Great Gaming Memories – Crysis

The release of Crysis 2 is making us look back on Crysis in a whole new light. Find out why in our latest Great Gaming Memory.

We’re going to try and keep these gaming memories coming pretty regularly, and the real challenge around that is how we sort through what is, effectively, about 50-odd years of combined gaming in the office crew.

Today’s memory, though, is more inspired by a modern game, that’s made us look back at an older title with a whole new viewpoint. We’re looking at Crysis, Crytek’s graphically intense shooter from 2007. Most people know it more is a benchmark than a game, and it’s commonly been looked down on in terms of actual story in gameplay. The Gods of Gaming know we certainly have, but after playing Crysis 2, we’re not so sure.

There’s nothing wrong with Crysis 2, let us say that first (and you can read our review in issue 124), but one thing we will say is it’s a perfect example of console hardware limitations utterly changing the way a game can be made. In shirt, you simply cannot make a game like Crysis work on a console. It’s too open, and the limited memory bandwidth on consoles makes streaming that kind of world too big an ask. Which is why Crysis 2 is much more linear in its world design.

It was during a conversation between myself, John Gillooly and our video guy Josh that we all started to realise that Crysis 2 has actually really changed the way we look back on Crysis. There’s no doubt, the game had its flaws, but suddenly we appreciated that open world a lot more. So many of the game’s greatest moments came from that open structure; that ability to look at a simple mission (get into a base, get the widget, leave), and then execute it how you wished.

If there’s one thing that we, as game journalists, really respect in a game is when you all get together to chat about your experiences, and each one is unique and different. Crysis did that; Crysis 2 will not, nor can its structure ever give players those kind of emergent experiences.

And that brings us to our latest Great Gaming Memory.

So there’s a mission in Crysis where you need to get across a whole swathe of the island. You’ve got a boat nearby, and during your travels you have to evade an armed helicopter. Nothing too groundbreaking, sure, but we really messed it up. If memory serves we totally stacked the boat off a waterfall about six seconds after kicking its engine into gear.

(And yes, we suck at any driving portion of any game!)

A lot of games would call that a mission fail, and you’d have to reload. Not Crysis; it simply leaves you stuck on a riverbank, still needing to cross what seems like miles of steaming jungle to get to your objective, while also avoiding the chopper. And you’ve got no missiles.

Of course, we could have loaded a previous save, but that didn’t seem in the spirit of the game. So we walked the distance.

Well, walked isn’t accurate. We dashed from tree to tree, boosting armour and speed where necessary, hiding while we recharged, and we waited a lot; waited for that damn chopper to get to just the right spot so we could repeat it all over again. It took hours of game time to get to a point where we could evade the chopper (I can’t even remember if I blew it up or not); there was even one point where we had to get around a bridge across the river, and it was guarded. On the boat, you could have blinked and missed it. On foot, with the chopper overhead, it was a serious challenge to get past.

At the end, we were exhausted, and yet exhilarated.

But, more importantly, it was an experience of the game that was uniquely mine. Indeed, everyone else in the office doesn’t even remember the mission – for them (because they know how to drive, I guess), it would have been just a brief chase, maybe a few minutes. For me, it was one of the best bits of the game. It’s moments like these (alongside righteously camping in Bad Company 2, our secret shame), that make gaming such a great hobby/pastime/obsession. It’s also moments like these that are only possibly when developers give you such a fully realised ‘world’ to play around in.

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9 Comments

orcone Apr 4, 2011 1:15 PM	What is it with Atomic staff and playing games wrong!? But I must agree, the scope of what you could do in Crysis was amazing. It's definitely one of my top games in regards to being able to play it just the way you want.
Devit Apr 4, 2011 1:55 PM	I always thought it was a decent game. You needed to get past the first few levels of course the pace definetly picks up. Camping on Bad Company 2..... those mcom's dont arm themselves you know......
nesquick Apr 4, 2011 2:16 PM	greatest for me was the first time playing HL2, from the beginning to the end I loved every second of it and didn't want it to stop.
GhostFaceKilla Apr 4, 2011 5:10 PM	Nice observations David. They nailed lots of aspects of immersion in Crysis. And in the earlier Far Cry as well. Far Cry was one of the only games were, once I emerged into this bright lush island from being cooped up in the dank tunnel/bunker I actually FELT the warmth of the sun beating down on me and actually FELT like going for a swim in the crystal clear ocean. And Crysis did have some of those moments where you would just stop in the middle of this jungle and be immersed. Nice. Crysis was one of those games were i didnt mind dieing after sneaking around for 1 hour. Because it meant you got to live that environemnt all over again and you could try something else. There are moments in Crysis that are exactly why I PC game.
Karmicfloss Apr 4, 2011 5:57 PM	Crysis, as opposed to Crysis 2 imo, really managed to give you the feeling that you were 'super'. The surreal environs combined with the formidable power suit meant that you could get literally lost in its world. Re-playability was fantastic as you could approach any given scenario any number of intuitive ways once you sussed out the suit and how you felt comfortable using it, rather than be 'provided with options' on how best to approach any given segment/set piece of the game. Besides the fact that almost everyone has seen a major city, but has everyone seen a lush and varied tropical island before, regardless of any alien presence? The answer is no, thus Crysis > Crysis 2. I rest my case Your Honour.
Argotha Apr 4, 2011 8:53 PM	Dont worry Hawkeye, I remember that mission. Except I remember the day-time part more than the night time. Hours spent sneaking along cliffs and behind tree only becuase I didn't have enough ammo to take out the armoured patrols. And that god forsaken helicopter! Luckily it was a tropical island and not a desert! When I got to the bridge you mentioned (well near), I had to promptly kill off 10 or so N.Koreans before getting into the cache of ammo and rockets :D Unfortunately I then had to go back up the river to fight an entire company of the bastards... Oh invisibility how you served me well. ___ On the topic of apreciating the game, Despite everyone's criticisms I could only find 1 that is worth discussing, another which is just ingrained and a final which had nothing to do with story or gameplay. The final 'boss'... that huge arse lump of alien rock... After all the brilliantly detailed enemies and models in the game, why did the final one have to look like something made out of the goldsource hammer engine?! Particularly disapointing after seeing mathoth constructs such as the boss before it and the original shuttle. How does a mountain have more detail than a final boss?! The second was the obvious allusion to a continuing story. This is something that has bugged me about certain movies for years, however crysis achieved in such a way that I was begging for the next one without feeling like is was going to a money milking effort that came next. Similar to the ending of HL2:EP2, obvious continuation but without a feeling of being cheated. And fianlly some strange performance glitch on the second last boss that destroyed my frame rates (from perfectly smooth with all settings on high, to basically locking up) I would also like to agree with the open nature. The harbour assault being the best examle of it. What to attack first? Where to attack from? How do I get there?
smakme7757 Apr 4, 2011 9:18 PM	I've played through Crysis 3 times already. I never understood the hate it got. I loved it!
xFOADx Apr 5, 2011 6:07 AM	I loved Crysis. One of the few games that I have played from start to finish more than once. It allowed you to try things differently each time. I did prefer the gameplay without the aliens. It also cost me money upgrading to try and get the best from it and I still have the 3 4870 video cards running in my computer. And the game still did'nt like playing on all high settings with that crappy final boss behemoth thing. No desire to upgrade my video cards yet.
hallmitchell Apr 6, 2011 6:22 PM	Crysis has some amazing scenes. For me personally i think for it's time FAR CRY is the best action game ever. The scene where the soldiers in CRYSIS are coming towards you and you are cloaked is so amazing. The look of that forest. The jungle sounds. The only scene that was a bit off was the floating alien space ship scene - weird. That air craft carrier scene is another awesome battle sequence.

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Atomic Magazine

Issue: 137 | June, 2012

Atomic is a magazine aimed squarely at computer enthusiasts, gamers, and serious PC upgraders.

Every month we bring you the latest reviews of new technology and PC components, in depth features on everything from overclocking to console hacking, and gaming previews and interviews.

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