EA and Crytek announced today that Crysis 2 will be coming to Xbox 360, PS3, and of course the PC. No release date or additional info was announced, but since Crysis was actually a great game hidden under hype about graphical prowess, I’m looking forward to this. Console fans should rejoice too, since the game is damn sure to be fantastic looking. Get your HDMI TV and cable ready for this one, folks. You’ll thank me when Crysis 2 comes out.

Late last year, Free Radical Design fell into administration, thanks to the wonderful recession gracing our fair world. Well, good news has arrived- Crytek have bought up the company and saved 43 jobs. Free radical is the developer of the fantastic Timesplitters series (and unfortunately the forgettable Haze), and Crytek is behind big-name games Far Cry and Crysis.

This is good news for everyone- Crysis get some great new developers on its team, and Free Radical employees get to keep their jobs. Plus, we might get to play Timesplitters 4 after all. I can only offer my condolences for the employees that weren’t able to keep their jobs- with any luck they’ll be picked back up in the long run.

After the disappointing sales of PC-exclusive FPS Crysis, Crytek president Cevat Yerli has said that his company will no longer make titles exclusive to the PC platform. The main reason? Piracy.

“I believe that’s the core problem of PC Gaming, piracy,” Yerli explained. “It was a big lesson for us and I believe we wont have PC exclusives as we did with Crysis in future. We are going to support PC, but not exclusive anymore.”

Yerli also commented on the possibility of bringing the visually impressive Crysis to either the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, saying that it would be nearly impossible. “Crysis would have to be largely changed to bring it to Xbox 360 or Playstation 3,” Yerli said. “Crysis is designed to be PC exclusive.”

Since Crysis was designed to be a trilogy, and Yerli has said that future games will be coming to consoles, you have to wonder what the future of the franchise will look like. If the first game can’t run on current-generation consoles, does that mean that later games will take a step backward in terms of graphical fidelity? Or will their be significant differences between the PC and console versions of the games?

Source: PC Play

Thank the lord for creative and entertaining videos like this because they very well may be the only way I’ll be seeing the Crysis game in action for quite some time. My PC would explode if I walked into the room with this game. Anyway, enjoy the very wet musical number after the jump.

Source: Gametrailers

Reality, what does the word mean to you? Does it equate to the sum of everything you perceive as living and organic? Or perhaps it’s the quotient of all life’s experiences? Regardless, more often than not, the real world offers an intangible connection that our imaginations do not.

Still every now and again the lines get blurred to the point where it becomes difficult to distinguish reality from fiction. It’s this undefined line that so many developers over the years have strived for, and yet so few have achieved.

Prepare to blur your perception of reality, because to simply say that Crysis is the most beautiful game I have ever seen would be an understatement. Not just in terms of blunt graphical performance, Crysis also boasts one of the most fluid, natural gaming environments ever created by anyone — ever.

Crysis won’t be the last to claim the figurative crown of technical achievement, however it will leave its mark, and likely be remembered as the game that ushered us all into the NEXT next generation of gaming much like Doom 3 did almost four years ago. The similarities don’t stop there between Crysis, and id’s sci-fi shooter, consequently both where branded on podcasts and message boards alike as being the game that everyone wants to have, yet no one can afford.

The sheer amount of money needed to get into PC gaming has always been an obstacle towards the mainstream success of the platform. The stark reality has never been more apparent than it is now, you get what you pay for! An obvious statement, made all the more true by the barrier to entry saddled onto modern gaming PCs.

With costs ranging from $250 to $500 for a single piece of hardware, it’s easy to see where outspoken message board posters are coming from. That said, the visual superiority has never been more apparent than it is now. The CryENGINE2 reminds PC gamers why they’re the bleeding edge in terms of graphics and next gen gameplay. Not only do environments look stunning, but they also feature destructible buildings and foliage, which adds an enormous amount of realism to the game.

Cover never conceals you for very long, as enemy AI will flank your position, inevitably blowing up any shanty or hut you happen to seek refuge in. It makes for a visceral experience that no other game has matched, while still keeping framerates in the green.

With this level of technical marvel, it’s easy to overlook the other end of the proverbial coin. If this game came out two years from now, with every game likely looking very similar from a graphical standpoint, would it still be worth playing? This thought process is the backbone for my review.

In many ways, graphical prowess and fluid gameplay have become symbiotic to each other. When everything around you looks and feels real, you tend to think more in terms of what you would do in real life, as opposed to in a video game. For instance, when you get shot to the point where your nanosuit runs out of energy, your gut instinct is to to run to cover and wait for it to recharge. However, more often than not, your cover will be blown out from under you, or the enemies will come and flank you from behind. It’s this level of realism that often times makes the game frustratingly difficult, as you just aren’t used to it.

Enemy AI isn’t the only thing you have to worry about either, as aiming from a distance can be extremely challenging as well. Bullets don’t fly on a perfectly straight trajectory once they leave your weapon. This makes equipable items like the rifle scope, and the targeting laser all the more necessary. The down side to using these however, is that they use up your power meter, in the same way your four suit powers do.

The powers include Speed, Strength, Armor, and Cloak. Sadly, while these features are fun, they are the only powers you will have throughout the game. The “fab four” become very repetitive, and the games lack of powerups seemed like a missed opportunity. Indeed this is Crysis’ biggest problem — the fact that everything just gets overplayed. It seems like they showed their hand too early, with later levels seeming relatively bland compared to the lush jungles of the beginning stages.

Pacing seems to be another issue, I often times just got burned out after firefights that seemed to take longer than they should. Now this is all subjective, and you’re experience may differ from mine given the open ended nature of the game. However, this feeling, compounded by the “LOST” meets “Predator” storyline made for a slightly disappointing experience (especially when you consider the games ending).

While the Multiplayer experience is not exactly as eye opening as its single player counterpart, it offers up a respectable amount of replay value. However, my one complaint is with the underpowered weapon selection. It’s not all that cool when nearly every attempt to kill your opponent can drag on for minutes, as you unload rounds while they cloak out or speed run away.

One thing the developers definitely deserve credit for, is their solution to the Battlefield vehicle problem. For those of you who’ve never played any of the Battlefield games, every time you want to get a decent vehicle, someone is almost always there before you, camping to get it first. Should you ever be lucky enough to get one, your own teammates shoot you out of jealousy. It’s totally asinine and it pisses me off to no end! In Crysis however, players are offered the chance to buy their own vehicles as opposed to finding them in static spawn areas. This approach works well, and keeps everybody happy.

This game has the style and the substance, so what does it lack? Forgiveness! Crysis brought my quad core, three gig, 8800GTX machine to its knees. It won’t change the way you look at gaming, and it probably won’t change reality as you know it, but what it will do is offer up some of the most stunning visuals ever created, combined with truly next gen gameplay that’s worth the price of admission.

Alas, the moment has arrived, as EA and Crytek have finally announced the minimum and recommended specs for the much anticipated PC FPS. Have at them after the jump.

Minimum System Requirements

OS – Windows XP or Windows Vista
Processor – 2.8 GHz or faster (XP) or 3.2 GHz or faster* (Vista)
Memory – 1.0 GB RAM (XP) or 1.5 GB RAM (Vista)
Video Card –256 MB**
Hard Drive – 12GB
Sound Card – DirectX 9.0c compatible

* Supported Processors: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (3.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, Intel Core 2.0 GHz (2.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, AMD Athlon 2800+ (3200+ for Vista) or faster.

** Supported chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT or greater; ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro for Vista) or greater. Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported. Integrated chipsets are not supported. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required.

Recommended System Requirements

OS – Windows XP / Vista
Processor – Intel Core 2 DUO @ 2.2GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Memory – 2.0 GB RAM
GPU – NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS/640 or similar

“Our vision for Crysis has always been to create the most stunning, immersive FPS experience ever, and we’ve been working hard not only to do that on the high end, but also in pushing current generation hardware so that everyone gets the maximum experience,” said Cevat Yerli, CEO of Crytek.

“And while these specs affect how Crysis will perform now, we have also optimized Crysis so that the game scales forward 1-2 years –we want to make sure that Crysis’ gameplay, visuals and performance improves as technology does.”

This game is poised to push the boundaries of the latest in technological gaming advancment, but as you can see above, will also be playable on most gaming setups going back as far as 2 to 3 years.

Crysis is expected to hit store shelves November 16, 2007. We here at Ripten will be following this game closely in the coming weeks so check back often.

Ubisoft is coming out with all guns blazing, and just like EA, their upcoming Crytek creation is targeting the PC only.

Far Cry 2 is rich in modern technology and design, which seems to be the trend these days. From a sheer size standpoint gamers will not be disappointed as the environments themselves are massive and feature many interactive elements similar to the upcoming Crysis game we test drove at this years E3.

Grass reacts to motion, wind, and being run over by a truck. Shadows as well as the overall lighting effects in general are dynamic and extremely believable. In addition to the environment, another feature which appears to mimic that of Crysis is the AI of the enemies. The enemies react in very believable ways based on the situation at hand.

You can cause a distraction, hop into an unsuspecting guards vehicle and drive off as he gives chase — of course it won’t be long before temptation sets in, and you decide slam on the breaks and back up over him.

In an effort to further enhance the first person aspect of the game, gamers will witness the characters hands rise up to the screen holding a map whenever the map function is called upon. The damage your character takes throughout the course of the game is dealt with immediately, much like Metal Gear Solid.

While some may be turned off by the idea of taking the time out to give yourself aid between battles, we like it and believe it will force gamers to advance with caution and play the game the way it is meant to be played.

So if all of this has you wondering what the differences are between Crysis and Far Cry 2, we will do our best to help. While much of the game has yet to be seen, an obvious difference is the overall setting of the game. Ubisoft’s Far Cry 2 is set in Africa, while EA’s Crysis is set in a Jungle. In addition to that, based on what has been made available thus far, Far Cry 2 appears to be more of a thinking mans game.

The healing aspect for instance, is a perfect example of this. You do not have a Nanosuit at your disposal and therefore careful thought and execution may prove to be the difference between continuing on your way after a battle without a scratch and spending your free time yanking bullets out of your behind with a tweezer.

Crysis is set to hit store shelves this November and Far Cry 2 is scheduled for release sometime next year. Both titles are shaping up nicely, so stay tuned.

Electronic Arts and Crytek announced today that the much anticipated title Crysis will be hitting retail stores in North America and Europe on November 16, 2007 exclusively for the PC.

Crytek’s CEO and President, Cevat Yerli, was quoted saying that he believes the game will be “worth the wait”. Well, we sure hope so. Another thing worth noting here is that the game has yet to be rated by the ESRB or the PEGI. Stay tuned.

If you were a PC game which console would you make your way to — The Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3? Let us think about the recent course of events for a moment and examine the facts.

Could Crytek be following in the footsteps of Epic? There has been a job post on Crytek’s official site looking for a PS3 developer for several months now, however when asked about it Crytek declined to comment.

The job opening itself may be all the fuel Playstation 3 fans need, however we would like to add some more. Take into consideration the course of events that took place recently between Sony and Epic.

Sony has just made themselves very attractive to PC game developers by allowing mods and map building on their console, exactly the type of things that Microsoft would not.

If Sony is willing to extend the offer they made Epic to other developers (and we can’t see why they wouldn’t) then the “woosh” noise you hear in the distance may very well be the sound of developers lining up to sign on Sony’s dotted line.

To those who say this rumor has already been addressed by Crytek’s CEO, we say this, was it not just a few weeks ago we heard a Sony executive state that there were currently no plans for a price cut on the PS3? When reading carefully crafted responses from politicians and business men alike, it is important to read between the lines effectively. Below is what Cevat Yerli, Crytek’s CEO was quoted saying…

“Crytek nor any third parties are currently engaged in developing Crysis for console platforms.”

The key word in that statement is “currently”. Currently could mean this year, this month, or as in Sony’s case it could mean the exact moment the executive was giving the speech.

To those who say the PS3 is not capable of handling the requirements for the Crysis game, you may want to rethink your stance on the subject. We recently spoke to two Crytek representatives at this years E3, of which one mentioned that the game is still being worked on and their hopes are to not only continue to improve the overall experience, but to also find ways to lower the minimum spec requirements necessary to play the game.

In addition to our conversation at E3, Crytek’s lead artist Michael Khaimzon had the following to say in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz on June, 10th 2006:

“I don’t think there would be any problem to convert anything we work on to the next-gen consoles if we decided to.”

“We have enough power here, with programmers and artists, to be able to do such a thing. It’s just a matter of making the decision.”

In closing, while the game has only been announced for the PC and meant to be run on DirectX 10 with support for DirectX 9, it seems that Crytek is still looking to refine the games requirements and broaden their market penetration. Maybe they are making Crysis for the PS3, maybe they aren’t, but the bottom line is developers will follow in Epic’s footsteps because Sony is willing to allow them liberties that Microsoft presently is not.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Crytek’s Community Manager, Alexander Marschal, and EA’s Senior Producer, Dan Blackstone for a hands on demo of the upcoming highly anticipated Crysis PC first person shooter.

From the moment we put hands to keyboard and mouse, it was clear that everything we had heard and everything we had seen was about to become true.

The environment was highly detailed and insanely interactive, all of which made for a gameplay experience that immediately elevated itself to a level above anything else we had seen in a first person shooter.

The controls were fluid and did not take long at all to get used to. With one click you will be able to access all variations of your nano suit. Gameplay is wide open, and while you will have objectives, how you attain them is totally up to you.

In the level we played, the goal was to take out the enemies satellite unit which was jamming your signal. We opted for the in your face route down the mountain side. After we super jumped our way up, we smashed the unit with our bare hands.

Patrolling enemies have a multitude of behaviors, although everytime we looked up it seemed that at least one of them was taking a leak into the ocean. At one point we waited for a soldier to finish relieving himself on the dock and shot him in the head. He fell forward into the water, essentially floating in a pool of his own bodily fluid … and you thought salt water tasted bad.

When all was said and done, the game was very impressive and enemy reactions were well thought out and extremely realistic. Enough talk, have a look at our gameplay video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Weapons Trailer

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gameplay Montage Trailer

Those doubting the game based on its requirements need to look no further than the home page of the site to understand the logic that must run through the mind of each Crytek developer hard at work on the title.

We here at ripten have made our feelings regarding the game no secret as we firmly believe it will be one of the best first person shooters ever made, but you don’t need to to take our word for it, check out the site yourself for access to the latest media, wallpapers, news, and game forums, click here.

But what if there was a game that would allow you to see what you could never see before. The moving blades of grass, the branches on the trees swaying from recent contact, and the fresh set of prints in the mud that will ultimately lead you to your prey. It does exist, the engine is CryENGINE 2 and the game is Crysis for the PC.

There there now, you are in the company of friends and there is no shame in crying tears of joy. If it makes you feel better, we will look the other way for a moment. You ready to go on? Great.

Crysis is brought to us by Crytek (developers of Far Cry) and will be published by Electronic Arts.

The year is 2019 and the plot is pure sci-fi as gamers take on the role of a US Commando fighting for the future of mankind against an invasion of “hunters” (an advanced extraterrestrial army who hitched a ride to earth hidden inside a giant asteroid).

Every earth saving commando needs armor and the “Nanosuit” (shown on the Crysis video game cover above) is much more than a protective coating. When combined with your characters mutated DNA you will be able to run faster, jump higher, hit harder, and demolish would be obstacles in your way.

Ever wish you could walk into the line of fire and laugh at every bullet that tries to take you down? Jump off a massive cliff and live to tell about it? Well applying the Nanosuits “tough armor” mode will allow you to do just that. There is of course a trade off for each specific mode. The tough armor mode for example slows down the speed of your character.

The full lists of modes are as follows:

• Speed mode: Make everyone else look like they are standing still as you run, jump, and reload like a soldier on speed.
• Strength mode: Unbelievable strength allows you to smash, stomp, and throw anything that dares get in your way.
• Cloak mode: Experience what we like to call “Predator mode” as your suit becomes transparent helping you blend into your surroundings.

Right about now you are probably thinking “With all of that at my disposal there is no way anyone or anything could ever defeat me!”

Think again because the extraordinarily intelligent and freakishly powerful enemies in Crysis are some of the most compelling enemies a first person shooter has ever seen.

If online action is what you are craving, Crytek has you covered there as well with up to 32 players playing all the modes you have come to expect including; Deathmatch, Team Deathamatch, and Capture The Flag. But the action doesn’t stop there. Developers have added a fourth mode called “Entitled Power Struggle” which pits two parties up against each other commandeering factories and manufacturing “special weapons” to destroy the other parties base.

Crysis is a first person shooter with an immersive storyline set in a dynamic world where everything from enemies to earthquakes pose a threat to your character. So prepare yourself for an experience truly unlike any other as this game aims to be the best of its kind.

Minimum Requirements
CPU: Athlon 64 3000+/Intel 2.8ghz
Graphics: Nvidia 6600 or ATI X1600 – Shader Model 2.0
RAM: 1GB
HDD: 6GB
Internet: 256k+
Optical Drive: DVD
Software: DX9 with Windows XP / Vista

Recommended Requirements
CPU: Dual-Core CPU (Athlon X2 / Pentium D / Core 2 Duo)
Graphics: Nvidia 7800GT or ATI X1800XL Pro (SM 3.0)
RAM: 1.5GB+
HDD: 6GB
Internet: 512k+ (128k+ upstream)
Optical Drive: DVD
Software: DX9 with Windows XP / Vista

Update: 6/24/07 – 11:00AM EST
Gamestop.com is reporting the release date as Septembe 11, 2007. With Halo 3 also coming out in September, it appears that both console and PC gamers will be in for an action filled month of gaming.

Update: 7/15/07 – 3:13PM EST
We have uploaded our E3 07 – Crysis Hands On Video.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Digg It