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| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=23465 |  Spaceman Spliff (3) Apr 16, 2011 - 11:33 pm
| I agree with the reviewer; it's difficult not to be disappointed with many of the new directions taken by Crytek.
Crysis 2's tactical view/binoculars are a perfect example of the "instant gratification" that is seemingly expected by the console gamer audience. Rather than allowing the player to creatively work out an attack plan, the game does it for you by showing you precisely what your options are and exactly where they are (e.g. "stealth HERE," "grab ledge HERE," flank HERE," etc), bypassing any semblance of the players' need for a thinking brain. As an experienced player and devotee to previous Crytek offerings, I found this "addition" to be very offense to my strategic independence! I opted to compensate for it by simply not ever using the binoculars again throughout the rest of the campaign. The "choreographed sandboxes" are so linear that it is nearly impossible to not know exactly what to do next!
Other nuisances pop up in the gameplay, as well. The inability to lean, for instance--or to go prone. And, like the reviewer pointed out, having to choose between "semi-auto" and "grenade launcher" attachments is simply dumbfounding.
Nanosuit 2.0 also feels less-than-evolved. The removal of speed mode is almost betraying. And the way in which strength mode is automatically implemented into the gameplay is not entirely well thought out. Basically, any "strength" move is followed by a noticeable delay time (in which the game is determining if your button press-and-hold is a signal of commitment or just user error), which means that if you want to smash up an alien ceph at a critical moment in battle, you will have to estimate its position at least a second or so before your character will perform the strike. Strength jumping is no different--you have to press and hold "jump" well before you actually intend to leave the ground.
The storyline is indeed nonsensical and, what's worse, is that it completely abandons the audience of the first installment (by not answering any of the cliff-hanger questions left unanswered over three years ago). During the story I found my character to be in virtual fatal condition several times from a variety of disastrous scenarios only to be revived moments later as if nothing at all happened. Events seemed to occur and then pass with little consequence to the player--or even to the storyline. I'm still highly confused by the very anticlimactic ending....
With all that said, I greatly enjoyed playing Crysis 2. Approaching it with somewhat lowered expectations really allowed me to get in the front seat and enjoy the thrill ride that the game actually is. While there are obvious signs of backward stepping, Crysis 2 is still very entertaining and does manage to keep you moving from level to level with anticipation. The graphics are excellent on maximum (despite a few oddly low-res textures here and there), with much more detail than in the first Crysis. The gameplay is different but it still works and it still lends itself to spectacular moments. It's just hard to justify the $60 price tag. Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=22308 | Spaceman Spliff (3) Nov 15, 2009 - 03:18 pm
| | What could possibly be easier than clicking something on the screen using a laser mouse that is tracking at 1600dpi? It's as easy as using the internet with a mouse... try navigating the internet using dual joysticks instead! LOL. Some of these console people are just hilarious. Thanks for sharing! Flag this | Edit this post |
| News Link » /news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=22308 | Spaceman Spliff (3) Nov 14, 2009 - 03:11 pm » Edited on Nov 15, 2009 - 03:23 pm
| » Excellent honest review - thank you!
I was so pleased to finally read a review that didn't automatically sink into the hype and praise the title.
I beat the single-player campaign yesterday in 5 hours and aside from experiencing a few beautiful set-pieces (ice-climbing, U.S. suburbs, Brazil) and the 3-4 minutes of actual stealth play, I was thoroughly unimpressed! Put briefly, Modern Warfare 2 has left its tactical roots and evolved into a total arcade game with an overwhelmingly frenetic pacing coupled with a thin and predictable story used as an excuse to tie in the half-dozen-or-so locations! After an hour or two into the game I just wanted it to end, which was disappointing because I felt just the opposite with the original Modern Warfare title.
1) I found that I could no longer enjoy the game on higher difficulties due to the lack of leaning. Oddly enough, enemies can not only lean but can BLIND-FIRE at you from around corners. As a highly trained operative, I would expect to employ some basic tactical prowess rather than fully exposing myself and being forced to gun down enemies Rambo style.
2) The vehicle sections were completely ridiculous. I found myself riding snow mobiles and boats at 200mph while firing an automatic pistol sideways with one hand (and being startlingly accurate!). On these levels I thought I was playing a different game all together; this kind of Hollywood stuff is definitely NOT "modern" warfare--it's james Bond!
3) The options menu was absent until AFTER starting the game. At which point I found that I could not separately adjust volume levels for speech, fx, and music. Either the weapon sounds were way too low or the speech and music was way too high. On a related note, the poor positional audio in this game led to a lot of frustrating deaths whereby I'd have an enemy shooting me in the back and I would be looking forward and up instead of being aurally clued to turn around (and I haven't had that problem with any other game I have, so it wasn't a result of me or my headphones).
4) Blood splatter effect is inappropriate. Unless I've been shot in the face, I don't see why my eyeballs should be covered in so much blood that I can no longer see anything at all. I died countless times because of this overdone screen effect coupled with the lack of lean (forcing me to usually take a hit or two from enemy fire before being able to neutralize the threat). As an alternative, I would point to GTA IV and Crysis as both having very convincing and gameplay-appropriate blood splatter effects.
5) Everything else: bland graphics in some areas, short campaign, excessive recoil damage, neglected PC community & multiplayer standards, unfairly priced, overly hyped, etc.
All in all, I was genuinely disappointed with the direction Modern Warfare 2 took from the tactical, emotionally-salient, and compelling previous standard. I also think it's a shame that so many millions of people willfully pay top dollar for hyped-up mediocrity. I'm so glad I borrowed this one from a friend. And, after beating the single player, I see little to no reason for a second visit. I won't even bother to attempt the multiplayer.
Anyway, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE REVIEW. 82 may have actually been slightly generous! LOL. But much fairer than the 90+ it's been getting on other sites.
(Been reading at Firingsquad for 10 years and finally registered just now to share my comments on this game). Flag this | Edit this post |
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