pretty site I can assure you. But yes, the visuals are very, very good. Two years on and they’re still considered the man to beat. For a very good reason. They really are that good. I mean, just see for yourself.
But visuals alone are not enough to make a great game. All of those things listed above, well, to be honest, I think it needs all of them. Or rather, to be a great game it needs a strong showing from each. The plot, as it is, is a fairly straight forward sci-fi yarn. A quiet little island in the Phillipines has suddenly come under scrutiny by the North Korean Peoples Army, the KPA. As well as a team of American scientists (one of whom is voice by Claudia Black of Farscape fame) who are now being held hostage by the commanding officer, General Kyong. And this is where our intrepid (that means fearless by the way) band of heroes come into the mix. It is your job, along with your CO (Commanding Officer) Prophet, your NCO (None Commissioned Officer) Sergeant Psycho (a good old British lad) and two other lesser plebs who’s names I forget, to find the hostages and liberate them from their captivity.
But lo and behold, it isn’t that straightforward. Seems that, a few million years ago some Omlins (aliens, that’s my daughters word for aliens) crash landed on that very same island and have been sat in a dormant state, with their bio-organic technology, just waiting for a large enough energy source to wake them up again. From there, it doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence now does it? It’s far from an original idea, and it’s been done extremely well already. So it’s understandable if you’re somewhat dubious about how it all pans out. Fortunately, it pans out very well. And although the Omlins are revealed early on in the game, they only take a major role in events towards the very end. At least insofar as being the antagonist is concerned.
Crysis also features another, very nice, little addition which I appreciated immensely. On the highest difficulty, Delta, your usual aiming reticule is absent, meaning you have to judge your shots with more skill, or leave yourself vulnerable by bringing the sighting lenses to your eye and limiting your field of view. It serves as a very firm reminder that the game is designed far more around a black ops approach than rushing in guns blazing. Though your top secret nanosuit is well equipped to offer you a strong backing either way you go. With it’s Maximum Armour which soaks up gunfire extremely well, Maximum Strength which allows you to jump onto buildings, Maximum Speed which is far more useful for getting away than it may first seem, and Cloaking capabilities. I opted for the blending with nature and cloaking into the trees approach, but that doesn’t mean you have to.
You will also find yourself fiddling with your weapons as you progress and find new components such as a Sniping Scope, grenade launcher and the utterly invaluable laser sight. The latter, of course, makes you easier to spot by enemies, but gives you a much clearer idea of where your bullets are going to land. As well as this there are several different vehicles that you will have access too, many of them with a mounted light machine gun which tears through enemies, trees, and even most buildings with equal effect. Not to mention how much faster they make travelling. Though, again, it’s offset somewhat by how much more noticeable you are.
The AI is also solid, and not just the enemies either. There are several sections, especially later in the game, where you will be joined by the USMC. They’re far more effective in assisting you than in most games of this type. Though if there are more than about six or seven people around at a time their IQ seems to drop sharply, as demonstrated in my accompanying video. You’ll know what I mean when you see it. Still, inspite of this, they can give you a good challenge, and will often find you in the bushes even when cloaked because they’ve seen leaves moving, or your laser sight, or you just came too close.
So yes, to put it simply, Crysis is an amazing game. Extremely well crafted, solid, though system intensive, and stable. I look forward to more from Crytek in the years to come, and am already making some progress into Crysis WARHEAD, which seems to be at least as good so far.
Graphics: 9.5/10 (shocking huh?)
Gameplay: 9/10
Audio/Music: 9/10
Plot/Scripting: 8/10
Overall: 9/10
2009
A quick reminder
By: The Almighty Bobfish Category: Games
GamerzReviewz.com is not a professional video-game review magazine. In fact, we are intentionally the exact opposite. As the name implies we strive to provide frank and honest ground level impressions of video-games both old and new. Written for the people who play them, by the people who play them. [...] Continue Reading…
2009
Resistance : Fall of Standards?
By: The Almighty Bobfish Category: PS3, Resistance
I’VE NEVER MADE any secret of my distaste for First Person Shooters. But at the same time, I feel that I’m liberal enough to offer then a fair hearing and give them a chance to win me over. On some occasions, this happens almost instantly (F.E.A.R). [...] Continue Reading…
2009
You got teh F.E.A.R 2
By: The Almighty Bobfish Category: F.E.A.R, PC, Preoject Origin
AFTER MUCH DEBATE, and some rather nasty back room dealings, the second official chapter in the F.E.A.R saga hit stores earlier this year. And immediately split the fanbase right down the middle with a massive, flaming meat cleaver sword of doomy doom.
Some were extremely pleased to find that [...] Continue Reading…
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