Articles About Crysis
Game Informer Online Cervat Yerli Interview - 03/09/06
Could Crysis become the greatest shooter of all time? That’s the goal of Crytek’s CEO and President Cevat Yerli. We ask Yerli all about Crytek’s upcoming PC FPS, and get some exclusive gameplay details. Plus, what is it like working with DX10, being Microsoft’s new flagship Games For Windows shooter, and what’s the possibility that Crysis will be moving over to next generation consoles? All this and more is answered in our extensive interview.
Game Informer: How has the reaction been so far with Crysis? The game’s multiplayer mode is on the show floor – what do people think?
Cevat Yerli: The reaction has been pretty phenomenal I have to say. To be honest, I’m a bit surprised about it. I expected some degree of positive feedback, but... the goals for the multiplayer have just increased. We are shooting for single player and as well as the multiplayer at the same quality bar – the priorities are equal now, which means a lot.
GameSpy Preview - 03/09/06
It goes without saying that Crytek has made a major impact on FPS titles since Far Cry was released over two years ago. While the title had its flaws, such as damn near impossible difficulty toward the end of the game and a save system that could've been much better, it was still a groundbreaking shooter in several ways. Since then, the team has been hard at work on their next title, Crysis, which made its debut at this year's E3 to a great deal of fanfare. Now, a few months later on their home turf, Crytek unveiled a multiplayer demo of their highly anticipated shooter on the showroom floor at Leipzig. Much to the hatred of roughly fifty-plus German youths, we went hands-on with a build specially created for the Games Convention and talked to a few members of the Crytek team.
For those unfamiliar with the storyline, Crysis takes place in a future in which the US and North Korea are the world's dominant superpowers. An alien asteroid has crashed on Earth, and the race to get a hold of alien technology begins. Players will take on the role of a top Delta Force agent equipped with a biosuit that enables a variety of customizations, including enhanced strength, armor, weaponry and speed, all of which can be switched around on the fly to suit the situation.
Gamespot Crysis Feature Preview - Building a New Kind of First-Person Shooter St - 03/09/06
Crysis may have cutting-edge graphics, but developer Crytek is also looking to deliver a story that's just as advanced.
Blasting away at aliens and soldiers may seem like a familiar theme for a first-person shooter, but developer Crytek is looking to elevate the formula to new heights with Crysis, one of the most talked-about games on the horizon. In our previous coverage of the game, we've focused on the technology in Crysis, since the game promises to deliver, for all intents and purposes, truly next-generation graphics. However, there's going to be much more to Crysis than just pretty visuals. The designers at Crytek are intent on delivering gameplay and storylines that are the equals of the technology. Please note: this preview story may contain minor spoilers of some of the story elements in Crysis.
Despite Crytek hitting a home run with Far Cry, the designers have looked back on its development and thought long and hard about all the things they could have done better. For example, an obvious issue with that game was that the story in Far Cry was never really central. Jack Mamais, the lead designer of Crysis, described Far Cry as a bunch of different mission tied together with cutscenes. That's partly the result of Far Cry being the company's first game, and also because Crytek felt it was in a race to finish the game before Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 shipped. With that learning experience under its belt, and with its reputation firmly established, Crytek focused on developing the story in Crysis first and then building the game and the cutting-edge technology around it.
Action Trip GC 2006: Crysis Multiplayer Hands-on - 26/08/06
Today was a good day to play Crysis. The good news is (well, for me at least) that I got to try something other than shooting at a bunch of foliage with a powerful gun. Granted, I have absolutely nothing again shooting at palm trees with a mini gun, but there's only so much fun you can have with plant mutilation.
So what did I get to try?
I played Crysis in a 32-player multiplayer match. Of course, we played on a jungle map, but still, the action was a lot different from the single-player game.
I started out as "the science guy." I have no idea what that faction is, but I think I was fighting US Marines on the other side. Since I had to track across a lot of land and water to even get to where the action was taking place, I concentrated more on the graphical splendor that Crysis has to offer.
IGN GC 2006: Crysis Multiplayer Hands-on - 26/08/06
August 25, 2006 - While the crowds were swarming the EA booth to play Crysis, we snuck in the back of the Microsoft Games for Windows area to get a little hands-on action for ourselves in a less crowded atmosphere. Although we've been impressed by the single-player sections we've seen so far, this is the first time we've had a chance to play the multiplayer side of Crysis, so needless to say we were excited to see how the game was coming along.
We jumped into a six-player match set on a dense tropical island. The game was U.S. versus North Korea, with the Americans starting at a submarine in the bay and the North Koreans staring in their base on the island. The objective for the North Koreans was to totally destroy the sub with a TAC tank, while the goal for the Americans was to overrun the North Korean base and ultimately take control of the island. As an added advantage, the team that controlled the war factory on the island could buy vehicles such as light tanks, heavy tanks, TAC tank, and a four-wheel truck.
PC Zone Crysis Preview - 26/08/06
Fully realised jungle environments, a physics system which allows you to break individual trees and completely demolish buildings, a suit which you can adapt and tailor depending on your situation, a legion of robotic alien foes ranging from massive spider-like Hunters with freeze guns and stomping-action to swarms of flying squid-like mechs that hunt in formation. These are just a handful of reasons we reckon Crysis will not only push the FPS envelope, but really humiliate it in front of its envelope friends. They're features we've already reported on previously (and here), but they haven't become any less impressive in the meantime.
But what of the game's lesser-known online contingent? We're aware of our worrying habit of looking at Far Cry's few less-than-great points before comparing the game to Crytek's prodigious new title, but after a recent chat regarding their plans for the online aspect of Crysis, the multiplayer efforts of Crytek's previous opus just seem to pale in comparison. So again, we begin by posing the slightly unfair question to the German developers: where did Far Cry multiplayer go wrong?
1up Preview - 26/08/06
The nitty gritty behind Crysis' multiplayer has already been covered by our big brother publication Computer Gaming World Games for Windows, but there's a new build on display at the Leipzig Game Convention. That build, according to Level Designer Alexander Werner was undergoing revisions right up until the final push on Tuesday night -- the night before the show opened to the public.
Much ado has been made about Crysis' visuals -- and with good reason, they are insane. Our direct feed videos from the show floor show plenty about Crysis' aesthetic, but how does the pretty FPS play?
1up Crysis Multiplayer Preview - 26/08/06
"It's Team Fortress 2," says lead designer Jack Mamais' Cliffs Notes summary. He's invoking vaporware, not knowing that Valve would announce TF2 only two weeks later, but the statement is no less ballsy: Crysis' economy-juiced, gee-whiz multiplayer mode is a kind of Second Coming.
After initially joining forces, the Korean-American alliance founders and the bigger-than-the-both-of-us threat becomes opportunity to make one side much bigger than the other, provided someone secures exclusive access to the alien spoils. Each side starts from a near impregnable HQ, an offshore submarine or inland base armed with automated missiles and turrets (buh-bye base camping). Each player sets off with only a pistol. Everything else costs credits and most every meaningful act earns 'em.
1up LGC 2006: Crysis to Have Pre-Release Demo - 26/08/06
Crytek undecided when it will be and what it will contain.
At the Leipzig Game Convention, Crytek employee level designer on Crysis Alexander Werner confirmed to 1UP that there would be some form of pre-release demo for Crysis. "We're doing some kind of demo before the game releases, but we don't know if it will be single player or multiplayer demo yet." Demos for PC games are pretty commonplace, but it's still good to know that Crytek will be giving us something from Crysis to play with before the game ships next year. Now, we just need to find a computer to run it on.
Crysis Hands-On - Multiplayer and the Magic of DirectX 10 - 26/08/06
We meet with Crytek, check out the latest work-in-progress version of Crysis, and spend a little time with the game's competitive mode.
LEIPZIG, Germany--We've seen a fair bit of Crysis recently, what with our visit to Crytek's offices in Frankfurt and everything. What we hadn't seen anything of until today, though, was the game's multiplayer component, which we dutifully waited in line for at the 2006 Games Convention, after a meeting in which Crytek showed us some of the recently implemented features.
In case you haven't been following our previous coverage of the game, Crysis (like Far Cry before it) is set on a beautiful tropical island where things aren't nearly as peaceful as they might first appear. In Far Cry mutants were the problem. In Crysis it's North Koreans...oh, and aliens who travel down to Earth on some kind of asteroid and flash-freeze a good portion of the game's tropical paradise in the process. The secret to success in Crysis, at least according to the senior game designer that we met with, is that you must "adapt to survive." This not only means that you should carefully plan your attacks on enemies rather than running in with guns blazing, but also refers to the fact that both your weapons and your high-tech nanosuit are customizable.
CGW Crysis Preview - 23/08/06
"It's Team Fortress 2," says lead designer Jack Mamais' Cliffs Notes summary. He's invoking vaporware, not knowing that Valve would announce TF2 only two weeks later, but the statement is no less ballsy: Crysis' economy-juiced, gee-whiz multiplayer mode is a kind of Second Coming.
After initially joining forces, the Korean-American alliance founders and the bigger-than-the-both-of-us threat becomes opportunity to make one side much bigger than the other, provided someone secures exclusive access to the alien spoils. Each side starts from a near impregnable HQ, an offshore submarine or inland base armed with automated missiles and turrets (buh-bye base camping). Each player sets off with only a pistol. Everything else costs credits and most every meaningful act earns 'em.
Instead of capture zones, all alike in everything all but location, total war factories, similar to RTS structures in their specificity of output, function as waypoint and objective. "Take this harbor, for instance," Mamais says. "Hold its office and the port is yours. It begins producing inflatable Zodiacs; small, sort of Boston Whalers; hovercrafts; and better-armed patrol boats." Other sites include motorworks that make trucks, jeeps, and light transportation; tracked vehicle factories for APCs and mobile AA, as well as tanks; and airfields, which fabricate the obvious range of aircraft. Says Mamaias: "I pull out my PDA, and, depending upon conditions, different options open up. As soon as I order a ship, it's my ship, and no one else can take it. It's as if I have the key or code to it. We want to create a sense of ownership, as opposed to other FPSes, in which vehicles are throwaway things -- blow up and respawn, blow up and respawn. Here they're an investment, and although I can donate mine to a needy ally, I can only field one active vehicle at a time."
Translated Interview from German Magazine - 17/08/06
For 16 million euro three German Turks made of Frankfurt develop the computer game "Crysis". Bill Gates praises its abilities, but in Germany they get problems: "Crysis" is a killer Game - and the government wants to forbid such plays.
Thus, if he were dead now, Cevat Yerli, it says sits on the light-grey leather sofa, back-leaned, lets the legs flabby hang and puts the head to the rear, in order to show, how would look, thus only times accepted, he would be a corpse, and now him someone would shoot in the leg - Yerli fires with thumbs and index fingers on its thigh: "That must twitch nevertheless, or?"
GameSpot Crysis Preview - Technology and the Hardware That You'll Need to R - 30/07/06
We get an early look at the many amazing technologies going into this cutting-edge action game, as well as an idea of what kind of PC hardware you'll need.
By Jason Ocampo, GameSpot
Posted Jul 29, 2006 4:55 am GMT
Perhaps the most common question revolving around Crysis isn't when this eagerly awaited first-person shooter is going to ship or even whether it will appear on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Instead, gamers everywhere are wondering what sort of PC they'll need to run the game. And it's not hard to understand why Crysis has everyone thinking about hardware upgrades. Ever since it was revealed at the Game Developers Conference, gamers have been amazed by the cutting-edge visuals in Crysis. So when we recently visited developer Crytek's offices in Frankfurt, Germany, we got a chance to find out more about the game's technology, as well as what kind of machine you'll need to run the game.
Gamers Daily: Most Anticipated Titles - 04/07/06
Crysis is self explanatory - it just looks excellent and like it will be insanely fun. The physics along with the destructible environments just amaze me, I wouldn't settle till that Island was a desert! I'd spend hours on end gunning down trees, and not to mention gunning down people and chuckling to myself as they roll down a hill, rustling the physics enabled bushes as they go.
Much like FarCry you'll be given a slew of weapons, including a very nifty new gadget, a weapon that fires tiny bullets into a person - so tiny that they can't even notice - and then gives you the control to put them to sleep with the touch of a button. I'd spend a long time just shooting lots of people and gathering them into one area and put them all to sleep and use some form of explosives to destroy them in hilarious ways involving much ragdolling. I also like the fact that you can improve different aspects of your character, for instance upgrading your strength and going on a rampage and punch the **** out of people or a house! What a way to vent your anger. Oh and we cannot forget the vehicles, being able to drive a vehicle over a lush environment, I'd drive it around knocking down trees and people leaving a trail of destruction behind me.
Hooked Gamers Preview - 04/07/06
A far cry from your everyday adventure!
The year is 2019 and a massive asteroid has crashed down to Earth in a remote island off the coast of North Korea. The United States dispatches an elite Delta Force team to assess the situation while North Korea moves to claim the asteroid for themselves. To everyone's surprise, the asteroid bursts open and an enormous alien ship emerges. The invasion of Earth is now underway...
Crysis is German developer Crytek's next foray into the first-person-shooter genre. Published by Electronic Arts (EA), Crysis employs their proprietary engine "CryENGINE2" to deliver an experience that is literally out of this world! For those who played and loved Crytek's previous adventure Far Cry, this is a game you won't want to miss!
Gamespot Crysis Exclusive Impressions - 01/07/06
You'd be hard-pressed to find any jungle around Frankfurt, the sleek German city that's one of the major financial centers of Europe. But if you know the right building, you'll find a lush tropical isle infested with aliens and North Korean soldiers, not to mention one of the most up-and-coming development houses in the world. We're talking about Crysis, the next game from Crytek, the developer of 2004's acclaimed Far Cry. Since its debut earlier this year, Crysis has become one of the most anticipated games coming out on any platform thanks to some incredible visuals, though there's more to Crysis than just a stunning graphics engine. To learn more, we visited Crytek's offices to meet the developers in person and get a closer look at the game.
So, what is Crysis? First, it's in no way related to Far Cry, and it's not a follow-up or spin-off of that game. Instead, it's an original alien invasion story set in the Spratly Islands, a small group of islands that actually exist in the real world and whose ownership is disputed by various nations, though the island in the game is far larger than any of its real-world counterparts, which are more reef than island.
Computer and Video Games Crysis Preview - 20/06/06
19-Jun-2006 Suffering from post Far Cry blues? Never fear, Crytek's amazing pseudo-sequel will simply blow you away!
Jake Dunn. Now there's a real hero's name: two syllables and a surname that's the past participle of a common verb. Give the man a gun and a liberal sprinkle of stubble and he'll save the world in a flash. Or, perhaps, in 12 hours of post-Far Cry FPS bliss.
You see, when I met up with Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli, bombshells seemed to drop at the rate of one a minute - but in among the manifold jaw-drops (zero-g combat? WTF?), the fundamentals were laid out loud and proud: take the goodness of Far Cry, remove the broken bits and fill in the gaps with gaming Polyfilla extracted from the loins of the very gods.
So what was wrong with Far Cry? Crytek name and shame the quick-save system, the high difficulty levels, the iffy multiplayer code, the 'outgun rather than outsmart' Trigens and the dud storyline. Rather harsh self-criticism, and in the eyes of a correspondent who adored the Carver quick-save challenge, rather a worrying one.
Active Win Crysis Preview - 06/06/06
"One of the most widely-anticipated games at this year's E3 is Crysis, the spiritual successor to the hit PC game FarCry. Using a massively updated version of the CryEngine used in FarCry, Crysis is pushing the limits of photo-realism in PC games. The game, which will be released shortly after the launch of Windows Vista, is the first 3rd-party game announced to be using DirectX 10. Using this newest version of DirectX allows developers Crytek to create visuals that rival, if not surpass, the newest games for the next-gen console.
There were two demo levels being shown on the show floor. The first level was set inside an aircraft carrier that had, apparently, come under a massive attack. Taking place in the evening, the levelallowed the developers to show off some of the impressive lighting effects that the new engine is capable of. Taking advantage of some of the most recent advances in rendering technology, such as subsurface scattering which allows light to diffuse realistically when it hits objects such as cloth or skin, the lighting in the level was incredibly impressive. Flames flickered and cast shadows naturally, while lightning seen from the deck of the aircraft carrier lit up the night sky. The level concludes with a fight with a massive alien machine that, had I not seen it played in real-time, I would've sworn was pre-rendered.
Crysis showpiece for top end AMDs - 05/06/06
AMD seems to be banking on game developers taking advantage of more than two cores relatively soon-and on gamers and enthusiasts being excited about the prospect of having four cores cranking away. AMD mentioned the in-development game from CryTek, Crysis, as a probable showpiece for 4x4 systems. CryTek has put a lot of work into taking good advantage of multiple cores via multithreading, and Crysis may help persuade gamers that four CPU cores are good to have.
Game Daily Preview - 27/05/06
First-person shooters...getting old? This is a thought that seems to cross a lot of minds lately, as there's a large glut of them on the market and only a distinct few that really stand and deliver the kind of experience that makes their playtime stretch out over a series of months. But these games still manage to leave an impact, as a number of next-gen developments are in the works that will keep the genre going strong with a great deal of freshness. One of them that remains pretty strong is Far Cry, an involving FPS that featured lush jungle environments, intense action, and all sorts of multiplayer options, whether you're tackling the game on the PC or checking out Instincts Predator on the Xbox 360.
Crytek is the development team that handled that franchise, but they probably felt the need to move on and challenge themselves further. Any good development team really does, after all. And they found a way to strike a deal with EA to produce a completely new first-person shoot-em-up that looks to be even more advanced than Far Cry. Is that possible? Well, the old phrase "Where there's a will, there's a way" rings true, certainly here.
The game is called Crysis, and probably the biggest noticeable feature about it is Crytek's evolving of their game engine technology. They introduce a new engine here known as CryENGINE 2, and it's capable of a number of things, as the game's initial trailer shows. You've got volumetric clouds that are so real to the actual cloud effect, that you see parts of it disperse as you run through it in the camera's point of view. There's also ambient real-time map design, complete with unreal lighting effects that capture soft shadows and other effects as if they were real-life. Of course, that's the point. Other small effects include precision of depth, motion blurring for faster movement, and soft shadowing, so there's not such a forced presence on the graphics.
Interveiw with Cevat Yerli in GameStar/dev - 25/05/06
Translated from Orignal Article
/GameStar/dev: So where's the technical journey leading?
Cevat Yerli: In general it's leading to multi-threading, so multi-core and multi-cpu, a streaming architecture, cross platform, and for each pixel there will be at least one shader.
/GameStar/dev: Are you staying with SM3.0 or are you jumping to SM4.0 straight away?
Cevat Yerli: We're gonna support SM2.0 and above
/GameStar/dev: And above?
Cevat Yerli: And above
/GameStar/dev: The new PC processors and the upcoming consoles are heavily applying multithreading. How are you gonna utilize the potential?
Cevat Yerli: We're scaling the individual modules , like animation, physics and parts of the graphics with the cpu, depending how many threads the hardware has to offer. We're going to support both multi-cpu systems and multithreading and multicore. With 3 cpu's with 2 hardware threads each (dual core cpu's) it's possible that we are going to scale for 6 threads. Maybe we're not gonna do it though, depending how fast the individual cores or the cpu-threads are running respectively. We're developing a system that's analyzing how much threading power is available and we are going to scale accordingly.
Maxit Mag Preview - The Future Of First Person Shooters - 24/05/06
Crytek burst onto the first person shooter scene with the highly acclaimed Far Cry powered by their in-house developed CryEngine. If you thought that was good, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Crysis is the natural successor to Far Cry but don't expect it to be a cash-in sequel. A new story with all new characters sees you cast as a Delta Force operative sent to investigate an asteroid crash site located somewhere on the Pacific islands. Sounds easy enough eh? Throw in the North Korean army, a technologically advanced alien race and plenty of high tech weapons and the real fun and games kick in.
Crysis provides levels of realism other first person shooters only dream about. This ain't no quick paint job. Everything has been upped by a factor of ten. Palm trees sway in the breeze casting real soft shadows. Vegetation moves aside as you walk through it, environmental effects are so real you can almost smell the coconuts and sea air. This is a world so believable you will have to swallow the blue pill just to make sure. The video shows just some of these effects in action. Combine all of them with a world full of NPCs and you can appreciate why this game will be very special.
Product: Emergent, Crytek Sign Scaleform GFx SDK - 19/05/06
Scaleform Corporation, a provider of graphical user interface and scalable vector graphics engines, has announced that they plan to integrate the Scaleform GFx SDK, a media vector graphics engine for console and PC game developers, into Emergent's Gamebryo game engine.
In addition, the company also announced they they have signed a ten-year agreement with developer Crytek to integrate the SDK into Crytek's CryENGINE graphics engine, which includes use in the company's upcoming first-person shooter, Crysis.
"Scaleform GFx gives us a great response to the needs of our game developers. We are excited to continue delivering successful integrated solutions," said John Austin, Emergent's Chief Operating Officer. "Game developers have been clamoring for a UI solution that would enable artists to create advanced HUDs and animating textures in industry-standard visual tools like Adobe's Flash Studio. With an integrated package, artists will be able to rapidly extend the signature look of their game into the UI, creating a more compelling and absorbing user experience."
Tom's Hardware Guide: Crysis makes a breathtaking first impression - 14/05/06
Los Angeles (CA) - The gaming press is a jaded lot, and E3 can be a treacherous place if you're a developer without a standout product. After a day and a half of hearing that every game I see is the best and the features are unique, all the praise starts to sound like white noise; an annoying hiss in the back of my mind. So it was with much skepticism that I approached Crytek's demo of Crysis. I heard it was amazing, but it's a shooter, and I've been hearing "amazing" for 10 hours now. The reality of it is that as soon as the game loaded I was blown away.
Crysis is the second notable title built by Crytek, following the blockbuster FarCry. Again, this game is a first-person shooter for the PC that takes place in the year 2019 and involves an alien invasion. The story certainly does not sound original, but the game did not cease to impress. The first stage that loaded was a jungle level showing the most realistic rendered foliage I've ever seen. Crysis is powered by Crytek's own CryEngine 2, and at least what I was able to, it appears to be unrivalled today. I've seen jungle levels in other games and nothing comes close to this. The trees, the ground, the leaves, and the mist were all rendered with impressive clarity.
Joystiq PC impressions: Crysis - 13/05/06
We first got a sneak peek at Crytek's Crysis during Sony's keynote address earlier in the week. The demo level looked gorgeous, but on the show floor, I got to see something that almost looked better. Beautiful outdoor scenery was incredibly dynamic and encompassed everything.
Every bit of foliage looks photo-realistic. The version I saw was actually for PC and it already trumps a lot of the "next-gen" titles we've seen here.
To give you an idea of the dynamic nature of the demo, imagine being able to shoot a tree and watch it fall over across the path, obscuring your route. Many of the environmental elements work like this. Get a gun, shoot them down. You can essentially chop it down by fragments all the way from top to bottom.
Strategy also plays hand in hand with this design. When walking through all the nature, you have to be careful of enemies who are taking advantage of underbrush and trees as well. It still has all the excitement of a fast-paced FPS though, so this diverse title is definitely a must-buy for PC owners.
Games Radar Interview with CryTeck CEO Cevat Yerli - 11/05/06
Wednesday 10 May 2006
We wanted to get some background on this stunning near-future FPS. So we grabbed Cevat Yerli, the man behind Far Cry's success story, and fired off some questions at him to get his word on the new project.
Is the level that we've seen a high point of the game?
I wouldn't say that. There are levels that are way more intensive. Crysis might have less overall playtime than Far Cry, but it will be much more intense. Far Cry was often quite samey, and while then we used things like a day-to-night phase to make it more interesting, in Crysis we're always adding more content: more things happening on screen, different things happening in different conditions.
Games Radar: We get intimate with Crytek's staggeringly impressive alien-in - 11/05/06
Wednesday 10 May 2006
After all the waiting, we've finally gone face-to-face with Crysis, spiritual successor to Far Cry and easily one of the most exciting games of the year. But wait. Forget the better-than-life visuals, the stunning environmental effects and triple figure AI IQ - it is the overwhelming, epic and terrifying atmosphere that has left us dazed and blinking.
Crysis jettisons Far Cry's story and characters, and casts you as a Delta Force operative sent to investigate an asteroid crash site located somewhere in a chain of Pacific islands. The North Korean army are there first, however, fiercely declaring 'finders keepers'. When the techno-savvy alien race encased in the asteroid emerges, however, both sides unite to repel the otherworldly invaders.
Instead of simply pumping out a prettier, more effects-ridden Far Cry, developer Crytek is ramping everything up to 11. The multiplayer elements have been given more attention, the epic scale is less B-movie and more War of the Worlds, and Far Cry's already intense action has been tweaked and balanced to emphasise tactical murderising over plain reaction or twitch blasting.
IGN E3 2006: Crysis Hands-on - 11/05/06
Crytek hands us the keys to the Ferarri and we enjoy the ride.
May 10, 2006 - Crysis is a freaking amazing looking game. You want next-gen? This is it. Character models, foliage interaction and density, explosions, weapons models, lighting... good lord these guys at Crytek are some talented guys. They have the game up and running on DirectX 10 and brought two different levels showing off a couple of different aspects of the experience. Not only did they have the carrier level that we saw at the pre-E3 day at EA but also the jungle level that was shown as part of the GDC demo. They also let us step in and take the reigns to shoot some commies.
While we've already written in the past about the level on the carrier where players will have to battle through a gigantic ship slowly sinking into the ocean with the help of some unfriendly alien visitors, it's worth mentioning again simply because it looked so good on these screens at black levels that made things easier to see. It was clear that the smoke and fire on deck of the ship were affected by the scream of the Hunter meaning the game was running using DirectX 10, which is pretty exciting.
bit-tech grapples with a Crysis - 11/05/06
Wow.Er, wow.
Uh...
Wow.
Sorry. Our collective brains appear to have stopped functioning here, as we write having just gotten our hands on the show-stopping shooter, Crysis.
Remember those videos? Remember the screenshots? The ones that looked absolutely bonkers? Yeah, those ones. They're real. The game absolutely, 100% looks just like that - and plays even better.
Gameplay: Crysis is simply the best-looking game we have ever seen, ever. Foliage moves as you walk through it. The lighting is spot on. Enemies can crouch behind bushes and shoot through the leaves at you. There's an absolutely outrageous depth of field effect as you focus on things close to you, such as the sight of a rifle. Clouds roll along next to you as you climb a mountain. The whole thing looks, frankly, cinematic.
GameSpot E3 06: Crysis Impressions - 10/05/06
Crysis may very well be the most graphically advanced game on the show floor, and we've got the latest details from the executive producer. By Jason Ocampo, GameSpot
LOS ANGELES--Crysis could very well be the best-looking game at E3, on any system. The next first-person shooter from Germany's CryTek and publisher EA looks like it will define what the next-generation of visuals really means, thanks to its incredible graphics. And the good news for PC gamers is that Crysis is a Windows exclusive, which means that it's only for the PC.
Executive producer Rob Letts gave us a tour of two levels on display, both showing real gameplay. We got another chance to see the incredible battle against an alien Hunter, a huge, mechanical walking tank that's seen at the end of some of the Crysis trailers. Be careful, because don't read further if you don't want spoilers to the plot.
EA Unveils the Next Generation of Games at E3; - 09/05/06
Crysis(TM) -- Crysis is all-new first person shooter from Crytek, the award-winning developers of the critically-acclaimed hit Far Cry. Powered by the revolutionary CryEngine(TM)2, Crysis delivers next-generation PC technology, graphics and gameplay. Set in 2019 after a colossal asteroid crashes to Earth, Crysis begins amidst a tense military standoff between the North Korean and United States governments for control of the impact zone. Amid rising tensions, the asteroid suddenly bursts open revealing a massive alien ship, which begins freezing vast portions of the island and altering the global weather system. The invasion of Earth has begun. Crysis features an epic three-act story of alien invasion where players are able to customize their armor and weapons in real time to confront an ever-changing enemy and a harsh, dynamic environment. Advanced enemy AI employs realistic military tactics, forcing gamers to actively outsmart their opponents rather than simply reacting to them. Crysis is slated to ship for the PC in Winter 2006.
SPORE -- SPORE takes players on an epic journey from the origin and evolution of life through the development of civilization and eventually into the outer reaches of space. Create a creature, then control every dimension of its evolution from pond scum to galactic god. Experience multiple styles of gameplay as your creature advances through different stages of development. Fight for survival in the wild, develop a sprawling metropolis, trade and war against rival civilizations and explore the outer reaches of the galaxy. Every aspect of the universe from creatures to vehicles, buildings to plants, are created by the player and automatically shared with other players, providing a limitless number of worlds to explore and play. Create, control and explore your universe with SPORE. SPORE is under development for the PC by legendary game designer, Will Wright.
IGN Pre-E3 2006 - 04/05/06
We get our first real look at Crytek's next-gen PC FPS and can't wait to get our second.
May 4, 2006 - Crytek broke onto the scene in 2003 when Far Cry began rearing it's toothy head and solidified its place in the development community upon a successful release of that title in 2004. In short, it was an awesome game. While it didn't have quite the variety of a Half-Life 2, it provided one of the most intense pure shooter experiences we've come across in some time. It was difficult and the story was bad, but man was it fun! Since that Spring, we'd been eagerly awaiting news of Crytek's return to glory and got it this January when Crytek and publisher EA announced Crysis.
We knew that Crytek would pull some serious technological magic for their second title and we finally had the chance to see it moving not long after the big announcement. This year's GDC proved Crytek's stomping ground as they unleashed one of the most unbelievable technical demos of the year. CryEngine 2 is spectacular. If you haven't seen the demonstration of the engine yet, you really need to check it out for yourself. What's especially stunning is that the demo shown recently was amazingly full of detail running on only DirectX 9, after seeing a short comparison video of the game's capabilities running on DX10, we're very excited to see more of that.
PC Zone First Look - 24/04/06
24-Apr-2006 A first look at the spiritual successor to Far Cry - one of finest PC FPSs of all time.
Put simply, Far Cry is one of the best first-person shooters ever to exist in the history of the world, and probably a few other worlds too. It's right up there next to Half-Life 2, jostling for the tallest bit of the podium, and for many it's the pinnacle triumph of mankind's ability to emulate shooting people, places and things on a desktop. If you've never played Far Cry, saunter down to your nearest games shop, pick up a copy and hit yourself with it repeatedly, then play it.
If you have played Far Cry, then you know why the people who haven't played it must punish themselves in such a manner. It's a breathtaking game, both in its graphics and its gameplay - the first time you emerge from a darkened cave in Far Cry and see the sheer scope and beauty of your surroundings is one of those special moments in gaming.
Bit-Tech Preview - 20/04/06
We first heard about Crysis earlier this year. It's German developer, Crytek, has emphatically denied the new game is Far Cry 2 but instead will be more of a spiritual successor to the gorgeous tropical FPS hit of 2004, Far Cry. We have been salivating over the technical details and been entranced video footage. Today we have another new batch of screenshots to show you and Oh. My. God.
Let's get started... These two shots are definitely something we haven't seen before. The left hand shot shows an outside scene on what appears to be a futuristic aircraft carrier, with equally futuristic VTOL split-wing aircraft. The scale of the scene looks pretty massive with an awful lot of polygons on the screen. Check out the soft shadows on the bottom right too, they look rather funky. Bonus points for spotting the heat distortion from the exhaust fumes on the jet, requiring some pretty hefty pixel-shader grunt no doubt.
CVG Interview with Crytek's CEO Cevat Yerli and lead game designer Bernd Di - 12/04/06
12-Apr-2006 Crytek's CEO Cevat Yerli and lead game designer Bernd Diemar on the PC FPS phenomenon.
If there's one thing that came out of GDC that really set our tongues wagging, it was the awesome movie debut of Crysis, Crytek's spiritual successor to the admirable Far Cry, which is set to erupt all over your PC before the end of this very year.
Although Crysis is a spiritual successor to Far Cry, it certainly seems set to move in an entirely different but still entirely fantabulous way, dispensing with lead hero Jack Carver and casting you as a normal US grunt caught up in the midst of a war against a vast and implacable alien horde, which threaten the future of life on planet Earth as we know it.
Okay, no prizes for original plotting, but having now seen the game in action (more on that in the very near future - our lips have to remain sealed at the moment), we can confirm that, in graphical terms, Crysis is as revolutionary and gob-smackingly beautiful as Far Cry originally was. But it's the ambition to really push the FPS genre forward and Crytek's obvious determination to lovingly craft a PC FPS monster which will probably rival the best of breed, which impressed us most.
Crysis coming to next-gen consoles? - 05/04/06
Source: This month's issue of Game Informer.
The official story: See below.
What we heard: Of all the games at the 2006 Game Developers Conference, few caused as much of a stir as Crysis. Visitors to the ATI booth on the floor were wowed by a trailer of the CryEngine 2, the basis of the forthcoming PC game from Electronic Arts and developer Crytek. Sporting volumetric clouds, real-time ambient maps, soft shadows, and visuals with cinematic depth of field and motion blur, the trailer looked even better than Far Cry, Crytek's debut.
Crytek's incredible looking shooter now a 2007 release. - 29/03/06
Even though Crytek only recently pulled the wraps off Crysis, the company's next-generation follow-up shooter to Far Cry, they're already being forced to delay the game out of its holiday window and into a vague first quarter slot in 2007.
It could partly Microsoft's fault, really, thanks to the delay of Windows Vista. Electronic Arts, however, told 1UP the game never had a concrete shipping date when it was originally announced (late in the year was about as close as they would comment), so the clarification of first quarter 2007 isn't, in their eyes, a delay at all.
Last week Microsoft revealed internal development on Windows Vista, their long-awaited operating system upgrade to Windows XP, would finish this year, but a several week delay in Vista's schedule means some computer providers wouldn't have a chance to implement the software into their machines until early next year.
In the interest of fairness to all, Vista was officially delayed until January. That proves problematic for a game like Crytek, whose Cry Engine 2 technology is heavily dependant on the features implemented into Microsoft's DirectX 10 architecture -- DirectX 10 is Vista-only.
On the flipside, Crytek has a free pass to polish Crysis more before release. This holiday season is going to be absolutely jam packed with high-profile games across the board, anyway. Remember how nice it was to sit down with Resident Evil 4 after the holiday rush?
Plus, can you honestly afford that graphics card upgrade yet?
Action Trip Preview - 09/05/06
About two years back, Crytek's first-person shooter Far Cry took the gaming industry by storm. What's even more impressive is that it completely blew away the competition at the time. The game also came out prior to the release of Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, making a significant breakthrough in level design and visual effects. From that moment on, UbiSoft rolled up their sleeves and started trimming and improving the game to make it even more enjoyable on the Xbox console. The Xbox port, entitled Far Cry: Instincts, achieved reasonable success, on top of which Crytek and Ubi released an Xbox 360 version (which recently hit stores).
Crytek resolved to continue down the road of providing better and improved technologies for video games. Their latest endeavor promises to make a huge leap forward in terms of physics, visual effects as well as gameplay. Electronic Arts quickly snatched publishing rights under the very nose of its competitor, UbiSoft. Both Crytek and EA said they are going to create "a new kind of gameplay challenge requiring adaptive tactics and customization of weapons and armor in dynamic, hostile environments as mankind struggles to survive in the face of a horrific alien invasion." You read it correctly. Crysis introduces us to a sci-fi plot set in the very near future of man kind which, naturally, involves an alien invasion of planet Earth (what else?).
Crysis and CryEngine 2 - 27/03/06
Get out the eye drops, Crytek's new engine is hot! Direct-feed HD trailer and new purty screens. by Dan Adams
March 27, 2006 - Crytek blasted onto the PC shooter scene with their brilliantly fun shooter Far Cry and impressed the hell out of us and much of the gaming scene with the amazing engine powering the game. With the success of the first title, it was only a matter of waiting to see what these guys would do next. This year's GDC afforded us the opportunity to see the product of their hard work. While we have yet to see their next game Crysis up and running, what we saw of the engine is plain sick. If this thing ends up looking this good with good AI, physics, and gameplay and actually manages to run with a decent framerate, we're in for a hell of a treat. Today we've got the exclusive direct-feed footage of the GDC demo for you along with some screens as well as some basic details about the game for those that don't know anything yet. Those of you with beefy machines at home will want to check out the HD version of the video.
EA and Crytek announce development of Crysis - 01/02/06
Award-winning Studio to Create Original Shooter Franchise for PC
CHERTSEY, UK. - January 23, 2006 - Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), the world's leading interactive entertainment software company and award-winning developer Crytek, today announced they will bring Crysis, an exciting new first person shooter, to gamers worldwide. Developed by Crytek, the makers of the award-winning Far Cry, Crysis will be an original first person shooter game for PC based on new intellectual property.
"Our focus has always been on innovating gameplay and technology, and bringing new experiences to gamers through our original intellectual properties," says Cevat Yerli, CEO & President of Crytek. "Crysis will be a showcase for that commitment and will offer gamers from all over the world the next step in FPS gaming."
Shooter fans will face a new kind of gameplay challenge requiring adaptive tactics and customisation of weapons and armour in dynamic, hostile environments as mankind struggles to survive in the face of a horrific alien invasion.
Crysis will bring together the creative and technical talent of Crytek with the publishing expertise and unrivalled reach of Electronic Arts. Crysis is to be published by EA following the worldwide relationship announcement between the two companies and is being developed using the leading-edge technology of Crytek's proprietary engine CryENGINE 2.
"We are delighted to reach the next level in our relationship with Crytek," says Tom Frisina, Vice-President and General Manager for EA Partners. "Nurturing creative talent and bringing original intellectual property to the world of interactive entertainment is a key focus for EA and EA Partners. Crysis will bring an entirely new FPS experience to gamers everywhere."