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Crysis (video game)

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Crysis
The European cover art for Crysis
Developer(s)Crytek Frankfurt
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Director(s)Cevat Yerli
Producer(s)Bernd Diemer
Designer(s)Jack Mamais
Composer(s)Inon Zur
SeriesCrysis
Engine(PC)
CryEngine 2
(Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
CryEngine 3
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Xbox 360 (XBLA)
PlayStation 3 (PSN)
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
  • NA: 2007-11-13
  • AU: 2007-11-15
  • EU: 2007-11-16
  • NZ: 2007-11-23

Xbox 360/PlayStation 3
  • INT: October 2011

[1]
Genre(s)First-person shooter, Sandbox
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

Crysis is a science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek (Frankfurt, Germany), published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, and released in November 2007. It is the first game of a trilogy.[3] A separate game entitled Crysis Warhead was released on September 12, 2008, and follows similar events as Crysis but from a different narrative perspective.[4][5] Crysis, Crysis Warhead and a multiplayer expansion called Crysis Wars were re-released as a compilation pack titled Crysis Maximum Edition on 5 May 2009. At the time Crysis was released, and years thereafter, it has been praised for its milestones in graphical design (commensurate with high hardware requirements).

The game is based in a future where a massive ancient Alien structure has been discovered buried inside a mountain on an island in the fictional Lingshan Islands, near the coast of the East Philippines.[6] The single-player campaign has the player assume the role of United States Delta Force operator Jake Dunn, referred to in-game by his call sign, Nomad. Nomad is armed with various futuristic weapons and equipment, most notably a "Nano Suit" which was inspired by a real-life military concept.[7] In Crysis, the player fights both North Korean and extraterrestrial enemies in various environments on and around the island.

Gameplay

As with Crytek's previous game Far Cry, Crysis is an open-ended first-person shooter game with many ways to meet objectives.[8]

The player controls a special forces soldier codenamed Nomad. The player's weapons can be customized without pausing the flow of time, for example changing firing modes, changing scopes or adding sound suppressors. The player is also capable of selecting various modes in Nomad's military "Nanosuit" which draw power from the suit's energy. When the suit's energy is depleted, no modes can be used and the player is more vulnerable to damage before the suit recharges. One of four modes can be selected: Armour deflects damage and recharges the suit's energy faster; Strength allows stronger hand-to-hand combat, the ability to throw objects and enemies with deadly force, higher jumps, steadier aiming and reduced weapon recoil; Speed increases running and swimming speed, as well as other forms of motion such as reloading weapons; and Cloak, which renders Nomad almost completely invisible and suppresses movement noise.[9]

The suit's integral facemask has its own HUD, displaying typical data including a tactical map, health, current energy levels, and weapons information. The view is electronic in nature, shown in-game through things such as a booting readout and visual distortion during abnormal operation. A particularly useful utility is the binocular function, which allows the player to zoom in and electronically tag enemies and vehicles from afar, thereby tracking their movement on the tactical display.

The player can engage enemies in a variety of ways; using stealth or aggression, bullets or non-lethal tranquilizers, ranged rifles or short-range weaponry, and so on. Enemy soldiers employ tactical maneuvers and work as squads. AI soldiers will respond to noise caused by the player, including using signal flares to call for reinforcements.[10] If the player has not been detected in the area, enemies will exhibit relaxed behaviour, but if aware of the player they will draw weapons and become combative.[11]

Weapons

The game features assault rifles, sub-machine guns, pistols, missile launchers, shotguns, miniguns, sniper rifles, gauss rifles (or coilgun), the MOAC (a machine-gun-like Alien weapon which fires high-velocity ice shards), and the TAC gun (a hand-held nuclear grenade launcher). Most weapons can be modified with attachments; these attachments may be given to the player by default, acquired from picked-up weapons, or purchased in multiplayer. Attachment options are given a fair amount of leeway even if the end result may seem strange. For instance, a 4x/10x sniper scope can be attached to the buckshot-firing shotgun, though obviously there is no practical use for such a combination. Additionally, most weapons have multiple firing modes (single/automatic fire) and different ammo types; for example, the KPA's FY-71 can fire both conventional bullets as well as incendiary bullets, which increase damage. Crysis also incorporates some features that have appeared in other recent shooters such as accounting for already-chambered rounds when a reload occurs.

Vehicles

A large selection of vehicles are present, most of which are usable by the player. Available ground vehicles range from pickup trucks to tanks, while naval vessels range from motorboats to light military hovercraft. A larger Patrol Boat is available in custom-made multiplayer maps using the Sandbox editor. All vehicles, including Humvees, pickup trucks, even tanks, have a turbo mode that can be activated via the Shift key (by default). The aircraft selection is limited to the North Korean attack helicopter and a fictional American VTOL (each of which can transport six passengers and two crew). Crytek also included an Amphibious APC, a wheeled version of the APC that can travel on water and land, although this vehicle was only available for those who pre-ordered the game.

Damage modeling, although limited in vehicles, is most noticeable in the ability to burst tires, although wheeled vehicles can still move even if all the tires are gone, slowly rolling along on the rims. Tracked vehicles such as tanks or APCs can lose their tracks as a result of damage, but may continue moving even though there is no way for the drive sprockets to propel the vehicle. Exposed gas cans on Humvees can be shot in order to detonate their contents, which usually results in the explosion of the vehicle. While burning, destroyed vehicles will cause proximity heat damage to objects and characters. Unavailable vehicles shown in-game include jet aircraft, excavator, forklift and for reasons of scale, destroyers. None of the alien machines can be commandeered by players. Interestingly, the wheeled carts which would presumably be used to move aircraft or heavy vehicles, can also be moved by the player, but movement is very slow and useful for little more than entertainment/novelty.

Multiplayer

Up to 32 players are supported in each multiplayer match in Crysis Multiplayer, which uses the Gamespy Network and requires the user to have an existing userid or otherwise create a new one. There are two different modes, each with six available maps: Instant Action, a deathmatch type mode; and Power Struggle, which is played by two opposing teams, each trying to destroy the other's headquarters.[12]

Power Struggle features the American Delta Force soldiers fighting the North Korean Army; both sides, however, have nanosuits.[13] All players begin armed with only a pistol and a nanosuit.[13][14] Weapons and vehicles can be found throughout the map, but generally must be bought by using "Prestige Points," which are earned by killing enemies or capturing buildings.

The aim of Power Struggle is to destroy the enemy headquarters, a task which is achieved using nuclear weapons in the form of a TAC Tank, a TAC launcher, or by using a Singularity Tank, which generates a temporary black hole in the target area. To gain access to nuclear or singularity weapons, you must first capture the "prototype facility" which is used to make them, and then use the alien crash sites which feed the facility with energy necessary to build up enough energy to build weapons of mass destruction.

One must earn Prestige Points, attained by killing enemies and taking over Bunkers, Power Stations, and Factories, to buy weapons and vehicles, including any of the aforementioned superweapons. Some of the weapons available in the game are machine guns, pistols, a shotgun, a precision rifle, ammo, a rocket launcher, explosives, and a gauss rifle (a sniper-type weapon able to kill another player in one shot).

The advanced weapons available for purchase from the Prototype Factory (aside from nuclear and singularity weapons) require 50% energy. Weapons that you can buy are the handheld minigun, the MOAC which has infinite ammo and fires ice shards, and the MOAR, which is an upgrade that can be attached to the MOAC causing it to fire a beam that will instantly freeze all enemies and some vehicles.

Capture The Flag, originally planned to be included in the game, is no longer part of the game mode line up, due to its similarity to Power Struggle.[13] Even so, Jack Mamais, lead designer, stated that Crytek hopes that this mode will be developed by the modding community.[15] Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli also said that Team Action would not be included as a multiplayer mode, because players would gravitate towards either Instant Action, or Power Struggle.[16]

Plot

The game begins in 2020 when North Korean forces led by General Ri-Chan Kyong take control of the Lingshan Islands. A team of American civilian archaeologists, led by Dr. Rosenthal, send out a distress call indicating that they discovered something that could change the world. Thus Raptor Team was dispatched to the islands, with the core mission of evacuating them out and securing any valuable information that they have. The team consists of Nomad, Psycho, Aztec, Jester and team leader Prophet (all under codenames); they are outfitted with Nanosuits, which help protect them from gunfire and explosions, as well as giving them superhuman strength and abilities. As they perform a high-altitude jump onto one of the islands, an unknown flying entity disrupts the jump by smashing into Nomad, and the team is separated. The crash deactivates Nomad's Nanosuit and destroys his parachute, but he is saved because he lands on water and his suit absorbs the impact of the landing. After he makes his way to shore, Prophet is able to reset Nomad's suit, restoring its normal function.

As Raptor Team regroups after the jump, Aztec is killed by an unknown entity. When the team finds him, they discover that whatever killed him also killed and dismembered a nearby squad of KPA. The remaining members of Raptor Team proceed with the mission, and find the hostages' boat frozen near the coast of the island. They also get their first look at the aliens who have been attacking their team, when a flying alien machine sneaks up on them and snatches Jester, killing him shortly thereafter. The first hostage the team rescues turns out to be a CIA agent who was sent to monitor Dr. Rosenthal's work. In the jungle, Nomad finds another hostage named Badowski dead with ice shards in his back, as the KPA battle an alien machine nearby. After Nomad regroups with Prophet, Prophet is suddenly snatched by another flying machine, which flies away with him in its grasp. Shortly after, Nomad is contacted over the radio by the American military asking if he wishes to abort the mission since most of his team has been killed or missing; Nomad refuses, saying that he can still complete the mission.

A day/night cycle operates during the course of the single-player campaign

Nomad makes his way to Dr. Rosenthal's research complex, where he has found a rare fossilized artifact predating humanity by two million years. The partially excavated artifact resembles one of the flying machines (designated "exosuits") that has been attacking the team. Rosenthal also references other discoveries of similar artifacts in Afghanistan and Siberia, suggesting that the aliens have a global presence, and are not just confined to the island. While Rosenthal is running a scan on the artifact, it emits a powerful energy pulse that freezes Dr. Rosenthal solid. Nomad's Nanosuit is able to maintain his internal temperature, saving his life. Nomad then rendezvouses with a VTOL, after eliminating a Nanosuit-equipped four-man KPA special forces team near the landing site. He notifies his superiors about this, because the U.S. military had hoped to prevent the Koreans from acquiring Nanosuit technology.

The U.S. military then begins a full-scale invasion of the island, led by Major Strickland. As the U.S. forces continue to the main excavation site, the central mountain on the island begins to fall apart, revealing a huge alien structure inside, which is nearly the size of the mountain itself. Nomad enters the excavation site at the mountain's base, but is captured by Kyong's men. Kyong deactivates Nomad's Nanosuit, and Nomad watches, helpless, as Kyong shoots one of the hostages in the head and then detonates explosive charges to open the structure. An energy pulse emanates from the structure and kills Kyong's men; the pulse also reactivates Nomad's Nanosuit. Kyong is also wearing a Nanosuit and attacks Nomad, until Nomad is able to kill him. As the mountain continues to collapse, a VTOL evacuates the last hostage, who is Dr. Rosenthal's daughter Helena, but is unable to rescue Nomad.

Nomad is trapped and decides to continue into the alien structure. It soon turns into a zero gravity environment. Nomad uses his hydro-thrusters to maneuver and encounters hostile sentient aliens. He also sees a possible invasion force consisting of many Alien machines. Nomad manages to escape, but the structure creates a massive sphere of energy that freezes everything outside to -200°F. Once outside, Nomad is attacked by various Alien machines before finding Prophet. Prophet was able to engineer a weapon using the aliens' technology, the Molecular Accelerator (MOAC). Prophet's Nanosuit is malfunctioning, and he frequently has to stop and recharge it using heat sources, such as the burning wrecks of military vehicles. The two leave the ice sphere and rescue Helena, whose VTOL crashed. Prophet leaves with Helena on another VTOL. At the U.S. evacuation point, one of the last VTOLs rescues Nomad from an unstoppable quadrupedal alien exosuit. Just as the exosuit is about to destroy the VTOL, Major Strickland draws its attention by firing at it using a mounted machinegun and the exosuit kills Strickland instead. As they leave the island, the VTOL's pilot is killed and Nomad must fly back to the USS Constitution carrier strike group, fighting off aliens along the way.

Once there, he is debriefed by Admiral Richard Morrison who explains that a nuclear strike has been ordered against the ice sphere. Helena warns him that the aliens might absorb the energy, but the Admiral ignores her. Prophet flies a VTOL back to the island against orders. Despite Prophet's departure, the nuclear missile is launched at the ice sphere. The explosion causes the ice sphere to expand and prompts a massive alien counterattack.

Nomad is ordered to repair one of the carrier's damaged nuclear reactors. The Nanosuit is resistant to high levels of radiation, although prolonged exposure proves deadly. While Nomad is in the reactor room, Helena sends an experimental signal through Nomad's suit that causes several alien machines to absorb too much power and overload, destroying them. As Nomad returns to the flight deck, Admiral Morrison is killed and Nomad takes the prototype TAC-Cannon. On the flight deck, Nomad fights an alien exosuit similar to the one that killed Strickland. A massive alien warship then emerges from the sea, and Helena manages to deactivate its shields by sending a signal through Nomad's Nanosuit. Nomad then uses the TAC-Cannon to destroy the alien warship, which falls on the carrier and begins to sink it. Nomad runs across the flight deck and jumps off the carrier into the waiting VTOL, which is piloted by Psycho. As they fly away, Helena is nearly pulled out of the aircraft by the energy field created by the destroyed alien warship. Psycho then receives a transmission that there is another Carrier Strike Group en-route to the island and suggests meeting them. Nomad protests, claiming that since they now know how to defeat the aliens, they need to continue fighting. A transmission from Prophet, who is inside the energy field on the island, is then received. The VTOL is then seen turning around and heading back to the island.

United States Army

Raptor Team is the U.S. Army Delta Force unit to which the protagonist, Nomad, belongs. At full strength, it consisted of five men: Aztec, Jester, Psycho, Nomad and the team leader, Prophet. The true names of the characters are revealed in the CryEngine 2 Sandbox 2 editor that comes with the game. Aztec and Jester die quickly during the course of the game, with Aztec being ripped apart by an unknown enemy, along with a surrounding squad of enemy Koreans. Jester suffers the same fate after being snatched by a similar alien after the team reaches Rosenthal's boat later in the game. The three remaining men are contacted by Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC)—their ultimate overseer, though later in the game they are more directly in touch with USS Constitution personnel.

  • Nomad (First Lieutenant Jake Dunn): The player character. His face is unseen throughout the game, and he pursues mission goals with single-minded fervor. The player assumes this role throughout the game, and other than the beginning of the first cutscene and the end of the last cutscene, the entire game is viewed from Nomad's perspective. Voiced by Greg Sunmark.
  • Psycho (Sergeant Michael Sykes): A former British SAS Operative, who later joined Delta Force, hence the SAS insignia tattooed on the back of his head. Psycho survives the initial events and assists Nomad for the rest of the game, dropping in and out to attend to other objectives, allowing Nomad to continue with the brunt of the single player campaign. Psycho's solo adventures form the basis of the standalone expansion, Crysis Warhead, in which he assumes the role of the protagonist. Voiced by Sean Chapman.
  • Prophet (Major Laurence Barnes): Raptor Team's leader, who later in the game is kidnapped and presumed killed by an alien machine; at that point, Major Strickland assumes mission command. Prophet miraculously reappears shortly after Nomad exits the alien structure in the mountain, but exhibits strange behavior. After this he seems to have a much deeper understanding of the aliens than anyone else, having jury-rigged a complex alien turret into a man-portable weapon similar to a minigun. At the end of the game, he heads back to the island directly against orders, announcing that he intends to destroy the aliens himself, stating, "I'm going to finish this." He is again assumed to be killed when the U.S. Navy nukes the island, but at the end of the game Nomad and Psycho receive a transmission from Prophet, who is still alive inside the alien energy sphere on the island, and they head back to find him. When he is last seen in the carrier's armory, it is mentioned that he upgraded his hydro-thrusters, which Nomad used while in the alien structure to balance himself and move around in zero gravity. Prophet appears in Crysis 2, Delta Force officer Prophet saves Alcatraz, and is distressed with the situation, expecting the squad to support him. Left with no other choice since he himself has been infected by the Manhattan virus, Prophet gives Alcatraz his suit, the futuristic and high-tech Nanosuit 2.0. He then kills himself so that the Nanosuit will stop associating itself with him and be able to assimilate with Alcatraz. Voiced by James Vincent Meredith.
  • Aztec (Harold Cortez): Part of the initial team. His parachute becomes tangled in the trees during the landing, and he and a four-man KPA patrol are brutally killed by an unknown alien, before the rest of Raptor Team can get to him. His heavily-mutilated body is vaporized by Prophet in order to prevent the Koreans from acquiring Nanosuit technology. Voiced by Rene LeDesma.
  • Jester (Martin Hawker): Also part of the initial team. During the discovery of Dr. Rosenthal's boat, he is snatched by a flying alien which sneaks up on the team from the other side of the boat. It carries him a short distance away before discarding him. When he is found dead his body is vaporized to make sure the North Koreans won't acquire his nanosuit. Voiced by Lahmard Tate.

United States Marine Corps

Locally led by Major Strickland, the United States Marine Corps contributes most of the military hardware and manpower. They operate from the USS Constitution carrier strike group, deploying via a sizable number of United States Navy VTOL aircraft and tanks. Major Strickland takes over mission command after Prophet goes missing. He is killed in battle later on, sacrificing himself in order to distract a massive quadrupedal alien exosuit while Nomad and others evacuate on a VTOL. Major Strickland was voiced by Andre Sogliuzzo.

United States Navy

File:Crysis Aliens.png
The aliens' impact on the island results in blizzards and frozen scenery

Represented in-game by the USS Constitution (CVN-80) carrier strike group, the United States Navy is led by Admiral Richard Morrison. All of the American aircraft seen throughout the game presumably belong to the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy also seem to be in possession of considerable ordnance, as seen when they deploy an F-35C fighter jet armed with a nuclear missile. The carrier strike group meets its ultimate demise at the hands of a relentless waves of alien machines and a massive alien "War Ship". At the end of the game, Helena informs Nomad that there is another fleet of U.S. Navy ships en route from Japan that will arrive within the hour. Admiral Morrison was voiced by Bill Roberts.

Civilians

Doctor Rosenthal's archeology team is on the island at the behest of North Korea to search for remnants of the alien race he discovered clues of elsewhere in the world. He brings with him his daughter Helena (also a scientist), another scientist named Badowski, an unnamed scientist and, unknowingly, a CIA agent sent to secretly monitor him and his work. The CIA agent is captured by the KPA, but is rescued by Raptor Team. During the rescue, the alien hidden in the mountain rumbles ominously. After the rescue, she is not seen again. Badowski is the first of the archaeology team to be killed. While talking to Raptor Team, the rescued CIA agent tells Raptor Team, "Badowski, it... Something tore him to pieces". Nomad later discovers Badowski's body in the jungle with numerous ice shards embedded in his back. Dr. Rosenthal is killed when he is flash-frozen by a partially excavated flying alien machine which he inadvertently activates. Before his demise he exclaimed, "The fossils! They're still alive!" The unnamed archaeologist is shot in the head by General Kyong after Kyong becomes angry at the team's inability to stabilize the electric current to the machinery (presumably because the aliens are draining energy from it). Helena survives after being rescued by Nomad. She also greatly assists Nomad in destroying the alien exosuits which attack the USS Constitution (CVN-80), by overloading them while recharging and deactivating their shields using a signal which she transmits using Nomad's Nanosuit. Helena was voiced by Claudia Black, and Dr. Rosenthal was voiced by Doug James.

North Korean Army

The Korean People's Army (KPA), is the primary antagonist during the first half of the game, up until Nomad enters the alien structure in the mountain. In the game's fictional setting, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-chul sometime after 2008. Jong-chul revolutionizes the North Korean economy, making it one of the wealthiest and most technologically advanced countries in the world. Using this new wealth, the KPA buys the newest military hardware from China, making North Korea a formidable military power. In the game, it is also mentioned that North Korea has a fully developed nuclear program. The North Korean military forces in the game are led by Colonel General Ri-Chan Kyong, a North Korean military officer who was responsible for a massacre of civilians a few years before the game takes place. The North Koreans' intent to hang onto the islands is clear, shown by the significant allocation of forces ranging from infantry to tanks and aircraft. According to Kyong, the North Koreans are interested in the archaeological findings because of the potential of the alien technology for use as a profitable power source. It is later revealed that they too have Nanosuit technology, however, their Nanosuits are used solely by Kyong himself and his elite units. Kyong is encountered midway during the game as a boss character. Most of the fortifications on the island are built by the KPA, including machine guns and concussion mines. General Kyong was voiced by Hyunsoo Han.

Aliens

Operating out of their massive structure embedded in the mountain, the Aliens themselves have streamlined bodies with which they "swim" through the weightless internal environment. Some of the Aliens are armed with projectile weapons which fire ice-based projectiles similar to those fired by Prophet's modified MOAC Alien weapon. Their organic-looking robots and exosuits comprise the bulk of their forces outside of their structure in the mountain. Several varieties of alien exosuits are seen in the game. Troopers are small, autonomous man-sized quadrupedal drones which are able to manoeuvre indoors and fire projectiles formed of ice. Scouts are flying machines which are able to fire ice-based projectiles as well as project an energy beam which damages the player. Scouts also have tentacle-like arms which trail behind them when they fly; they use those arms to pick up, carry, and destroy objects and people. Hunters are large quadrupedal machines which utilize shielding technology and fire a beam capable of temporarily freezing and immobilizing the player, as well as being able to fire a powerful "Singularity gun" that can kill the player with a single blast. In the last level, the player comes face to face with a flying alien warship, the "Warrior", which is so large that it can attack U.S. Navy Destroyers by ramming them, and is armed with larger versions of the Singularity cannon, one shot of which inflicts massive damage to the superstructure of the USS Constitution (CVN-80) in the final level. The massive number of machines that deploy at the end of the game, along with filler text for multiplayer maps, indicate that the Aliens' interest in Earth is on a global scale. In Crysis 2, they are called Cephalopods and they have upgraded much of their technology, looking nothing like they did in Crysis.

Development

System requirements
Minimum Recommended
Microsoft Windows[17]
Operating system Windows XPWindows Vista, Windows 7
CPU Intel Pentium 4 (2.8 GHz for XP; 3.0 GHz for Vista)Intel Pentium Dual-Core, Intel Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad @ 2 GHz, AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Memory 1 GB RAM for XP; 2 GB RAM for Vista
Free space 12 GB of free space
Graphics hardware DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card with 256 MB VRAMDirectX 10 compatible graphics card with 512 MB VRAM
Sound hardware DirectX 9.0c compliant sound card
Network 1 Mbit/s internet connection for online play

Game engine

Main article: CryEngine 2
An in-game screenshot of Crysis, showing the game's volumetric lighting effects. The game's graphics drew considerable praise.[18][19]

Crysis uses Microsoft's API, Direct3D for graphics rendering, and includes the same editor that was used by Crytek to create the game.[20] The game runs on a new engine (CryEngine 2) that is the successor to Far Cry's CryEngine. CryEngine 2 was among the first engines to use the Direct3D 10 (DirectX 10) framework of Windows Vista, but was designed primarily to run using DirectX 9, both on Vista and Windows XP.[21]

Roy Taylor, Vice President of Content Relations at NVIDIA, has spoken on the subject of the engine's complexity, stating that Crysis has over a million lines of code, 1 GB of texture data and 85,000 shaders.[3]

Crysis is often used as a benchmark in computer tests, as Crysis at the highest settings and resolutions required processing power from computers that was unfeasible when it was first released. In its time, the game was so demanding on previous computer hardware that the catchphrase "Yeah, but can it run Crysis?" was frequently added to graphics card reviews.[22]

Demo

On August 27, 2007, Crytek announced a single-player demo would be released on September 25; however, the date was pushed back to October 26.[23][24] The demo featured the entire first level, Contact, as well as the sand box editor.[25][26] On October 26, Crytek announced that the demo would be postponed for at least one more day and was released to the public on October 27.[25] However, on many sites it was provided a day early, and an oversight allowed people to grab the file directly off an EA server earlier than intended.

Shortly after the demo's release some enthusiasts found that, by manipulating the configuration files, most of the "very high" graphics settings (normally reserved for DX10) could be activated under DX9. The "very high" DX9 graphics mode looks almost identical to the DX10 mode, with certain graphical features not being able to be reproduced correctly under DX9, such as Object Motion Blur.[27]

Sandbox editor

Main article: Sandbox (video game editor)

Crysis contains a level editor called Sandbox, much like Far Cry's, in which new levels can be created and edited. Such levels will have full support in all multiplayer modes. This will allow the player to easily build their own levels, seeing everything in real time within the editor. The player can also jump into the map they are working on at any time to test it. The editor is the same one that was used by Crytek to create the game.[28]

As stated in the readme file accompanying Sandbox, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition or Windows Vista x64 are the only officially supported operating systems for running the editor. According to Crytek, using a 32-bit OS can lead to instabilities with production size levels due to the low amount of virtual memory available and is therefore not supported.

Special Edition

The limited or collector's edition of Crysis is called Special Edition. The three-disc Crysis Special Edition contains the following:[29]

  • Steelbook casing (Not available in American Version)
  • Crysis game DVD
  • Crysis Bonus Content DVD including:
    • "Making of Crysis" & "Meet the Developers" featurette
    • Initial Crysis concept video
    • Additional "key trailers"
    • Showreel of original concept and production artwork
    • High-resolution screenshots
    • Storyboards
  • A 28-page game manual
  • A 16-page concept art booklet
  • An exclusive in-game multiplayer "Amphibious APC" vehicle*
  • Official soundtrack CD by composer Inon Zur
  • South African release also included an EA CRYSIS T-shirt.

*The Amphibious APC is currently unavailable to most pre-orders and Special Edition owners. Electronic Arts is still working out a solution.[30]

Console versions

In July 2011 it was revealed that both the ESRB and the equivalent Korean ratings board have rated the original Crysis for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[31]

On September 8th, a trailer with real-time ingame footage was released on Crytek's Twitter page. [32] The game will feature enhanced lighting, revamped graphics, and the new Nanosuit powers seen in Crysis 2 using CryEngine 3, Crytek's new engine also used in the sequel. The console versions will only feature the single player campaign and the price will be $20 releasing in October 2011.[33]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Crysis was composed by Inon Zur, and released on November 27, 2007.

Crysis (Original Game Soundtrack)

Track Listing (1:04:38)
No.TitleLength
1."By a Thread"1:31
2."First Light"3:25
3."Terminal"4:06
4."The Nexus"3:18
5."Infiltration"3:09
6."Sometimes You Lose"1:42
7."Legion"3:05
8."Strickland's March"2:53
9."Reactor"2:51
10."Grave Danger"3:37
11."Trespass"3:21
12."Knee Deep"2:39
13."Loss of Pressure"2:32
14."Shotgun"3:08
15."Guardians"4:35
16."Undercurrent"3:07
17."Sometimes You Win"1:45
18."Gaining Ground, Losing Time"2:57
19."Only a Way In"2:31
20."Scavengers"3:34
21."Prophet's Bridge"3:14
22."Pyrrhic Victory"1:38

Reception

Commercial

According to The simExchange, the NPD Group reported that Crysis moved 86,633 retail units in the first two weeks of its release in North America[34], but while it beat their expectations, the sales were considered disappointing overall.[35] Two months later, on Electronic Arts' earnings conference of the quarter, it was reported that Crysis had reached the 1 million units mark, and that it had exceeded their expectations.[36] On the other hand, Cevat Yerli stated during an interview with PC Play in April 2008 that he was disappointed to see the game leading the charts in piracy and because of that his studio would not produce any more PC exclusives, as he believed a game such as Crysis would sell four to five times more copies if it was released on consoles.[37] Piracy figures released by TorrentFreak indicate that Crysis was indeed one of the most pirated PC games of the year.[38] In June 2008 Cevat stated that while their hopes haven't been met, the game has reached their real expectations[39] and in August he added that despite of its $22 million budget the game has turned profitable for them.[40] By May 2010 the game has sold over 3 million units (and its standalone expansion about 1.5 million units)[41] making it one of the best selling PC games of all time.

Critical reception

Upon its release, Crysis was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews. The game was awarded a 98% in the PC Gamer U.S. Holiday 2007 issue, making it one of the highest rated games ever in PC Gamer, tying with Half-Life 2 and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.[19] The UK edition of the magazine awarded the game 92%, describing the game as "A spectacular and beautiful sci-fi epic." GameSpot awarded Crysis a score of 9.5 out of 10, describing it as "easily one of the greatest shooters ever made."[48] GameSpy gave it a 4.5 out of 5 stating that the suit powers were fun but also criticizing the multiplayer portion of the game for not having a team deathmatch.[49] X-Play gave it a 3 out of 5 on its "Holiday Buyer's Guide" special episode, praising the graphics and physics, but criticized the steep hardware requirements as well as stating that the game is overhyped with average gameplay.[52] GamePro honored Crysis with a score of 4.75 out of 5, saying it was "a great step forward for PC gaming," but criticized the steep hardware requirements.[47] IGN awarded it a 9.4 out of 10, hailing it as "one of the more entertaining ballistic showdowns in quite some time."[18] A retrospective review for bit-tech.net in June 2010 criticized the game for failing to deliver on its pre-release promise, saying that the art direction was "boring and monotonous," that the nanosuit was underwhelming and that the plot could be summarized as "Rescue these people who look to be being held captive by Koreans. Oh no Aliens!" The review concluded by saying, "Crysis was the epitome of style over substance." [55]

Awards

GameSpot awarded Crysis "Best Shooter" in its "Best of 2007" awards, saying that "It was this open-ended, emergent gameplay--the ability to let us tackle our challenges in whatever way we wished." They also awarded it with "Best Graphics: Technical" and "Best PC Game" stating that "The firefights in the game are beautiful to look at, but extremely intense affairs that force you to think quickly--and reward you for doing so. It's a dynamic game, one that you can play several times to discover new things and to experiment with different approaches."[56]

PC Gamer awarded Crysis its "Game of the Year" and "Action Game of the Year" in its March 2008, "Games of the Year Awards" issue. PC Gamer also remarked that "Crysis has pushed PC gaming to a new plateau, marrying the most advanced graphics engine ever created with phenomenal gameplay. From the cinematic opening to credits to its cliffhanger ending, Crysis is mesmerizing."

Gamereactor gave Crysis a perfect ten, and awarded it with its "Best Action Game of 2007", saying that "the action genre is forever changed."

IGN awarded Crysis its "Editor's Choice Award", saying that "the Halo 2-type ending... wasn't enough to deter me from heartily recommending action fans pick this one up."

Sequels

Main articles: Crysis Warhead and Crysis 2

Crysis was announced to be the first game in a trilogy by Crytek.[3] Despite this, the next game released under the Crysis name was not the second chapter in the trilogy.[57] Released for Microsoft Windows on September 16, 2008 in North America and September 19, 2008 in Europe, Crysis Warhead is a stand-alone expansion that allows the player to play the story told in the original Crysis, but this time from the viewpoint of Sgt. Michael Sykes, also known as "Psycho". The multiplayer element in Crysis Warhead is now called Crysis Wars.[58] On May 30, 2009, Crytek announced the second chapter in the Crysis trilogy, which will continue where the first game ended. Released on March 22, 2011, Crysis 2 was developed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[59] In addition to seeking a United States trademark on the name Crysis,[60] Crytek is seeking to trademark the names Crysis Wars,[61] World in Crysis,[62] and Crysis Warhead.

References

  1. ^ http://kotaku.com/5838629/four-years-later-crysis-comes-to-console
  2. ^ "Crysis Patch 1.2.1 Hotfix". Crymod Modding Portal. 2008-03-06. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
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  4. ^ "Crysis Warhead sequel". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  5. ^ Cry-Alex (2008-06-05). "Crysis Warhead Announced". CryMod. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
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  9. ^ "Crysis game guide (NanoSuit)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-09-26.
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  32. ^ http://twitter.com/#!/Cry_Tom/status/112069038355656705
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  40. ^ Charles Onyett. "GC 2008: Crysis Cost 22 Million to Make".
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