Crysis

21.11.2007

The following thought kept pushing itself to the fore. Even my worthy colleague had to listen many a time to my fears regarding Crysis. “It would really be a pity if it was only a € 45 benchmark for high-end computers.” But Crysis is more than that – it is a game that is fun and that is definitely worth the money spent on it. It is a game that is well worth the wait. But beware: Crysis can only be enjoyed properly on a high-end computer.

That is the nice part in the life of a game reviewer. Somewhere in the fathomless expanse of the test laboratory, there is a computer. Any gamer would love to have this computer at home. This computer has power and everything that is precious and expensive. On this computer under the jealous gaze of colleagues, we have taken a close look at the holiday … oops, at the noble shooter game created by Crytek.

The transition from the rendered introduction …hold on a moment … Is there a transition at all? Yes, there is. I only notice it because it is suddenly possible to move the head of the protagonist Jake Dunn (nicknamed “Nomad”) with the mouse. That is how fantastic Crysis looks. A man in a strange skin-tight suit stands there in front of me. But I want to nip the thought that we have landed at a fetish party in the bud. It is a Nanosuit. It enables Nomad and his teammates of the US Special Forces Team to survive the next 10 gaming hours. The suit with its four functions – armour, strength, cloak and speed – is desperately needed, because the supposedly simple rescue operation of a team of archaeologists turns into a horrible nightmare for all those involved.

After a badly executed jump from a plane I am breathless for a while. But that is not because poor Nomad has broken a few bones (due to the Nanosuit and Lady Luck the impact on water was softened), but because I have never seen such a beautiful world created for a game. The rippling water of the ocean and the vivid vegetation both impress me in equal measure. I can practically smell how Nature on the island has defied industrialization up to now, when the trees sway gently in the breeze or frogs cross my path through the marsh. It is absolutely clear that Crysis is steps ahead of other games in the genre in terms of graphics.

I squander the first few gaming minutes to shoot trees into a heap and to test the fantastic game physics. You can interact with practically all objects in the surroundings, even if it is only to hurl a turtle against the cliffs under the shocked gaze of a WWF-type teammate. First I start gently and then do it harder with the power-mode of my Nanosuit till it drops dead.

Soon the Nomad controlled by me meets the first human adversary. I switch on the Nanosuit function, activate the cloak function and sneak up. The dude is lolling around in a leisurely way in the tropical sun (the fellow must be sweating terribly under the army garb), while I prowl really slowly towards him from behind. And then (punch!) I grab the opponent by the neck and send him with a few well-aimed hits in the (fantastically animated) face into the Land of Dreams. That went well! His two colleagues on patrol duty have not noticed anything. In terms of AI, Crysis is not bad, but the workings in the CPU are not superbly clever. But it does not matter that much to me, because there are a lot of evil scallywags in Crysis, whether they are Korean military fanatics or alien refrigerator freaks. If the programme puts wrongdoers in front of our gun, then there are always enough of them to make the battle exciting but not unfair. If you do not feel like shooting around on the tropical island, then Crysis gives you the freedom to sneak through the undergrowth and kill off the baddies with well-aimed headshots from weapons with silencers. Near the end of the game, this freedom is somewhat restricted because aliens do not react like humans. Anyway, Crysis turns more or less into a constant shootout (which is, however, made plausible due to the turn in the story) towards the end of the game. Pity!

Though the story is a bit like “My-name-is-Schwarzenegger-and-I-fight-against-all”, the gripping scenes motivate from stage to stage. Each mood is supported by the most beautiful and true-to-life facial animations that I have ever seen in a computer game. The variety in the gameplay is the crowing glory of the adventure extravaganza Crysis. At times I am prowling through the undergrowth, at other times I blow a tank into the air. Whether on land, in water or in the air, Crysis offers everything and pays attention to details. The flight in a vertical take-off aircraft, the ship voyages or the hunt through the thicket in a jeep is equally well achieved.