» Mon Sep 13, 2010 1:21 pm
Honestly, if I had to choose, I'd say the quality of the graphics are about the same, given a few additions and subtractions in the sequel. Crysis has better textures, physics, and water, while Crysis 2 has far better performance and (from what I can see) higher poly-counts on environmental objects, and a slight edge on the lighting. It's a shame Crytek didn't try to raise the bar to the same extent that they did with Crysis, but it's amazing that they were able to pull this off on consoles and create the best looking console game around (given competition like Killzone 3 and Uncharted 2, I'm impressed). Otherwise, the games have virtually indistinguishable visual effects.
On the other hand, the games are vastly different in other departments.
A.I.: Despite the occasional wall-svcker, I have to give this one to Crysis 2. The Koreans where nowhere near as coordinated and threatening as the Cell, and the aliens go even further.
Gameplay: Again, Crysis 2. Despite the lack of an open-world, I feel more at liberty here in terms of meat bag disposal. I feel like a real predator with rewarding prey. Also, the vehicle missions are FAR superior to those in Crysis, and overall I was never bored, which is something I can't say about Crysis. Also, unlike some, I'm very pleased with the suit modifications.
Story: No one really cares about the story, but I'd say Crysis. The shock of realizing that there was an extra-terrestrial threat in Crysis is still the best moment in the series.
Audio: Crysis 2. I mean, Hanz Zimmer is a bad-ass. And the improved sound effects were the first thing I noticed about the game. The voice-acting has also improved somewhat in spite of a few weak performances (Gould, Lockhart), which pale in comparison to others (Hargreave, Prophet).
Overall: Crysis is a mind-blowing achievement with some pretty obvious short-comings, and Crysis 2 addresses these issues while making some sacrifices. In the end, I really couldn't choose one over the other.