Friday, February 18, 2011

Why Crysis is the Best Shoot-Game.

Crysis 2 is coming soon and it looks like a lot of fun, so I took it upon myself to replay the first one, or rather, Crysis Warhead, since I can't find my old Crysis 1 discs.


When Crysis first released, many complained about simply not being able to run it on their PCs, a problem Crysis 2 looks to fix. But for those that could play it, I suppose I'm only realizing this just now, it was the first "totally free" shooter. Look at any major franchise and you'll see that it really devolves into point A to point B corridor shooting with no freedom on the player's side. In Crysis, you are thrust into an "action bubble" and you have to figure out what to do within it. You can scout the area, sneak around, throw guys through walls, snipe, and really gear yourself toward your own playstyle.

The more I play Crysis the more I lament its lack of popularity. Suddenly I'm awash with sadness due to the fact that it received so little attention, regardless of whether that was any fault of its own. In Crysis I'm permitted to slowly creep my way through a rainy forest, scoping out a fight long before it actually takes place, forming a plan, then executing it.

Why am I having more fun playing an "old" game than I have in the past 5 years of shooters?

1 comment:

  1. Because replayability is king, and not very many games nowadays are built with it in mind. It's the same reason I still play X-COM: UFO Defense even though it's nearly 20 years old. I personally loved the concept of Crysis - my own experience was a bit hampered, as I had a rough time adjusting to what felt like rather 'groggy' aiming mechanics. It really did set a bar, I just hope Crysis 2 doesn't succumb to 'consolitis' and take away the sandbox element or dumb it down.

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