izigame.me

I haven't played the original version of Crysis 2 so considering this the review isn't about bragging about how little changes they made to the original, because obviously, I have nothing to compare to. No, this review is about my opinion about Crysis 2 and what I think about it in comparison with Crysis 1. Though I am gonna say this - Crysis 2 Remastered has awesome RTX lighting and shadows. The "Remastered" in the name surely was meant mostly due to RTX implementation, because while lighting and shadows were so good that it took me longer to beat the level because I wasn't sprinting but rather slowly walking appreciating the view after an area was cleared off enemies, the quality of textures / geometry / facial expressions of characters are clearly outdated in the majority of the game.
Despite the superiority of people for who Crysis 1 is better than Crysis 2 I am gonna give my vote to Crysis 2.
Yes, I am aware that due to Crysis 2 being released on consoles as well back then, developers were forced to tame their appetite and make the game extremely linear, especially after big enough jungles of first game. But that is one of the points why I like the game, because while jungles/big open fields of Crysis 1 looked amazing they didn't provide that much in terms of gameplay. One can say that having an area where you can go around and approach enemies from behind/ flank them open some tactical gameplay aspects but in my opinion that's a complete BS. Considering how fast energy of the suit drains when you use "Cloak" mode in Crysis 1 means you gonna run out of suit energy before you are able to approach the enemy + the same suit problem applies when you want to rush through empty areas as superspeed also drains energy very fast. Not to mention, there is nothing to do in these areas anyway, no side activities, not even damn collectables. So yeah the linear structure of Crysis 2 fits me better.
The story confused the heck out of me when i booted Crysis 2 for the first time. Confusion came from the facts that you play as a new character (so first question I had where the heck is the crew that survived events of first game) and that game takes place in New York from get go (I thought there is gonna be an intro mission that shows how the hell we got from island in the ocean to New York, but nope). Unfortunately the question about fate of the old crew can be settled only by reading comics, game simply doesn't bother to give the answer to this question. But despite this, the story of Crysis 2 is pretty okay, would rate it slightly higher than mid. I liked the way they evolved Nanosuit concept in Crysis 2, turning it from the future tech that gives more power, speed and invisibility into whole ass system that inegrates with its wearer deeper than it might be seen at the first glance. Yes, main character Alcatraz is another one of those characters that devs didn't bother to voice, but the twist that happens to him at the end made my lips form a smile, because shit reminded me one of the main twists in Cyberpunk 2077 and let me put it this way - everything that reminds of me CP2077 is a strong plus. So yeah, the way they connected the first and the second game is bad but what happens after the begging is quite okay.
Though, story being good doesn't cancel the fact that it is very dragged. There are fucking 19 mission in this game... 1/3 of them you try to reach the scientist due who can't fucking stay at one place and constantly moves; the second 1/3 of the game is where the main plot moves further and evolves culminating with a row of missions where you defend extraction areas of civilians and wounded soldiers; and in last 1/3 of the game you make your way to the final destination that was told you in previous 1/3 of the game. 19 missions is too much even despite them being not that long. The story can be told using lesser amount of levels. Like yeah they wanted to showcase the beauty of the city but killing enemies with slightly increased amount and variety of guns gets boring after the second 1/3 of the game.
And another complaint is connected to visual bugs I noticed throughout the game. Bugs like some textures glitching, fucked up "lod"-s and as in the first game, enemy AI loosing its IQ at some times.
At the end I want to mention one nice addition they did - Nanosuit upgrade system. I call it a 'nice' addition and not a 'good' addition is because while having any system is better than having nothing, I hope they evolve this system in Crysis 3, because in Crysis 2 the best upgrades cost more and considering how you get upgrade resource in this game, the best upgrades can be unlocked quite late in the game. Plus, some upgrades are clearly superior to the others. But the biggest issue is that, apart from a few upgrades the whole system doesn't have that huge of an impact in gameplay.
Overall, easy 7 out of 10. I would strongly recommend Crysis 2 over any modern CoD game despite the latter having more cinematic big blockbuster moments. On to Crysis 3 baby!