Console: PS3 Genre: First person shooter with a sci-fi premise.
Setting: New York City in lockdown mode.
Story:
The aliens of the first game are now calling New York City home! You will have to fight them and also have to deal with a human, private military firm (C.E.L.L.) which has put New York City in lockdown.
Graphics:
Excellent. From memory (been a few months since I played this, I think) you do have good resolution...i.e. you can take a closer look at text or textures and it still looks realistic. So, although I'm not one to take a close look at things like walls etc, on the one or two occasions I did do this, the textures did not go blurry quickly, like would in games on the Playstation2 console, say.
General observation:
I was kind of looking forward to this game after getting my first platinum trophy on the first game in this series beforehand (I downloaded the original game on the PlayStation Network). Sadly, I got so little out of this game that the 3rd game in this series isn't really on my radar now, even though that games crossbow kind of excited me, after that weapon became such a favourite of mine in the great Bioshock first person shooter.
Good about the game: The graphics.
Bad about the game: Enemy A.I. Just really abysmal and/or laughable. Occasionally aliens will spin around on the spot like breakdancers or look like they were literally skating around in a small circle. Worse than this, the would sometimes go right pass you (i.e. they must have been able to see you) but they keep going right past you and then try to go through a rock wall...forever. Even humans in the game can act really stupidly. Apparently the game has a mechanic like that of the Metal Gear Solid series where you can distract guards by throwing objects. Perhaps due to bad programming, the developers didn't define this very well, as I had one human soldier ignore a large gas cylinder which I threw near them...which must have made one Hell of a noise...or would do, in real life. Even more stupiderer, one human private military soldier completely ignored a comrade of theirs I had recently killed...just went past it...as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. The game does get buggy after your mission to escort the Marines to safety.
* When you are in stealth mode, your controller vibrates. This wastes your precious batteries and...is just annoying.
* The game is too long. It is interminable.
* There are too many cutscenes. A pleasure of the original was just how direct it was. With this game, there's like a cliché shopping list of things 'to do'...which really takes you out of the game and is...just annoying.
* Too many stupid trophies/achievements. There are now trophies for online play. Seeing as I hardly play online at all, this pretty much takes the achievable aim of gaining platinum out of the equation. The original had a very small set of trophies and was very doable.
* If you do decide to chase trophies or achievements (like finding certain objects) you can't resume from a previous checkpoint via the in-game menu...you must quit the game and go back in. Actually, my notes on this aren't clear...I suspect that I may mean that I would have liked to have seen a cutscene again for the information it provides or whatever, but you have to quit the game and reload in order to get that again...I think that's what I mean! * I liked the option in the original game of just using your fists to punch aliens...which you don't get in this game.
* It seems that there is no ability to choose to grab or stealth kill an alien. I like the former ability but it only seems to become possible to do if you are discovered by the enemy. In other words, I would like to be able to use that ability at other points in the game.
* As with the first game, there is part of the game which has an impenetrable route to someplace else...maze like, with no apparent or understandable exit. If you love maps where you can get lost, this is for you! Conclusion: I really like the no nonsense original Crysis. This sequel is very missable.
Not being a hardcore first person shooter fan myself, I must put in a good word for Bioshock...a first person shooter for people who don't like first person shooters! It also has some sci-fi elements.
