Crysis 2 Review
- Posted March 22nd, 2011 at 16:01 EDT by Steven Williamson
- 19 Comments
Review Score
- PSU Review Score
- 8.0
- Avg. user review score:
- 8.9
Summary
A visually dazzling, but forgettable single player campaign paves the way for a mighty multiplayer component.
We like
- The fact it is the best looking shooter on PlayStation 3
- Tons of weapon variation and tactical opportunity
- The rewarding multiplayer component
We dislike
- The unexciting campaign
- Stealth mode feels cheap
- The erratic A.I. performance
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
Crysis 2’s single player campaign reminds me of best friend’s incredibly attractive mother. Though I don’t actually know her that well, the thought of spending some “quality time” in her company is enough to generate a feeling of excitement deep within me. Crysis 2 evokes very much the same reaction. For weeks, nay months, I’ve drooled over trailers, screenshots and footage of Crytek’s sumptuous-looking first person shooter and longed to spend some time in its company. Sadly though, now that fantasy has finally seeped into reality and I have Crysis 2 naked in my arms, I feel a little disappointed that it hasn’t lived up to my expectations. In the same way that the fantasy with my best mate’s mom is undoubtedly better kept in my head, Crysis 2’s single player campaign is also a far more attractive proposition from a distance rather than in the flesh.
That’s not to say that Crysis 2 is a bad, or even an average game. While the lack-lustre solo campaign and forgettable storyline only serves as a good example of how hype can raise your expectations to such an extent that even good just doesn’t feel good enough, Crysis 2's multiplayer component saves the day. However, it's with the campaign that this review unfortunately starts. One of the big problems with Crysis 2 it that it takes far too long to get going, and even when it does it lacks any memorable moments that leave a lasting impression. Devoid of the kind of intense, tactical battles that I expected, gameplay just plods along - with hardly any shift in pace or tension. Even when gameplay does attempt to engage you fully, the few boss battles that it throws at you are quite tedious, as you try to snipe down a machine-gunner from the door of a passing enemy helicopter that just won't keep still. Crytek will punish you by making you take down this gunner three times before you can move on; a perfect example of how the single player component lacks in quality gameplay, and quite shocking when you take into account Crysis 2’s graphical innovations.
The fact of the matter is that Crysis 2's gameplay just isn't particularly exciting or engaging. Part of the reason it fails to enthral, it seems, is that Crytek has focused much of its attention on the multiplayer component and creating a game that simply looks fantastic. Meanwhile, it’s neglected to spend enough time creating a solo experience to match. In an attempt to stand out from the crowd, Crysis 2 does have some beautifully detailed, sprawling environments that encourage tactical freedom, but mopping up ground infantry and alien monsters on the way to your final destination becomes fairly rudimentary once you learn how to exploit the system with the powers of the nanosuit. The nanosuit is a superb creation that works brilliantly in multiplayer, but in the campaign its powers feel quite cheap.
Crysis 2 generally involves traditional ‘A’ to ‘B’ objectives where you might be tasked with blowing up an ammo stockpile with some C4, or gathering specimen samples from alien pods. The large multi-tiered levels give you the freedom to adopt a variety of tactics and make use of the game’s impressive array of weapons. Levels are impressively designed so that you can make use of the nanosuits’ powers, particularly the main function; its visor. You can open up the visor at least once per level and survey a range of tactical opportunities. Scan the location and you’ll see positions marked with instructions, such as ‘Flank,’ ‘Stealth Kill,’ ‘Explore’ and ‘Snipe.’ You can then tag them, and head to these positions to take advantage of a specific tactic. ‘Flank,’ for example, might send you into a sewer system to bypass guards on the main road, whereas ‘Stealth’ might offer you a way to avoid a battle completely by turning yourself invisible. Needless to say, this feature does give you a lot of tactical freedom should you want to experiment.
The nanosuit also has a range of other powers that you can utilize for short periods of time, such as the armor mode which gives you extra protection; the stealth mode for turning invisible, or nanovision (thermal vision) for spotting enemies in the dark. The ... (continued on next page)
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Comments
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Optimizm324
- 3:01pm EDT - March 22nd, 2011
- 6
Options. This game is all about options. I love Killzone 2 and 3, still playing through 3's campaign now. However, I feel like Killzone, for all it's prettiness and intense gameplay is still simply just a corridor shooter in the same vein as Call of Duty. I for one am excited solely because of the amount of possibilities Crysis 2 presents the player with. I'll take options over pretty hallways anyday. Sorry, Killzone.
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coverton341
- 3:23pm EDT - March 22nd, 2011
- 7
Sounds like I'll be taking a pass on this one. I'm kinda sorta completely tired of FPS games that soley ride on their MP aspect and offer a paltry SP outing
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DarkNemesis
- 3:27pm EDT - March 22nd, 2011
- 8
@ 6,what you said has nothing to do with game design or graphics.KZ3 has more to offer than just pretty hallways.It might not be as open as Crysis,but it is not bland and genericly designed like Crysis either.No creativity whatsover in the game design,character design and art direction in Crysis.Also using New York City as the setting fails compared to the creative world of Helgan.The atmosphere is also dense and flat in Crysis.The game only has hype going for it and is nowhere near the best looking shooter on the PS3.It does not even look like they used any dynamic lighting or shaders.
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jdmarinelli
- 3:56pm EDT - March 22nd, 2011
- 9
S. Williamson review of Crysis 2 is aweful. I\\\'ve read 7 other reviews for this game on other web sites and S. Williamson review was by far the worst. You need a new reviewer or a new editor. I\\\'ve been playing video games since they were created and I felt I needed to vent on this awful review for a great great game thats is not a 8/10.
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markwesker
- 5:16pm EDT - March 22nd, 2011
- 10
Best looking ps3 shooter,sorry but i got thios game n it does not look as good as killzone 2 never mind kz3,uncharted also looks better but thats a third person shooter.
Got the game and all i can see is they aint much going on,kinda silent,unlike kz3 where there is crap loads of action scenes.
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RoughneckPS3
- 8:02pm EDT - March 22nd, 2011
- 12
Question.
Comparing the STORIES only of Killzone 3 and Crysis 2 (you seemed pretty upset with Crytek's story) you'd say Killzone had the better story? Was it more developed? Longer? Made you feel more invested in the fight?
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darcdestiny
- 2:44pm EDT - March 23rd, 2011
- 13
@8 It is obvious u have not played crisis 2 or u would c it has some of the best lighting in a game since the beginning of time. So please get your facts straight or at least play the FINISHED game b4 u open your mouth. Thanks
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m0m086
- 6:19pm EDT - March 23rd, 2011
- 14
"Furthermore, some of my disappointment could be attributed to the fact that I’ve come straight from playing the Killzone 3 campaign, which was so much more intense and ultimately more enjoyable."
KZ3 was cool...but you know as well as I do that the campaign was average.
This should have been handled by a reviewer with a much more objective approach.....
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EternalCrysis9
- 11:24am EDT - May 24th, 2011
- 18
Easily the best looking game on PS3 no matter what anyone has said, you may have seen the demo but the full version\'s graphics are insanely good! I can admit it is not the best SP game in the world but it is decent, enjoyable and good for people who arn\'t hardcore Killzone and COD players but i have played COD and i do think that the MP is to rival with Black Ops! Thanks
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knowitall222
- 1:48am EDT - July 1st, 2011
- 19
people the xbox 360 can handle the graphics of killzone 3(Sucky Game) The ps3 is a bitter it just steals the ideas of xbox and the wii and Uncharted does not have great graphics gta4 has better graphics than uncharted(I do like uncharted 2 not uncharted 1) but anyways crysis is a good game I give it a 9
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