Crysis 3: “Sometimes there is validity in going along a linear path”
Crytek has experimented with sand-box design as well as linear corridor shooting, like Call Of Duty, but should there be a balance between the two for Crysis 3?
No more corridors, please!
Should we expect more from our FPS than incredibly pretty corridors and basic shooting galleries?
Call Of Duty has popularised the corridor shooter that’s punctuated with explosive set-pieces, but Crytek has always presented it Crysis series as the antithesis of the on-rails FPS.
Crysis 2 produced more of a hub environment that dove tailed between sand-box design and the restrictions of the corridor and Crytek has openly admitted this direction is something it’s exploring with Crysis 3. But, should we really be happy with yet another game that limits its play to corridors and the occasional hub?
Director of creative development, Rasmus Hojengaard, explains just how Crysis 3 is going to be the best game in the series to date…
There are still going to be stretches of linear play
“Sometimes there is validity in going along a linear path because you want the player to be in a certain place at a certain time for the epic moments. Then, at other points, you want to broaden out and ensure there are a ton of options and potential presented to players and let them figure out what to do. We’re taking the best experiences from both Crysis 1 and 2 and combining them, while hopefully avoiding the stuff that didn’t work. CryEngine is a powerful tool and can do both things really well.” Rasmus Hojengaard, director of creative development
Well, Crysis 3 certainly looks extremely good. Crytek has a history of pushing visuals to the absolute technical limit and it proved with Crysis 2 that it could work wonders with the 360′s aging hardware.
But, does that mean what we’ve seen of Crysis 3 is a bit beyond the capabilities of the current gen?
Crytek is keeping quiet about new consoles and insists Crysis 3 is on its way to the 360, but if it is, should we be asking for a few upgrades to its series that aren’t to do with its visuals? Say, the AI, for just one example right off the top of our heads?
The criticisms of Crysis 2’s AI were “a little unfair”
“There was some criticism [of Crysis 2’s AI], some of which I think was a little unfair, some of it which wasn’t. I think when you turn everything upside down and try to approach your game differently you need to change a lot of things which means some will get better and some will get worse. However, we now have plenty of experience, which gives us a better idea of how we need to approach things like AI in order to have it function really well in both linear scenarios and in the sandbox. We’ll attempt to make it as good as we possibly can.” Rasmus Hojengaard, director of creative development
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I 100% feel the criticism of Crysis 2′s A.I. was FAIR. Crytek boss Cevat Yerli always throws big claims (words) to talk about his games. With Crysis 2, he hyped the game to feature the best A.I. ever in any game http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Crysis-Crysis-2-fps,10909.html. He made big claims of their A.I. system, but look at how things turned out – it was flawed (I never felt challenged with Crysis 2 A.I. System). I sometimes found myself cracking up with the A.I. behaviors. If Crytek (Cevat Yerli) did not come out barking the statement “best A.I. ever in any game”, Crytek could have gotten off easy with the criticism.
This time, Cevat Yerli is throwing statements such as “Crysis 3 will push the 360, PS3 to its limits, ahead of Crysis 2, but Crysis 3 PC will be clearly ahead!” http://www.nowgamer.com/news/1328890/crysis_3s_gameplay_a_spiritual_successor_to_crysis_1_crytek.html. Everyone knows Crysis 3 will push the consoles and PC… the same old thing was said for Crysis 2 when it was in development.
Instead of Yerli making all these big claims of THE PUSH in terms of technical performance on consoles and PC, he should be stating of the things that fell short in the previous installment that have been fixed in Crysis 3 (e.g. A.I. for the most part). Crytek sure knows how to create amazing playgrounds, but what makes a game fun and memorable is how the player interacts in the environment (playground) with the A.I. I like the fact that Crytek (Rasmus Hojengaard) is saying “We’ll attempt to make it (A.I.) as good as we possibly can.”
Crytek, you already have a beast of a game engine… fix and improve the A.I. System whilst refining other elements of the game.