Crysis Demo

I know I’m a little bit late, but Crysis hasn’t hit Philippine shores right now and Gamespot screw me twice over the Crysis demo. After downloading the 1.8GB demo for the third time, it’s finally done and got it installed.

Only one word can describe my Crysis demo experience:

WOW.

When Far Cry was released, it was the PC Killer App, an application that taxes your system so hard that it justifies your next big upgrade. Three years later, Crytek gave birth to Crysis. And I wasn’t suprised that Crysis, Far Cry’s bigger brother, is the new Killer App.

The graphics were amazing and audio was solid. The way lighting, shading and shadows were implemented makes Crysis the best-looking game ever released. I was pleasantly surprised when I experienced a relatively good performance by my system. I only have an HD2600XT–not the strongest card out there, but it plays well. With all visuals set to Medium, frame rates played between 20-30 FPS (using FRAPS), and that’s in the outdoor jungle already, complete with the animals and foliage shadows. When I reached the “First Light” area, I experimented with my display settings once again. What surprised me even more was that even with the graphics set to High, frame rates only suffered minimal decrease and there are even times when frame rates are higher than settings on Medium! The only settings that I left on Medium was the shader quality and shadows. I noticed that shading and shadows impact performance the most. I am very optimistic about my system’s performance because I am getting those frame rates with Crossfire disabled.

There game added a new mechanic for game play, as well. The powers of the nano suit are a really nice addition to the game. You can choose between a male or female nano suit voice, and the female voice is just sexy. “Maximum armor.” “Maximum speed.” “Maximum strength.”

One of my main complaints is that, like in Far Cry, weapons in Crysis are underpowered. Here you are, an elite soldier with a Sci-Fi nano suit, but your rifle takes 3/4 to one whole clip to eliminate a Korean soldier at medium range. They can’t be that tough.

The story is old as well. A group of scientists find something in a secluded island that will “change the future of the planet”. North Koreans then invade the island and capture the scientists. But no! The story doesn’t end there. A fourth party comes into play. Aliens take over the island and you are left to watch after your own back. What I liked, however about the alien aspect of the game is that it gives an eerie resemblance to Lost. The roaring of the aliens resonate in the jungle, trees shake violently and humans die a grotesque death that no other mortal has witnessed. Feels like Lost with Jack Shepherd clad in a high-tech nano-suit and a weak automatic rifle.

My only apprehension with Crysis comes with a confession. I am easily scared when it comes to gaming and I don’t like suspense and graphic monster. I’ve owned Far Cry for more than a year, but I’m stuck in the Archives level. It’s filled with Trigens and Trigens scare me. They’re fast, they’re bad and they’re ugly. Two hit kills and there’s no point in running. Combine that with the dark and scary lighting of Far Cry, you got me spooked. So I am really hoping that Crysis is not as scary.

Too bad I only have the demo. I am really curious to find out how the rest of the game plays out. If only Crysis were not as scary as Far Cry, it is definitely on my Christmas shopping list.