The original Crysis was at the time a masterpiece and a lesson to all in how to make an open world sandbox shooter with truly stunning visuals. Even 5 years after the games release it still manages to amaze me from time to time. So you can understand as a console gamer at the time how frustrating it was to not be able to play it when it first released.

Then Crytek did something incredible, after years of hearing "consoles cant run Crysis" Crytek built an engine that could feasibly create the next Crysis for console platforms too. And so Crysis 2 was born, being madly in love with the first game but only from a distance I couldn't help but do some research into what Crytek had planned for Crysis 2.

This is where I started to get mad at Crytek, all the things that made Crysis the game I wanted to play so badly were gone! No more open world, no more tropical setting and a completely different looking enemy. The only thing that had seemed to have made it from Crysis was the Nanosuit. Instead of the enemy freezing tropical islands we were given New York covered in slime and sick people. A setting and a situation we have all experienced through games as well as other mediums a thousand times before.

So suffice to say I wasn't impressed. Crytek certainly hadn't delivered the Crysis I feel the people were hoping for and especially so for those who got the chance to play the first game. So Crysis 2 launched and sure enough I picked it up on the day of release hoping for a still great game but I had a lot of concerns. All of my fears were confirmed and Crysis 2 felt like it was simply another shooter in the rapid river of FPS's that constantly threatens to overflow.

The open world sandbox elements were condensed into scenarios in which when you came to a nice open area for a fight to take place you could look through your special goggles and see the stealth option and which one would lead to the biggest explosions. The game looked pretty but certainly had none of the flare of the first title. I felt as if the sacrifices to bring Crysis to consoles were just too great and that the "Consoles cant run Crysis" statement mentioned wasnt completely true but certainly had a truth to it.

Skipping forward a little in the year I found myself in the position to get a PC, a good one, a PC that could run the original Crysis in all its glory. Of course I snapped up the chance and after playing through the original Crysis I have to say my anger for what Crytek had done to Crysis 2 had only grown.

Now Crysis 3 is on the cards I cant help but forgive Crytek for their past errors as it looks like they have heard the voice of the fans of the series. There is a chance that they are actually going to make a more open world, part tropical, part New York game that is more akin to the reason Crysis had become so popular to begin with. Only time will tell whether they actually deliver a game that can beat the original, but I hope they do and they have my support.

Another reason they have earned forgiveness is that they have released the original Crysis to those on consoles. Now everyone can experience the awesome game that makes your eyes stand on stalks and the awesome open gameplay that truly let's you pick your own tactics. Bravo Crytek, that was a good move.

I have always had respect for those who try to push the industry and I believe Crytek have done so on many occasions. Crysis 2 was a major bump in the road and a big step backwards in just about every way from what I had expected from Crytek. However I feel that Crysis 3 will deliver what we should have had from Crysis 2. In short, Crytek you have regained my faith for Crysis 3, dont let me down.

So life recently has had some ups and downs, here are the highlights of my time since my past blog entry:

Journalism

Writing is still a thing I do. I've recently put out a review for both Krater and Deponia. But there is more! I am now the proud owner of a fully functioning green screen! which can only mean one thing. I'm going to YouTube! I will be posting my first tester video soon to see how it all turns out. I have plenty of cool ideas though so stay tuned for those. Also I am aware I said I'd write my Day-z diary. This is still a thing, but it will take me a while as playing games has taken a secondary role so that my journalism can improve.

Games

Games have mainly been Deponia and Krater since the last post. I've managed to slip in the odd match of BF3 or the quick play of another couple of games but ask anybody in the games industry. Games are the thing you do the least. I plan to squeeze in a few hours of a couple of games I haven't played in ages over the weekend but I think video creation and editing will scupper that somewhat.

Other

Well I don't really have much else to say, I've been so busy recently with my day job commitments that I haven't got much else to say. Really need a journo gig so that I can drop the monotony of the finanial trade. I spose the most interesting personal news I have is that I am now officially 'Speccy'. It turns out that staring at a screen for 10-15 hours a day really can make you need glasses. I'm now trying to turn my eyes square but I think that one actually is a myth.

Anyway I think that is another blog post done. I usually use this space to waffle on about rubbish and just but with all the cool community blog things that GS offer I might try something more journalist-ey (that's a word... It is!) soon and see what I can achieve. The sky is the limit as they say, unless of course you happen to be an astronaut.

On the subject of being speccy, the random quote! -Never hit a man with glasses. Hit him with a baseball bat.

Hi again all!

I'm gonna continue to follow the format of the last post for now so without further delay:

Journalism

So I'm still writing, the content has been a bit slow recently but hopefully it should be picking up again soon. Keeping an ear to the ground at all times for opportuinties and now starting the next stage (stage 3) of my plan. Getting some of my work seen by industry professionals for their valuable opinions. So a scary and nervous time lays ahead of me there. Other than that not really much else to say on the whole journo front.

Games

Quite a bit to talk about this time in terms of gaming. Recently picked up a Premium pass for Battlefield 3, yeah boo me for not sticking it to the man, but I see it as a rather good deal. There will be a blog on the 'class war' that has been created by it though so stay tuned for that one. Anyway, so I've found myself playing a lot of the new close quarters maps in BF3 and I have to say, my relationship with battlefield has always been an on and off one at best, but me and battlefield are currently ON! I mean proper eloping to Vegas to get married despite the parents approval kind of on! I am now officially addicted to BF3 and it doesn't show any signs of moving to an 'off' period, but I've said that before.

Now you've all presumably read the title of the blog and so far I haven't mentioned it once, that extreme survival horror mod 'Day-Z' that you may or may not heard of has recently found its way on to my PC and wowee! It's some intense fun, so just for you guys, I'm going to make to a diary, A Day-Z one. Titled "Pushing up the Day-z's" and coming soon so watch out for it!

And that concludes this particular blog. I hope you've enjoyed reading it and I look forward to posting up the first Day-Z diary entry. I'll leave you with a final thought again, "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go" - Oscar Wilde

Hi Gamespotters!

Haven't posted any bloggy stuff here in a while so thought I'd put up a catchup because obviously your all curious (I'll keep telling myself that). So here's a rundown of stuff that happened.

Journalism

So as some of you already know I have my own blog space on the interwebs now, mainly to hold all of my writing and such www.thegamerpost.com in a hope to finally start taking steps towards a life in journalism. And to that end have found me a couple of websites to write for. The main one being www.whatculture.com for whom I most recently started writing for just a couple of days ago. First major step forward as they are a well established site so done a little celebration dance for that.

Games

now onto what I've been playing recently. well I've been reviewing Ship Simulator Extreme so thats had the majority, been playing some Battlefield 3 whilst wishing I could get the Premium pack (which I now have!) played little bits of other games here and there like Test Drive Unlimited 2 and F1 2011 all in all a quiet time for playing games for me, that should change this weekend though with any luck. However writing responsibilities take precedence.

Books

Well having recently visited my local book store and picked up 3 books, Mark Billingham's 'Lazy Bones', Jeanette Winterson's 'Oranges are not the only fruit' and Kazuo Ishiguro's 'Never let me go' (also a film starring Kiera Knightley). The latter is the first one to be read and although only a couple of chapters in it seems pretty good. I'll keep you posted.

well thats my little life at the moment maybe I'll list the food or something I eat next time just to make sure we've hit that all important 'why the hell would anyone want to read this?' moment.

Well thats another day and another update WARNING: shameless pleading for views imminent: Please check out my writing the sites listed above and let me know what you think (I can take critisism) and if your on twitter follow me @SuperMassive20 and I leave you with this thought - If something "goes without saying", why do people say it?

Although I do like to follow my usual style of playing the game thoroughly and to completion before making my opinion, I felt as Diablo 3 is such a large game I would give details of my experience and have decided to document hours 0-10to give a first impression before making my final thoughts. Here are the hours 1-10. With as fewer story spoilers as can be. Remember, if something happens to me at 6 hours doesn?t mean it?ll happen to you. I have a slow play style and thoroughly explore my surroundings.

Hour 1-3:

My first steps in Diablo 3 were familiar ones. As the level that was available during beta testing was used as the opening to the game, I knew pretty much what was going on. So I settled down into the game and hammered away at the first few quests. Mid-quest I was treated to a nice cut-scene that the beta had not allowed me to see so that eased my eagerness for new content and I continued forward slaughtering hordes of monsters in my quest to find the fallen star.

Hour 4-5:

After completing the first quest line and thus reaching the beta limit, a new path opened up and it really felt as if this was it. Diablo 3 had put me through the test. I was ready to go forth and begin my journey. So to the next quest I went, travelling to new areas previously unseen and each as beautiful as the last. Encountering new enemies and slaying them for the glory and the spoils. I then reached my first pivotal moment.

Hours 5-7:

Having encountered my first shock, I was only more determined to defeat the hordes that continued to battle me now not for the same glory as before but with a whole new reason to fight. My need to destroy them was only growing greater. I had a true foe and a blade to strike with. I was out for blood. All the time my experience was only growing deeper. I was delving into more places searching for answers, encountering new foes that picked a fight with the wrong adventurer. I was in the world in every way.

Hours 8-9:

Through tough challenges I had begun to see what I was up against. This was no easy task ahead of me, but the hunt continued, and though I had failed many times before I remained undeterred, ready to fight. Through ever darker scenes I descended, slaughtering nightmare after nightmare finding gear that would help me in my quest. Then I was faced with a formidable foe.

Hour 10:

Smashing and running. Burning and bleeding. Fighting with every last tactic I knew, through the relentless onslaught of the hell before me. This challenge I feared was going to cost me every health potion I had collected and then some. After feeling invincible I was humbled and beat down. Determination saved this adventurer, with a scene not too far from a last stand where I had one last burst of power before my inevitable defeat. I took my mouse aimed the cursor over the beast and fired? It was over, I had won. My reward? Act II.

After thought on first 10 hours:

The first ten hours I spent in the game were long enough for me to complete act 1. With plenty to explore and many different areas, Items and enemies the game was always fun and interesting. I can only think that further acts will increase the time I need to complete them as the difficulty increases and the levels expand.

Some of you may notice the dramatic change in writing style from hours 4-5 to 5-7 onwards. This was down to the fantastic narrative. I was really suckered in and felt like my adventurer and so began to write in that way. I hope this goes some way to showing how Diablo 3?s story evolves without telling you what happened. In short through my eyes as I had already experienced the beta, the beginning felt slower then maybe a fresh set of eyes would have seen it. Hours 5-7 reminded me of my first Diablo experience and how immersive it is.

Although I am not at a stage to recommend Diablo I will say this, I have gained a lot of enjoyment from my first 10 hours in Diablo and thoroughly look forward to the rest of my adventure.

Those who want to see more of the story can check out my weekly ?Let?s play Diablo? stream on www.twitch.tv/ViralGamersLive Sundays from 7pm GMT till late. Any questions or comments please leave below or on twitter via @SuperMassive20.

Hi Everyone!

I reached the 10 followers mark, and as promised a short blog on the subject of levelling.

My love of levelling started with Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance, I had leveled in games prior to this but none to the extent I did in BG: DA its only then I really discovered how fun replaying on a harder game mode to level higher could really be. Levelling has since become a major part of just about any game whether it's the next level in Call of Duty or Battlefield or levelling in WoW or now D3.

So what makes it so addictive? Is it that short term goal we can easily acquire that allures us to keep going or is it simply proving our online mettle?

Hi all,

Well it turns out all = just me. So in light of this I have decided to wait. Once I have 10 followers it will resume

until then.... Enjoy Gaming!

SuperMassive20

Ok first blog, very late to the party but thats how I work. So the premise of one of these is that I waffle on about a particular subject of interest to me and like minded people read it and think 'oh yeah I like this guy' thus creating an online prescense that for so long has eluded me (damn you rural area internet connection!) except here I'm more inclined to discuss games rather than last nights triathlon results.

But where are my manners.... already a paragraph in and you still have no idea why you should read this or just who the hell I am.

Well I'm Stephen (pronounced Steven, not steffan) and like you I play games, how exciting! infact I've played games for about 14 years from around the age of about 7 to date. I'm from the UK and although yes a youtube video is seen by more people these days I like writing stuff and so wish to embark on a journey through games in the text format.

A brief gaming history: from the age of 7 I had my own PC and a shared PS1. I can still vividly remember watching my step dad get frustrated with the original gran turismo to this date (maybe more on that another time) then 3 years later the PS2 released and my old friend the PC got too old to handle games and my paper round didn't cover upgrade costs so I henceforth became a 'console gamer'. Progressing to an xbox and then an xbox 360 until the lovely age of 20 in which I found myself in employment and chose to reconnect with my childhood sweetheart the PC. (yes, your dealing with a HUGE nerd here) I then ditched the 360 and got myself a PS vita. That takes us to today.

So with the history lesson over heres the plan. This will be as weekly as I can make it and may eventually spill into youtube specials and I'm setting up a Twitter account as we speak (or as you read, or as I typed this, infact all of these statements are false. hmm..) and I plan to cover aspects in gaming I like, dislike and all the areas in between.

This doesn't count as this weeks part so without further delay I'm going to make an announcement (or an announcement of an announcement since this has become so popular) I'll tell you what I'm going to make my next entry about in the next paragraph (insert fuzzy pictures or 19 second long video here to induce curiosity and speculation)

so now you're all excited my first blog entry will be a look into my main obsession in gaming, levelling up. Be it Final Fantasy or Modern warfare 3 there is something undeniably satisfying about gaining that next level, so I'll be waffling about everything levelling.

Well to the one person left reading this thank you for your time you have gained +500 xp if you have any suggestions then please do comment (hopefully I'll have commenting enabled if not, fail!)

More coming this week!

SuperMassive20 (Stephen, Remember pronounced Steven, not Steffan)