Crysis 2 Remastered

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the Crysis Remastered Trilogy bundle, along with Crysis Remastered and Crysis 3 Remastered.)

Crysis 2 is a First-Person Shooter originally released on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in 2011, and then redone in this Remastered release on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Where the first Crysis pushed videogame graphics back in its day, its sequel was seemingly less ambitious despite being released a full four years later – you don’t hear people asking the question “will it run Crysis 2?” anywhere near as much as you heard with the first game.

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Another Crytical Look At Graphics and Performance

Looking at the game’s visuals now, it’s perhaps easy to understand why. The first game’s lush island locales have been traded for a smoldering wreckage of New York City, and while the tall buildings and busy streets of the ruined city certainly aren’t ugly, they don’t have the same impressive appeal of the detailed natural environments of the first game. However, there are other elements that just don’t come across as impressively here either, like character models and water effects. And while Crysis 2 has some of the destructible environmental features its predecessor was known for, taking chunks out of a concrete barrier doesn’t seem as impressive as taking apart a tree piece by piece or demolishing the walls of an island shed and seeing it come tumbling down.

Overall, Crysis 2 very much has the appearance of a solid-looking mid-to-late-generation PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 game, although don’t get me wrong – it still looks very good (and in fact, the Nintendo Switch version is in many ways improved over the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, although more on this in a bit). And perhaps because of the lacking ambition compared to its predecessor, it is an overall more stable game on Nintendo Switch, suffering slowdown far less frequently, and far less severely.

Okay, now for the first major improvement over the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. Prior generations’ version of the game ran anywhere from 30FPS all the way down to 13FPS, with drops being frequent during combat. It’s actually astounding that this was ever even considered acceptable. Meanwhile, the Nintendo Switch version of the game runs at a largely stable, smooth 30FPS framerate.

The Nintendo Switch version of the game features a 900p dynamic resolution in docked mode, dropping down to as low as 520p in some areas, with the handheld mode playing in dynamic 720p dropping down at times to 400p (thanks to Digital Foundry for the numbers). This also mostly beats out the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, which topped out at 1152×720, not quite reaching 720p. When compared to the prior generation versions of Crysis 2, the Nintendo Switch version has improved textures, improved resolution, better anti-aliasing, and better lighting and shadows,

Now, of course, I should point out the obvious – when compared to a decent gaming PC, or a modern console like the PlayStation 4 or 5, or the Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S, the performance of the Nintendo Switch version doesn’t come close. Anyone expecting otherwise is simply being unrealistic in their expectations. However, to see the Nintendo Switch not only surpass the performance of prior consoles with this release but quite frankly trounce those console releases… well, it’s still very impressive.

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Cryhard

Okay, but now that I’ve gone over the graphics, how is the gameplay? Well, mostly pretty good, although not without a few caveats.

Crysis 2 is primarily a straightforward campaign-focused First-Person Shooter, even more so than its predecessor. The gameplay this time around is more focused, with more linear level design. You’ll still find areas where you have quite a lot of room to move around, but perhaps because of this game’s more urban setting, the linear nature of the game is much more pronounced here, and makes you feel a lot more boxed-in and railroaded than the first-game’s largely wide-open areas did.

In addition, the AI this time around seems paradoxically both dumber and too smart by a mile. When you’re not using your suit’s cloaking ability, enemies’ ability to pinpoint your location is absolutely uncanny, yet the moment you turn it on they’ll often seem to wander around aimlessly in search of you. This is especially frustrating for players who prefer to take a more sneaky, stealthy approach to the gameplay, as you could equip a weapon with a silencer, walk up to a sniping point with a cloak, and fire a headshot at an enemy, and every other enemy in the area will still instantly know where you are.

Still, frustrations with the game’s faults aside, this is still a solid entry in the genre that provides players with a lot of options to hunt down enemies, and it’s a lot of fun stalking among them like some powerful predator hunting their prey.

A few other things of note for the Nintendo Switch release of the game that deserve mention. One feature has been added, and one unfortunately removed. On the positive side, fans of gyroscopic motion control will find the feature fully-implemented here (and for those who don’t care for this feature, it is also thankfully optional). On the negative side, all of the game’s multiplayer features have been completely stripped out of the game. And while many players of the original release found Crysis 2’s multiplayer to be underwhelming, the Nintendo Switch is still hurting for this kind of multiplayer experience, so it’s frustrating to see it removed from this version of the game.

In the end, Crysis 2 Remastered on Nintendo Switch is an outstanding port of a solid game. This game isn’t nearly as groundbreaking or memorable as the first game, and neither the game nor its port are without their flaws, but overall, if you’re looking for an excellent single-player experience on Nintendo Switch, or want a portable version of this classic game that plays way better than it has any right to, Crysis 2 Remastered is well worth a look.

tl;dr – Crysis 2 Remastered is an improved port of the solid First-Person Shooter with a performance that’s well beyond what we could have reasonably expected from Nintendo’s underpowered handheld. This port lacks the original game’s multiplayer, and it’s a port of a game that’s nowhere near as impressive or influential as the first game, but Crysis 2 is still a superb First-Person Shooter, and this is a fantastic way to play the game.

Grade: B

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