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RTTP: Crysis Trilogy | They don't making games like this anymore

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Alright, so I bought this 3 pack in sale which was recently over at Xbox Store, just out of the sheer nostalgia, which I admittedly, don't remember much... and also because there is distinct lack of FPS in general.

I won't we covering much of Crysis The First, because I played it many times on PC and everybody knows pretty much everything about it.

I was shocked, how good 2&3 holds up to this day, games are pretty much just straight PC version with X360 buttons overlay. Thankfully there weren't any big changes made. It looks on par with good looking last generation games, it runs on 60FPS no issues and it plays extremely well. It's truly the time like this where you can appreciate the massive downfall in games quality from the mighty 360/PS3 era. I don't really know about anything from at least last gen which feels this "cinematic" while retaining good level of player agency, open approach to a problem and stuff like that. 2&3 still feels fresh and arguably better than it's current gen counterparts.

I highly recommend it to any fan of FPS.

However as a release it's not perfect.

- No Crysis 2 MP, which sucks, because that MP was legendary
- No Crysis Warhead, which seems to be lost in history
- Games are pretty short, I was able to finish them over time span of 2 days and Crysis The Next will probably be nothing like this. So lack of good times ahead
- These games makes me really salty, about current state of gaming in general.

But happy to report, that all three games running fine on XSX (presumably same thing on PS5 as well)
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I loved Crysis 1 and felt like 2 & 3 were the biggest downgrades in gaming history. How did we go from revolutionary gameplay and openness to generic trash of 2 and 3? It makes me sad to this day :(
I don't agree to an extent, it's true that it's way more constrained when ti comes to level design, but the ope approach is still there. As it was proved later, the games didn't need a downscale, since Crysis 1 run with some cutbacks on 360/PS3. I like 2&3 more, to be honest, but it's just a preference, obviously there were cut corners and especially 3rd felt like it was made with some huge budget cuts, yet I still feel like today's games don't even reach that level.
 
Crysis 1 and Warhead on PC were great games; Crysis 1 on consoles, Crysis 2 and 3 suck ass. I can't believe how badly they butchered that series. The suit powers were completely fucked and the freedom of gameplay was completely lost. Anyone who disagrees with me is wrong, and thank god they don't make games like Crysis 2 and 3 anymore, fuck those games.

home alone party GIF by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
 

UnNamed

Banned
I won't we covering much of Crysis The First, because I played it many times on PC and everybody knows pretty much everything about it.
I have this game on Switch, and after I played it on PC and PS3, I say... it didn't age well.

Despite the freedom in gameplay you have with the the nanosuit, the game is still tied to concepts from FPS of that era, where the best way to play is stay away from the enemy as much as possibile and shoot from the distance. You can do the ninja, you can use the nanosuit abilities, but in the end barely no one of the tricks you can do is really useful or it's better than playing normally.

C2 has some new mechanics, using the environment is more simple, and do the ninja is more effective because of the small areas. It's not perfect, especially at the beginning where you don't have any ability, but it's an improvement.

C3 is the best imho, better QoL mechanics and better level design.

Since Doom has some similarities in it's core with Crysis (lot of programmers from Crytek moved to Id), playing Crysis 3 is still an enjoyable experience while playing Crysis 1 after Doom is a big trauma.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
Played the first one recently. Not considering the tech benchmark it was for its time, thought the game itself was so-so.
There were a bunch of abilities and ways to play the game but you'd just end up playing agressive stealth much like you do with far cry games, in fact its basically the same gameplay loop, minus the crafting/upgrades systems introduced in FC3. The Alien stuff late game also wasn't very good honestly.

As far as FPSs from that time period are concerned, i liked Far Cry 2 better. Game flowed better in general, it was more thematically cohesive, felt more repetive but at least it didn't have huge segments that just felt unfun to play like Crysis.
 
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Apocryphon

Member
The first one was interesting at the time. The sequels are flashy looking garbage. Terrible level layouts, horrible storytelling, awful enemy AI... They have some cool setpieces I guess, and they run well on PS5 and Series X, but otherwise they're uninspired drivel.

They all run like shit on previous gen hardware, and the Switch ports while impressive in the sense that you can play them on a handheld, barely holds up in terms of performance. In a world where we have so many good FPS games to choose from, the Crysis Trilogy is bottom of the barrel shit. Just play the Metro games instead.
 

Del_X

Member
Love the entire array of games. Few games give you a good balance of interacting with the environment, your abilities, and interesting AI. I kinda hope the new Quake game (or whatever iD is doing next) takes inspiration from Crysis since it'll be slower-paced than Doom Eternal.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I've never played any of the Crysis games outside of a demo of 2 back in the day of Onlive.

Am I missing out that badly then?
I would say go play it, on sale, if you are not a fan of genre.

Warhead's source code was lost.
They missed an opportunity to fix Crysis 3's back half. It's all just big empty levels with nothing going on.
Oh really? That sucks
 

Guilty_AI

Member
Am I missing out that badly then?
Not much really. Its most impressive features were, in the end, its visuals for the time (and honestly, if it weren't for a few devil details you wouldn't thing the game is 15 years old).
Physics were also quite good but there were other games from the time doing similar things you might have played.

That said, it should be possible to get them for quite cheap so i'd say its worth if only to witness a piece of gaming history.
 
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stn

Member
Its nuts that Warhead still hasn't been re-released. I love the Crysis trilogy but the gameplay is definitely missing some things (ex. good boss fights).
 
They hold up gameplay-wise because the genre has been stagnant for ten years.

The graphics hold up because, in that regard, these games were beasts in their time.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I bought the trilogy on the recent sale as well, haven't had a chance to dive in a lot, looking forward to playing as I have probably not played these games in earnest since they first came out on the 360.
 
Crysis 1 was awesome, Crysis 2 was good (my biggest issues were with the story which I obviously won't spoil for anybody), Crysis 3 was decent but forgettable. At least imo
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Ahh ok.
Have you tried the mode?
Absolutely, it was my favorite from Crysis 3*. But I was more hooked on Crysis 2 MP, where I even did all the achievements. Sadly I don't remember much due to partial memory loss, but it still remember the "lan parties" we had while playing this game. So I am really sad, that they didn't include the MP as well...

*I also played that on PC, because 360 is long gone for me.
 
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Cryio

Member
I played Crysis 1 Remastered earlier this year and I had a blast. Loved the improved visuals with RT, SSR, radiosity, global illumination and proper shadowing and ambient occlusion. The next textured were fire as well.

Performance is also hilariously better now after all the patches compared to the original game.

I'm still hopefully waiting for more patches for Crysis 2 and 3 Remastered because I pull the trigger on them.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
The character models in Crysis 1, especially the faces, scream mid 2000s but the environments and graphical effects hold up remarkably well even compared to games coming out today.
 

anthony2690

Banned
Finished Crysis 1, it's pretty dated imo, but kinda enjoyable.

Finished Crysis 2 and I was sick off the city environment by the time I finished the game, and the alien enemies, gameplay was alright though.

Burnt out on Crysis now though & I'll do 3 in the future.
 

TonyK

Member
I would buy them instantly if they do a PS5 version. But PS4 versions of this trilogy is a shame.
 
The original Crysis and it's expansion were deeply flawed games but very impressive and somewhat interesting, the same can't be said about the sequels, extremely mediocre at best. It's a good example of what happens when an FPS is developed just for PC and what happens when it's then consolized.
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I would buy them instantly if they do a PS5 version. But PS4 versions of this trilogy is a shame.
It is X|S version on Xbox, so I presume there is also version for PS5. Native I mean...or not?
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
It is X|S version on Xbox, so I presume there is also version for PS5. Native I mean...or not?

Both versions are enhanced BC, Series ends up being somewhat better and run at higher resolutions because of the stronger bc version via One X.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Crysis 3 looks remarkably good even today, shockingly great character models as well. They really elevated their game and looking back and realizing that they made this game run, cuts and all, on a PS3 with only 256MB VRAM is nothing short of a miracle.

 

xrnzaaas

Gold Member
I'd buy this already if it included Warhead. I absolutely hate incomplete collections for no apparent reason. Same thing bothered me years ago with Borderlands and Batham Arkham remasters.
 

tygertrip

Member
I've never played any of the Crysis games outside of a demo of 2 back in the day of Onlive.

Am I missing out that badly then?
The first one is one of the greatest FPS ever made (the PC version, that is)... so long as you play in Delta difficulty. The sequels are great COD clones, with a touch of Crysis... but horrible sequels, gameplay wise.
 
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I only played the original Crysis on the Series X. It was an okay looking game but obviously dated despite it being a remaster. Gameplay also feels quite old as well.
 
Crysis really did look next-gen compared to the consoles that had released not long ago then, and the gameplay holds up imo. Specifically it does a good job with making traversal of the levels interesting with enemy blockades and helicopters among other hindrances. Crysis 3 lets you drive around for a level or two as well but it sucks because you can drive past everything carelessly, it's just a waste of your time, and that's a problem shared by so many games with more open designs (Elden Ring, I'm looking at you)

Also the shooting is obviously good and I will never get tired of throwing a grenade into a hut and watching it explode. Even shooting down trees is fun. Crazy that this stuff feels innovative 15 years after the fact.

The sequels are bad though. Crysis 2 can approach the locality of fun when you're fighting human enemies but the aliens are unreactive Half Life 2 bullet sponges and the game loves doing its little set pieces where you have to fight them. Crysis 3 is that + a misguided attempt to make the game more open that does more harm than good because, unlike Crysis 1, the game isn't designed to make travel interesting. You just spend more time running from A to B. At least it looks good— almost as good as the original game! Wow.
 
Does anyone know if the Trilogy (remastered) Is ever coming to Xbox gamepass via EA play ? The x360 titles are available but I'd rather play the remastered versions at 60fps .

Also : the "remastered" thing, is it only for consoles or have the games received an update on PC as well ?

Thanks
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I only played the original Crysis on the Series X. It was an okay looking game but obviously dated despite it being a remaster. Gameplay also feels quite old as well.

The second and third one are considerably more "modern".

Does anyone know if the Trilogy (remastered) Is ever coming to Xbox gamepass via EA play ? The x360 titles are available but I'd rather play the remastered versions at 60fps .

Also : the "remastered" thing, is it only for consoles or have the games received an update on PC as well ?

Thanks


The remaster trilogy is published by Crytek themselves, not EA unlike the original ones.

It won't come to game pass via EA Play, but might separately in the future.
 
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The second and third one are considerably more "modern".




The remaster trilogy is published by Crytek themselves, not EA unlike the original ones.

It won't come to game pass via EA Play, but might separately in the future.
Kind of confusing tbh brother but it is what it is I guess...
I was waiting on them since - from what I know - EA games release on EA play X months after a game has been out.
This is why they haven't been released on EA play then (remastered versions being Crytek's and not EA's)...

Thanks
 
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Also : the "remastered" thing, is it only for consoles or have the games received an update on PC as well ?

The remasters released on PC as a separate, new release. The Crysis 1 remaster on PC (and I assume console versions too?) was pretty jank because it was based off the old console ports for some reason, but it's okay at this point. I think the face rendering is still not as good as the original and some of the lighting is off, maybe destructable physics items break into bigger chunks... but also it's slightly more optimised on the CPU side so you can potentially get higher FPS and PC has DLSS which helps a lot.
 
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