Reality 2.0. A review from New York
The graphics.
Nothing to say here. Cry Engine 3 is going to dominate the graphics department until Frostbite 2 comes out I guess. It's going to be an interesting stand off. I did however notice some inconsistencies with water. Most water still looks great. However, some parts of the water are just outright consolish looking. As I was playing the game, I found myself constantly being distracted by the graphics whilst I was getting shot at which was annoying. However, when you are invisible, you still cast a shadow and your floating gun is also visible to the enemy. Now the game gives you the option to run around in third-person view.
The story:
Well, you still play as a mute character named 'Alcatraz'. Nomad actually had a voice. And they do attempt to tie in the story with the first game, somewhat. But hey, on the positive note, you can actually cast a shadow and you have legs this time around.
The locations:
There are 19 missions. You start off at Battery park and then you advance towards the downtown area of the city through the East side. You will visit many historic locations and some of them are going to be blown up. The scale of the buildings in the game and reality is almost 1:1. One thing is that the skyscrapers in the background are randomly picked. Apparently the devs did not wish to go through more trouble of placing the real skyscrapers in the corresponding locations. Let's get one thing straight. This is not a sandbox game. At the end of the day, you are given an area that you have to navigate through to get to the next check point. So even though that makes the game linear, the fact that there are several approaches to your destination kind of makes the city your playground. I loved seeing the old closed off Brooklyn Bridge 6 train subway stop. They have only recently re-opened it by the way.
The NYC subway maps that are in the game are wrong though, not to mention some geographical errors. The devs also put the train tracks on the streets, and NYC does not have those except for the old abandoned old track that was delivering coal to a plant a hundred years ago; now it is a museum.
But at least the intersecting streets and historical locations are correct.
The game does give you a significant area to run around when you approach the Grand Central terminal, otherwise the entire game consists of isolated carefully constrained few blocks that you have to go through.
The bottom line is that, it is not really New York as I hoped to see it, but it is New York enough.
Times Square has been pulled off very well, but of course, most of its blocked up by the mysterious US Army cement blocks, seriously? The US army can barricade NYC in the matter of hours of alien attack with thousands of these blocks?
Hint, when you find the head of the Statue of Liberty, go inside of it.
The sound:
The sound is great. Distant shots, shouts, explosions, alien growls, your gun shots - it's all there. Can't comment on the music however, since it ruins the immersion for me, no music necessary.
The gameplay:
Extremely smooth. Quick load times as usual, responsive keyboard and mouse. The recoil is extremely realistic, unlike other FPS games. Even throwing a grenade is bound to give your screen a shake. They slightly augmented the role of the nano suit here. This time, the energy regenerates much faster. Not only that, the energy regenerates no matter what. So even if you are swimming, your energy will eventually recharge even if you do not surface. Needless to say, that makes the game easier than the first one in that department. There is also a cover system even though I didn't use it a lot. It is reminiscent of the Killzone franchise, wherein you remain in cover and you are able to peek out and see what's going on ahead, instead of being able to see everything if you were playing a third person shooter.
You can still grab the aliens by their throat and choose to either knife them, throw them or use them for cover. But you can't just take any alien by its throat. You have to either soften the alien and pump it full of lead first or punch it a few times, then you have the option to grab the poor bastard.
Sliding. Not really that useful but it's nice to have the ability.
The ability to climb up if you just can't reach that ledge. I found myself jumping from building to building just to grab onto the ledge and pull myself up.
The strong kick. Useful in kicking large things around.
You can upgrade your suit and your weapons based on your progress in the game and how many enemies you killed.
Introducing the nano vision. No more night vision. This time, you can see traces of water vapor or traces of heat or enemies while everything else on the screen remains black and white.
The game gives you the option to bypass your enemies completely, and most of the time you can pull that off.
There is some driving, but it only last a few seconds at a time.
The ammo caches are scattered throughout the city. So even though you cannot carry as much ammo at a time, you will easily find ammo elsewhere.
There are a few types of aliens, but most of them are infantry. You will find some big fat ones and a tripod. You will also see a couple of cloaking aliens.
Also, there really aren't that many enemies to fight in the game. In total, you will perhaps only kill around 150 foes. On one side, it will never get frustrating of getting swarmed by aliens and dying constantly. There is always plenty of room to maneuver. On the other side, it does not really feel like there's a lot of fighting going on. There's a couple of companies of the Army and the Marines roaming the city and there is only a handful of aliens.
The weapons:
The weapons are plenty, probably as many as in Crysis:Warhead. The ones are also introduced. I am only happy to once again comment on the realistic recoil of all weapons.
The negatives:
1. The aliens aren't really that menacing, but they do look like the aliens from Battle:Los Angeles.
2. The invasion does not really feel like a real invasion, but a series of isolated skirmishes.
3. Fighting aliens is a lot like fighting humans, not that I know what it would feel like fighting aliens. But regardless, they do take cover, they do retreat and they don't really have any special abilities.
4. There is a slight re-spawn of enemies but not anything like in Call of Duty series.
5. The game is not an exact replica of New York City. Maybe only 50%-60%.
6. There are some bugs there and there especially with the AI. The AI is good for the most part. But this one time I was laughing my ass off when I saw an enemy soldier jump over obstacles when he actually tripped over the obstacle and fell head down and then got up. I don't know if that was just a crazy physics' engine bug or actually part of the AI algorithm that has a % 0.00001 chance of this happening.
7. No Direct x11.
8. Ultimately, the game is a slight step backwards from the first game because this game is no longer a PC exclusive.
Finally, the production values are off the charts and there really is no good reason why you shouldn't buy this game. And I haven't even played the multiplayer yet.