Crysis Remastered Review – A Crisis, Indeed

Crysis on Nintendo Switch

Crysis set the bar for graphics and gameplay innovation when released back in 2007, becoming one of the most important series of the seventh console generation. Beautiful scenery and gunplay that thrived off the backs of high frames per second was something that not too many titles had brought to the table by that point in console gaming.

With that in mind, it’s only natural to wonder how well the Crysis Remaster holds up on the Nintendo Switch in 2020.

For the uninitiated, Crysis is a first-person shooter that places players in the shoes of Nomad: an elite soldier wielding an advanced exoskeleton, known as a nanosuit.

Using their nanosuits, Nomad and the Raptor squad must stop an unknown enemy from invading a small island, protecting the natives in the process. Initially thought to be North Koreans, it turns out that the real threat is actually an invading alien organism, the Ceph.

While normal humans are incapable of combating these creatures, Raptor squad’s high tech equipment gives humanity a fighting chance.

Thanks to physical and cloaking enhancements, nanosuits allow the user to perform superhuman feats of power and agility. From running faster to jumping higher, there is very little limit to what the suits can do.

That superhuman feeling is still present at the outset of the Nintendo Switch version of Crysis, resulting in an array of entertaining situations where you make your enemies weep in fear. Few encounters felt more satisfying than engaging in a firefight, then disappearing using cloaking and popping up somewhere else.

The overall world of Crysis Remastered is still a blast to explore, too. Despite being pretty linear, the nanosuit allows for a lot of experimentation in various situations.

Want to take enemies out from above? Hop on one of the buildings for a solid vantage point.

Just want to wreck house and destroy everything? Destructible environments and an arsenal of different guns and loadout modifications have got you covered.

Experiencing what the game’s world had to offer reaffirmed exactly why it stood out when it originally released.

It wasn’t long into the first act that the nanosuit, and Crysis’ gameplay overall, began to show its age, though. While speeding around the island, grabbing people by the throats was fun, but things started to feel clunky quickly.

Speed mode is jarring, as you go from walking to dashing with no in-between. The result makes movement feel more like you’ve installed an increased speed mod in GTA V instead of actually running at superhuman speeds.

Frames also dropped often throughout each of the nanosuits’ enhancement modes, causing more than one crash in my playthroughs. A lot of these technical issues even occurred while I wasn’t even playing, screeching to a halt mid autosave or loading screen.

Despite my technical and gameplay problems with the first part of Crysis Remastered, most issues rear their head when fighting enemies in the latter half of the game –most notably the Ceph. These bullet-sponge baddies are annoying to kill, somewhat robbing the thrill of being able to power through people like Superman.

I don’t mind a good back-and-forth with a powerful enemy, but the Ceph highlight just how lousy shooting in Crysis Remastered feels on the Nintendo Switch.

Compared to other modern titles in the genre, gunplay is a chore. No matter what gun it was, aiming down the sights is a bit too loose for someone that wields an all-powerful suit capable of smashing through walls.

Controls improve slightly after disabling gyro, but the overall motion of the game can feel sluggish more often than not.

Other small elements like switching over to a silencer are unnecessarily complicated as well, forcing my fingers into an ungodly position to equip and unequip accordingly.

Yes, the game still looks beautiful for a Nintendo Switch port, sporting bright lighting and high-res details in its environments and items. Yet, whenever Nomad starts moving, the blur and frame rate sully the viewing experience, dropping below 20 FPS on multiple occasions.

I do not doubt that anyone who loved the original Crysis to bits would be able to overlook the flaws to be able to take some nostalgia on the go. With everything else that is out on the Nintendo Switch, this isn’t going to break the mold as it did back in 2007.

If you’re really looking to enjoy Crysis as it is meant to be played, I’d recommend booting up your PC and playing any of those versions. At least that way you won’t be limited in terms of fidelity, which will also likely improve gameplay fluidity simultaneously.