Developer Crytek didn’t really seem to care about how the game would run, leading to a meme we all probably know. The result was of course a beautiful game with groundbreaking graphics and solid gameplay. The problem was that most systems couldn’t run it. With the news of a remaster coming this year, it’s a great time to revisit this franchise. Since the original Crysis game is getting a remaster pretty soon, maybe you want to give Crysis 2 a go. It’s not too dated, but modding is definitely going to help here. So let’s take a look at some of the best mods to enhance Crysis 2 all these years after its initial release.
10. BlackFire’s Mod 2
Check Out This Mod While Crytek had already pushed the capabilities of CryEngine, Crysis 2 saw its release with mod capabilities. This allowed the modding community the freedom to play around with it themselves and see how much further they could take it. Modder BlackFire has become quite popular for this graphical enhancement mod, which he claims pushes the boundaries of CryEngine 3 to make the game look even better. Somehow. This mod adds a lot of visual improvements in the form of color changes and redesigned lighting too. While feedback for BlackFire’s mod has been mixed, as some love it while some hate it, it’s best to try it and see for yourself how you like it.
9. MaLDoHD
Check Out This Mod Another great feature of BlackFire’s Mod is its compatibility with MaLDoHD 4.0. As BlackFire himself puts it, MaLDoHD is “the greatest Crysis 2 Texture Pack on the Internet.” So that should already be reason enough to check this out. MaLDoHD is a high-definition texture pack that replaces existing textures in the game, adding tons of detail to everything like bricks, trees pavement, etc. Alongside BlackFire’s mod, MaLDoHD with have your game looking like recent AAA title – which just goes to show how Crysis 2 was far ahead of its time.
8. Crysis Revival
Check Out This Mod Many fans felt that Crysis 2 didn’t make much improvement from the first game. Of course, whether Crysis set the bar so high that the sequel just couldn’t live up to it, or that the original is simply the superior game, is completely a matter of opinion. No flame wars here. Modder rGOt wanted to take Crysis 2 and bring back the feeling of the original game. Crysis Revival is a result of that. It’s a mod introducing 2 maps from the original Crysis game. The maps weren’t ported exactly, since improvements in CryEngine are leveraged to make the environments more detailed. Crysis Revival is also merged with another popular graphical mod: C Mod by Wootwoots. C Mod swaps in new weapon models and it adds a few ballistic effects, you know for visual flair.
7. Letters Upon A Page
Check Out This Mod While others have been focused on improving the visual quality of Crysis 2, user Profits Before People was hard at work creating Letters Upon A Page. It’s actually interesting because this mod focuses on audio instead of visuals, but more so because it actually started as a school project. Eventually being made available to the public, Letters Upon A Page sees an aspiring sound designer completely reimagine the audio for the Crysis 2 world. And it’s really good. It’s a completely unique take, and while it may not work for a full playthrough of the game, it makes for a relaxing cinematic experience for anyone open to exploring the Crysis universe like this.
6. Crysis 2 Battle: New York
Check Out This Mod The FPS genre has seen a rise in hardcore shooters in recent years, with the likes of ARMA 3, Escape from Tarkov, and PUBG. The “hardcore” title comes from the realistic gunplay mechanics, compared to more arcade-type shooters like Call of Duty. Well way back in 2011, modder justinas91 was already working on a realism mod for Crysis 2. And here we are: Crysis 2 Battle: New York is the result of his hard work. It tweaks a few gun mechanics to make everything more realistic. You’ll find that bullet physics, weapon attachments, and damage values are much closer to what you’d expect in real life.
5. The ProtoSuit MK1 and The ShadowSuit
Check Out This Mod There aren’t that many Crysis 2 mods out there for custom content. But here’s a cool one from Sasha_The_Lynx. With Crysis focused around the idea that soldiers wear nanosuits to enhance their skills in battle, this mod introduces three new suit models to choose from. The Protosuit MK1, Shadowsuit, and UVSuit are completely usable in-game. And they each have their own set of strengths and weaknesses. The Protosuit focuses on tanking and strength at the expense of Stealth. The Shadowsuit focuses more on stealth sacrificing durability, while the UVSuit specializes in speed and mobility at the cost of armor. All three are worth trying out just for the fun of it.
4. Be The Weapon
Check Out This Mod If you’ve completed a playthrough of Crysis 2 vanilla want a more challenging experience, mods make that possible. Specifically this mod. Be The Weapon ups the difficulty level by tweaking damage levels, but introduces a few rebalances to weapons and other gameplay mechanics as well. So it kinda evens out, but yeah it’ll be a tougher playthrough for sure.
3. Crysis 2 and The Chepter Machines
Check Out This Mod An alterative to Be The Weapon would be “Crysis 2 and The Chepter Machines”. As indicated on the modders ModDB page, The Chepter Machines is one of the oldest Crysis 2 mods available. As with any modding community, it’s always great to look back at some of the classic mods that paved the way for what we have today. And The Chepter Machines should be near the top of your list. It makes for a more challenging Crysis 2 playthrough without really tweaking much in terms of mechanics. It will still be the same game you know and love, just more difficult.
2. Cryminator
Check Out This Mod Cryminator is one of the more interesting mods on the list, as it combines Crysis 2 with one of the most well-loved movie universes out there. Crysis 2 and Terminator. Now who wouldn’t want to experience that? The mod even includes weapons and textures from the film series, including plasma rifles used by Skynet. Just seeing the texture of the T-800 with half of its face melted off, revealing the robotic skull underneath, is enough to convince me to give this a go.
1. Continuum
Check Out This Mod Continuum is probably the most creative Crysis 2 mod out there. It leverages CryEngine 3 and completely reimagines what Crysis 2 might have been in a more futuristic setting. The year is 2898 AC (after contact) and the human race has actually collaborated with aliens to try and save the Earth. The mod features a deep new backstory along with a cinematic storyline and videos to match. Absolutely worth a try.
