Crysis 2 PS3 Review

Thank Christ for second chances.

It didn’t start well for me and my experience even starting Crysis 2.

I popped the disc out of the case (okay, I rented it) and slipped said disc into my ps3. The XMB of the ps3 faded to black to load the game.

Black screen. Nothing going on, no clicking or revving of the game being loaded. After five minutes of waiting, it said I had to update the game. I press “X” to indicate that I would be as happy as peaches if they did that for me. Nothing happened. I hammered on the X button as if my life depended on it. Finally, a hour and a half later, it started the update. After the update was applied, I was back to the black screen.

I went away to do something else, and came back, now the game was finally at the title screen. It wanted to install the game’s data. I allowed it. When it was finished installing, I pressed “X” to start.

It said, “Reading Game Data”. Nothing happened. I literally checked on the progress every five minutes, allowing it to read that data like I did Stephen King’s “The Stand”.

I gave up, and ejected the disc, looking it over as a scientist would a fossil of great importance, and noticed that    there was some smudging, and only a single minor scratch. If I can play a mix CD I made eleven years ago that is literally missing most of the actual data on the underside, with scratches so deep, James Franco could get stuck, and for it to play in my car without a hiccup: I expect a relatively new game like this to run no problem. Angry and fed up, I finally returned the game, got a replacement from blockbuster and it worked.

I was in disbelief. I was starting to think my ps3 was messing up on me, and it was the single minor scratch that prevented me from playing. Already, I was hot and bothered about it all. It’s just a First Person Shooter that has me killing aliens, right?

No. Well, yeah. Sort of.

The fact is: Crysis 2 is a fantastic game. It’s a functioning shooter that absolutely nails the core element of any game in it’s genre: Guns are fun to fire, Enemies are fun to kill, and the reward for doing so feels tremendous. It’s a game that gets right just about everything. Crouching is quick, the motion blur effect is extremely cool, and makes things feel more real and intense, but never to the point that it inhibits accuracy (like Killzone 2 and 3). Jumping feels unique, as if you were on a true mech on legs, and running makes the camera bobble, bluring the edges to provide a greater sense of speed.

Aesthetically, the game looks gorgeous. Little touches like pieces of debris and garbage float near the shoreline, the sun gives off a heated haze when viewed directly (taking into consideration the visor and helmet that the player character wears). Water looks fantastic. But my favorite aspect of the game is that the game feels like a true “to scale” game. Tall buildings appear tall, cars and buses look like you could actually sit in them, benches, doorways, and other structures appear as they truly should. If you are under a bridge, it’s mammoth size actually makes it feel true to form, and not some replica scaled down to improve game performance. Standing next to a building and looking up the side of it made me actually feel there. The impeccable scale is a standout for the game.

...and no this doesn't take place in Detroit, silly.

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