Is Hellblade actually what Crysis was accused of?

Back in the day it use to be cool and hip to accuse Crysis of being a tech demo, with gameplay an afterthought.

This of course, was a lie. Compared to modern shooters it's leagues ahead.

Is Hellblade actually what Crysis was accused of all those years ago? Using "le emotion" to hide the fact this shit is just a big tech demo for "wow so real!", with gameplay a literal afterthought?

If you enjoy this series, please explain how it's a game and a good one, not bad, and not just a bunch of cutscenes with some gameplay begrudgingly tacked on. Which would explain why game journos like it so much.

Is this, actually what Crysis was accused of back in the day? Le technolique but with the addition of "mental problems!" to give it cred when in reality it's actually quite bad?

This was the gameplay reveal for its sequel.

Count how much of this is gameplay.

Its an extremely irrelevant IP that would have zero attention paid to it if it wasn't made exclusively for a system that has... literally nothing (minus the 4/10 and the 7/10 games that came out for it).

The "gameplay" shown for it wasn't only fake, but if this is the kind of "walk in a straight line, kill two enemies, keep walking in a straight line while being ASMR'd in your ear" gameplay they're aiming for, this is a straight up another dogwater 5/10 to a 6/10 game made exclusively for Microsoft.

I've said before, it was pure action no nonesense, a welcomed break from all the exploring, sidequest and rpg elements most games have today. It's also has a low 80s Metacritic score I wonder why people here hate it so much.

Funny, I was thinking exactly the same about Spider-Man 2. I mean, I won’t harp on about the bugs, the unskippable (up to 20 minute long) cutscenes, 5 hour main quest, the QTE combat moves or the lack of mission select and NewGame+ options….i just find it funny that Sony releasing one AAA game in a year is suddenly “ok”. 🤷‍♀️

First game was a bore.

Haven’t finished it yet but was really enjoying the first game. Much more then I thought I would. Am definitely looking forward to the sequel.

@uninspiredcup: It's actually WORSE than Crysis. At least Crysis built a vast world, lore, characters, villains and actors that shaped the adventure across 3 games. For what its worth: Crysis is a genuinely interesting series to get into. Hellblade on the other hand only has one trick up its sleeve and that's basically all there is to it. An adventure crafted by a woman's psychosis. It leads to some interesting puzzles but it overstays its welcome after an hour. It's basically a barebones foundation of God of War ps4. So anyone who actually liked what little gameplay Hellblade had, would feel right at home with the new God of War.

WTH does this has to do with the thread asking a legit question that has nothing to do with Spider-Man 2?

@hardwenzen: It's funny how you forgot the 2 9's that Gamespot gave Xbox games this year.

Higher than any Sony games this year I might add 🤣

Don't play scores wenzen, you look foolish.

@me2002: It's the lack of gameplay is why most people dislike it. The term is walking simulator is most appropriate when referring to this game.

Stay mad.

Stop playing games. Hellblade is irrelevant. A desperation attempt at being excited for ANYTHING because there's nothing on the horizon. Its pathetic.

Sell your X already and grab a ps5, you're welcome in our family.

So Hellblade 2 and Avowed are on the horizon for Xbox and yet you claim there's nothing to look forward to on the horizon. So tell me what's on the horizon from Sony on your PS5 that you're looking forward to? what's that I hear crickets, yeah sounds about right.

Still doesn't change that Sony hasn't had a 9 rated game here in a year and MS has had 2. That's gotta sting you a LITTLE 🤣

I would say come join the Xbox family but I know you're already here (wink)

Did you even looked at the Avowed gameplay???🤣This shit looks like AssCreed 3 from a decade ago😂😂😂

And I know for a fact that you would rather play Avowed over Sony's next 2 offerings in Wolverine and Marathon, go ahead and tell me that's not true.

Your facts are dogwater so you can keep em. The game looks like shit, so if this is on what the brand is relying on, this is the biggest oooooooof i have seen in some time.

Crysis wasn't worse for it, people acted it was some God tier game it never was.

@hardwenzen: See even I knew you couldn't deny it, it's official you would rather played Avowed over Wolverine & Marathon, and hey I don't blame you.

bro your avowed game looks like some ubisoft showelware. A wolverine game shouldn't be something you even think about when your future is this grim.

AssCreed? Looks way more like Skyrim. Where did you see an AC game like this?

Textures and lighting, not gameplay wise.

The first Hellblade wasn't nearly as ambitious or notorious as the first Crysis. As in being a game that still had trouble being run on hardware years after its release. Hellblade on the other hand was a good looking game made by a studio that was having financial troubles and switched their MO to releasing smaller titles. Hellblade is a puzzle game with combat segments in comparison, kinda apples and oranges there.

Now that they're owned by MS, there's no telling how the next game is going to turn out. MS releases are a complete crapshoot these days.

I liked Hellblade and it was a solid 8 for me. The setting, lore and story were up my alley. Puzzles were fine. Combat was ok, not great..kinda like Witcher has just ok combat. Visuals were quite good. But for me the most interesting part was the mental health aspect and whispering, which added something different that I had never seen executed that way in a game before. Therefore, I am looking forward to the next one.

@BenjaminBanklin: I agree. I have no idea why this thread is trying to draw a parallel with Crysis. Makes no sense at all.

It's funny how he's talking about textures and lighting when his favourite game in Elden Rings textures and lighting are Xbox 360/PS3 levels. He has to find something wrong with it because it's on Xbox and not PS lol.

It started as a motion capture demo and was turned into a narrative driven game with some puzzles and combat (which is not bad, even being basic).

So no, it's not like Crysis, which was a mid FPS that happened to have impressive visuals and physics and ended up more like a benchmark than a good game.

And its funny how even in over 10 years, you're still not capable of recognizing the fact that Fromsoft, in every single game, has such incredible art direction, that even with their outdated engine, you simply forget about it, and are always focused on the art. What can i say, this is what we call a masterclass craftsmanship.

Calling it now, this game will be as shitty as The Meduim, another game that has only gotten any attention at the beginning because it was exclusive to the Xbox. The second it was released on the ps5, the game was forgotten like it never existed.

@davillain: “ If you enjoy this series, please explain how it's a game and a good one, not bad, and not just a bunch of cutscenes with some gameplay begrudgingly tacked on. Which would explain why game journos like it so much.”

I would have thought it was bleedingly obvious….if not, I explained it in the first sentence. The amount of cutscenes in Sp2 is insane….and some of them you can’t skip, and are 20 minutes long. The rest of the game is button combo fighting, Qte battles and traversing the map. Great visuals, average gameplay.

sealionact is bullhurt as f*ck as of late. never seen him in such a sorry state.

Art direction🤦‍♂️

I guess they need something when its game engine produces garbage everything else, graphics, textures, lighting, performance is all 💩 but, but art direction 🤣

Dues Ex is also a poor game. Chalked full of gameplay, most of it mediocre. Crysis is also better than this.

Accurate.

bought hellblade on the ps4, sat through the intro, thought the art direction was nice, and the schizophrenia / multiple personality disorder theme was an interesting spin. played about 30 mins, found it super simple and decided to park it and come back later but never did. maybe that tells its own tale.

so can't comment on the game overall and whether it's deserving of the whole nothin-but-a-tech-demo / benchmarking tool label.

what i do know is crysis wasn't.

dismissing crysis as nothing but a tech demo was how i used to judge people's critical faculties. can see lots of things people could find fault with as a game but implying it had no gameplay is something only the terminally clueless would say.

and add to that not understanding that the change in pacing from open ended to increasingly linear was directly tied to the story. aliens had just been unleashed and rapidly needed containing before they left the island, so the gamestyle had to become more linear to create the sense of urgency the plot required. surprised some people just couldn't wrap their heads around that

@hardwenzen: “Bullhurt”? Forgot our morning coffee did we?

“Bud”, I’m swimming in games….you’re not even playing the one and only game Sony made for your console.

LOL. Deus Ex is literally Best game ever made.

Crysis is only good for first half and beside the game is even less dynamic than Bioshock let alone comparing it to Deus Ex.

Deus Ex immersed player into the world no game did (except STALKER).

Dues Ex is an ideas game. For that it should be admired.

As an executed game? It is bad. Poor combat, stealth, dialogue, AI, visuals, voice work etc... etc.. etc..

When looking at what the hipsters label "immersive sims" stuff like Thief and System Shock 2 are far superior and hold up far better.

What we see is old school pc elitist with rose tinted glasses unwilling to see reality, because it's a good memory, and they don't want to risk shitting on that. Understandable, but short-sighted.

Crysis, with its own foibles, is a far better game than Dues Ex, miles better. It's derided, while it's exactly what Dues Ex deserves in implementation.

Overall, thankful for Crysis, and admire what Dues Ex set out to achieve. However it's not a good game, we need to set the record straight.

Really? You had to quote me about a typo when i wrote it at like 4am? Bruuuuuuh😥Still waiting for dat 6M+ steam sales, tho. Good look.

Crysis is simple game compare to Deus Ex. for first few hours it show some creativity than gone on full linear and scripted gaame. also having generic and shitty story doesnot help (nope being FPS doesnot get free pass of having bad story. FPS have history of rich stories like Half life, Deus Ex, Metro, FEAR, Bioshock etc. Crysis on other hand have laughably bad and generic story).

Even Human Revolution is better than Crysis let alone original Deus Ex. and im not very high on Human Revolution. its barely ok compare to original.

Recently played and finish Cyberpunk. for RPG standard it got good gameplay but still its far below any Deus Ex game.

@hardwenzen: Poor old lemwenzen. Gets so upset at those cheeky lems that it’s taken over his whole life.

If I EVER find myself posting on these boards at 4am, I’d seek professional help.

I am not in my 60's, i don't go to bed at 9pm😂😂😂And its the weekend, i was playing BG3, a game you simply don't have nor deserve to ever have on your system.

Hmm 4am,The circus can have a late show,and i bet that make up's a bitch to get off 🤡

Crysis was accused of being a tech demo because

1) Crytek would have obviously been trying to sell the engine license to other developers rather than treat the game as a standalone product

2) System requirements were too high, had to be a tech demo

3) Some people say Crysis was a good game (I personally loved it), but they treat it as a happy coincidence. These people are saying it is a tech demo that was lucky enough to be a good game as well.

@hardwenzen said:

@saint-george said:

@sealionact said:

@hardwenzen: Poor old lemwenzen. Gets so upset at those cheeky lems that it’s taken over his whole life.

If I EVER find myself posting on these boards at 4am, I’d seek professional help.

Hmm 4am,The circus can have a late show,and i bet that make up's a bitch to get off 🤡

Fish for tea 🐟🍽️

@saint-george said:

@hardwenzen said:

@saint-george said:

@sealionact said:

@hardwenzen: Poor old lemwenzen. Gets so upset at those cheeky lems that it’s taken over his whole life.

If I EVER find myself posting on these boards at 4am, I’d seek professional help.

Hmm 4am,The circus can have a late show,and i bet that make up's a bitch to get off 🤡

Fish for tea 🐟🍽️

You can never escape that 7. It will hunt you for the decades to come.

@sealionact said:

@saint-george said:

@sealionact said:

@hardwenzen: Poor old lemwenzen. Gets so upset at those cheeky lems that it’s taken over his whole life.

If I EVER find myself posting on these boards at 4am, I’d seek professional help.

Hmm 4am,The circus can have a late show,and i bet that make up's a bitch to get off 🤡

Bro, go watch the news on your 4k tv.😁

Yes.

Crysis was called a tech demo for being a bad game with great visuals as its only positive. Pretty much exactly what Hellblade is, afaik.

Crysis was a genuinely good open-world shooter. I wasn't even a fan of FPS games, yet still enjoyed Crysis. It was far more than a tech demo, but used the tech to enhance the gameplay and not just the visuals.

But the Crysis sequels... Yeah, those were just tech demos.