Crysis almighty!

Hey Gamers! Time for my Crysis 2 review! I know I've been very inactive of late, but I've had a lot going on, and posting has slipped my mind unfortunately; hopefully this makes up for it with this review! Now I know people don't really want to be reading a massive wall of text, so I will try make this as short as possible, highlighting the key points in the game, whether they be positives or negatives :) 


Straight off the bat, this game was always likely to be an epic, following on from Crytek's massive success with the first in the series, back in 2007. When Crysis: Warhead came out, the expansion pack for Crysis, which was released in 2008, that wasn't anything short of an immense ride, either. However, prior to release, there were a few rumbles from gamers, in regards to the fact that Crytek may have dulled down the PC version too much so they could easily cater for the consoles at the same time, this giving the impression that Crytek were being lazy.. but this didn't end up being the case! Well, not totally anyway. 


From what I have seen from all platforms, Crytek have done a sterling job! However, even though they didn't end up dulling down the graphics for our beloved PC platform as such, there were still certain restrictions in the way you could tailor Crysis 2 to suit your visual needs, which is slightly annoying if you're a graphics snob like myself. I wasn't best pleased to find that you could only edit the visuals in a general sense, giving you a drop down menu which contained choices ranging from High, Highest and Extreme (options may differ depending on your system.) There is absolutely no other way to change the settings officially. However, there has been a third party program released, that you can integrate into your Crysis 2 directory, which enables you to tweak almost everything within the game, before start-up; but I found that it doesn't work as well as if there were in-game options. 


All restrictions aside though, the game looks fantastic and well polished, even down to the game's Menu. Even though the Anti-Aliasing settings within the game are virtually unknown, the "Extreme" settings seem to do a good enough job, automatically, in getting rid of unwanted 'step-ladder' effects around objects. I don't know what style of Anti-Aliasing is automatically used, but the game engine seems to blur the edges, subtly, so everything melds in quite nicely. The only downside to the Anti-Aliasing is that it doesn't make the game look as sharp as possible, but it still looks good because of the environment you're in; there's a lot of steam, smoke and dust floating about, so sometimes the fact that the game doesn't look as sharp as it could do, is hardly noticeable. 


The animations, textures and lighting in this game all look spectacular. From gun reflections to collapsing terrain/buildings, you're always in awe of what Crytek have managed to achieve with their Cryengine; it seriously feels like you're in a Blockbuster movie at times, especially in the opening 20 minutes of the game.

The campaign's length is decent, could have been longer, but it's not a bad length at all; certainly not as bad as Homefront anyway, no where near! The voice acting and music score will always grab your attention and immerse you into your surroundings and the general mood of the game, keeping you glued to your seat and making you feel compelled not to quit before you've completed the game.. which would be very irresponsible and unhealthy, don't do it! 
Now, there is a big downfall in the campaign, which is the AI, as per a lot of games. You will often find that the AI will make some questionable decisions in their tactics to try and take you down, whether it be firing and moving, or just getting into position. I witnessed that on many occasions, the AI will fire a few shots off, and then run into the most stupid spot ever, leaving them open to be fired upon; this is after they were already in adequate cover. Another thing I noticed was that when the AI are patrolling, they tend to walk into objects, and sometimes into other AI models.. it really took the attention away from the games realism, but I guess that getting the AI perfect in all video games is an ongoing battle for developers, and not just Crytek. 
The gameplay in the campaign is fluid and stable. I didn't come across any problems at all when moving about, nor did I have any problems with weapon recoil or anything of the like, so there isn't really that much to say about it in this section, as in general, everything tied in with the gameplay in Crysis 2 is awesome. 


If you played the first Crysis game, or Crysis: Warhead, you will know all about the Nano suit modules. There were plenty of suit options for you to play around with, including Speed, Strength, Armour and of course your Cloak; all of which were accessed from a selection wheel on-screen. In Crysis 2, they have taken away said selection wheel, and instead made a short-cut for just your Stealth and Armour modes. But don't worry, they haven't got rid of Speed or Strength as such, they have just melded it in with the Sprint button, and the Jump and Melee buttons. At first I was a bit disappointed, but then I got used to the idea and it really isn't that bad.. it's easier if anything! The Nano suit works well, I haven't really come across any imbalances or bugs, so thumbs up in that respect! 

Last but not least, it's time for the multiplayer; it's pretty damn awesome. Let me just say, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Crysis 2 has your simple custom class load outs, with a few weapons to choose from (some which you must unlock, including attachments), a side-arm slot, a special grenade slot and three suit module slots (aka perks; one for each Armour, Stealth and Power slots). Crysis 2 Multiplayer is to-the-point, and it isn't overkill when it comes to choosing your equipment, like Black Ops is. There's a decent amount of equipment to choose from, but not too much, so you can select your things and get playing as soon as possible, with minimal time wasted; it's excellent. 


The gameplay itself is fluid, much like the campaign. I didn't notice any major glitches in the multiplayer, nor did I notice any imbalance or massive connection issues, apart from one, which has been resolved now, but I will explain anyway. When I first attempted to enter the multiplayer menu, it asked me for my CD-key, which I duly delivered. However, I then entered a server for it just to kick me back into the menu, stating that I had lost connection. I restarted the game, clicked on the Multiplayer option, and it asked me to enter my CD-key again.. which I thought was very strange. I repeated the same process around about four times, and by then I knew that it wasn't a problem with my computer. After trawling through many forums myself, I was then pointed towards a helpful thread by a friend, which stated the following fix:


Enter the multiplayer menu, and input your CD-key. Once you have done that, and you're in the multiplayer section, go back to the main menu again. Re-enter the multiplayer, and re-enter your CD-key, if prompted to do so (if not, it doesn't matter). After this process has been completed, the game should work.


..and that it did work! So, I was finally all happy again and I went on my way to be all jolly and shoot people in the head and stuff. 
Despite the aforementioned hiccup with the game server, the multiplayer does seem stable from my own experience, I've had no problems to note since then, thus making it pretty much perfect! 
The game did have an auto-aim feature for the online, but it was removed by popular demand, luckily, so how well you play will all be down to skill, and skill alone; and that's pretty much it for my review! Hope you've enjoyed the read, and I would highly recommend you play this, whether you buy or rent it, for any platform you have at your expense. 


Personally, I give this game a 9 out of 10. Epic visuals, fluid gameplay and a multiplayer feature to keep you entertained for a long time.


Take care guys and girls,


Jayhmmz.

How's it looking on the Homefront?

Hey Gamers, welcome back to my blog! 


It's time for my review on the hugely anticipated game, Homefront! I've clocked up a lot of hours on this game already, on-line and off-line, and I'm here to tell you the good and the bad points about this thrill of a shooter!


First of all, the hype surrounding this game was insane, so it was no wonder why everyone was expecting big things on all fronts from this game, no pun intended. Because of this, when the game was first released in the U.S and in other selected countries earlier this week, Homefront was getting bombed with negative comments as finishing below expectations, in the minds of both critics and gamers in general. Although.. this isn't exactly the developer, Kaos Studio's fault, as they didn't create so much of the hype and people forget and don't realise that this is only their second ever game; their first game being Frontlines: Fuel of War (FPS, released February 2008.)

I'm going to talk about the presentation of Homefront, to kick off my review, as it has been one of the main factors under scrutiny. The graphics aren't what I would call 'ground-breaking'. They don't even match the standards of the likes of Call of Duty, and they definitely don't come anywhere near being as good as Crysis/Crysis 2. With there being a lot of open spaces in this game, with a long view distance, the game suffers with it's lack of graphic power and it makes the game look rather tattered at times. However, up-close, the game isn't all that bad. The textures on the player models are just about above-average, but they're nothing close to spectacular; however the texture detail on the weaponry is pretty damn sharp, they've done a great job with that. 

In regards to the general terrain, lighting and surroundings, Kaos Studios have done OK; they manage to capture the mood with pathetic fallacy effectively and set the tone for the game to match the events within the story.
As well as the at-times tatty graphics, the facial detail on the characters leave a lot to be desired. Throughout various parts of the game, the characters show no emotion whatsoever, it's almost like you're playing along side a band of action men and women, it's very plastic! Because I am very picky regarding attention to detail, this was bugging me, as it was spoiling some of the heart-wrenching and general dramatic moments when the character expressions weren't there to match.

The sound in the game doesn't reinvent the wheel like EA Dice managed to do with Battlefield: Bad Company 1 and 2; Homefront just sounds like a common game in regards to the sound effects and the voice acting. However, the background music depending on what situation you're in, is pretty cool, and it goes well with the game and adds to the intense atmosphere.

The general game-play is fantastic. The controls are smooth and the movements are fluid, and there's also a satisfying amount of recoil on the weapons, which makes it much more realistic compared to, for example, Call of Duty: Black Ops. Whichever gun you choose from your load-out, or from off the floor, you will always feel like you have a good, powerful weapon. Using Black Ops as an example again, a lot of the weapons didn't feel powerful enough, and it didn't really feel good when you were using them, as it was like there was no significant damage being dealt, at all. Whilst every gun feels powerful, they're not powerful to the extent that it makes the game imbalanced; it just means that it feels like you're actually using something based on a real weapon, and not a spud gun.

Homefront is no way a run-and-gun type of campaign, oh no. You have to move from cover to cover, effectively, as the AI soldiers on the other team are a crack shot, and this adds realism to the situation. It doesn't take a lot of bullets to kill you, so if you're used to playing Call of Duty on a moderate difficulty, I would screw your head back on and pull your pants up for this one, as at times, it's quite difficult!

However, having said all of that, there are two big annoyances tied in with the game-play. The AI on your team take a hell of a long time to get into position, and what's worse is that you actually have to wait for them to get into position in order for the next sequence of the mission to start, this happens quite regularly. As for the second problem, it's pretty much a direct link from the first. After the AI has spent a good while getting into position, whilst you're stood there itching your head, you then have to wait for every single AI character to move through a door, climb down a ladder or hop over an obstacle, before you can do so yourself; this reminded me a lot of Medal of Honour's problem, regarding the same issue.

To describe the campaign in a few words, it's very short! I managed to complete the campaign in around about three hours. It's not even like the campaign leaves you wanting more.. it just leaves you expecting more! It's so frustrating. But, you have to give credit where it is due, as the story line was truly fantastic. I didn't expect it to be anything less than fantastic, considering the writer was the same guy who did the story for Apocalypse Now, John Milius. As I've said already in this review, some of the scenes and dialogue in the game are simply heart-wrenching. The story-line is so powerful that it will make even the hardest man or woman choke up at some points. One of the main reasons that I completed the campaign so fast, is because it was just so intense, and it was just none-stop action in one way or another, with the right amount of 'rest' periods in-between, where you got to walk around briefly and talk to some of the AI, to fill you in on what's happened. But because the story-line was so great, it just added to the disappointment when you find out that the game has been completed, in what can only be described as a sudden halt. Don't get me wrong, the ending was great, but it will make you let out a big, automatic sigh if you play it.

With the campaign leaving a lot to be desired, in terms of it's life-time, can the multi-player do Homefront any justice? To answer swiftly, hell yes!
Kaos Studios have done an immaculate job with the multi-player, and even though it doesn't try anything new, it just tries to be fun. What is most evident for me when I play the multi-player, is that they have taken the best things about Call of Duty and the best things from Battlefield: Bad Company and melded it into one, to make a thrilling on-line experience. I have been playing Homefront multi-player for quite a lot of hours now, and it's made me nothing short of a happy panda.
Kaos Studios haven't gone overboard in regards to the weapon selections and general equipment and perks; they have managed to create a good balance so that it isn't over-kill, and it makes sure that you won't be sitting there for about fifteen minutes before your session, just trying to figure out what damn guns to pick! 

One of the things I like the most about the Homefront multi-player, is the game points system. In each game, you will start at 0 points, and with every kill, assist and general team objective that you manage to execute, you will be rewarded with points. With these points, you can unlock vehicles for use for when you next spawn (which won't carry over after you die, unless you get the right amount of points again), and those vehicles include Humvee's, Tanks and Attack Helicopters. Also with the points, you can unlock whatever special weapon/equipment you put into your load-out, and this could include anything varying from a flack jacket to a guided missile. You can also control robots to your advantage too, such as the radio controlled mini-tank equipped with a mini-gun to suit, and different types of helicopter-like vehicles. I really like this points system, as you actually have to earn the powerful vehicles and equipment by putting more effort into your game, instead of getting kill-streak rewards regularly in Call of Duty, which has become a massive annoyance to a lot of people who play that game on-line. 

The maps in the multi-player are really well made, and a lot of fun. There are plenty of places to hide with your sniper, flank as an assault solider or just have a full on shoot-out on a main road. Said maps are quite large, and can effectively host 16 to 32 players on-line in one game, which makes for some immense battles. Even though there can be 32 players on-line in one game, the stability of the multi-player is awesome. I've experienced no connections problems, nor have I come across any obvious bugs which spoil the game.

Now, I could have said a lot more about this game, but I have said quite a lot already! So I will stop there, and let you rest your eyes, because I'm nice like that.

I'm going to give this game a score of 7.5 out of 10, and here's my general conclusion, kept as brief as possible; the campaign is short and will leave you wanting more, but the story is incredible and must be played. The visuals and the sound are altogether quite average, but in terms of capturing the mood and the weapon detail, it excels. The AI on your team are slow and leave you waiting whilst they get into position for the next sequence of the mission, which can leave you frustrated as it breaks up the pace of the game significantly. In terms of game-play, on and off-line, Homefront boasts fluid movements and smooth controls, making it an effective shooter. The multi-player alone will have you thinking it's money well spent; if the campaign doesn't give you a kick, then the intense multi-player will. It has the potential for a long life and no bugs at all are present at this stage.
I would highly recommend fans of FPS games to at least rent Homefront and give it a chance, because you will be able to complete the campaign before you have to send it back, and you will be able to get a good amount of hours played on the multi-player, which is very likely going to nudge you towards buying the game!

Thanks for reading gamers, and if you're still with me after that epic wall of text, then you deserve a pat on the back! If you didn't stay with me until the very end, then you're impatient and you fail.

I hope that you're all awesome and that you will come back soon!


Take care,


Jayhmmz (''')(O.o)(''')

Well.. here's a curve ball that I wasn't expecting!

Hey Gamers, time for a quick follow on from yesterday's post about Homefront.. and I bring news, of somewhat disheartening proportion. 
After many gamers having bigged up the game after visiting game conventions, and gameplay trailers conveying what seemed to be a pretty amazing looking game.. turns out it isn't all what it was hyped up to be. However, it is still "fun" and "unique".


I watched a video review on IGN.com this morning, and they pretty much delivered a curve ball, in terms of what the game is like overall. 
First of all, they reported that Homefront's presentation isn't all that great, but that it didn't look bad; it just wasn't going to be battling it out with the rest of the awesome looking games, such as Killzone 3 and Crysis2, but it's still playable and it does a great job in presenting the mood and surroundings of the setting. It's also been said that the voice acting and sound effects aren't outstanding, but they're still good. 
The last negative worth mentioning, is the fact that the campaign will only last the average gamer for five hours. However, where the campaign length fails, the multi-player impresses. Homefront's multi-player is said to have added significant value to the game overall, with a lot of customisation and great gameplay, which has been described as "fluid".


IGN.com gave this game a 7 out of 10.. but with that and the negatives that have been stated, it still doesn't put me off buying Homefront, as the story-line, "fluid" gameplay and the multi-player still tickles my fancy. 
The problem is with developers and their games these days, is that the focus seems to be more on the multi-player, rather than the effort being equally distributed between both the campaign and the multi-player.. it's either one or the other with a lot of games. The first developer that pops into my head in regards to campaigns filled with effort is Crytek, with their Crysis games.. but the sacrifice being that the multi-player left a lot to be desired, but they look like they have learnt their lesson, and have put more effort into the online aspect in Crysis 2. Fingers crossed for an all-round fantastic experience on both the single-player and multi-player fronts.


Anyway, that's all from me, it was just a quick news blast to let you all know what's going on in the Homefront, just in case you wanted to reconsider buying the game. 
If you want a nice, long campaign to play through, and you don't really care about the multi-player aspect, then steer clear of Homefront until the game comes down in price! Or you could go out and rent it, due to the fact that you could probably complete the game before you have to return it!


Thanks for reading, and stay tuned.


Have a good day,


Jayhmmz (''')(O.o)(''')

Homefront is close!

Hey Gamers! Welcome back to my blog, for a quick mention about a super-awesome, epic winning game, called Homefront. I've heard that this game is going to be so awesome, that it most likely has digital tiger blood contained within the software, banging seven gram rocks.. because that's how it rolls. *

* Yeah, because all of those phrases aren't overused. Fun nonetheless.

Chuck Norris' house.

Anyway, you're side-tracking me, time to get back to the point.

Seriously though, I have heard from a few reliable sources, one source in-particular that I know personally, that Charlie Sheen's.. I mean, Kaos Studio's (Frontlines: Fuel of War) Homefront is an incredible creation, and it's only their second game, ever. After demonstrations having been given at PAX East and other video game conventions, a lot of people have come away in awe, in regards to their first experiences of playing Homefront. It has been described as "the thinking man's first person shooter..", and when I first viewed the footage of the gameplay and the developers diaries, I could pretty much predict myself that this game was going to be more than just a mindless, spray and pray game, like Call of Duty. (Yes, that was yet another snide remark towards Call of Duty.. One of many, from me.)

Holy Shi-!

Just to give you a quick description of what the game is all about, I will give you a quick shakedown on the story. Homefront is set in 2027 America, which has been invaded by the Korean People's Army (America being invaded in a video game.. that's new!). The game focuses on the fictional collapse of the U.S.A, the occupation by the Greater Korean Rupublic and the American Resistance (that you will be a part of) who attempt to fight the occupation. 

Choo, choo.. oh wait..

From what I have seen of Homefront, the campaign looks as though it will have a solid, emotional and intense story-line (so it should do, considering the writer is John Milius, who co-wrote Apocalypse Now!), accompanied by a fantastic multi-player experience, featuring 32 player matches using dedicated servers.

Homefront is due for release on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, in the U.K and Europe, later this week on Friday, 18th March. Release dates may vary for the rest of the World.

That's enough from me for today! In the mean time, because you're winning, I will leave you with a nice little trailer for Homefront, below:

Thank you for stopping by your favourite blog! No but seriously, thanks for reading :) 

I hope you come back soon.. and stay awesome!

Jayhmmz ('')(O.o)(''')