Crytek CEO Cerat Yerli may be the only person who thinks "Crysis 3" is the best game in the series.
Speaking with Gamasutra, Yerli explains a wide range of reasons why "Crysis 3" came out to middling reviews and seemingly failed to meet fan expectations. None of them include "Crysis 3" simply not being as good as the first two entries in the series.
"It is better than "Crysis 2." It is better than "Crysis 1." Technical and creatively, and storytelling -- all aspects," says Yerli. There's no equivocation there, folks. Crytek says that everyone who likes "Crysis" or "Crysis 2" more than "Crysis 3" is... Well, they are just wrong.
According to reviews, "Crysis 3" maintains the series awesome standard for demanding specs and incredible visuals, but its mechanics feel stale and it tells an uninteresting story. In many ways, the consensus seems to be that "Crysis 3" is a step backwards for the series in every way except its graphics.
Despite his dismay, Yerli says he expected the game to recieve lower reviews than the first two "Crysis" games, citing research on 20 sequels that weren't as well reviewed as their predecessors. Expecting the decline, the CEO has two reasons why his game was doomed to fail in spite of itself:
First, Yerli blames "Crysis 3's" multi-platform release for forcing the studio to hold back and get the game on Xbox 360 and PS3. Yerli says the original "Crysis," which was PC only, was designed "free of burden," allowing it to make maximum "impact" on players. At the same time Yerli concedes that designing the game for multiple platforms also earned the game triple the budget of the original: While throwing more money at a problem isn't always the answer, the idea that a game is worse because it's on consoles just doesn't compute.
Moreover, the one thing everyone agrees "Crysis 3" gets right is the game's visuals. Being held to console-standards shouldn't have hindered the game's writing or dramatically affected the game's level design, two things reviewers dinged the title for.
Yerli also blames "console fatigue" for the game's lesser sales, saying that even "good games" have seen sales drops. At the same time, Yerli also says fans have grown jaded and built up "radical" expectations, leading to a misperception of the game's quality. "So, for me, the relative impact that "Crysis 3" has created is lower than what "Crysis 1" did. But I would think at any level it's better than "Crysis 2," and it's certainly still better than "Crysis 1." People remember "Crysis 1" much bigger than it was, because it had a high impact," says Yerli.
Some the CEOs points are well taken: Console fatigue is definitely real. Unfortunately, so is shooter fatigue and perhaps "Crysis" fatigue: In a genre as crowded as the first-person shooter, fans expectations are far more "radical" because the competition is fierce.