PAX 10: Crysis 2 Multiplayer (Nick’s Impressions)

When I first saw video of Crysis 2 from E3, I thought it looked like a surprisingly generic shooter.

Some kind of super soldier fighting aliens in a ruined city? I’ve been there and done that, and I’ll already be doing it again this Fall with Halo: Reach. I don’t really want to play the same game over again, no matter how pretty this second-comer might look.

But seeing Crysis 2 in action Thursday night before PAX on the Xbox 360, it’s clear that this sci-fi shooter is something different, even if it still looks generic.

I spent a few rounds watching others play before jumping in myself — a bad idea, because the game looks more complicated than it really is. The UI is crazy, with reticules and numbers and meters flashing and moving all over the place. It looks daunting and overly busy, and most of it has to be unnecessary because the controls themselves are straightforward: Trigger buttons zoom in and shoot, bumpers use your special abilities, Y changes weapons, X reloads, B crouches, A jumps, and clicking the right stick melees. If you’ve played any console shooter over the past few years you’ll know what to do right away.

The special abilities save this from being a throwaway game. Going invisible really makes you invisible, none of this Predator-inspired, light-bending, cop-out invisibility. You essentially disappear off the face of the earth, which makes it the perfect tool for sneaking up on people and hitting them in the back for an instant kill. But this is never too easy since the game moves at an intense pace. Your skills honed on Call of Duty will come in handy here.

While I didn’t use the strength ability much, there were several moments where it probably would have saved my life had I thought to use it (such as charging at a cornered opponent while he’s reloading — it should be noted that melee attacks on the front are not instant kills). The weapons I used were standard fare for an FPS, but other players around me found energy guns, turrets, and even called in alien gunships, so there seems to be a bit of a variety to your arsenal.

The most impressive part of the demo was the map itself. Taking place outside, across the rooftops of a city, it’s bright and colorful and filled with vertical elements. What’s above and below you is just as important as what’s to your right or left. Death can come from anywhere. This verticality and the wide open sky makes the map feel huge, even though it’s actually well suited to the number of players (six versus six).

Crysis 2‘s multiplayer is fast and fun, and even after just a few minutes I found myself adopting a certain kind of playstyle unique to this game, differentiating it from the rest of the shooter pack. But these differences are subtle, only noticeable if you’re willing to invest some thought in how you play, and unfortunately those differences are hidden under an uninspired art style.

This still looks like a game you’ve played several times before, and might not want to play again. But maybe you should. You might like it.

Crysis 2
Crytek/Electronic Arts
Xbox 360 (Also available on Playstation 3 and Windows)
Available March 22, 2011