Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Crysis 3 producer Mike Read has been talking about the new modes for the upcoming game, and you can see them in action below. I’ve no real idea how popular the Crysis multiplayer modes have been over the years. I’ve played all of them, but, well, I can’t ever remember anyone talking about them after release. Mods yes, but vanilla multiplayer? No. Anyone out there actually play it? What are we missing?

And, ah, this makes me laugh, it shouldn’t really, but “it’s an adrenaline rush you’ll want to experience again and again,” he says with an unconvincing smile, and “lampposts can also be used as weapons.” Yeah.

Anyway. Crysis 3 is out in February.
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Do you think Crysis needs more lightsabers? I think Crysis needs more lightsabers. Evidently, the folks behind the original Crysis’ four-years-in-the-making StarCry mod agreed, so they chucked ‘em in – hopefully skewering an Ewok or 12 in the process – for good measure. Wait, good measure? Why would I ever say such a thing when lightsabers – much like love – are all you need? Mainly because they join 1000 new sci-fi-themed objects, 2000 textures, 20 weapons, and 1000 lines of dialog as part of a seriously formidable overhaul package. Intrigued? Well, unfortunately, the RPS lot is fresh out of sci-fi-themed vehicles for break-traversing purposes. We do have Syfy-themed vehicles, though. Might I recommend the Supergator?

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More footage from the weekend’s Eurogamer shindig. Crysis 3′s ‘infection type multiplayer mode, Hunter, is shown in a new video, demonstrating the Museum of Modern Art map. I’m not sure if everyone else already knew this but the Crash Site mode from Crysis 2 is back as well. That’s all about reaching and securing a location on the map and made for some interesting use of space in the previous game. Both are explained and shown in the video below. The Hunter mode does seem rather weighted in favour of the hunters, perhaps making it an indictment of the killing of living things for sport. Those poor operatives, fighting invisible enemies, don’t stand a chance.

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Warrin’ faces in the WARFACE
I faced the war and the WARFACE
I needed war ’cause I had face
I warred the face and the WARFACE
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Among modern videogame story structures, “The hunter becomes the hunted” is a pretty big one. Crysis 3, however, is embracing the lesser-known but perhaps even more emotionally resonant “The hunter becomes the hunted, but then gets killed and respawns as the hunter – who then hunts the other former hunters who are now being hunted.” In short, they, sir, are being hunted. So basically, it kicks off with two cloak-happy nanosuit supersoldiers attempting to prevent 14 Cell commandos from reaching an evac point. Then chaos ensues, lives are lost, and the cycle of reincarnation is set to “fast forward” and “hilarious irony.”

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I approach engine tech demos with caution, as if they were primed to explode, or at least deceive me with their promises and lies. They’re not necessarily representative of anything that will actually be seen in a game, unless you’re one of those people who reckons iD games are tech demos, in which case they’re the most reliably accurate tech demos of all. The new video advertising CryEngine 3 is utterly gorgeous, with lots of flashy pop-up text describing what’s onscreen, whether its ‘vegetation simulation’ or ‘tessellated toad tech’, but take the embellishments away and there’s still something impressive and that’s the world of Crysis 3. Recognisable urban ruins being swallowed by the return of greenery, and water freed from pipes and cisterns. It’s splendid and makes me want to do more in these surroundings than shoot people.

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Woo! It’s almost like playing the game! Ah, sorry, yes: the possibilities for mockery when a scripted shooter chooses to promote itself via a trailer in which you just have a couple of choices and then you let the rest of it play out are basically pretty mean. So I won’t go there, and instead point out how pretty the ruined jungled New York of Crysis 3 is. Yep, it’s super pretty! It’s not the first game to feature a future-New York taken over by jungle, of course, but this time you get a bow and arrow! The trailer shows off some neat features aside from prettiness, of course, including weapon modification and shooting people in the head. That always goes down well.
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Warface is, apparently, the future. Crytek boss-captain Cervat Yerli has said that once Crytek’s current projects – Crysis 3, Homefront 2, and some Kinect game – are done, then they’ll be off to a world where they make downloadable AAA shooters that cost zero bucks to play. Talking to Videogamer he explained: “Right now we are in the transitional phase of our company, transitioning from packaged goods games into an entirely free-to-play experience,” said Yerli. “What this entails is that our future, all the new games that we’re working on, as well new projects, new platforms and technologies, are designed around free-to-play and online, with the highest quality development.” He insisted that this was the best solution to the future of manshoots: “I think this is a new breed of games that has to happen to change the landscape, and be the most user-friendly business model.”

Remember when Valve and EA didn’t see eye-to-eye last year over certain portions of Steam’s terms of service? First Crysis 2 managed to flub its camo and make a very loud exist from the download empire’s hallowed halls, and then Dragon Age 2 was like “Haha, guys, wasn’t that wild? Well, at least you still have me. Wait, never mind. Bye forever.” Speculation pinned the blame on Origin, but then, people have also been known to blame Origin for premature male pattern baldness and racism. The real reason, however, was never confirmed (though DLC policies were implicated, but not explained), and the controversy slowly died down. Now, though, Crysis 2: Maximum Edition has suddenly reappeared on Steam. So, are the likes of Dragon Age 2, Battlefield 3, and Mass Effect 3 waiting in the wings? Well, it’s complicated.

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It was the night before Crysis 2′s launch, and all through Crytek, not a creature was stirring – not even a fry… tech. But then, in the midst of laying down for the extended cryogenic sleep that traditionally follows Crytek’s development crunches, one developer bolted upright. “Everyone,” he turned and said to the others, nestled in their infernal healing contraptions, “I feel like something’s missing.” Then his eyes bloodshot eyes went wide with horror. “We… we forgot the graphics.” And so it was that Crysis 2 shipped with no DirectX 11 support and only a few preset graphics options. In time, however, Crytek sent PC gamers an apology basket filled with magical pixels, and all was (mostly) well. And happily, with Crysis 3, the developer plans to include more graphics than ever before.

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