Developer: Crytek    Publisher: EAgames   
Platforms: PC    Genre: First Person Shooter
Release: Q3 2006    Players 1-32
Release: Fall 2006    Rating: Pending   
Website: http://www.electronicarts.co.uk/games/8456/

FarCry was originally an experiment in graphics.  It started out as a tech demo for the Geforce 3 graphics card, on an unknown engine simply titled CryEngine.  It must have gone over well; Crytek, the creators of the engine, decided to make a full-fledged game using their "tech demo." FarCry was released in 2004 to positively rave reviews. It was an accomplishment in graphics, with a two kilometer draw distance and a beautifully rendered, fully realized jungle environment.  Some called the gameplay spectacular, while others said it was underwhelming and indicative of nothing more than a full blown, full budget, and fully priced tech demo. One thing that could not be denied however, was that it was an amazing looking game with unparalleled vastness and some uncommonly good enemy AI.


Since FarCry's release in '04, Crytek has kept itself busy working on its next project. Using CryENGINE 2, they are once again poised to astound us all with breath-taking graphics and interactivity in their new game: Crysis.


First things first; it must be established that Crysis is as close to photorealism as any game has ever come before.  The detail in Crysis is absolutely staggering.  While not yet seemless, this game is truly a sight to behold, and a real step in the direction of perfect photorealism.  Character models are detailed down to pores, scars, and even various skin blotches and imperfections.  These actually look like real people, rather than the molded balls of wax and plastic standard to most games.  The environments are intricately detailed, to the point of each leaf on a tree casting its own shadow. The environment also sports interactivity to levels never before seen in any game. As you brush past a plant, it will bend or even break.  If you shoot at it, you can blow bullet holes into the leaves; the shadows cast on the ground change to reflect this.  Much of the environment is destructible, from buildings to nearly every tree in the jungle.  As a matter of fact, the developers have been quoted as saying that there is more technology in a single tree in Crysis then there was in the entire game of FarCry. Trees can be taken down bit by bit with your gunfire, or all at once. Imagine the scene in Predator when the Schwarzenegger's squad goes nuts and fires blindly into the jungle, clearing out about a mile of trees and foliage, and you have an accurate representation of what is possible in Crysis when you unleash your fury into the jungle.


The AI system has also been given a substantial upgrade over the already impressive artificial intelligence in FarCry.  Enemies, as well as allies, will actually use real military tactics this time around to make for very impressive conflicts.  Yes, I said allies; support plays a role in this game, as you are no longer a lone gun but a member of the military and as such have fellow servicemen to back you up at key points in the game. Vehicles also make a comeback, but with a few very exciting additions such as tanks and helicopters that should make for great fun when coupled with the destructible environments.


The game is also touted to have very emergent gameplay, in that choices you make in the game affect the outcome of future events, changing the flow of gameplay around your actions much like an RPG. And enemies aren't the only thing you have to worry about- environmental and meteorological hazards also pose a threat.  Driving rain cause land slides, high winds cause tornados, and earthquakes can crumble ice flows.  Adding to the RPG styled gameplay is the deep customizability of both your character and his weapons.  Your weapon can be pulled up to the screen at any moment and a transparent interface pops up allowing you to add too or modify your weapon in any number of ways, from adding a silencer, to changing ammo types (One ammo type I particularly liked was a poison dart that you have to activate, so you could fire off a few darts into a group of patrolling enemies and then activate them all at once taking out the group in one fell swoop),  to tossing on a grenade launcher or slapping a scope on top.  Each modification you make to your weapon will add or detract to its effectiveness depending on the situation so changes should be made wisely.  Your character too is modifiable due to the special suit he is wearing.  You can modify the functions of your special combat suit between a few different settings.  For example if you know you are about to go into a fire fight you can toggle your suit to heavy armor mode on the fly at the cost of your movement speed.  If you had some enemies to outrun you could go into speed mode and lose armor density but gain the light feet needed to escape.  If you are the type of player that likes a nice well rounded character you can toggle to a default middle ground setting when needed.


The developers make claims of a very deep and imersive story served up in classic three act movie style to give players an unforgettable experience. Each act will offer something different to keep gameplay fresh. The first act centers around a meteor impact off the Korean coast in 2019.  The US military as well as the Korean government make a beeline for the crash site to claim the meteor and its secrets for themselves. You start off battling Koreans on the way to the meteor, but when the massive object cracks open revealing what's inside, everybody's motives change.  A towering, two-kilometer tall alien spacecraft is exposed, and its occupants are anything but benign.  The ship generates a massive sphere of alien energy, freezing a large portion of the island and the surrounding ocean, turning the environment into a uniquely alien tundra (no pun intended).  The freezing of the environment signals the start of the second act, where the US and Koreans join forces to drive back the invading alien menace.  The third act climaxes in an assault on the alien mothership, with what is promised to include amazing zero-g setpiece battles.


If anything, FarCry was an stepping-stone for Crytek.  A proof of concept for them to get their development legs, before attempting to tackle their real dream project.  The developers have openly admitted that FarCry was somewhat flawed, as well as rushed. But while some features they had wanted to include were cut all together, with Crysis they now have the prior experience to build upon as well as having learned from past mistakes to deliver something more.  It is still too early to tell if Crysis will be a real winner or not, but if what we have seen thus far is any indication, we have good reason to be hopeful.

Trailer

PS. I'd like to take a moment to thank Andrew our camera man for the great work he did for us.  If it wasn't for him and his fine expensive equipment we would not have gotten half as many good shots as we did.  Also any shots you see that are not press shots are intelectual property of Andrew and WDFnews.com

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