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Crytek rhythm minigame spreads charitable Xmas cheer
In festive news, Crytek published a free Christmas-themed minigame on its website today. Hop over there and you'll find 'A Very Crytek Christmas' on the front page, the game mixing scrolling rhythm play with a couple of Xmas classics. The Crysis developer says it's giving the money it would normally spend on Xmas cards to charity, instead choosing to spread some holiday love this way.Not that the game itself is particularly charitable. You can either try Silent Night on normal difficulty, which is tricky enough on its own, or you can get your butt rhythmically kicked by the expert-rated Jingle Bells. At least you'll have a few familiar Crysis faces to festively cheer you on, or in our case tell us we're hurting their ears.
Albert Hughes, EA producing Crysis 3 web series '7 Wonders of Crysis'
Acclaimed director Albert Hughes (Menace II Society) is producing a web series centered around Crysis 3 called 7 Wonders of Crysis – and the first episode isn't even about a young kid in a nanosuit overcoming his environment to go on and do great things. It's mostly about dudes getting shot with guns.
Crysis 3 sneaks to North America Feb. 19, Europe Feb. 22
Last night, EA hosted a preview event focusing on its early 2013 lineup, including Crysis 3. There, Crytek founder Cevat Yerli announced Crysis 3 will launch on February 19 in North America and February 22 in Europe.Last month, EA revealed the pre-order bonuses for Crysis 3, which include multiplayer perks – the Predator Bow, Recon Arrow, Hunter Nanosuit Module, an instant start at level five and three exclusive dog tags – plus a free digital copy of the original Crysis.%Gallery-172780%
Crysis 3 system requirements published, PCs everywhere wince
Crysis 3 having high-end PC specs is about as eyebrow-raising as Cliff Bleszinski posting a photo of a courting game studio. Nonetheless, EA has published the shooter's minimum, recommended, and hi-performance system requirements for your perusal.For starters, DirectX 11 support is a minimum, which means Windows XP isn't on the guest list. Also minimums are a 1GB graphics card and dual core CPU, with EA detailing Nvidia GTS 450 & Intel Core2 Duo 2.4Ghz (E6660) and AMD Radeon HD5770 & AMD Athlon 65 X2 2.7 Ghz (5200+) as example minimalist Intel and AMD setups respectively.The full list of specifications is after the break.
EA Christmas sale offers cheap Origin games every day in Europe
Starting on December 1 and running until December 25, European consumers can take advantage of exclusive daily deals on Origin, including "pre-order bonuses, discounts on top new titles and franchises, partner promotions and many more."The sale will end on Christmas day with a 50% off deal on the entire Origin catalog. Other highlights include up to 50% off select Battlefield 3 items on December 5, £40 worth of voucher codes when you pre-order Crysis 3 on December 12 and a "buy one, get more" deal on December 22 – buy one game, get 20% off; buy two games, get 30% off; buy three or more and get half-off.
TimeSplitters 4 couldn't find a publisher through a haze of mistrust
We've been talking about TimeSplitters 4 since 2007. We guess that's better than talking about TimeSplitters 4 once in 2007 and then never again, but it's still tedious when no news other than, "Sure, it's still in development," comes out of Crytek.Crytek bought series developer Free Radical in 2008, following the studio's closure. At the time, TimeSplitters 4 couldn't find a publisher because its story was too complex, series co-creator Steve Ellis and Karl Hilton, a former Free Radical staffer now at Crytek UK, tell GamesTM."TimeSplitters 4 was in the very early stages of development when Free Radical went into administration," Ellis says. "A small playable demo was shown to several publishers, but it didn't attract any publishing deals."Hilton says Free Radical's FPS flop, Haze, contributed to publisher hesitancy. Marketing people would play the demo, and then ask what happened with Haze, stressing a lack of trust in the studio."Secondly, their marketing person would say something alone the lines of, 'I don't know how to sell this,'" Hilton says. "The unanimous opinion among all publishers that we pitched TimeSplitters 4 to is that you can't market a game that is based around a diverse set of characters and environments – you need a clear and easily communicated marketing message, and TimeSplitters doesn't have one. Perhaps they are all right. Perhaps this is why the previous games in the series achieved much more critical success than commercial success. For these reasons, one by one they all declined to sign the project."Earlier this year Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli said that public interest in TimeSplitters 4 was high, but "not high enough yet."
Take a stroll through NYC in Crysis 3
This clip from Crysis 3 starts with a stealthy stroll through a lush, dilapidated New York City and expands into all-out conflict. This is why we don't venture in Central Park at night.
Crytek's franchise getting more 'flexible' after Crysis 3, possibly F2P
Though the tale of Prophet, the guy underneath the nanosuit, will conclude with Crysis 3, Crytek is hardly ready to call it quits on that universe. Cevat Yerli, CEO and President of Crytek, says it "doesn't mean it's the end of the franchise." In fact, Crytek is already in the initial stages of developing the next Crysis game."There can be literally tonnes of titles out there within the franchise," Yerli told Eurogamer. "Unlike Far Cry, this time around we feel very flexible about Crysis." Yerli says that calling the next game Crysis 4 "would be misleading" since it would "imply the story just moves on" after Crysis 3."We do have a plan for a F2P version of Crysis, but how this looks and when this will be done, whether this is the next one or the next next one, is to be decided," Yerli added. "But we have a very clear picture of how this will look in a transitional period where retail and free-to-play can coexist for one title."
Crysis 3 pre-order perks go Predator with bow, arrow, suit, more
Pre-orders of Crysis 3 get upgraded to the Hunter Edition, which includes the following multiplayer perks: Predator Bow, Recon Arrow, Hunter Nanosuit Module, a level 5 XP headstart and three exclusive dog tags. This is on top of the free digital copy of the original Crysis already announced.The Predator Bow allows firing while cloaked and the Recon Arrow is a long-distance projectile with "advanced optical recognition," which sounds like something we heard during our last eye exam. The Hunter Nanosuit Module removes all suit sounds while moving and muffles footsteps, like an invisibility cloak for the ears.Of course, Crysis 3 pre-orders get a free download of Crysis for Origin, Xbox Live or PSN, according to pre-order platform.
Pre-order Crysis 3, get Crysis free
Are you interested in Crysis 3, but didn't play the first Crysis because whenever you tried to, your PC melted into a puddle? Well, EA wants to help catch you up by bundling in Xbox Live, PSN, and Origin codes for Crysis with pre-orders of Crysis 3 on respective platforms.If you're still gaming on the same PC you tried to run Crysis on back in 2007, then this isn't going to help you. Also, you definitely shouldn't be pre-ordering Crysis 3 for your PC. That's just silly.
Crysis 3 shows itself off in new trailer and screenshots
EA bestows us with a new Crysis 3 trailer to remind us the game is coming out next year, and that some people have some nice things to say about it – all of which is lovely. EA also sends us a few shiny screens of the game's 'Hunter' multiplayer mode. The third entry in the sci-fi shooter series is coming to Xbox, PS3, and PC in February 2013. That gives you plenty of time to read Richard's preview of the Hunter mode. %Gallery-165943%
Crysis series 75% off on Steam this weekend
The Crysis franchise is 75 percent off this weekend on Steam. Crysis and its semi-sequel, Crysis Warhead, are only $5 apiece. Crysis 2 is currently $10, while all three games are also available as a bundle for $17.50.The discounts will deactivate on Monday, September 10. The latest game in the series, Crysis 3, should be available in February 2013.%Gallery-127228%
Warface trailer showcases familiar locations
The latest trailer for Crytek's Warface shows off the places where you'll be putting on your warface. Let's see. Eastern Europe: Check. The Middle East: Yup. Brazilian favelas: Of course. USA: No (at least not yet).
'Redemption' appears to be Crytek's canceled PS3, Xbox 360 game
Art director Eric Cochonneau worked at Crytek from 2005 to 2009, during which time he was "responsible for the art direction on an undisclosed AAA title for Xbox 360 and PS3," and not many other games, according to his resume. That in mind, Cochonneau's portfolio shows off a large batch of detailed screenshots and concept art for a canceled PS3 and Xbox 360 game called Redemption.Redemption appears to be a forest-bound, gun-loaded romp featuring scary men and a young girl as a companion character. It's set in eastern Europe, if the cars are anything to judge by. The main character, a surly middle-aged man, has a custom pistol and his enemies have an arsenal of high-powered weaponry.While the characters are all in concept stages, the environments are at "visual benchmark" stages, complete with 3D renders of the game's water particle effects.We've contacted Crytek for more information about Redemption. Check out the entire gallery for yourself at Cochonneau's portfolio.
Getting sneaky in Crysis 3's Hunter mode
I should clarify that headline a bit. At very few points would I say that I managed to get sneaky in Crysis 3 mutiplayer. Sneakiness, however, was certainly the point. EA had two multiplayer modes on display at Gamescom this year, Crash Site and Hunter.Crash Site was also featured in Crysis 2 and, for all intents and purposes, is king of the hill. Two teams – 6v6 on console, 8v8 on PC – chase down and defend "pods," accruing points for standing near one. After a certain amount of time, the pod explodes, another is deployed elsewhere on the map and the cycle repeats. The pods themselves house two portable shields that aid in defense, and there's also the Pinger, a massive controllable mech that can help in either assaulting or defending the pod. Beyond that, however, the mode is pretty standard.Far more interesting is the Hunter mode, which should be familiar to any FPS player that has ever played a game of "zombies."%Gallery-155520%
Warface deploys a platoon of screens to Gamescom
We're not sure what type of face you should have when browsing through this gallery of screens from free-to-play Crytek shooter, Warface. Happyface? Startledface? Apathyface? Nah, we'd say go with Guarded Optimismface.
Crysis 3's Hunter Mode is mostly cloak, no daggers
Crysis 3 will have a Hunter Mode that supports up to 16 people at one time, pitting a majority group of CELL troopers against a handful of cloaked Hunters. Hunters try to eliminate CELL enemies before the clock runs down, with each trooper killed respawning as a Hunter.Crytek demonstrated a nine-player round of Hunter Mode during EA's Gamescom presentation today.
Get your green thumb going with this new CryEngine 3 tech demo
You know it and I know it, the folks are Crytek are wizards wielding staves that fire picture-perfect environments. A new, gorgeous video showing enhancements made to CryEngine 3 – the power behind the upcoming shooter Crysis 3 – only serves to further prove that point.
Crysis 3 trailer shows off Crytek's CryENGINE 3, blows your mind in the process (video)
Now, the real question is this: can you run Crysis 3?
Crytek opens new branch in Shanghai
Crytek is putting on its Expansionface, announcing the formation of Crytek Shanghai Software Co. Ltd, the developer's new presence in China (and not just a company that makes Shanghai games).Crytek Shanghai's responsibilities include the "regional operation" of Warface, and the promotion and support of CryEngine in Asia. " We see a lot of potential in the Chinese market, and have learned a lot from the close relationship with our eight existing Chinese Licensees, whose backgrounds range from game development to architecture visualization, and interactive exhibition to serious simulation," Crytek managing director Avni Yerli said.Crytek has previously expressed interest in going entirely free-to-play with all its post-Crysis 3 projects. That business model certainly makes sense for a company hoping to gain a foothold in the Chinese market.
