The complete Crysis Remastered Trilogy launched this week! Building on the existing launch of the original Crysis remaster, both sequels are now added to the mix, arriving on PlayStation, Xbox and Switch consoles - and of course, PC. But how have these remasters changed the game? To what extent can vintage 2011 and 2013 games scale up to today's hardware? And do they still have the graphical wow factor that defined them back in the day?
We'll talk about the PC versions first, as this is where both Crysis 2 and Crysis 3 have received the most love. In this case, I'd highly recommend watching the video embedded below, where Alex Battaglia experiences the maximum joy of having both Crysis and ray tracing once again combined into one glorious whole. But there is actually more to the games that just RT additions alone, certainly in the case of Crysis 2 Remastered.
If you'll recall, Crysis 2 initially launched as a DirectX9 game, before receiving a substantial DX11 upgrade - and it's that subsequent version running at max settings that is our baseline comparison point for PC when assessing the remaster, and let's just say that the changes are profound. The aesthetic is very different, thanks in no small part to a new colour grade - the 'teal and orange' Transformers-style filter is now a thing of the past. This is combined with actual remastering on core artwork, allowing textures to better stand up on today's higher resolution displays.