Crysis: Is it worth it?

[xannoside]

I just downloaded the demo for the original Crysis, and I'm actually torn.

Normally, a demo convinces me one way or the other, but this time...

Immediate Pros: This game is pretty. The physics engine is absurdly well-designed, and the textures are gorgeous. This is probably the best-looking FPS I have ever played with the possible exception of CoD4, and I can only play the demo on its medium-ish settings without the framrate dropping below 30 fps.

Immediate Cons: While the rhythmn and play-style of the shooter is very solid and enjoyable, and the special abilities of the suit are well done, it doesn't seem remotely different from a generic shooter so far. Granted, the demo only gets as far as the first couple of checkpoints, but there doesn't seem much atmosphere that could be described as "the Crysis experience" thus far, especially compared to something like CoD4 or F.E.A.R.

It's PC-only, so renting it out. Any thoughts?

Comments

[wellgull.livejournal.com]

Hmm, my understanding is the only real point of differentiation for Crysis is that it's a game so ridiculously graphics-intensive, God's computer couldn't run it on the highest settings... who cares about gameplay?

[xannoside.livejournal.com]

Because if I'm playing something for pretty, atmosphere counts, and like it or not, the gameplay differentiation tends to count a lot in that atmosphere, at least for FPSes.

[wellgull.livejournal.com]

Er, sorry, I don't mean to say that you shouldn't; I mean I think that's what the designers were thinking -- something like "We're sooooo innovative on the graphics front, no one will care if it's basically just Wolfenstein all over again."

[xannoside.livejournal.com]

You know, I wonder if Wolfenstein has a strong hold on the trademarks/copyrights for "generic FPS involving Nazi mutant zombie cyborgs".

'Cause unless you make a straight-up WW2 shooter, you'd be infringing on that concept if you use Nazis. 0_0

[jlc.livejournal.com]

I've been similarly torn about this, too. It looks gorgeous and I've heard enough positive buzz to overwhelm my "meh, generic shooter" feelings, but it still hasn't been enough to overwhelm my "games are too fucking expensive" feelings.

[xannoside.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

Other top-of-the-genre games, like CoD4, Bioshock, F.E.A.R., and Gears of War take great pains to create a unique atmosphere to wrap the shooter elements in.

It's particularly impressive with CoD4, considering how generic the setting is.

Crysis, so far, seems like they re-did Far Cry (again), took out the animal powers, replaced it with a generic power suit, and made the generic bad guys North Korean soldiers.

I know there's more to it, but they don't do a very good job of setting that stage before the end of the demo.

[greyhk.livejournal.com]

What kind of system are your running these days? Can't be your laptop anymore.

I'm still running the same junk that I built back in 2003. Guess it would be unplayable for me.

[xannoside.livejournal.com]

I got a Dell XPS desktop in '06.

Currently running:

2.8 Ghz Pentium D
2 GB of 466 DDR2 SDRAM
BFG 512 GeForce 9600 GT Overclocked

Crysis is pretty much the first thing I have put on this setup that made it choke on the higher settings.