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
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 the two expansions (Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate) were made obsolete by the new plot arc. I fell into the other (I believe smaller) category who were disappointed due to the quality of those two offerings, especially Extraction Point. But it matters little in the end, they’re no longer cannon and that’s the end of it. The worst part about that was how it left so many loose ends. Such as the fate of the three survivors from the first chapter. Jin and Holliday were, and still are, my two favourite characters from the series. Though Stokes is pretty cool, but I’ll come to her later.
The important question now is whether Project origin is worthy of it’s place as a sequel to one of the best games made so far. Which is another point which rapidly drew battle lines between the fans. Some did, indeed, very much like the new direction the game was moving in, and others utterly hated it. It seems very much that this is one of those cases where there is no middle ground. But then, there so rarely is anymore. So where do find ourselves at the end? All I’m going to say is that a game with actual hands to press buttons and open doors is an instant win in my books.
Thankfully, at least from my perspective, the game does a very good job of driving the plot forwards. Offering far more insights into the sordid affairs of Armacham. We find that not only was Alma bred for the sole purpose of creating pyschically controlled super soldiers, so too are a number of other children. Fairly early in the game we come to a school set up to train and develop what appear to be hundreds of potential pawns. A point that many will gloss over, but a thoroughly chilling concept when you sit and think about it for just a moment.
Still, that doesn’t answer the primary question. Is Project Origin a good game or not? A worthy successor yes, but that doesn’t immediately make it worth the time to play. I believe that, yes, it is an extremely good game. Not as good as it’s parent, but I spend much of my time explaining the vast difference between “not as good” and “bad”. It’s a very well constructed, solidly written and fun experience. The over abundance of Alma, especially during early stages of the game, irked me somewhat, but fit with the story (and fan requests). And the sudden rash of heavily combat oriented sections right near the very end went a long way towards spoiling the flow for me personally. I also found it to be a little too easy. The AI seemed to be more or less on par with what we were expecting, though the environments were more linear and gave them much less room to really make use of their team smarts. Which was another thumbs down for me.
But don’t let that fool you. No matter how well constructed something is, there will always be the weak points. The important thing is that F.E.A.R 2 has less marks against is than in its favour. Long story short, my thumbs up is definitely there. And I have to say, for such an advanced game I was thoroughly shocked at how low system requirements were. Ignore those listed (which is pretty standard for PC games, they always try and make it sound more impressive than it really is) this is an extremely well coded engine. It actually ran better than the first F.E.A.R did on my rig. Now that is a major case of kudos. Plus, Leftenant Stokes. She has some great lines that add a
sense of realism to the game. “Snakefist? Are you f***ing kidding me?!?”
Graphics: 9.5/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Audio/Music: 8.5/10
Plot/Scripting: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
2009
There have been a few things happening in the real world that have taken up most of my time recently. The most notable of them being a visit from my daughter and the purchase of a new PC. But fear not, I have also been busy thrashing the arse off a number of games in my spare time, and have developed a backlog of some of the more recent titles. I’ll be working through them, as well as some older games that I’ve prepared material for, over the next few weeks. By which point I should probably have some more of the newer titles ready to go as well.
Two reviews will be coming either tomorrow or Thursday. Resistance for the Playstation 3, and F.E.A.R 2 PC. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Eyes peeled peeps
2009
Dead Space Final
By: The Inimitable Jedireaper Category: Dead Space, PS3
The USG Ishimura floats listlessly in the ever-reaching vacuum of space, sunlight glinting off of it's dark hull. Looking from afar your un-named character watches as the repair shuttle closes in and then you see the huge chunk of planet beyond, ripped from the ground upon which it had been joined, the Planetcracker class mining vessel immediatly inspires awe. But this the only moment of peacefull tranquility you are likely going to get as a repair mission soon turns into the nightmare that only kids could have after playing Doom back in the mid-ninties. Welcome to Dead Space. The opening scenes for Dead Space were filled with intense and hostillic atmosphere reaching fevel pitched as your ship crash lands in the hanger bay due to a guidance error. You play Isacc, an Engineer wearing a full body RIG (some kind of amour suit, with holo interfaces) who has volenteered for the mission, he has a girlfriend onboard the Ishimura hence the reason he joined the repair team. Upon arrival, they soon find that the ship is apparently desserted, and Isacc is soon cut off from the others when they are attacked by a... thing... a thing that was once a living breathing human being. It's mangled face all the humanity that remains. Soon you find yourself armed with a Plasma Cutter, which fires a straight horizontal or vertical waves of energy to slice through the limbs of the "Necromorphs" as we learn what they are called later. Creeping through the dark tight confines of the ship, the sound ambiance is excellently chilling as you hear Isacc's metallic breathing, his heart thumping with increasing vigour when he is freightened, the sounds of clanging and reverbrating metal as the creatures move about the air-filtration system; the occasional scream. And the gruesome sound of squishing, blistering and tearing flesh is captured wonderfully. Just pump up the volume, turn off the in-game music and close your eyes and listen. An amazing experiance alone. The story in total comprises of many twists you don't expect. And the end is shocking. The gameplay is some of the best I've played in years, having to shoot off the Creatures limbs to take them down is a great mechanic and forces you to be more tactfull in your approach. While the Obsidian Suit I downloaded made me look a lot cooler while Necro-smashing having all black armour, purple eye sensors, meleeing the Necro's is satisfyingly hefty and pleasent. I soon found myself checking every corner and shadow as I proceeded along the corridors. It is a good puzzler, presenting you with obstacles to rival Tomb Raider. I had, unlike Bobfish's controller speed issue, no problems with the controls, finding they bore simularities to Resident Evil 5 and Call of Duty in the shooting department, though while aiming, turning is much slower than the PC version according to Bobfish, I can say; with my outing of the game on PS3 that whilst aiming, your character turns at a realistic pace for a man in a heavy Hazard suit and holding a hefty Line Gun (indeed one of the most devestating in the game) though my favorite was always being able to fall back onto the Pulse Rifle which is baically a machine gun. Whilst not aiming I found Isacc to be quite responsive having been swarmed by many of the creatures having often to fend off my own body with a tap of R1 to swing my fists about untill I could select another weapon. The pause screen, and general in-game interfaces are all 3D holograms that are emitted by your RIG. So much innovation in one game, and the zero-g battles, and vacuum runs are chilling and tense. And the collecting of funds to spend on your weapons and finding power nodes to upgrade your equipment is a joy. I know I must play the game again on one of the higher difficulty settings and I'm sure the fight through the Ishimura will go from challenging to damn near impossible. All in all a must play. And top form for EA. Score: Graphics: 8.5 Gameplay: 9 Sound Design: 10 Plot/Story: 9 Replayability: 8 (its chillingly addictive) Overall Score: 8.9 Personal Score: 9 (Silver Award) Verdict: If you haven't played Dead Space yet, then you had better have a good bloody excuse for letting this little gem slip by. One of the best games in years from EA. Great game.
2009
360 degrees of Dead Space
By: The Almighty Bobomorphish Category: Dead Space, xBox360
HAVING ALREADY PLAYED through Dead Space on the PC, and thoroughly enjoyed it (see my previous review for a more in depth opinion) I was curious how well it would stand up as a console title. I won’t deny that I was extremely sceptical, which is why I wasn’t in any particular rush to pick it up. In fact, it was only because my beautiful wife (Lissa, also now writing reviews here) wanted to try it out that we bought it at all. Hence it being X-Box rather than Playstation 3, since the X-Box is hers. First impressions did little to appease my misgivings and, after only about thirty minutes I saved the game and didn’t play it again for three months.
Not exactly an inspiring start to a review.
However, a couple of days ago (well, four actually) I found myself at a bit of a loose end (I was playing Project Origin, but wasn’t in the mood for it after spending so much time on the first game for my previous reviews) and plugged it back in. The control scheme didn’t leave me with an overly positive impression once again, especially the sensitivity. After so much time on the PC, analogue sticks feel like wading through treacle toffee when you’ve gotten used to a mouse turned all the way up to ELEVEN! Seriously, it takes about three seconds just to turn one-eighty, and when a bunch of necromorphs are swarming all over you a HELL of a lot can happen in those three seconds. And don’t forget that both sticks have a bloody massive dead zone (appropriate eh?)
Still, I persevered, and made a few purchases on X-Box Live to throw a little variety into the mix. Plus, y’know, the new skins look really cool. Though I didn’t realise at first just how nails the Tank suit really is. Believe me, 60% damage resistance has a massive impact on the difficulty of the game. Especially since downloaded weapons and armour are available for free (in game) once you reach your first store at the end of Chapter 1. So, for those like myself, who have qualms about what should effectively be classed as cheating, probably better to avoid the download section all together until you’ve finished the game once. Which I did on the PC, but I still felt a little guilty after I realised how much difference it all made. Silly I know, but that’s how I am.
Anyway, enough waffling. Fourth paragraph already and I’ve said bugger all about the game apart from how dubious I was. So, well, were my misgivings well place? The question of hour. And, I’m very happy to say, they were not at all. The sensitivity of the analogue sticks still bugs me a fair bit, but not so much so that it spoiled my enjoyment of the game. Caused me several incidences of extreme frustration when I was shooting past a necromorphs waist instead of cutting him off at the thigh, but I think it actually made me better at the game. I thought more about how to approach each enemy and shifted my weapons around a lot more. Initially I only really made use of the Plasma Cutter and the Pulse Rifle, this time I gave them all a whirl and give a major, major recommendation for the Line Gun. That thing is a beast. Especially with the Scorpion pack which more than doubles it’s rate of fire. Though the yellow scorpion motif is a little silly. It would have looked much better in black or a deep red.
Long story short, the differences between the PC and console release of the game are simple cosmetics. The layout of the controls is a little odd, but works well, though it would have been nice to have a customisation option. The turning speed, whilst a point I keep coming back to, isn’t really a major concern after you’ve had a little time to adjust to it. And the downloadable weapons and armour packs add some really cool new skins to what is already an extremely solid and very atmospheric game. I still can’t over how good it actually is after the sheer amount of crap Electronic Arts have shoved down our throats in the past.
I’m eagerly looking forward to both Dead Space 2, and Extinction on the Wii. If you take the time to watch the six animated comics which cover the events of the mining operation leading up to the demise of the USG Ishimura’s crew, and the Downfall Anime which covers events aboard the Ishimura herself, you can see that there’s a lot more to the story. And they are telling it very, very well. If EA keep this up again, they could well become the respected gaming powerhouse they were back in the days of Desert Strike and Buck Rogers : Countdown to Doomsday.
Graphics: 9/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Audio/Music: 9/10
Plot/Scripting: 9/10
Overall: 8.5/10
P.S : If my sources are correct, Isaac will return for Dead Space 2.
Altman be praised
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