Log entry #1

I would love to know what went through the heads of the people at Redux Beverages when they were making Cocaine. Yes, the drink Cocaine has graced NZ for the last, what, 5-6 months? I went on their website – and this is the funniest part – the slogan is “Cocaine: Energy Supplement”. Energy supplement? Give me a break. That’s like saying… actually, I don’t know what that’s like saying, but you can see where I’m coming from. Clearly, they decided on a ‘energy drink’ that would cause controversy. Either that or they where just being stupid like all humans are. You decide.

So, I’ve been playing Crysis recently. It’s actually pretty good for an FPS. I think the biggest thing the Crysis team worked on is the jaw-droppingly awesome graphics. On a scale to one to ten, the Crysis graphics are sitting on twenty. Lush scenery, detailed faces, water actually looks like water should. Then, we come to the combat.

As tradition with Cry games, the scenery doesn’t actually conceal you. It conceals the enemy pretty well though, especially at night when you can’t see a damn thing. The first thing I noticed is that the Koreans have hideously big health bars. I still have fond memories of Call of Duty 4 where enemies needed only 3 or 4 shots before they went down, if that, and a headshot was an instant kill. Crysis didn’t seem to grasp that, so trying to get a headshot or kill someone is extremely difficult. The enemies always duck under your targeting retical, and they must be wearing full heavy combat gear because body shots are about as effective as running up and spitting them in the face. Bear in mind that this is with the standard rifle you inevitably have to switch to. The shotgun is a one-hit-kill at close range, and the Precision Rifle is a one-hit-kill from any distance.

The suit powers are the only thing between you and certain death. Armour lets you absorb damage through your energy, which is critical in most fire fights because the enemies seem to do so much damage it’s the only thing keeping you alive. Strength lets you through further and harder (Basically the Musclemass power from Prototype), punch harder, and jump higher. Jumping higher becomes quite necessary in many places. Speed passively improves how fast you run, but when you sprint – my god you are fast! Unfortunately it only lasts for about 1 ½ seconds, so you can’t just charge around everywhere. Cloak is the last power you have, and it lets you become invisible while you sneak around everywhere. Be aware though, it’s only useful if you’re crouching, and I don’t recommend it for trying to lose a pursuer, ‘cause they already know where you are.

- - - UPDATE - - -

Ok, just finished Crysis. Damn, that game can be a bitch sometimes. Once you get inside the core, you never see another Korean. You combat the huge alien threat that the idiot Koreans uncovered.

Veering off course for a moment, I just had a look at our copy of Crysis: Warhead more closely. Turns out your not playing as Nomad in this. No, you’re playing Psycho, and I think it’s an entirely different story, not even remotely linked to the Crysis storyline.

People often ask me why I hate EA. Well, this is why. (Spoilers!) They end Crysis with You, Psycho and the woman (Can never remember her name) getting a call from none other than Prophet, and turns out he’s alive and well. Then Nomad goes “Turn around. We’re heading back.” And I was like ‘Awesome! I get to go back into the island in Warhead!’

I don’t think that’s the case. Certainly not with Nomad, I could have easily misread the blurb but it looks like I’ll be doing something totally different than what I wanted to do. Fuck you, EA.

Anyway.

I’m not too sure what I think about Crysis. It has some really difficult sections in it, even playing on Easy, and at least in two places you’ll run out of ammo and there’s very little to stock up on.

Having said that, the Island environment and overall graphics left me gawking in front of the screen, and the combat… actually the combat is a royal pain in the ass. Korean soldiers that have helmets deflect any headshot attempt (unless you have a Precision Rifle, but a Precision Rifle is more likely to instant kill them wherever you hit them), and trying to get a headshot with any weapon other than the Precision Rifle is nearly impossible, since I’m not aware of any ‘Hold Breath’ buttons. And as I probably mentioned earlier trying for body shots means spending a full magazine trying to take just one of the many, many bastards down. And as much as you think your suit is awesome and futuristic, that doesn’t make it any less resilient to bullets. Speaking of which, sometimes you die for absolutely no reason. Often you walk into fire without noticing (yes, apparently your Nanosuit doesn’t like fire. Or electrified water. Or fast moving projectiles) or perhaps you got hit by an enemy you just can’t see, or run over a mine that wasn't pointed out.

The aliens, believe it or not, are actually easier to fight. Not in the zero-G part of the Core they aren’t, but the aliens you fight outside of that, the biological machine aliens. A couple of well placed shotgun blasts will eliminate the smaller, ground-based aliens, and a few well placed shots from the Gauss Rifle will eliminate the larger airborne ones. Even the big bastard on the Aircraft Carrier can be taken down with several hits of the Gauss Rifle, or a few missiles as I best remember it. It is best to save the missiles for the really big bastard at the end of the level, though. The Gauss, while it does eventually punch through the armoured hatch on the… things underside. Then send a mini tactical nuke up the hatch, and KABOOM one roast boss about to come crashing down on the aircraft carrier.

I had trouble with the next bit, so let me help you out. Since your surrounded by fire (meaning you can't see straight ahead without looking upon towering flames), look straight at the boss. Are you looking? Good. Now, turn 90 degrees. Now switch to Speed mode and RUN. Be sure to save up a bit of sprint boost for leaping on to the VTOL aircraft ala Call of Duty 4.

So, in retrospect, I enjoyed Crysis. For all its flaws, there’s just something about it that makes me glad I bought it. (Well, I didn’t buy it, but shut up I’m trying to make a point here.) It’s definitely better than some FPSs out there, but I wouldn’t recommend it to unseasoned chicken veterans. As I may have said before, it isn’t an easy game by any means, and unless you’ve played several FPSs and gotten the hang of it (Bonus points if one of those FPSs was FarCry) you’ll be quitting to the menu screen before you can say Major Strickland.

On one last note, the new computer was working flawlessly up until about eight hours ago. It had it first crash today. I guess we are talking about a computer loaded with Vista here, so it wasn’t too much of a shock but it didn’t make me any less pissed off. First time was through Crysis, second was, again, through Crysis, third time was playing Assassin’s Creed. So now the new computer is stuck with an image of Altair in mid Leap of Faith. Goddamn Windows.