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Crysis Over

Just finished Crysis.

I enjoyed it.

Many commentators have said that the game is just a remake of Far Cry but I found it very different. Crysis feels to me like a much more traditional game. It feels like an old school shooter with a big alien boss at the end. It actually reminds me a lot of Unreal 2 but it has resonances of even older games like DOOM and Duke Nukem 3D.

Crysis is a lot easier than Far Cry (on default settings anyway). This is partly because they included quick save (embarassed pause) but mainly because you get a uber magic suit from the very start of the game. This suit gives you a self recharging shield, self recharging health and has speed, strength and stealth modes as well. The reduced difficulty level isn't a bad thing in my opinion. I rate Far Cry one of the greatest shooters ever but I didn't get to appreciate it properly till my second (or third) run through because I was struggling with the difficulty on my first attempt.

I can't really comment on the state of the art visuals because I was limited to Medium Quality settings in order to get decent framerates. At medium quality the game looks OK but nothing spectacular. Mind you I did increase the shader detail from medium to high and that improved the look of the game quite considerably. I can't imagine that enhanced visuals would changed the gameplay experience much though once the wow factor had worn off.

Not in the same league as Call of Duty 4 in my opinion, but an enjoyable game none the less. Old school shooter fans might particularly appreciate it for nostalgia value.

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