don't really agree with the above much, couple of points are valid in my opinion but the 'generic shooter' part and 'forgettable levels' I think is a load of rubbish. I agree it is 'water down' compared to the original, but lets get this one thing straight, the original was NOT a sandbox game, sorry it just wasn't.
I think you'll find I said 'sandbox feel', Crysis is by no means a full sandbox game, however the levels were open enough (up to the alien ship) that you could deviate considerably from the 'default' path to complete the objective in a fair few different ways. Not so in Crysis 2, the levels are VERY compact by comparison, essentially narrowing your choices to 'left' 'right' or 'down the middle' of a street, and that's about it.
also the nano-suit has changed, but changed for the better to be honest in the sequel, its faster, more responsive and more potent than it was in the original game
Each to their own I guess, but I much preferred the original nano suit controls, the new one feels quite the opposite to me, by comparison it feels very clunky.
and offers numerous methods of completing the game. one can literally run through the game, avoiding combat (really, you can!), you can run and gun through the game, you can stealth kill the whole game (again, literally!) or you can blend them all together depending on the situation,
So just like the first game, except in Crysis 2 you don't have the space to really make use of them, or the destructible environments, nor the varied situations. The suit just feels pretty useless in Crysis 2 imho.
no other 'generic' FPS offers those options to the player, so that sort of thing sets it apart from the crowd, plus combine that with the impressive (for a console) graphics and superb score gives an action packed but diverse game.
The problem is as a sequel it's going to be compared to the original, and in this case Crysis is simply better in every single one of those respects. The action is better in Crysis, the AI is better, the levels are better, the enemy design is better. I would say the ONLY thing Crysis 2 does better is the Post Processing, Partical Effects and the music. Everything else Crysis wins hands down.
also forgettable levels, seriously? standing on a shore looking out over the Hudson river, seeing what is left of the Hudson bridge is forgettable? or that 9/11 inspired building collapse moment in down town New York is forgettable? of looking out over the bay and seeing the flaming, smoking, half wrecked statue of Liberty is again forgettable?
Very. It's all so cliche, and quite frankly dull. Nothing in Crysis 2 really stood out for me. Whereas Crysis was full of things that made me stop and go 'Wow!'. The sunrise as you assault the bay, the mountain 'cracking' during the tank battle in the open plains, floating through the alien mothership, stepping out into the frozen island for the first time. So much more unique than the token 'oh noes xxxxx landmark is broken!!!'. /yawn
'forgettable' moment toward the end of the game when the entire of Central Park is 'floating' about a thousand feet of the ground,
You misunderstand, the floaty park was cool, visually it looked great, but the level itself... boring.
the problem is, they didn't get rid of the story, they just retconned it. changing the fundamental ground work of the game, which is the problem with now releasing the original for console gamers. they are going to be left thinking 'how is the second a sequel to this...' or 'what happened to Psycho and Nomad?...' or 'why are the enemies now completely different in style, colour and behaviour to these enemies...', those are the problems!
Now this bit we agree on. They tried to fit the old story into an entirely new one, and it just didn't work. As I said, soooooo many holes. And yes, once people play the original Crysis, they are going to be... WTF...
, I guess we all own PC's as well?, that being said I've completed this on the PC a few times now but still can't wait to play this through on the console, I'm very interested to see how it looks.
