Crysis (2007)

Completed on Delta difficulty for my first time playing. I did some screw ups at the beginning by trying to snipe with a suppressed assault rifle. I later neglected stealth by going loud with an assault rifle with the best scope (eventually the sniper scope) in single shot mode and fight from as far away as possible. My second weapon was a precision rifle with the same attachments, though I used it sparingly. I preferred to use sniping and strength mode for added stability. After killing all enemies in sight, I would go dual silenced laser sight pistols and use cloak to take out enemies in close range.

This strategy changed quite a bit against the aliens as I often had to use whatever was lying around, and a run and gun style in armor mode was more suitable. Never once used incendiary ammo, smoke grenades, flashbangs or grenade launcher and hardly used any frags or C4. Had one cool C4 kill against a suit wearer in the mine who was hiding behind a mine cart; just ran up to him, dropped 3 C4, and ran like hell.

Would be fun to play again with mods to make it harder.

Wew, finished the game. It took about 10 hours according to my steam. The game consistently improved until the finale, which was still pretty decent. The plot wasn't deep, but the design and gameplay made up for it. The difficulty curve was very good, it continually amped up throughout the game. However the final part I found to be a bit disappointing... I mostly just hid behind an obstacle and popped out to shoot. However the whole quicksave system made things a lot easier than older games. You just quicksave before a hard part and try different things until you don't die.

The game doesn't end with a resolution of any kind. It just leads straight into what I presume will be the sequel. Fair enough, doesn't bother me too much. The credits caught me by surprise though. I was expecting one last mission to provide a resolution but whatever.

The unique part in the middle was amazing, however. I definitely had a "this is awesome" moment there. It reminded me a bit of how Thief changes after a few missions.

Despite the gameplay being pretty good, the only real lasting impact the game has had in gaming culture has been the "but can it run Crysis?" meme. Apart from that, and the fact that the engine was somewhat futureproofed, well not much else stands out. There's not much to gain from playing the game in terms of gamer culture, except the ability to say that you've played it.

Anyway, in summary it was a pretty great experience. The only letdown was the simplistic plot and the average ending. Definitely still a great game in 2017.

I decided to resume from an older save. One of the save files was corrupted which was annoying, but an earlier save was fine. I learned that you just need to shoot 3 rockets into the tanks. Also completely missed the stash of rocket launchers in the school. That's old games I guess.

The game was more enjoyable this time around. I got up to the base with the bridge and helicopter. I think the enemies are less armoured if you don't get spotted. I haven't bothered being sneaky: I find it easier to just run for the objectives. I was pissed that I couldn't find a sniper rifle in the game, but fortunately I found one at the base, plus scoped SMGs.

Finally got this on a steam sale. I remember people going on about this game back in the day, so I was excited to give it a go. I was surprised that I was able to run it on very high. People mentioned that it still holds up pretty well these days, and I partially agree. It can certainly pass as a game which could've been released this year.

However there are a few notable things that I was surprised were missing. For example I only saw very basic dynamic lighting even though Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl was released around the same time. The game also lacked any postprocessing except AA as far as I'm aware. There are god-rays which I think are overused because it was the big thing back then. The physics engine is okay, but I threw a glass bottle expecting it to break, but nothing. Also no splashing if you throw something into the water. Small things, but I would've expected them from something this groundbreaking. Bodies sometimes go flying when you shoot them. I wonder why that happens often in games with physics engines. Draw distance is not that amazing, with pop-in if you use binoculars. Poly count isn't great but hey I'm sure it was great for 2007. Vegetation was pretty well done I guess. I can't find any option to toggle crouch, and sometimes it's difficult to go prone...

The game is kind of a straightforward shooter, which surprised me. Modern shooters usually include tactical elements, but this game was pretty much "go around killing stuff". Refreshing in a way, but definitely reminded me of what we take for granted these days. I found myself basically running around, activating stealth, finding a good position, and then ambushing people.

The game isn't a pushover... Even on normal difficulty, I found myself dying a few times at the beginning. Modern shooters typically will hold your hand more. The enemies are also a lot more competent at spotting you than expected, which I don't mind. However the AI seems quite simple. They path toward you and shoot. They also do basic searching and throw grenades but that's about it. The game gets its difficulty by giving the enemies a lot of hp and sending huge waves after you. It can get intense I guess. Once I learned the stealth/move/hide strategy it became pretty manageable though. There seems to be no friendly AI. The buddies in the game seem to be there just for plot.

Anyways I played a couple hours and got stuck at the part where you have to kill 2 tanks. I shot the tank several times in the back with the rocket launcher with no results. That's a bit strange. I then found a petrol station nearby and a tank blew up when it drove into it, but it killed me too. I guess I should try luring the tanks over there again. This is probably one of the latest games that lets you get stuck on something without hitting you over the head with the solution. That's nice if you were around for that stuff.

The game is fairly engaging. I guess it's pretty good for a shooter, but modern shooters are generally better. However, it is pretty impressive to hold up 10 years after release. Few games can do that.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I want to bother finishing this game. Basic shooters aren't really my jam. I don't care too much about the story or anything like that, so it's just "go from one location to the next, and kill everything there". I'll think about it.