|
|
Crysis
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 16th November 2007
Multiplayer
I know what you were thinking, but the answer is: No, we’re not done yet. You may have thought we were given the sheer number of pages, but there’s still more to go. Here at bit-tech we don’t do things by half-measures and we don’t let games like Crysis slip by with only three pages of gameplay coverage.So, before you ask yourself if this article will ever end, I’m just going to push straight on to the matter multiplayer.
There are two modes available in Crysis multiplayer, the ubiquitous deathmatch mode which has been re-badged into ‘Instant Action’. I can’t stand it when games insist on re-naming deathmatch modes for no real reason, but that’s another issue altogether.
More interesting than Instant Action though is the Power Struggle mode, which is a capture-zone style of gameplay which, unlike the singleplayer mode, comes with a handy tutorial. Levels for Power Struggle are impressively sized and pit two teams against each other as they vie to capture different areas and buildings in the map. Once you’ve captured certain areas and got yourself a certain number of points, you can buy yourself new equipment and vehicles ranging from tanks to alien weaponry.
It’s not much, but it helps to give the game a more tactical feel and again shows the focus on letting gamers play however they want to play, not how the designer wants them to play.
Click to enlarge
There’s actually a whole load of weapons and tools in the multiplayer game which can’t be accessed in the singleplayer campaign too. They range from repair tools for fixing knackered tanks to fancy gee-whizz freeze rays used by the aliens to make the terrain more hospitable for them. Mines and claymores also make a welcome addition to the multiplayer arsenal and further accentuate the stealthy, tactical feel of the game.
One of the main problems for the multiplayer game, at least initially, is the lack of maps to choose from though. The levels are big, sure, but there’s still only nine of them in total – five for Power Struggle and four for Instant Action. It leaves the game feeling a bit on the light side, even though there’s bound to be a huge influx of custom built levels using the game's built-in Cry Engine 2 sandbox level editor.
Balancing out this level shortage though is the amount of cool options available to hosts. All of Crysis is compatible with the Xbox 360 controller, so even though the game isn’t available for any console you can at least pretend it is if you’re really that sad. One of the things which can be specified on a server is that it only lets gamepad wielding players join the fray.
Why exactly you’d want to play Crysis, a game built around the idea of pin-point accuracy a lot of the time, with a gamepad is a bit beyond my feeble intellect but the option is there if you want it. It’s nice to see that Crytek has given gamepad users to chance to fight on a level playing field.
Click to enlarge
The game can get pretty epic too and supports up to thirty-two players, which is fitting considering the sheer scale of some of the levels. It’s a shame that the multiplayer has some downsides. More modes and levels would have obviously been nice, but more important to me is that the game unfortunately comes packaged with the Punkbuster anti-cheat system, which some people report problems with.
It also has the GameSpy Comrade system bolted in and you'll need a GameSpy account to play online at all. Comrade is supposed to be useful for finding friends online but which I personally view as nothing more than an annoying advert that pops up every time you turn on your PC. Just don’t tell the guys at GameSpy that I said that – those guys are tougher than I am.
By far the best feature of the multiplayer game though is the ability to set a specific time of day to play the game in and then to let the time slowly tick by. You won’t notice it unless you play a game for a good few hours, but servers can enable to the option to let matches progress through night and day.
It’s truly inspiring in gameplay terms as players are forced to realistically adopt their tactics to the time of day. Stealth and minefields are the obvious dish of the day for the night time periods, while firefights and tanks become more prominent as the sun rises.