I remember being at E3, 2006 I believe, when Crysis was revealed to the masses and the excitement of the tremendous visual package that Crytek was bringing to PC gamers. A futuristic FPS with futuristic graphics, and memes that would last until this day (“but can it run Crysis?”). A few years later, Crysis was ported to Xbox 360 and PS3, and would eventually see a big expansion and two full sequels on PC. Just a few weeks ago, Crysis got a remastered release, based off of the 2011 console version, thanks to Saber Interactive. I was pleased to receive a PS4 review code to check it out, but the experience is ultimately one that’s tough to recommend if you have the option to play the original on your PC.
Crysis the game is still a fun sci-fi FPS that puts you in the boots of an elite commando with a hi-tech nanosuit that gives you the ability to jump higher, run faster, take more damage via a temporary exoskeleton, and go invisible. These abilities are available right from the start and are fun to mess around with as you learn how taxing they are on the suit’s energy system. Getting to know your suit and how to manage the energy meter so that it doesn’t deplete while you’re in the middle of combat is important, but it’s a cool, engaging, fun extra gameplay element that most FPS games don’t have — both back in ’07 and even still today it’s a bit uncommon. Players face off against North Koreans while investigating strange occurrences in The Philippines; spoiler alert, there is an alien theme to the plot.
Armed with not only your awesome suit which often gives you the ability to complete avoid combat if you prefer, and plenty of familiar and cool weapons (including one of the most effective semi-auto pistols I’ve wielded in a game), you’ll go from objective to objective, exploring a pretty large, sandbox world. Optional side objectives give players reason for exploration and opportunities for additional enemy encounters and fun. Though the enemy AI often feels really dated, tainting the experience, the core gameplay otherwise remains interesting and fun.
Where Crysis Remastered stumbles is in both its presentation and optimization, and in its completeness, too (more on that soon). I’ve glazed over reports of major issues on PC, where the game was ported to Crytek 5 and includes support for VKRay Vulkan raytracing. There is raytracing support for PS4 Pro users, too, through software. I played on a PS4 Pro on a 4K HDR enabled screen, and though much of the time the game does look great, and the art assets (which were also updated) give the game plenty of opportunity to show off, there are also a lot of times when the game presents a mixed offering, with some textures and assets looking great, and others looking glaringly outdated. This presents a compromising juxtaposition for the player, where at times you’re impressed and other times disappointed. Similarly, the checkpoint system is great in that load times are super fast — just a few seconds — yet the spacing of these checkpoints is disagreeably far apart at times. Plus, when the game does save, it stutters or pauses whatever is happening on screen momentarily. These are the kind of hitches that you just don’t anticipate encountering in a remaster.
Typically, remasters are also synonymous with the ‘ultimate’ version of a game, and I thought Crysis Remastered was going to be just that — the most complete, best-looking, modernized-as-needed version of the thirteen year old gem. Instead, what is available currently is a half-baked remaster based on the 2011 console version, with no multiplayer, no Warhead expansion, and is an overall mixed-leaning-rough package that should give players pause if they have the option to get the game on PC. In fact, I recently bought the entire Crysis bundle on PC for $8 via EA Origin. Cost and access aside, having played both this remaster on PS4 Pro and the original on PC, there is not a clearly compelling reason for me to recommend jumping to the remaster. With some patching, perhaps this release could get a nanosuit-like boost in value, but as is, it’s too rough to earnestly recommend.
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