Crysis, that last bastion of PC gaming one might say, a technical tour de force and a brilliant FPS. In these rough times, it definitely occupies a spot of pride on PC gaming’s mantelpiece. PC purists might not think bringing Crysis over to the consoles is the best of ideas. Crysis however needs a much bigger audience to pull it out of the uber PC owning circle of gamers and introduced to a whole new legion of gamers.
Here are 7 reasons why we feel Crysis should come to consoles:
1. Graphics:
We have had some great looking console games over the past couple of years. None however have surpassed the sheer visual fidelity of what Crysis renders to the screen. It was one of Crysis’ major design objectives, to be the one of the best looking games of the generation. Crytek succeeded in this endeavor admirably. Bringing Crysis’ gorgeous vistas and brilliant art direction to the large format HDTVs of today will let us appreciate more finely what Crysis managed to achieve.
2. System Requirements:
One of Crysis’ major sticking points was its highly demanding hardware requirements. Only a smaller percentage of truly enthusiastic PC gamers were ever able to fully appreciate Crysis in all its glory. They are the kind that is willing to shell out big bucks on the latest and greatest hardware and spend countless hours tweaking a game to squeeze out the best possible performance.
Most gamers these days are low on patience and conscious about their gaming budgets. On a console, Crytek’s job would be to concentrate their efforts on getting the best possible performance for a fixed configuration. Though a few compromises would need to be made due to consoles being slightly lesser in power as compared to the PCs of today, it would certainly put to rest one of Crysis’ most commonly echoed complaints.
3. Achievement Points / Trophies:
Some might say achievements don’t really contribute to the baseline of a game. Their compulsory implementation by publishers for the Xbox 360 console by Microsoft has made sure that achievements have become an integral part of the console gaming experience. Sony has also stepped up its efforts in this area with the introduction of Trophies. Fact remains that achievements/trophies are fun to try out and make any game that much more repayable.
Crysis with its sandbox game play consisting of destructible environments, extreme physics, nanosuits and some smart AI, lends itself very well to a wide variety of achievement implementations. Kill all enemies using only stealth, kill enemies using physical objects besides weapons, kill an enemy by strategically putting some bullets into a tree… the possibilities are endless in a game with the scope of Crysis.
4. Wider Audience:
PC gaming as we know is on the decline. Sales numbers only in the rarest of cases match those of their console counterparts. PC gaming will always have its place. It’s just that gamers of today prefer to have a dedicated entertainment device like a console for an easy pick up and play experience.
Console sales are booming and they sell bucket loads of games with them too. It’s a wide market and shooters like Crysis that ranks among the top games of this generation certainly deserves a bigger fan base than the PC gaming community. Larger sales will only help secure the future of Crysis as a franchise.
5. FPS:
The current generation of consoles has had their share of great FPS games. Very few match the production values of Crysis. Its combination of ravishing visuals, great AI fast paced and explosive gameplay set in an open world make it one of the best FPS games of this generation. Its unique elements like the nanosuit abilities, the non linear sandbox style gameplay and unscripted AI are what set it apart from this generation’s FPS heavyweights like Halo, Call of Duty and BioShock. It is an FPS console owners must definitely experience.
6. Multiplayer:
With the introduction of the Xbox Live service on the Microsoft’s first console online gaming on consoles really took off. An experience that was once common among only PC owners. Crysis, though, it had a pretty decent multiplayer with addition of the nanosuits and an interesting mode called power struggle, never managed to garner the following it deserved.
The multiplayer maps in some modes were huge and always need a fully populated game to be really enjoyable. With the myriad features options and conveniences console makers like Sony and Microsoft bring to the stable, Crysis would finally be able to carve out a place for itself in the multiplayer arena.
7. Co-operative / Split Screen:
PC gaming at least if you aren’t online is a lonely experience. Co-operative offline gaming has become an important component of a lot of story driven console games these days. The experience of playing Crysis together with a buddy sounds especially exciting. Two jungle commandos sneaking and shooting their way through the jungles strategically would make for an incredibly thrilling game play experience.
Though it might be a technical challenge for the developer, co- operative Crysis would really be able to show how far the borders of a game’s world could be stretched and serve as showcase for the massive scope of the game that Crytek built and let us appreciate the game on a whole new level.
- By Shantesh Patil