Crysis 2: Oh Shit.

[Snooglebum]

Uh oh.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/02/11/an-actual-crisis-crysis-2-leaked/

[ThunderPeel2001]

Hmm. Be interesting to see the whole story on this, and just how severe it actually is... Is this a really old Alpha or a really recent Beta? (HL2 did ok after a really early version was leaked, right?) Can the "master key" just be changed to a new one? Crytek just got a lesson in security

Time will tell just how crushing this is for Crytek, I guess. Hopefully it won't be too bad... but it's not looking good.

I wonder who leaked it?

Edit: Interesting post on FacePunch

In all honesty, I did get this leak. It is crashhappy as fuck.

After the first mission there's this intro sequence showing closeups of the suit and things the game is capable of (trailer?), but if freezes during that sequence, making me incapable of playing.

*Deletes from harddrive*

I'll just wait for the real deal!

[a purple future]

yeah the videos i've seen made it look buggy as hell. and for a game series that basically depends on running and looking great, it doesn't have much to offer if you have to wade through broken scripting and various CTDs. i'll just wait for the actual release and buy it then

plus I'm old now and release dates don't mean much to me anymore, with a few exceptions. waiting a month to play crysis 2 isn't the end of the world for me.

[Lu]

I feel for the chaps. Such a kick in the balls to have that happen so close to launch. I wonder how it got leaked.

The game itself, maybe because their marketing is putting so much emphasis on multiplayer, but the game looks utterly uninteresting to me.

Wasn't Crysis' main strength that it had these large open spaces where you can kind of muck about? Here's your objective, figure it out! That kinda thing. Take that away and Crysis 2 just seems like some bland tries-the-same-thing-everyone-else-is-doing shooter.

Not that the single player campaign isn't still that, but they're not showing a whole lot of that.

[Erkki]

the game looks utterly uninteresting to me.

IMHO, the shooter genre should die like the adventure genre did (ok, they're not dead but you know what I mean). Don't see that happening, though.

[toblix]

Why? Shooters haven't become stagnant like adventure games became. Every year there are huge innovations and game-changers like health regeneration, cover systems and ultra-slow motion execution sequences, and now with the revolutionizing motion control technologies coming out there's no telling what they'll come up with next!

[Orv]

Why? Shooters haven't become stagnant like adventure games became. Every year there are huge innovations and game-changers like health regeneration, cover systems and ultra-slow motion execution sequences, and now with the revolutionizing motion control technologies coming out there's no telling what they'll come up with next!

This was sarcasm, right?

[ThunderPeel2001]

Why? Shooters haven't become stagnant like adventure games became. Every year there are huge innovations and game-changers like health regeneration, cover systems and ultra-slow motion execution sequences, and now with the revolutionizing motion control technologies coming out there's no telling what they'll come up with next!

I'm holding out for story and characters.

[Lu]

I'm looking forward to finding out why Lego Bionics have invaded Earth and are trying to destroy all of humanity.

[Thrik]

Have to say that this trailer has completely reignited my interest in this game:

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While it's often overlooked that Crysis 1 did actually have a fairly decent script and characters, clearly things have been taken a lot more seriously this time around. The gameplay below looks good too, much more varied than the charge-and-shoot style prevalent in console-orientated shooters nowadays.

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[toblix]

So it went a little bit like this:

• A couple of days ago: noticed someone (Chris, I think) saying something positive about Crysis 2. Hadn't really thought about it, but I had played a lot of console stuff, and could use a game that lets you aim at people's heads like only the PC can. So, I preordered. I was excited.
  
• Today I thought "cool, I'll play Crysis 2" and clicked Play in Steam, which didn't load the game, but instead a slowly progressing dialog telling me Steam was decrypting the game files. Disappointed!
  
• After leaving and coming back, it was done decrypting. I clicked Play again and... it installed a bunch of stuff. More disappointed!
  
• I started the game proper, and the screen changed resolution to something out of 2002, with a blurry up-scaled 4:3 image and a screen telling to me to press start to start or something like that. Very disappointed and ready to rage about consoles destroying PC gaming.
  
• I had to register for an account or some shit, and clumsily enter the serial key by Shift+Tabbing back and forth between the game and the Steam overlay, and manually adjust the screen resolution back to the native resolution of my monitor and operating system. At this point I was seething with offended nerd rage, and was composing sarcastic little 140 character messages about what a total and EPIC fail this joke of a game was.
  
• I started the game and was blown out of my face and ass by the super-smooth graphics that are so good you're constantly wiggling the mouse around to confirm that it didn't just cut to a pre-rendered clip.
  
• I ran around an empty warehouse throwing lighting equipment around because it just looks so God damned beautiful, and there's so much effectery going on I feel like buying the computer was a fabulous decision!
  
• The combat feels very solid, and there's nice touches like auto-leaning over cover, which makes it feel really modern, I guess. The rapist voice that tells me what my suit can do is a little disconcerting.
  

[Nappi]

So it went a little bit like this:

• I had to register for an account or some shit, and clumsily enter the serial key by Shift+Tabbing back and forth between the game and the Steam overlay, and manually adjust the screen resolution back to the native resolution of my monitor and operating system. At this point I was seething with offended nerd rage, and was composing sarcastic little 140 character messages about what a total and EPIC fail this joke of a game was.
  

This was pretty much my experience with the exiting marriage of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Games for Windows Live. For some reason, the thing just wouldn't log in after registering no matter what I tried. Furthermore, I had to play a portion of the game again because I couldn't use my old save when I was finally able to log in after manually installing a newer version of that piece of shit. So basically, my first two hours with the game saw about 30 minutes of gameplay of which 15 minutes was unique.

While I didn't care much for the visuals in the first game, Crysis 2 looks incredibly good. It's probably because this time they have something other to show than leaves. And it has some color too! Unfortunately, it also has space monsters which is a huge turnoff for me.

I like to imagine the people around you can hear your suit saying "cloak engaged" if you are close enough to them to begin with.

[Lu]

Shit, although I thought it looked rather bland, Crysis 2 reminds me how much I miss larger environments and trudging through them. It does feel a bit more cramped than the first Crysis, but I guess that was to be expected. I wonder if you can go inside of the suit... Maximum Stench.

[Sully907]

I've been playng the PS3 version online a lot over the past few days, really enjoying the tradeoff between the different suit powers, and the clashes that result because of it. The only thing I wish they would have done is unlocked other game modes sooner. I've put 4+ hours into multiplayer and I still only have access to 1 non TDM mode.

[Orv]

I have an interesting 'bug' where every few feet or so, my character and all physics will cease to function momentarily, but I can still look around. Probably the result of my GPU being up-to-speed but my CPU not, but still mildly annoying. Looks pretty, though. . .

Edit: Disregard! I appear to have fixed it through the miracle of not being a console schmuck (present company excluded from schmuckery.) Read: console commands.

Edited March 26, 2011 by Orvidos

[Chris]

I'm pretty sure you don't need to enter the serial number unless you play multiplayer. I've put in 8 hours or so and still haven't typed in my serial number.

Another handy thing to keep in mind is that in Steam, you can right-click on a game in your list and view the CD-key from there, and then copy it into your clipboard. If the game supports copy-paste, you can just paste it in when you get into the game.

[Chris]

While it's often overlooked that Crysis 1 did actually have a fairly decent script and characters

This is indeed overlooked. Crysis' story isn't any good compared to...an actual real non-video game story, but compared to the great majority of shooters, it's utterly competent. The dialogue and delivery was better than a lot of what's out there in significantly more linear, "story-driven" shooters.

Of course, even though Crysis was absolutely chock-full of amazingly-executed elements, it was slammed at every turn for being "just a tech demo but not a very good game" by people who have absolutely no idea what they're talking about.

[Salacious Snake]

This game is bananas. It's definitely a lot more of a directed experience than the first game (at least so far), but it's solidly paced and is a fucking spectacle. I'm digging the sound and music in particular.

I keep hoping I'll find out what became of Nomad and Psycho.

Also, the sound effect when you activate stealth is a bit like the Predator's clicky purr sound which makes me very happy.

[toblix]

I'm just in the beginning parts of the game (all the powers haven't even been introduced yet) but it seems the stealth is super powerful. I can move around while cloaked forever, and I only need a couple of seconds for myself to fully recharge for another leg of my unnoticeable journey through the military compound, killing soldiers left and right. To counter this super powerful ability I imagine they'll have to do the Splinter Cell thing where the enemy guys eventually go and buy whatever goggles they need to see me.

It might've been a bug, but at least once a guy has found a body, become really agitated and started investigating, but seconds later go "it was probably nothing." Maybe an artifact of early-game difficulty adjustment?

[Thrik]

Might be. One thing I noticed in Crysis 1 is that it's kind of more fun when you crank the difficulty up, because the AI and everything becomes much sharper, and it also made the enemies talk Korean instead of English which felt more realistic — I felt like I had to be very careful.

If you're finding it too easy I'd experiment with pushing it up. I recall Crysis 1 allowing you to adjust difficulty at will so you could always lower it again if you get stuck against some ridiculously overpowered boss.

[toblix]

I'm such a huge idiot, adjusting the difficulty never even occured to me. I never pick hard in any game because I hate getting frustrated and rage quitting. However, it is the most obvious thing to do in my case. Thanks for pointing it out. And yes, there's an option for it right in the main menu, so maybe it even does it in real-time.

[vimes]

I'm a bit confused by the reviews and feedback i'm seeing : I liked Crysis because Icould choose how to approach a problem, when to retreat, replan and that, even in Delta, I always saw a chance to un-fuck up situations provided I was smart and concentrated enough... do Crysis 2 emulates any of this ?

[Thrik]

From what I've heard Crysis 2 is completely like that, and having briefly played a preview build last year my own experience would back that up.

It's not as open as Crysis 1, which was so open you could literally just walk around most battles in the game. I enjoyed it, but it could make the game seem lacking in direction at times when you could just ignore most of what was there — it was very much a game you had to go out of your way to make the most of.

Crysis Warhead got the balance better IMO, in that it had areas roughly as open as Crysis 1's environments but did a better job of funnelling you down routes that made you have enemy encounters, and also had more set-pieces. Granted you could still take enemies out in all your various ways, but you had little choice but to engage in order to meet objectives. It gave you the freedom Crysis 1 fans love if you wanted it, but a bit more of the controlled progression that your typical Call of Duty fan might desire.

Crysis 2 just seems to have refined that further. You have large sandbox areas with an entrance and exit where you can deal with enemies in many different ways, but each sandbox is smaller which means more set-pieces and more rapid storyline progression. Bit like Metal Gear Solid 4, actually.

[a purple future]

it's really nice seeing people whose opinions i trust (Chris, Shawn Eliott) echo my own on this game.

i had a blast with it. even though it's a "linear" game (yeah yeah), the freedom the game affords you in the "arenas" is totally refreshing. there was never a time where i wanted to approach a situation in a certain way, where the game wouldn't let me. i felt totally empowered, and that's how it should be, honestly.

yeah, sucks about the lack of graphics customization and the god-awful checkpoint save system, but the game itself makes up for it.

i was kind of worried that i was just being blinded by how pretty and slick it is, but it's nice to see that so many other people like it too. and props to crytek for allowing a "new game +" of sorts (you keep your upgrades and attachments for future playthroughs). it seems like such a simple idea, give people a reason to play multiple times- for fun, not achievements.

[Hermie]

Definitive proof: Crysis 2 was dumbed down.