Crysis Preview

By Patrick Garratt Published 9 January, 2007

More on the suit, dirty windscreens and crazy little silencers.

Crysis lead designer Jack Mamais is grinning. Microsoft's game showing at CES is relatively small compared to the insanity that was E3, but the reaction his baby's getting leaves nothing to the imagination. Even in its pre-alpha state, PC shooter Crysis looks absolutely knock-out, especially to the general consumer crowd.

"This isn't even the best stuff," he whispers conspiratorially. "We have stuff that makes this look terrible. It's going to be amazing. I can barely believe it. It looks like photographs. You can get the photos, put them side by side with the engine and you can't even tell the difference."

Describing what's happening on the PC's monitor as "terrible" is enough to induce sweat. Mamais tells us what's new in this build. The last time the game was shown in public was in LA last May (though we caught another glimpse at Leipzig in August behind closed doors).

"We're letting people play it, which we didn't do at E3," he says. "We're really focusing on the suit gameplay in this level. We have full AI, vehicle AI and you can drive some vehicles, so we have lots of great new stuff happening."

The level in question is a North Korean village (the game's plot involves North Korea and some kind of mental asteroid spaceship), and the object of the demo is to clear it of baddies. The code we get to play's designed to show off the AI alarm system as well as the now-famous suit your character wears throughout the game, with careless play attracting the attention of first an armoured car then a helicopter gunship.

"How you fight is up to you," says Mamais. "If you want to be a tank you can get a big gun. If you want to be a stealth guy, you can get a pistol and put a crazy little silencer on there and sneak around."

'Crysis' Screenshot nano

We get going. Ellie saw a demo of Crysis just before E3 last year where the concept of the power-suit was shown off, but this is the first time they've let people play with it. The suit has three different settings - speed, armour and strength - all accessed by clicking the mouse wheel then selecting a direction once a menu pops up.

The suit modes are what they are. Speed lets you zoom around for short periods set by a decreasing bar in the bottom right of the screen which leaves you walking when it runs out. It also lets you reload your weapon faster, meaning there will be times when you'll need to select speed mode in the middle of firefights to get the edge on reloads before going back to armour mode.

We got told about a very neat trick you can pull with speed mode selected. As in Far Cry, you can swim in Crysis. With speed turned on, you can get up enough velocity to "dolphin" out of the water, select a gun in mid-air and take out whoever needs taking out at the time before diving back in. Practically space age, that.

With armour selected you walk slower, your health regenerates when you're still and you're harder to kill. There are times in the game, we're told, where the only way forward will be to jump off very high cliffs, and the only way you'll survive is by selecting armour mode before you hit the ground.

With strength mode on, you can pick up and throw heavy objects and jump much higher than normal. As Mamais is keen to point out, this takes the play away from the ground and adds a dimension of height advantage. We press the mouse wheel, select strength, jump onto a roof and punch through the panels, falling into the building. He's not wrong. Another benefit of strength mode is that sniper rifles are held steadier.

'Crysis' Screenshot hunter

Strength mode's going to be key to a lot of the game, from the look of it. Under Mamais's direction and still in strength mode, we grab a soldier round the neck with one hand and carry a rifle in the other. You can throw men and slam them into walls. And strength works with everything in the game, so you can throw grenades much further and do funny stuff like strapping C40 to the side of barrels before throwing them into enemies for detonation.

Each time you select a different mode the suit itself takes on a different colour, with its "veins" glowing appropriately. Strength is red, speed is blue and armour's silver. The colouring acts two-fold. Firstly, you get a visual cue as to which mode you're in, so you don't have to keep checking. Secondly, suits also change colour in multiplayer, so you'll be able to see which modes opponents have selected. Shoot the blue chaps: they die faster.

We also get a fiddle with the modular weapon system. Any sight or silencer you're carrying can be attached to any weapon. We kill a North Korean chap and pick up his shotgun, then attach a sniper scope. Useless, yes, but you can do it if you like. The weapon system is accessed by clicking the mouse wheel along with the suit modes. In the final build, we're told, players will get access to tactical bullets, different ammo types, grenade launchers, flashlights and so on.

The other major aspect of the demo is driving a vehicle. Every wheel is modelled, so a shot out tyre means a jeep will spray sparks and the handling will be badly affected. The same works for AI vehicles, so if a jeep carrying three soldiers is coming towards you, shoot at the wheels and there may be a chance it'll veer into a tree and explode. Vehicles can be driven in first- or third-person.

There are some lovely touches in Crysis. When we get into the jeep for the first time, we can barely see through the windscreen because it's dirty. Shoot it out and the pieces of glass remaining keep the dirty texture, but the mountains and jungle trees in the holes are fully visible.

'Crysis' Screenshot reload

And yes, there are flying vehicles in the game. We didn't ask about m070rb1k3s.

Mamais looks happy when we tell him his game's probably the best thing ever. We know it's been said a thousand times before, but Crysis really does look shockingly good.

"We're super-excited about the press we got in and all the buzz surrounding Crysis," he says. "We're gamers ourselves, so we love seeing it in the magazines. The more the merrier. We hope that we can even surpass expectations."

We hope so too. When's it going to be finished?

"As soon as possible." He's still smiling. "We're hoping this year, but we're not making any commitments or promises at this time."

We can wait. If only to do the dolphin trick with a North Korean.

Picture of Patrick.

About Patrick Garratt

Read more articles from Patrick by visiting the Patrick Garratt archive page.

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Comments (50) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Horse #1 5 years ago

    This isn't on any consoles, right? I don't want to spend another grand upgrading the ole PC...

  • BadBoyBonner #2 5 years ago

    Can not wait!

  • vegard #3 5 years ago

    i'm a pc gamer by heart, but how can they afford NOT to release this on the 360 or ps3?

  • El_MUERkO #4 5 years ago

    looking good (despite the flat ground texture from the gameplay clip), i just hope the game keeps its quality for its lenght and doesnt go to shite in the last third like far cry

  • crozon #5 5 years ago

    my guess is that this will come out on the PC and after about 6months to a year they will release a version for the consoles, but I have the feeling that the PC version will be the ultimate version. Just look at far cry, all the console versions weren't up to the original PC version standard

  • rhinoxious #6 5 years ago

    If it doesn't play smoothly and look fairly good in 720p (1280x720) on a PC with a graphics card roughly equivalent to the ones in the 360 and PS3, then they will struggle to sell a lot of copies on PC I'd imagine.

    However both consoles lack RAM compared to an equivalently specced PC.
    Edited by 1 at 09/01/07 @ 16:58

  • Grim... #7 5 years ago

    So it's out in a couple of months?
    How long until a PC that can play it is released?

  • Pastici #8 5 years ago

    Not a fan of of FPS that much but this does look very intersting. Nice little touches like the suit would seem cheesy in a third person shoother though.

  • Scurrminator #9 5 years ago

    a couple of months, you've got to be kidding, it's only just about getting ready to hit alpha.

  • patlike #10 5 years ago

    I'll be impressed if it's out this year, to be honest. They refused to commit to a 2007 release.

  • Dizzy #11 5 years ago

    >This isn't on any consoles, right? I don't want to spend another grand upgrading the ole PC...

    PC and 360. EA might publish it but it will be primarily a showcase for Vista en DX10.
    Edited by 1 at 09/01/07 @ 17:08

  • captbirdseye #12 5 years ago

    The game is already in aplha and im guessing chrimbo will be realse time.

  • thedaveeyres #13 5 years ago

    Does it seem bizarre to anyone else that games companies spend 2-3 years developing a bells and whistles FPS game, it comes out and everyone's blown away for about 3 weeks and then it's, "meh, NEXT!"

    I suppose that's why games like M:TW and FM07 sell so well.

  • dbeamish #14 5 years ago

    hoping this year? LOL

    The video of the Korean village on gamestrailers looks frankly.. pretty rubbish. The foilage didnt look great and the breaking of a metal roof and falling in looked poor. The enemy men looked decent though. All the SPEED and STRENGTH stuff didn't fill me with joy either..

    I doubt it's coming to the 360.. not sure it could run it!

    Certainly a lot less impressed seeing a video this time round. Also the explosions look pretty crap?

  • MaskedDave #15 5 years ago

    "i'm a pc gamer by heart, but how can they afford NOT to release this on the 360 or ps3?"

    Didn't Crysis say that neither of them are powerful enough?

    Still, I'm sure they will release for the consoles eventually.

  • BadBoyBonner #16 5 years ago

    Unreal 2004 came out at roughly the same time as Halo did on the Xbox. I'd say they were comparable graphically from an artistic point of view and technical (graphics card providing obviously better frame rates depending on the system).

    I do not think RAM dictates too much, lets not forget Doom 3 on Xbox and Far Cry for that matter. I think I was almost as stunned that either were running on the 64Mb Xbox as I was first seeing them on the PC. When on the PC it stated that with less that 512MB do not bother, which is obvoiusly on top of the 64Mb Graphics card needed also! lol). So the PS3/360 should (both with 512Mb) be able to have a half decent stab at it.

    Of course A PC will be able to do the best version. The question is, will YOUR PC be Better than EVERY Xbox360 or PS3 version?

    An if not will buying the Graphics card and vista for YOUR PC cost more than buying one of the consoles and the game for the system?

    It will for me. Ever since my 4 year old system (Athlon xp3200 an overclocked 9800Pro) runs the source engine above 60fps at 1440x900 most of the time the incentive to update has been lost for me.

    As a Wii an 360 Owner I am no longer sure I can justify the purchase of the Latest PC bits i.e. DX10 card an core duo new memory new SATA drives etc.

    An last time I updated it all for Half Life 2 which didn't come out till a bloody year later! Lol

    360 version here I come! Will carrying on playing Wii sports till it comes out! lol
    Edited by 3 at 09/01/07 @ 17:28

  • thefishmonger #17 5 years ago

    a rip off of the half life H.E.V. suit. if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em.

  • djchump #18 5 years ago

    m070rb1k3s!

  • NthSimulachum #19 5 years ago

    Gameplay wise...hmm.

    Need to see more.

  • BadBoyBonner #20 5 years ago

    Take the best, an make it a little bit better to be successful. Works in nearly every aspect of life.

    The key is how good you are at distilling the ingredients while still adding your own twist.

  • skillian #21 5 years ago

    Was this running on Vista when you saw it? I guess it was as they'd want to show it in its best light, but it'd be interesting to know what the game looks like on DX9.

    As an aside, as much as I understand people fretting about the need to upgrade, but games like this that push the envelope are the reason I love PC gaming.

    If your PC is half-decent now you'll probably be able to run it fine at reduced settings, and if your PC is crappy then this'll be a perfect time to upgrade anyway, what with Vista and DX10 being mainstream by the time it comes out. If you expect groundbreaking games to run at max settings on your 3 year old hardware then you're better off ditching the comp and getting a console tbh.

  • BadBoyBonner #22 5 years ago

    An other than Crysis, there doesn't seem to be that many reasons to be updating ya PC as half of the stuff is coming out on the 360.

    Carmack seems suspiciously quiet anyone know what he's up to apart from the mobile phone coding smoke screen (a project that I suspect he could have completed in a few half days! lol).

    An obviously there was the source engine as well with Doom 3 Half Life 2 and Far Cry - a trio completing a compelling argument to update. Just feel less sure at the moment.

  • Dynamize #23 5 years ago

    Carmack seems suspiciously quiet anyone know what he's up to apart from the mobile phone coding smoke screen (a project that I suspect he could have completed in a few half days! lol).

    Isn't he building a spaceship or something?

  • Bru-Man #24 5 years ago

    anD
    anD
    anD
    anD
    Repeat 100 times until you get it right... :)

    Oh, and this looks lovely by the way, although I stopped playing the original when I couldn't get past the bit after you flood that huge room - was some rocket launching bastard in a small corridor, then two rooms of leapy+clawy things before you meet up with the girl again. Think I got to that room 2 times out of 50 attempts before giving up.

  • Azazel #25 5 years ago

    I say he's building a giant "laser" on the moon.

  • UncleLou #26 5 years ago

    other than Crysis, there doesn't seem to be that many reasons to be updating ya PC as half of the stuff is coming out on the 360.

    Exactly my argument why I don't need a 360. :p

    As in most cases, hardware requirements for decent enough settings probably won't be nearly as bad as people suggest they will be. I still have the comments before the release of, say, Doom 3 and Far Cry, in my ear, and both proved to be extremely scalable, while still looking great.
    Edited by 1 at 09/01/07 @ 18:18

  • rotj #27 5 years ago

    Blimey, that looks knockout! When it's coming to the Xbox 360?

    /wipes drool off laptop

  • oerhoert #28 5 years ago

    [link url=http://www.eurogamer.n et/view_screenshot.php?image=assets/articles//a/7/1/6/2/1/hu nter.jpg
    ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/view_screenshot...[/link]

    Actually, I think it looks a bit crap. Like Far Cry did. Impressive, but utterly devoid of soul or visual finesse.

    Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid 4, Bioshock and Assassin's Creed all look far better than this screenshot because the developers actually have hired visual artists, not just reality duplicators.

    I think. I could be proven wrong of course. :)

  • JediMasterMalik #29 5 years ago

    I feel more enthusiastic about it now then before, I just hope they can nail the mission structure. Far cry's was poor imo

  • TurboBailey #30 5 years ago

    People need to realise this aint gonna be on the Xbox 360 or the PS3. And I highly doubt it ever will. If it does make it to a console, it will be a downgraded port to run on those consoles inferior specs.


    Having just spent over a grand on a new PC rig, I am grinning from ear to ear. Its penciled in for 30th march release on play.com, but i highly doubt it will make that date. On the official site it states Q1 2007 - heres hoping



  • newt #31 5 years ago

    I think it looks a bit crap. Like Far Cry did. Impressive, but utterly devoid of soul or visual finesse.

    Exactly. Where's Irrational when we need them?

    Oh, I see, developing that Ayn Rand scuba suit game. All is well.

  • Donny #32 5 years ago

    It won't be coming to consoles because it is DX10 and none of the "next-gen" consoles support DX10 or even have DX10 hardware. However the consoles may get a DX9 dumbed down version.
    Edited by 1 at 09/01/07 @ 19:04

  • The-Bodybuilder #33 5 years ago

    looks equal to that of alan wake, which is also coming to the 360. So I can't see why not the ps3/360.

  • seregrail7 #34 5 years ago

    Actually, it is originally a DirectX 9 game, and will still support all DirectX 9 features, so they won't need to 'dumb down' to get it on consoles.

  • Steroyd #35 5 years ago

    TurboBailey... the same could be said for Half Life 2 and Doom 3 on Xbox. ;)

  • YourMessageHere #36 5 years ago

    Certainly interested; more Far Cry = always welcome.

    The whole "click the mousewheel and then select a direction" fairly reeks of D-pads to me; if I didn't know better, regarding controls I'd say from the video that it was being ported FROM a console. That seems silly. I have a full 104 keys here; I can afford 3 for suit modes, or 2 to switch up/down, or even 1 to toggle between them.

    I don't get the "reality duplicators rather than visual artists" comment at all. Reality doesn't look like that, or at least mine doesn't. Someone had to design the suit, the look of the environment, the enemies, the aliens, the levels. MGS4 and Assassin's Creed both look to be delivering analogous experiences in terms of realistic environments (mooing mecha aside), be that 10th century Acre or Somewhere In The Middle East.

    Oh yeah, and remember, it's not as if anyone HAS to get a DX10 card etc to run this and have it look gorgeous; it's only those with a pathological need to turn everything up to maximum that will require super uber ultra £2500 PCs.

  • Dr.Mott #37 5 years ago

    I'm really looking forward to this. My PC however, is not. :(

  • JediMasterMalik #38 5 years ago

    @TheBodyBuilder - That's a joke right? No way does alan wake look as good as this. Nevermind that you've only seen the DX10 version upuntil now. Nothing on consoles yet.

  • Ihya #39 5 years ago

    No 360 or PS3 version planned as of this point in time folks. I'd expect it to come eventually, but as the Crytek team said that nothing was getting in their way of making Crysis the best game it could be for PC, (i.e. by having to plans for ports to 360 etc) they'll only concievably have Crysis on a console in a few years time.

  • Xerx3s #40 5 years ago

    I somehow can't help but have a nagging voice in the back of my head that tells me that this could be very overhyped.

  • seregrail7 #41 5 years ago

    He's not lying about photo-realism though...
    Edited by 3 at 09/01/07 @ 20:55

  • Ryuken #42 5 years ago

    "a rip off of the half life H.E.V. suit. if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em. "

    Euh yeah, because that geiger counter and the sweet female voice really impacted the gameplay a lot... not.

  • NF_UK_Ice_Sword #43 5 years ago

    Looking forward to Crysis, the graphics when I first saw them a while back blew me away and I thought they WERE photo-realistic. Enter the passage of time and the graphics although mindblowing, still have a few jaggies and poor textures etc.
    I'm gonna laugh so, so hard when they release Crysis: Vengence for the "Plebs" (i.e. console fanboys and the average joe ;)
    *Buzzes with excitement*

    @BadBoyBonner
    Hmm, a console port, or an original and interesting PC game, hmmmm, I think I'll take the PC Game, in any version or form as long as it isn't shite of course ;)
    I'd take the worlds worst PC game before THE BEST game on the consoles anyway, so there :p

  • projectmayhem #44 5 years ago

    i cannot wait for spore.

  • aids #45 5 years ago

    speed/armour/power suits? corny.

  • Pulsar_t #46 5 years ago

    Run of the mill
    Run of the mill
    Run of the mill

    But with ultra realistic pixels this time! Huzzah!

    =/

  • BadBoyBonner #47 5 years ago

    I'd take the worlds worst PC game before THE BEST game on the consoles anyway, so there :p

    Hehehe I know where ya coming from, did go off the consoles for a while, and had to brush up on the old joypad skills with Halo 2 prior to my 360 arriving last Xmas.

    I do hope EA release Fight Night 3 on PC with Vista an the Xbox360 pad for ya though as that really is good once you get into the weaving and blocking plus the visuals were great at the time. Matching those shots in Edge of close up characters in Crysis (even though there is only 2 at a time! lol Still a marvel to behold) And still love showing people the knockout blow cheek rippling effects on my 50" plasma! Lol

    What ever happened to the mooted Xbox360 PC vista running Hybrid? Anyone get any insider info from CES?

  • AgentFosterGrant #48 5 years ago

    Hmm. It looks a bit shit. Seen better GFX already both on PC and 360.


    Fanboys lol

  • UncleLou #49 5 years ago

    Funny how you said the same about Gears, Rainbow 6 and Okami.

    Trolls lol.

  • IndiaBurning #50 5 years ago

    I think its fairly safe to say that the videos and screenshots we have seen are DX9 based. The only DX10 capable GPUs are the 8800 Geforce series and the first reliable driver for Vista was released just a few days ago. In an interview with the project lead on Gamespot, he stated that visuals will improve dramatically with DX10 features running.

  • ForbiddenForest #51 5 years ago

    What's wrong with XP and DX9? I don't want to buy Vista, even if it does mean i'll see my avatar's breath in a shaving mirror, through a bead of sweat hanging from the eye of a cocking needle.

    Before you cock off, though, why not convert it to Wii, with some decent controls paired to warm and cuddly gameplay, just like, er, Far Cry...