AtomicGamer: Crysis was notorious for its demanding system requirements. How did this affect the design philosophy for creating the sequel, especially given that it's multi-platform?
Nathan Camarillo: The original Crysis had this stigma of players needing a monster machine to play it...and that it'd probably catch on fire. That wasn't entirely true though; you could play it and enjoy it, but maybe you couldn't turn it all the way up to 11. But that was still the stigma that sort of followed Crytek, and that's something we're definitely trying to shake. I wouldn't say that console development is difficult, but it has forced us to reexamine how we do things; we now have to solve problems with more finesse than force. And we're finding ways to push the consoles in more ways than other developers have. After Crysis, Cevat's (Cevat Yerli, CEO and President of Crytek) goal was to get Crytek's games out to more people, a bigger audience, and get CryENGINE technology on consoles. That's what we've been able to do with CryENGINE 3...find a way to not only make the technology scalable, but also accessible. From a design point of view, it also forces us to focus on what's important to the core of Crysis; we want it to be more accessible, but we don't want to nerf anything either. If anything, we have even more features than the original game, but they're smarter in the way that they're implemented. The way the user interfaces with these features is also much cleaner. We're thinking in much broader terms, and everything's under a microscope.
AG: Can Xbox 360 and PS3 owners expect the same Crysis 2 experience than owners of tweaked PC rigs?
NC: There might be some minor differentiation in console versus PC, but our goal is to deliver the best experience possible on each respective platform. If you're playing PC, you'll get the best PC gaming experience you can; if you're playing console, you're going to get the best possible experience for that platform. There may be differences, but no one should feel robbed or cheated. We'll deliver the best experience to all players, and certainly the core game will be the same.
AG: For many gamers this will be their first exposure to the Crysis series. Taking that into account, is the sequel serving as sort of a fresh start for the franchise?
NC: We are looking at Crysis 2 as a reboot of the franchise. Not so much in the story, as there will be some narrative continuity between the first and second game, but it'll definitely serve as a jumping in point for new players. The story is a continuation to some extent, but you won't need to know what happened in Crysis in order to get into it. We're not completely changing things in, say, the way the Grand Theft Auto titles change from game to game, but aside from core ideas, like the Nanosuit, you're getting a fresh start. If you like a shooter that offers these awesomee powers, systemic gameplay, and a path that's not heavily scripted, you'll enjoy Crysis 2. And if you have not played the first game, we think the sequel may inspire you to go back and check it out.
AG: The New York City environment seems to hold much more potential for vertical gameplay than Crysis' flatter landscapes. Will the game be taking advantage of this?
NC: Yes, Crysis was mostly valleys and rocks. In the sequel, you won't be able to go into every single office building...that's just not that interesting. But you will see opportunities where, with the suit powers, you'll wonder if you can get to certain areas, and you'll probably be able to. As we did with Crysis, we use this “I came, I saw, I conquered” gameplay, so it's about reaching areas, assessing the situation, then engaging and trying to survive. You'll see that by scaling this new landscape, you can discover new tactical advantages. Our new alien A.I., which is really smart, will require you to utilize this type of strategy; they'll be using the vertical environment as well in very interesting ways.
AG: How accurate will Crysis 2's New York City be?
NC: Well, without spoiling the story, we do want it to be identifiable, so you can imagine we'll be including some of the hot spots and landmarks. It's authentic to an extent, but we've also taken some liberties. The player should feel like it's New York, but we also want to do what's best for gameplay, so we do fudge some of the spaces. Generally it is authentic though, and we want the spacing of objects to be accurate and the architecture to be identical, or at least very close. It'll definitely feel like New York, but we also lend our own take and visual style to set us apart.
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