Crysis 3’s multiplayer beta opened up last week and I spent a little time leaping around as a nanosuited operative, trying out the two availible game modes: Hunter and Crash Site, the latter of which returns from Crysis 2.
In Hunter mode, a team of ever-dwindling CELL soldiers has to survive against invisible, bow-wielding predators, and every kill the Hunters get adds to their own ranks. While this may sound like it makes for a tense multiplayer mode, the rounds are fairly short and the Hunters seem a little too over-powered, considering they’re invisible and the new bow is a one-hit kill. At one point I went on a five-kill streak with the bow when I was standing about ten feet from a group of enemy players, so oblivious were they to my presence. While the CELL team gets motion trackers and EMP grenades, the abilities given to the Hunters more than outweighs this puny advantage.
Crash Site, for those of you who didn’t play Crysis 2, is a territory control game type, where alien pods will land somewhere on the map and one team has to hold down that location to gain points. While this mode is a lot more fun than Hunter, there are several balance issues that need to be worked out before release.
The shotgun class in Crash Site is the most egregious offender in this case, with the player being given a powerful pump-action shotgun and the ability to run around the map at a much greater speed than any of the other nanosuit loadouts. This means that players picking the other classes are at a massive disadvantage and as a result, Crash Site maps bare more of a resemblance to old Quake-style arena matches than the King of the Hill game-type they’re supposed to.
This brings me to my other sticking point with Crysis 3, in that the powers granted by the nanosuit feel ill-suited to small arena matches. The maps offered in the beta are almost too small, especially with the traversal abilities the players have. While the multiplayer maps of the original Crysis were a little on the big side, somewhere in the middle would be perfect for Crysis 3’s gameplay. It would give players who don’t want to be a shotgunner more options and would help bring other nanosuit functions to the fore a bit more.
On the plus side, Crysis 3 does look gorgeous and runs fairly well, with only a few hiccups in performance that I can’t explain. As I’m playing on the PC, I do have to mention the ridiculous mouse acceleration which is most noticeable when aiming down your gun sights. The slightest twitch of your mouse will throw your aim off, and with the pronounced recoil, shooting enemies at range is a frustrating experience.
As it stands now, I can’t recommend Crysis 3’s multiplayer mode. There are a few too many balance issues that I doubt will get ironed out by the time the full release is due, and the PC version is sadly lacking in in-game customization options (the aforementioned mouse issue can by fixed by editing game files).
Has anyone else played the Crysis 3 multiplyer beta? What did you think? Have I turned anyone off?
Honestly, this wasn’t really on my radar to begin with. I knew the beta had come out but it just doesn’t seem to interest me. I kind of feel like their beating the dead horse with Crysis now, considering they’re on their third installment of the series.