How Crytek's making a 90 rated game

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 15 November, 2010

Crysis 2 dev under no pressure from EA.

Crytek has denied it's feeling the pressure after EA confidently proclaimed upcoming shooter Crysis 2 will be a 90 rated game, but has admitted meeting EA's lofty expectation is one hell of a challenge.

In August EA Partners boss David DeMartini told Eurogamer that Crysis 2 is "going to be another 90 rated game from Crytek".

While executive producer Nathan Camarillo didn't want to comment on DeMartini's assertion when quizzed by Eurogamer, he revealed the difficulty Crytek faces as it strives to reach that magical number.

"As a company, Crytek has a goal that we only ship high quality, high rated products. And that number starts somewhere," he said.

"It's definitely hard. It's always difficult to release a high quality product. You can't take a 60 rated team and make a 90 rated game. That's probably impossible.

"Let's say you're making a 90 plus rated game. Everything you do, every aspect that goes into the game, every person working on it, has to be 90 plus rated, or you don't get to 90 plus rated.

"You don't make a 90 plus rated game with a 30 rated bush in the game. Everything has to reach this quality bar. Every person working on it has to put that kind of effort into it, otherwise you have to do some things that are at 94/95 to pull the average up to 90.

"This threshold is so difficult to attain. That's a really difficult task for any developer to accomplish. For a game like Crysis 2 that's a full offering of multiplayer, a longer than expected single-player campaign – longer than what's average right now for FPS games – that's a lot of stuff to polish and make sure everything is as high quality as possible."

Crysis 2 was recently delayed from this year to 25th March 2011. "It wasn't going to be ready for that [Christmas 2010]," DeMartini told Eurogamer. "With the guys at Crytek, it's quality, quality, quality."

Despite the challenge, Camarillo is confident Crysis 2 will not only meet the magic 90 rating, but exceed it. "It's always a difficult situation to get that kind of score, but we have a lot of processes internally," he said.

"And through the help of EA to make sure we're hitting that quality bar, by having mock reviews and evaluation groups look at the game, as well as focus groups and looking at players playing, looking at their biometric data.

"Are the moments we're trying to sell in the game resonating the way we want to with them, or where are they getting frustrated so we can improve the quality?

"You can't fix those things when it's out the door and in someone's hands. You can't take a retail product, have them play it and go, 'We actually wanted you to be scared there. Ah, crap.' You want to find that out before it goes out. All these little moments add together to get you over that threshold."

Christian Donlan saw Crysis 2 for Eurogamer in June, and we spoke to Karl Hilton, managing director of Crytek UK, earlier this month.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (45) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • FreakyZoid #1 2 years ago

    90 rated - if you're not nonagenarian, you're not coming in.

  • StolenGlory #2 2 years ago

    "Crytek: How we're making a 90 rated game."

    For PC owners perhaps.

    EDIT: Presumably the neggers haven't seen the console versions running at either the EG Expo or on good ol' fashioned YouTube - because if they had they would soon realise there is a fuck load of work needed to make the game *playable* let alone any kind of serious candidate for a '90 rated game'. But hey, if sub 10-FPS shooters are your thing, then dive in.
    Edited by StolenGlory at 15/11/10 @ 13:33

  • BillyBrush #3 2 years ago

    ''You don't make a 90 plus rated game with a 30 rated bush in the game''

    I dunno...i think you could probably get away with it....you can't get away with 30 rated doors though...those are important.

    I'm going to play back through half life 2, and check if there's a 30 rated kettle or bin, i think there might be.

    That's the problem with modern game journalism, they're not putting enough emphasis on the quality of the inanimate objects when the designers put so much love into that...forget the overall scene...I'd like to know how much out of 10 that barrell is worth...
    Edited by BillyBrush at 15/11/10 @ 13:32

  • NimbusTLD #4 2 years ago

    I really really really REALLY hope that this game lives up to their own expectations.

  • Cludge_Monster #5 2 years ago

    That is seriously going to effect sales , I dont know many gamers over 90...

    Perhaps you have to be 90 so you can ammas enough money through your entire life to afford a PC to run it on highest settings

  • StolenGlory #6 2 years ago

    @FluffyTucker.

    Yeah, but i'll say it again, the karma system here does little else than encourage silent, fickle, twatbadgers to 'vote up' or 'vote down' a comment without the need to provide any kind of opinion or discussion to back it up.



  • 8bitMofo #7 2 years ago

    90 is the new 4/10

    edit: haha, neg on.
    Edited by 8bitMofo at 15/11/10 @ 16:38

  • humble #8 2 years ago

    Am I the only one feeling this kind of talk is completely nonsensical? What if Joe the coffee-boy in the company only makes a 72% rated coffee? Or the graphics designer usually is at 90%, but recently got divorced and has worked the last month at 74%? Some reviewers will rate a game highly, even if the menu system or sound effects are lacking, and rightfully so. Still have very high hopes for the game, though.

  • kestral #9 2 years ago

    let's rate all the staff out of 90 for motivational purposes.

  • Freek #10 2 years ago

    Cryteks new catch phrase: "90 rated".

    Our office?
    90 rated

    Our lunch?
    90 rated

    Our computer?
    90 rated

    Our secretary?
    11......on a 10 point scale!

  • Bitkari #11 2 years ago

    I think some folk get a bit wound up over the numbers...

    Perhaps a better aim would be to create a "FUN" game, or a "TOTALLY FUCKING AWESOME" game, rather than a "90" game?

    I worry that if developers get so wound up about trying to get a high review score they may forget why people buy games in the first place.

  • Rowlsten #12 2 years ago

    "Unfortunately the game was let down by sub-standard, poorly rendered bushes - 8/10"

  • Negotiator #13 2 years ago

    I already got a 90 plus rated FPS this year, its called Halo Reach.

  • subedii #14 2 years ago

    Let's say you're making a 90 plus rated game. Everything you do, every aspect that goes into the game, every person working on it, has to be 90 plus rated, or you don't get to 90 plus rated.

    That, or just a large amount of hype to make sure reviewers want to see the title in a positive light.

    Not to impugn reviewers or anything, but there's a reason that Doom 3 was scoring 90's everywhere on release, and yet it's primarily remembered today as a bit of a wasted opportunity.

  • asphaltcowboy #15 2 years ago

    90 plus rated bullshit!

  • arcam #16 2 years ago

    Perhaps a better aim would be to create a "FUN" game, or a "TOTALLY FUCKING AWESOME" game, rather than a "90" game?

    I'm sure that's what they are doing, but FUN and AWESOME are not quantifiable, nor are they the same from one person to the next.

    In fact, the only way to find out whether people think the game is FUN and AWESOME is to let lots of people play it and see what they think. Obviously you can't ask everyone, so maybe it's best to ask people who have played lots of games and can describe their experience eloquently. And seeing as even among those people there will be different opinions, the only fair way to gauge FUNNESS and AWESOMENESS would be to average out those opinions. Of course that's not always possible, so maybe if these opinions gave a snapshot of the review - maybe a number, perhaps out of 10 or 100 to make them easier to compare...

    Wait a second, I've just had an idea for a website...

  • paketep #17 2 years ago

    ANOTHER 90 rated game?.

    Please. None of Crytek's games come close to an 80, despite the graphics.

  • retr0gamer #18 2 years ago

    I got a 10/10 rated game called Halo 3. Was fairly average in all honesty. I'd just rather a good game.

  • Noble6 #19 2 years ago

    Some of u on this thread are hillarious. Keep the funny posts coming. 80 rated bush rofl.

  • Pwnsweet #20 2 years ago

    I'll be happy if it's just a 60 rated game...60fps that is.
    Edited by Pwnsweet at 15/11/10 @ 14:32

  • Noble6 #21 2 years ago

    From wot I saw at the EG Xpo... this game running at a constant v-synced 30 fps would be relief. I actually thought they had a slideshow on display. In all honesty it seemed to be running at round 20 fps on the console.
    Edited by Noble6 at 15/11/10 @ 19:33

  • coolbritannia #22 2 years ago

    Crytek, try giving the team dead bull and then spamming fun boost. Also, use advertising to raise your popularity.

  • chubster2010 #23 2 years ago

    I've gotta say...when I played Crysis 2 at Eurogamer, it was a buggy, uninspired mess.

  • schnide #24 2 years ago

    I've had 30 rated bush before.

  • merkdot #25 2 years ago

    The game will no doubt be as formulaic as its "critical" target.

  • BuddyChrist #26 2 years ago

    Hehehe...... 30 rated bush.....

    I get what he means with the whole "attention to detail" an "quality through consistency" approach. Certainly with the utter shite you can find on the Market at the moment. There is a gap for quality, maybe these people can help fill it.

  • gnrlstuart #27 2 years ago

    reminds me i havent shaved in a while :/.....

    ANYWAY. i get his point; a graphical tour de force with great multiplayer and consistent attention to detail wouldnt go amiss, if its anything short of spectacular though, back to first plaice with COD!

  • Lord_Gremlin #28 2 years ago

    Reminds me of Crysis: the game looks absolutely gorgeous. Vegetation is in fact photo-realistic. BUT!!! At the same time AI is dumb, animations are pathetic, story is retarded and gameplay is boring with occasional moments of frustration (aka "come fly with these blue flying things";).
    That's just not good. Crysis as PC exclusive's been rated high, but TBH it has great visuals but everything else sucks.

  • Seehuusen #29 2 years ago

    Well, the turtles in Crysis are 10/10 for sure...i dont know who were in charge of the turtle development department, but that was awesome.

  • thomaspower0 #30 2 years ago

    I loved Crysis and my PC will run Crysis 2 too. One problem, the game lags badly om the x360 (I was in the beta).

    For those who haven't played Crysis 1, the game is almost as good as HL2. For those who haven't played HL2, this is probably the best shooter ever released. It blows every shooter, even modern shooters, away.
    Edited by thomaspower0 at 15/11/10 @ 16:21

  • Lord_Gremlin #31 2 years ago

    Found PS3 demo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0hkSsBNlNc - looks more or less ok, who's been talking about 10 fps and lags?

  • StolenGlory #32 2 years ago

    @Scotty269

    Actually, I have seen the 360 build of Rage running at 60fps during the EG Expo and it is the absolute dogs bollocks.

    You have me mistaken, i'm not anti-console at all; i'm merely saying that Crysis 2 on the 360 needs a fuck load of work based on what I and others have seen already.

    Kinda like your reading and comprehension skills actually.
    Edited by StolenGlory at 15/11/10 @ 16:36

  • aidey6 #33 2 years ago

    As long as it is fun to play and gamers "get it" that's the main thing, 90 rated is not really a target, bug free and a decent SP and MP is what matters

    Resistance 2 on PS3 currently has a 87 rating on metacritic, the kindest I say to describe that title is disappointing....

  • blod74 #34 2 years ago

    Just rerelease crysis without the fecking stupid aliens and I would be happy........

  • TheGuvernor #35 2 years ago

    Wow, Monday morning or what?!
    Bunch of cynics on here today!
    Come off it people, Crytek rock.
    Their tech, gameplay & quality are way ahead of the competition.
    Hopefully,this time, most of us will have rigs that can run it out of the gates.
    When we see generic, same old, same old titles come out time after time, & then we have a development house that really pushes the envelope we should be happy. Even supportive.
    Yes, I'm a fan boy etc etc.
    But I'm stoked for this title.

  • TheGuvernor #36 2 years ago


    Chill out m8...
    I rock
    Irock'
    Irock

  • mrfrostynova #37 2 years ago

    Or they could release a 100% and finish up TIMESPLITTERS4 !!! DO it!

  • el_pollo_diablo #38 2 years ago

    Given that reviewing games is entirely subjective, isn't "90 rated" a bit of a silly way of looking at things?

  • MegaCadet #39 2 years ago

    It be funny as hell if it got an 89%.

  • TheGuvernor #40 2 years ago

    @Chayney,

    'I fear for the future.'

    I'm sorry to hear that.
    Have you considered therapy?
    Edited by TheGuvernor at 15/11/10 @ 18:54

  • man.the.king #41 2 years ago

    What's all this preoccupation about ratings before the game is out?

    IMO, the right way is to create the game the best you can, and put all of your effort into making it the best it can be in your eyes, and then release it and THEN worry about the ratings.

  • Capa26 #42 2 years ago

    "You don't make a 90 plus rated game with a 30 rated bush in the game. Everything has to reach this quality bar. Every person working on it has to put that kind of effort into it, otherwise you have to do some things that are at 94/95 to pull the average up to 90."

    As retarded as the bush comment is... does anyone else not find his mathematical deduction a little bit more troubling. Back to primary school maths class for this muppet.

    I mean that's fine if there is only ONE 30 rated bush among a field of 97 rated bushes... but that would be obvious bush based prejudice. Or bushism.
    Edited by Capa26 at 15/11/10 @ 20:53

  • electrolite #43 2 years ago

    (longs nostalgically for pre-Metacritic days)

  • Lunatic4ever #44 2 years ago

    Why not just pay some magazine for giving this game a nice 95?

    That way, you can keep the shitty team and thus save more money.
    Customers buy that shit anyway -> e.g COD

  • NeoKenzi #45 2 years ago

    As long as its better than the first Crysis (which will be hard enough to beat) if it gets 90 then thats good if not I'll still be getting it for ALL platforms... I love Crysis and yes, I'm crazy like that... :o)