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Crysis 3 review: Pernicious effects of patience
Crysis 3 distills its story down to an identifiable and simple problem – the big bad CELL corporation controls all of the power on the planet, and indentured servitude is pretty much the only way to survive. The alien race called the Ceph take a backseat for a majority of the campaign, which helps Crysis 3 to avoid the pitfalls of Crysis 2, namely that it was hard to know what was going on if you weren't already invested in the series. This time around, it's simple. A man called Prophet, clad in a powerful Nanosuit, has to help a group of rebels take down CELL for the good of all humanity. It's hardly groundbreaking narrative, but at least it's something practically anyone can identify with. The real beauty of the campaign, however, comes courtesy of its sandbox encounters. In each of these skirmishes, Crysis 3 proves a malleable melange of mayhem, a series of situations that adapt to however you wish to play. %Gallery-179127%
Check out the weapons of Crysis 3
Bow hunting is the in thing with FPS games lately, and while Crysis 3 doesn't slack on that front, it also offers other, equally absurd weapons for exploding aliens in a hyper-stylized future environment. Why use a regular gun when you can use a 10-barreled gun infused with the power of dubstep?
EA: Crysis 3 beta downloaded over 3 million times
More than three million players suited up for the Crysis 3 beta, EA revealed today. Ahead of the game's release next week on February 19, EA must hope that number translates into sales; Crysis 2 shipped at least three million units, but was also reportedly the most pirated game of 2011.Based on pre-order stats, the early indications look promising for the third entry in Crytek's sci-fi shooter series. EA noted 40 percent more pre-orders for Crysis 3 over Crysis 2 in its financials at the end of January, and today that number holds steady enough at 35 percent.
Final episode of '7 Wonders of Crysis 3' witnesses the end of the world
In the final episode of the "7 Wonders of Crysis 3" series, we're forced to rethink our stance on Frank, our crazy neighbor with a bomb shelter stocked with cans upon cans of creamed corn – he may actually be the sanest guy in the whole neighborhood.
Yerli: Crytek plans to be fully free-to-play within 5 years
Crytek's plan to transition to free-to-play games includes expanding the studio's role as a service provider, building upon the GFace gaming platform, CEO Cevat Yerli tells Venture Beat. Crytek should be fully free-to-play within five years, he says."We decided five or six years ago that we want to marry the quality of triple-A games with the business model of free-to-play," Yerli says. "And at that time, we decided some other games, in some of our other studios, would head in this direction. But we kept pushing the quality bar higher on our console business, which is the main dominating business for the Western world, but we are observing, plainly - and we see this already with Warface - that the free-to-play market is on the rise. I think over the next two to three years, free-to-play is going to rival retail with quality games like Warface."Crytek as a business will "transition from a developer to a service company" and will offer GFace to any developer that needs it, Yerli says."If we could launch our games on a platform that already exists today, and we could get the same results, then we wouldn't build our own platform," he says. "But we're convinced that our platform does some particularly new things that makes our games behave better. That's why we plan to offer this service to third parties."In 2012, Yerli laid down plans to transition to free-to-play, though he didn't provide a timeline or any service goals at the time. Still, GFace won't become the new focus at Crytek, Yerli says:"This doesn't mean our main business will be driven by our platform business. We are just going to open it up and see how it works. We are always going to be a games-first company. We will always have our own development because we are all about making games. We provide technology, but technology is not our main driver. We make technology to make great games."
Crytek USA was the result of a single meeting
The formation of Crytek USA was a whirlwind affair, reports GamesBeat, with the fledgling company founded on the basis of a single meeting. On Friday, January 25, the day that Vigil Games was officially shuttered, studio head David Adams was told that Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli was flying in from Germany. "He came out the next day," said Adams told. "We met, and the day after we were pulling a new studio together called Crytek USA." Yerli had spoken with Adams during the final days of THQ. Crytek had considered bidding on Vigil during the auction of THQ assets, but Yerli said there were "too many unknowns."He had been impressed by Adams, however, and Crytek had already decided its US operation would be based in Austin, Texas, Vigil's home turf. Yerli flew out to meet with Adams on a Saturday, the day after Vigil shut down. They held a meeting with the former Vigil staff the next day, and it was the team's solidarity under Adams that sealed the deal for Yerli. "When they all showed up and expressed that they really wanted to work together - that team integrity and the fact that they really didn't want to split up was enough for me to say this goes beyond an interview."Yerli didn't read a single resume or conduct any formal interviews, even for Adams. The team's commitment, and the quality of the Darksiders series, was enough. And that Monday, three days after Vigil closed down forever, Crytek USA was born.
Fifth '7 Wonders of Crysis 3' episode unleashes the perfect weapon
To be the ultimate weapon, all you really need is a shotgun and a nanosuit that costs billions of dollars in research and development. Simple, right?
EA: Dead Space 3, Crysis 3 pre-sales tracking ahead of previous installments
EA had some good news today about upcoming games Dead Space 3 and Crysis 3, announcing pre-orders for both games are trending ahead of their previous installments."Dead Space 3 pre-sells are outpacing Dead Space 2, and Crysis 3 pre-orders are tracking 40 percent ahead of Crysis 2," the company stated in its third quarter financials.In gauging the franchise's growth, EA CEO John Riccitiello has said Dead Space could reach the "5 million unit cadence" with its third primary installment.
PSA: Crysis 3 multiplayer open beta suits up today
Make way, because the Crysis 3 open beta super-speeds onto Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC today. The beta went live earlier this morning on Origin and Xbox Live Marketplace (for Gold subscribers only), and should arrive on PSN later today (tomorrow in Europe).Crysis 3 producer Mike Read gets into the nitty-gritty of the beta's two multiplayer modes in this video. Hunter features cloaked assassins taking out CELL soldiers with bows, while Crash Site has teams vying to capture and hold pod locations dropped across the map.The beta runs until February 12, and the game proper hits a week later on February 19.
Crytek on Homefront 2 purchase from THQ: It's 'beneficial for us to have control'
Crytek spent over half a million bucks to make sure the Homefront IP stuck around after the collapse of THQ and now has the potential to do anything with it – a position Crytek general manager of games Nick Button-Brown says will allow developer Crytek UK to finish its work for the sequel to Kaos Studios' 2011 game."The worst case scenario for us was that this situation meant that all that work just ended up being thrown into the bin, so we wanted to buy the IP to make sure the team can finish off the game they wish to make," Button-Brown said. He added that "it's now beneficial for us to have control over the IP's destiny," noting earlier in the VG 24/7 interview that current Homefront 2 progress is "great" and that the "last milestone was excellent."Button-Brown also noted that such control would allow the developer to "be a little more open" about the game's development "than if we were working with a publisher," yet he would not comment on how this acquisition changes potential launch timing for Homefront 2. Previously, THQ pegged Homefront 2 for launch during the company's fiscal 2014, ranging between April 2013 and March 2014 – Button-Brown dodged the question on current launch timing, replying that Crytek "might change the release date that we haven't announced, and move this to another release date we won't announce yet either."
Crytek USA to be headed by former Vigil boss
Crysis developer Crytek has formed Crytek USA Corp. in Austin, Texas. Crytek notes the Austin studio is its ninth worldwide and will be headed by former Vigil general manager David Adams, who'll oversee a team of "35 experienced developers."Gamasutra asked Crytek if the new Austin studio was basically a purchase of defunct publisher THQ's shuttered Vigil Games, but Crytek informed the outlet it was "more like a new start for [the team at Vigil]."Vestiges of Vigil aren't the only thing Crytek picked up out of the THQ bankruptcy, purchasing the rights to Homefront for a half-million.Update: IGN has confirmed all 35 employees are former Vigil staff. [Image: Kushal Bose via Shutterstock]
Crysis 3 open multiplayer beta uncloaks on Jan. 29
On January 29, Crytek will issue an open invitation to sample the multiplayer side of Crysis 3. This two-week affair will conclude on February 12, giving PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 players a chance to sample two modes and two maps ahead of Crysis 3's February 19 launch.The game modes in question are Crash Site, a team-based mode where players fight to capture and defend specifically marked location on the map for points, and Hunter, an asymmetrical mode where two cloaked guys with bows stalk and kill visible CELL soldiers – once a CELL soldier is killed, he respawns on the other team as a Hunter.EA says the beta will be available to all players, though we should note that does not override the need for a Gold subscription on Xbox Live.
Crytek opens Istanbul (not Constantinople) studio
Crytek recently announced the opening of its eighth studio, Crytek Istanbul. The Turkish studio will support Crytek's free-to-play ambitions as well as the Warface and Gface brands.While Crytek's primary headquarters are located in Germany, its three founders are Turkish brothers: Avni, Faruk and Cevat Yerli, the latter being the developer's CEO. Cevat Yerli recently stressed that Crysis 3 will not make its way to Wii U.
Warface begins operation Closed Beta
Warface. Warface never changes. Except when it does, such as how it's gone into closed beta today in anticipation of a spring launch. Trion Worlds and Crytek announced that the online shooter has now progressed into the beta phase, where it'll stay for the time being. Crytek General Manager Publishing Dirk Metzger says that players should be drooling over this ridiculously good-looking title: "We look forward to making the experience even more engaging as waves of pre-registered players are invited to join the closed beta and play their part in shaping Warface ahead of its final launch." The studio describes Warface as taking part in "a vast and frequently updated PvE universe." If you're interested in joining the beta test, you can apply on Warface's site. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
Fourth episode of '7 Wonders of Crysis 3' whirls up a Typhoon
This halfway-point-marking episode of the '7 Wonders of Crysis 3' series, as directed by Albert Hughes, may tell you it has a lot to say, but it mostly lets the Typhoon assault rifle do the talking. %Gallery-176541%
Nab Crysis 1 and 2 for $5 each on Origin today
Find yourself woefully bereft of high-powered super suits? Origin is running a deal on Crysis and Crysis 2, offering PC downloads of each for only $5. The deal ends today though, so suit up while the suitin's good.
Crysis 3 '7 Wonders' third episode explores the law of cause and effect
The third episode of 'The 7 Wonders of Crysis 3,' as directed by Albert Hughes of Menace II Society, first shows you an innocuous-seeming effect, and then neatly winds back to a rather brutal cause.
Crysis 3 is not coming to the Wii U, for real this time
We mean it – Crysis 3 is definitely not coming to the Wii U, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli tells Digital Spy. In July Crytek hinted that a Wii U version of Crysis 3 was a possibility, but even that slim chance has since vanished."There has been discussions between Nintendo and EA and Crytek, but the bottom line is that there is that there's not enough business drive in it," Yerli says. "It's a business decision between EA and Nintendo. If that business decision doesn't make sense, or seems to not make sense for them, it's... not possible for us to make it. We can't publish ourselves, and that's the bottom line."In August, Crytek general manager Nick Button-Brown had the opportunity to put down any Wii U rumors, but he hedged his phrasing, saying Crytek wasn't "currently" developing for Wii U. But if EA doesn't see money in the Wii U, that's the final nail in Crysis 3's touchscreen, NFC-enabled coffin.
Crysis 3 gameplay trailer goes choo-choo
This gameplay video for Crysis 3 takes players through the tall grass of a train yard level. The game will launch February 19 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Second episode of '7 Wonders of Crysis 3' is on the hunt for a backstory [update]
In this second episode of the Albert Hughes/EA video series, 7 Wonders of Crysis 3, we learn how Cell managed to take over the world.
