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[Barack Lesnar]

Well you got that right.

And don't be fooled by the geometry or use it as an excuse for poor/low-res textures on a lot of objects.

There's a shit load of geometry in Crysis as well, shit ton of objects too, and the scale... well it's definitely much larger.

Crysis 1 has a lot of copy/pasted terrain and foliage, in wide open areas with nothing going on. It's a stark contrast to the densely packed metropolitan city setting of Crysis 2. It's not an excuse, it's the truth. The amount of art assets created here are ridiculous. To expect high-res textures everywhere is asking way too much. It's like asking for them in GTA4 or something.

 

[Dennis]

 

[Barack Lesnar]

What's with that grain filter?

 

[Nekrono]

At least the rock textures are a lot better in Crysis 2! They were really bad in the first game...

I have to say that screenshot is really good, I just wish everything else or at least a lot more had that level of detail.

I think Crysis is a little bit more consistent with the textures, Crysis 2 is being picked up on it because it came out almost 4 years after and everything should be better.

I wish Crytek would release a hi-res texture pack but i really doubt that will happen, I think it's more likely for the mod community to come out with something like that but god knows when that's going to happen.

Crysis 1 has a lot of copy/pasted terrain and foliage, in wide open areas with nothing going on. It's a stark contrast to the densely packed metropolitan city setting of Crysis 2. It's not an excuse, it's the truth. The amount of art assets created here are ridiculous. To expect high-res textures everywhere is asking way too much. It's like asking for them in GTA4 or something.

Crysis is a 4 year old game.

Crysis 2 is a 2011 game.

Technology should allow things to be better, not worse or the same.

And with that GTA4 reference i'm assuming you're talking about scale... Crysis 2 scale is no bigger than Crysis.

 

[Dennis]

What's with that grain filter?

That just because its a gif.

 

[rabhw]

Two things:

1.) DennisK4: I know it's been asked many times before but this thread is giant and I can't remember what page it's on, but what are your .cfg's AA settings again? Cause damn that looks nice and sharp!

2.) Can anyone tell me how far into the game I am?

Spoiler

Just fought my first pinger

 

[Barack Lesnar]

2.) Can anyone tell me how far into the game I am?

Spoiler

Just fought my first pinger

Uhh, was that the one that breaks through the building? Probably like 30%, not sure. You can check what chapter number you're on by clicking on Campaign in the main menu and looking to the right. 19 total, so whatever divided by 19.

 

[rabhw]

Uhh, was that the one that breaks through the building? Probably like 30%, not sure. You can check what chapter number you're on by clicking on Campaign in the main menu and looking to the right. 19 total, so whatever divided by 19.

It's the one

Spoiler

just after you go to upgrade your suit via the computer terminal at the Hargreave building, but then it breaks through the glass and you get washed away in the water that floods in.

But thanks

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Finally getting around to this. Will take some screens in a bit.

 

[Neuromancer]

It might be because of the new cover system, but I've been noticing the bad stuff a lot more with C2.

You actually use the cover system? Am I the only one who completely ignored it?

 

[Red]

You actually use the cover system? Am I the only one who completely ignored it?

Well, since you can't peek around corners anymore it's just about all you have to look around objects.

It's not badly implemented, either. Nothing game changing but it works well enough.

 

[TUROK]

Crysis is a 4 year old game.

Crysis 2 is a 2011 game.

Technology should allow things to be better, not worse or the same.

And with that GTA4 reference i'm assuming you're talking about scale... Crysis 2 scale is no bigger than Crysis.

This is NOT a technology issue. This is a budget issue. Do you honestly think they had the time to get high resolution textures of everything they wanted to get? Crysis 2 has a lot more material variety than Crysis 1.

I will contest that they should have used some of their Crysis 1 textures at the high resolution they had them at though.

Maybe they should have just thrown detail textures on every surface, it's not like most people can tell the difference between a bunch of grayscale texture tiles and an actual high res base texture.

 

[Dennis]

To expect high-res textures everywhere is asking way too much. It's like asking for them in GTA4 or something.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

That's not really helping your point, Dennis. lol

nice stealth edit removing that one pic >.<

 

[Nekrono]

This is NOT a technology issue. This is a budget issue. Do you honestly think they had the time to get high resolution textures of everything they wanted to get? Crysis 2 has a lot more material variety than Crysis 1.

I will contest that they should have used some of their Crysis 1 textures at the high resolution they had them at though.

Maybe they should have just thrown detail textures on every surface, it's not like most people can tell the difference between a bunch of grayscale texture tiles and an actual high res base texture.

You're right maybe this is not a technology issue, it's more like a "What do we need to sacrifice to make this game run on consoles at a decent framerate?" issue, they thought texture resolution would be one of the answers and decided to be lazy about actually putting some sweat and effort on the PC version and instead they just ended up porting it.

 

[Massa]

You're right maybe this is not a technology issue, it's more like a "What do we need to sacrifice to make this game run on consoles at a decent framerate?" issue, they thought texture resolution one be one of the answers and decided to be lazy about actually putting some sweat and effort on the PC version and instead they just ended up porting it.

That doesn't make any sense at all.

 

[Nekrono]

That doesn't make any sense at all.

So you don't think making cuts to make the game run good on consoles make sense? Because they did do it dude.

And everyone knows this game got ported to PC, I think it was fairly obvious since the demo came out wouldn't you agree?

 

[TUROK]

You're right maybe this is not a technology issue, it's more like a "What do we need to sacrifice to make this game run on consoles at a decent framerate?" issue, they thought texture resolution would be one of the answers and decided to be lazy about actually putting some sweat and effort on the PC version and instead they just ended up porting it.

You've been snorting too much cocaine.

Did you know that the texture resolutions for the PC and console versions are not the same?

 

[Stallion Free]

http://www.abload.de/img/gtaiv2upubnzy.jpg[/mg][/url]

[url=http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=gtaiv2010-04-2521-42-2vn46.jpg][img]http://www.abload.de/img/gtaiv2010-04-2521-42-2vn46.jpg[img][/url][/QUOTE]
Taken from the same distance as most Crysis 2 shots perspective wise and those will look pretty bad too.

 

[Dennis]

I am off to bed, good night everybody.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

First and only set I will post for now. Textures are definitely more miss than hit compared to Crysis. Been pretty entertaining. Definitely more enclosed but the gameplay opportunities have been there so I'm enjoying it.

The lighting is definitely better but I the overall look has left me less impressed than when Crysis came out. I think it's a more polished game though. Shame the overall look is not everything it can be. I know the game has it's wow moments for sure though.

 

[Nekrono]

You've been snorting too much cocaine.

Did you know that the texture resolutions for the PC and console versions are not the same?

Of course I know they are not the same but PC version are not incredibly better like they should be. The difference isn't THAT much.

Actually overall the game is not that much different, OBVIOUSLY there are differences but it's fairly the same, you should go watch videos and screenshots from the 'leak' were people tried the consoles config versus the actual PC settings in the editor.

 

[Barack Lesnar]

You're right maybe this is not a technology issue, it's more like a "What do we need to sacrifice to make this game run on consoles at a decent framerate?" issue, they thought texture resolution would be one of the answers and decided to be lazy about actually putting some sweat and effort on the PC version and instead they just ended up porting it.

lol what the fuck

 

[LiquidMetal14]

lol what the fuck

There's a degree of truth to that. But I won't really talk much about it until I beat the game.

 

[Nekrono]

lol what the fuck

Lol it's funny to see Crysis 2 defense force assemble. Especially when i'm not even bashing the game or anything.

Care to say more than that? You don't think it's a port? Or that they didn't sacrifice things to make it run on consoles?

All that is that crazy to you guys?

Time to start getting real and stop letting all that Crysis 2 hype blind your thoughts.

 

[SapientWolf]

I have to say that screenshot is really good, I just wish everything else or at least a lot more had that level of detail.

I think Crysis is a little bit more consistent with the textures, Crysis 2 is being picked up on it because it came out almost 4 years after and everything should be better.

I wish Crytek would release a hi-res texture pack but i really doubt that will happen, I think it's more likely for the mod community to come out with something like that but god knows when that's going to happen.



Crysis is a 4 year old game.

Crysis 2 is a 2011 game.

Technology should allow things to be better, not worse or the same.

And with that GTA4 reference i'm assuming you're talking about scale... Crysis 2 scale is no bigger than Crysis.

Crysis was also about 4 years ahead of its time. I think they finally released a card this month that can play it max'd out at 60fps/1080p/4xAA.

Dropping the texture size on the consoles for increased performance would be trivial so I think they were coming up against disc space and/or art asset budget limitations.

 

[dark10x]

Lol it's funny to see Crysis 2 defense force assemble. Especially when i'm not even bashing the game or anything.

Care to say more than that? You don't think it's a port? Or that they didn't sacrifice things to make it run on consoles?

All that is that crazy to you guys?

Time to start getting real and stop letting all that Crysis 2 hype blind your thoughts.

Those sacrifices brought fantastic performance to the PC version while still delivering some of the best visuals on the platform.

Crysis was ahead of its time, and it looked amazing, but when it was new, performance just wasn't good for anyone unless you were willing to drop your detail levels. I don't understand the obsession with wanting to push hardware so far that nobody can properly enjoy the final product at its full detail level. I had an amazing time with Crysis in 2007, but even with new hardware, replaying the game doesn't hold the same appeal as a first playthrough. I was thrilled to be able to enjoy Crysis 2 at 60 fps while looking as good as it does.

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

I thought the game was good overall. The gunplay was pretty much perfect - they mapped the actions almost impeccably to the Xbox 360 controller, so much so that I actually found it easier to utilise the Nanosuit compared to Crysis on a keyboard. Everything you ever need is only a bumper tap away. It has to be noted that Crytek really surprised me with how well they managed to get the user interface working with a controller. The only downside is that with a focus on the controller, you miss out on gameplay nuances like proper leaning, and I thought that having to equip grenades was a cumbersome replacement for a dedicated button - as great as it was, the humble controller was pushed to its absolute limits at times.

As for the rest of the gameplay mechanics, I enjoyed upgrading the suit with the catalyst but felt that it could have been deeper, and its presentation in the game made a bit less sterile (I disliked it being treated as 'currency'). Human AI was also terrible - there were a lot of scripting bugs such as guards patrolling into walls, standing idly doing nothing, and I didn't appreciate the laser beam precision they had over a long distance. They were pretty dim when it came to spotting you (which made the stealth a cake walk) but once they did they just didn't feel engaging at all. I played on normal though so perhaps it improves on higher difficulties. I was also disappointed that dual-wielding didn't make a return, but the arsenal being much better as a whole made up for it.

I was pleased with how open the game felt - not as much as Crysis, but there were still a lot of different ways to approach many of the set pieces. The difference here is that there is more annoying HUD elements to remind you what you can do, but you can ignore these and carve your own path. I don't feel that the game is dumbed down too much... I view it as a mixture of old and new directions which works well.

In terms of the story I started off liking the premise of Prophet sacrificing himself for you etc etc, but gradually ended up not caring after one too many clichés. There were a lot of parts which were questionably well developed, such as meeting with Gould, which should have been cut down in favour of the later parts - they need some better editors over at Crytek if they are going to go for the more scripted approach. I don't want to spoil anything or waste time talking at length about something I didn't like, so i'll just leave it by saying that the story became a clusterfuck of MGS4/Assassins Creed II/Halo 3 proportions of technobabble bullshit. It's a far cry from the more reserved plot of the original game, but I suppose that's what you get in a series now focused on a full-scale alien invasion.

At least the twisting, unfocused plot allowed them to derive a lot of varied gameplay from it - the long length was very refreshing amidst a sea of 5 hour campaigns. I wasn't enamoured with online, which was saddening because I was a vocal supporter of the demos and betas leading up to release. The problem is that it's fundamentally broken on a technical level thanks to Crytek's genius decision to skip any form of security - a real shame as I was looking forward to it.

Overall, if this where future entries in the series are heading then so be it, I have no qualms. Crytek: just make sure that for Crysis 3 you get your PC version right, and begin to take the training wheels back off now that the console gamers are accustomed to what Crysis is about.

8/10

 

[RoboPlato]

A lot of people are criticizing the technobabble in this game but I thought it actually kind of made sense but that's probably just because I have a friend who rants about the possibilities of nanotech all the time. I also think a lot of people may have skipped cutscenes because the prompt was onscreen at the end of the loading point. I'm not saying that the story is particularly good but I found it serviceable. It's not great by any means but it doesn't flat out insult my intelligence like most of the FPS I've played lately.

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

A lot of people are criticizing the technobabble in this game but I thought it actually kind of made sense but that's probably just because I have a friend who rants about the possibilities of nanotech all the time. I also think a lot of people may have skipped cutscenes because the prompt was onscreen at the end of the loading point. I'm not saying that the story is particularly good but I found it serviceable. It's not great by any means but it doesn't flat out insult my intelligence like most of the FPS I've played lately.

Other FPS games usually have an under-developed story to the point that you don't care.

But there is also such a thing as over-developing a story, trying to make it smarter than it really is, when in reality it just makes the audience say "lol wut?". Crysis 2 becomes one such game when it starts venturing into the following territories:

Spoiler

1. Old people that have been kept alive in tubes and allowed to live on as AI... or some shit
2. A suit that is living and combines with the alien DNA to somehow create an antidote which saves everyone
3. Combining the personalities of Prophet with Alcatraz - who already had zero on his own - so we somehow end up not giving a fuck while simultaneously saying "wtf"
4. CEPH have been here all along... what an interesting plot point that has never been in any game before it..

 

[RoboPlato]

Other FPS games usually have an under-developed story to the point that you don't care.

But there is also such a thing as over-developing a story, trying to make it smarter than it really is, when in reality it just makes the audience say "lol wut?". Crysis 2 becomes one such game when it starts venturing into the following territories:

Spoiler

1. Old people that have been kept alive in tubes and allowed to live on as AI... or some shit
2. A suit that is living and combines with the alien DNA to somehow create an antidote which saves everyone
3. Combining the personalities of Prophet with Alcatraz - who already had zero on his own - so we somehow end up not giving a fuck while simultaneously saying "wtf"
4. CEPH have been here all along... what an interesting plot point that has never been in any game before it..

I won't disagree with you on any of those points. I love the game but the story, AI, and glitches do kind of bring the experience down.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Other FPS games usually have an under-developed story to the point that you don't care.

But there is also such a thing as over-developing a story, trying to make it smarter than it really is, when in reality it just makes the audience say "lol wut?". Crysis 2 becomes one such game when it starts venturing into the following territories:

Spoiler

1. Old people that have been kept alive in tubes and allowed to live on as AI... or some shit
2. A suit that is living and combines with the alien DNA to somehow create an antidote which saves everyone
3. Combining the personalities of Prophet with Alcatraz - who already had zero on his own - so we somehow end up not giving a fuck while simultaneously saying "wtf"
4. CEPH have been here all along... what an interesting plot point that has never been in any game before it..

Don't see any of this as over developing anything. It was such a simple straight forward story, if anything it was stretched out a bit too much to make it last the long campaign by feeding players tiny bits of info at a time .

 

[Red]

About halfway through the mission after Dead Man Walking.

Finally starting to enjoy this. I can't help but wish the aliens would still fly around though, there's a degree of verticality that's been lost even though the setting seems to beg for it.

Visuals really impressed me around the end of Dead Man Walking. The whole ending section has been by far the best looking part of the game so far.

The mission before that, the church, though the concept of the courtyard and enemy waves was sound, was really boring and frankly annoying with the way enemies simply popped out of thin air after activating each explosive. And I found some a nice comparison there for the wildly variable visual quality here:

Some really fantastic looking debris:


And some I don't even know what the fuck:


These are about 50 feet apart in game.

 

[Stripper13]

Those sacrifices brought fantastic performance to the PC version while still delivering some of the best visuals on the platform.

Crysis was ahead of its time, and it looked amazing, but when it was new, performance just wasn't good for anyone unless you were willing to drop your detail levels. I don't understand the obsession with wanting to push hardware so far that nobody can properly enjoy the final product at its full detail level. I had an amazing time with Crysis in 2007, but even with new hardware, replaying the game doesn't hold the same appeal as a first playthrough. I was thrilled to be able to enjoy Crysis 2 at 60 fps while looking as good as it does.

I think Blizzard has the right idea. Scalable games to be enjoyed on a wide range of hardware. Crysis 2 seems to be a step in this direction. Sucks for people with impressive PC hardware - but Crytek still managed to deliver top level visuals, good effort if you ask me.

 

[Neuromancer]

A lot of people are criticizing the technobabble in this game but I thought it actually kind of made sense but that's probably just because I have a friend who rants about the possibilities of nanotech all the time. I also think a lot of people may have skipped cutscenes because the prompt was onscreen at the end of the loading point. I'm not saying that the story is particularly good but I found it serviceable. It's not great by any means but it doesn't flat out insult my intelligence like most of the FPS I've played lately.

I actually kind of liked the story in this game. I know that makes me a bad person according to some here but dammit I can't hide from the truth. Yeah OK it didn't make a whole lot of sense but that's not something I ever hold against a video game story. Being annoying and getting in the way of the gameplay, however, are inexcusable and I don't think Crysis 2 did either of these things. Other than the unskippable cutscenes.

 

[george_us]

I think Blizzard has the right idea. Scalable games to be enjoyed on a wide range of hardware. Crysis 2 seems to be a step in this direction. Sucks for people with impressive PC hardware - but Crytek still managed to deliver top level visuals, good effort if you ask me.

If Crysis 1 is the clear number 1 then Crysis 2 is the clear number 2. Can you name any other game other than C1 that has environments as large as C2 with the same absurd amount of texture detail and lighting? Not to mention all of the physics stuff going on. Both Crysis games are in a league of their own as far as I'm concerned.

 

[kamspy]

I've made a config. Borrowed from the one in the OP and the one Dennis posted a while back. Only difference is I embrace my new PostMSAA gods. So it's basically just like those, but with the wonderful (imo) stock AA. It just makes use of making sure every quality setting is at 4, and the texture anisotropy is good. Seems to help LOD too. I've set the FOV to 63 because that's the absolute highest I can take it without the weird texture clipping when crouched against cover bug.

The .cfg is long as fuck, so I'm not gonna post it unless someone wants it. tl;dr maxed settings, stock aa and blur.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

I have to say that screenshot is really good, I just wish everything else or at least a lot more had that level of detail.

I think Crysis is a little bit more consistent with the textures, Crysis 2 is being picked up on it because it came out almost 4 years after and everything should be better.

I wish Crytek would release a hi-res texture pack but i really doubt that will happen, I think it's more likely for the mod community to come out with something like that but god knows when that's going to happen.



Crysis is a 4 year old game.

Crysis 2 is a 2011 game.

Technology should allow things to be better, not worse or the same.

And with that GTA4 reference i'm assuming you're talking about scale... Crysis 2 scale is no bigger than Crysis.

Firstly, I understand that would normally be the case but then again the 4 year Crysis runs worse on than the 2011 Crysis 2 on the same rig.

Secondly, powerful hardware doesn't magically make textures higher res, though it can be a concession for easier memory usage, someone still has to draw/create them.

 

[jackdoe]

Other FPS games usually have an under-developed story to the point that you don't care.

But there is also such a thing as over-developing a story, trying to make it smarter than it really is, when in reality it just makes the audience say "lol wut?". Crysis 2 becomes one such game when it starts venturing into the following territories:

Spoiler

1. Old people that have been kept alive in tubes and allowed to live on as AI... or some shit
2. A suit that is living and combines with the alien DNA to somehow create an antidote which saves everyone
3. Combining the personalities of Prophet with Alcatraz - who already had zero on his own - so we somehow end up not giving a fuck while simultaneously saying "wtf"
4. CEPH have been here all along... what an interesting plot point that has never been in any game before it..

All those points you mentioned feel like they were ripped from an MGS game. Which is actually kind of funny.

 

[Stripper13]

If Crysis 1 is the clear number 1 then Crysis 2 is the clear number 2. Can you name any other game other than C1 that has environments as large as C2 with the same absurd amount of texture detail and lighting? Not to mention all of the physics stuff going on. Both Crysis games are in a league of their own as far as I'm concerned.

I completely agree. I'm just acknowledging that instead of pushing another obscenely future proof game, they took a step in the optimization and scalability direction. They are still well ahead of the mainstream curve, and I respect their decision.

 

[belier]

Everybody agrees in that the nano's bug is removed?

Waiting for that to resume the game...

 

[MickeyKnox]

I don't know why people fail to realize just how much texture work is required in this game. It's nothing like Crysis 1. There's so much more geometry, so many more structures and buildings, sooooo many more objects and shit littered all over the place. All this in an enormous 10-12 game with huge levels.

There's less geometry in any gven level of C2 compared to the original, confirmable via the leaked editor.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Everybody agrees in that the nano's bug is removed?

Waiting for that to resume the game...

It seems to be fixed for me, but I haven't played a lot post patch.

 

[strata8]

There's less geometry in any gven level of C2 compared to the original, confirmable via the leaked editor.

In terms of poly count, yeah, but not when you're talking about object variety.

 

[MickeyKnox]

In terms of poly count, yeah, but not when you're talking about object variety.

What about object variety, there's as much asset recycling here as there was in the first game, which when you consider just how much bigger the levels in the first game are it makes it worse for the sequel.

 

[Nekrono]

Crysis was also about 4 years ahead of its time. I think they finally released a card this month that can play it max'd out at 60fps/1080p/4xAA.

Dropping the texture size on the consoles for increased performance would be trivial so I think they were coming up against disc space and/or art asset budget limitations.

Yes but four years ago Crysis was the best looking game and it has hold that title up until now, the only real competitors have been Metro 2033 and Crysis 2, considering Crysis 2 came out years after it should beat them in every regard and put them to shame.

Those sacrifices brought fantastic performance to the PC version while still delivering some of the best visuals on the platform.

Crysis was ahead of its time, and it looked amazing, but when it was new, performance just wasn't good for anyone unless you were willing to drop your detail levels. I don't understand the obsession with wanting to push hardware so far that nobody can properly enjoy the final product at its full detail level. I had an amazing time with Crysis in 2007, but even with new hardware, replaying the game doesn't hold the same appeal as a first playthrough. I was thrilled to be able to enjoy Crysis 2 at 60 fps while looking as good as it does.

True, the game does perform beautifully, but considering it's Crysis 2 and it was developed by Crytek it should break at least visual boundaries like the first one did, Crysis did require top of the line hardware, but the visuals were mind-blowing.

Crysis 2 visuals are good yes, but the game not even supports or takes advantage or current hardware features like DX11 for example.

Low texture-resolution and other cuts really doesn't make up for the performance we're getting with current hardware. The game really runs well but with a lot of sacrifices.

Firstly, I understand that would normally be the case but then again the 4 year Crysis runs worse on than the 2011 Crysis 2 on the same rig.

Secondly, powerful hardware doesn't magically make textures higher res, though it can be a concession for easier memory usage, someone still has to draw/create them.

Well you need to realize that Crytek pretty much dump support and patches soon after Crysis was released, especially after Warhead came out, there are really not many patches affecting performance of the games, proabably because they started working of CryEngine 3?

If they had worked on it i'm sure they would have made it more capable of taking advantage of quad-cores and dual-gpu's and made it run better.

Also you are correct, more powerful hardware doesn't necessarily make better textures, etc, which is why i said that the real fault here is Crytek for not putting extra effort in making the PC version really stand out from consoles.

 

[strata8]

What about object variety, there's as much asset recycling here as there was in the first game, which when you consider just how much bigger the levels in the first game are it makes it worse for the sequel.

Doesn't really change that there are far more unique objects in Crysis 2. Looking through the .pak files confirms that.

Also, the texture.pak is the same size as Crysis' was, yet the texture resolution on average is halved.

 

[SapientWolf]

Yes but four years ago Crysis was the best looking game and it has hold that title up until now, the only real competitors have been Metro 2033 and Crysis 2, considering Crysis 2 came out years after it should beat them in every regard and put them to shame.

The title of "best looking game" didn't mean much to me when it ran like a dog on my 07-09 PC even at medium settings. Hell, I still can't run that game maxed at 1080p/60fps on my new rig. But I can see how someone with better hardware or lower framerate standards might disagree.

All I can is that there is no game that looks as good as Crysis 2 on my PC and still runs at 60 locked at my monitor's native resolution. That's a title that means something to me.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Crysis still runs worse than Crysis 2 on my PC, and I have a pretty powerful machine. C2 looks better, as well.

 

[KKRT00]

There's less geometry in any gven level of C2 compared to the original, confirmable via the leaked editor.

No its not, I've seen screen with debug mode on with 6m+ polygons [with shadows].

If Crysis 1 is the clear number 1 then Crysis 2 is the clear number 2. Can you name any other game other than C1 that has environments as large as C2 with the same absurd amount of texture detail and lighting? Not to mention all of the physics stuff going on. Both Crysis games are in a league of their own as far as I'm concerned.

Why people keep forgeting about games like Stalker, Metro, Cryostasis, Total War Napoleon/Shogun 2, Arma 2?

Crysis 1 is demanding mostly because lack of optimizations, not because was 4 years ahead of its time.

And btw, people really think that artists create textures in low resolution? Crytek has high res textures, but they released PC version on 1x DVD like on consoles, thats why textures are mostly identical.