Regardless of pre-release boasts of scope and accessibility, exploration-friendly videogames that offer vast open environments still have set boundaries that mark the very edge of the game world – no videogame is without its eventual limitations.
Duuur-Dum, Duuur-Dum, Dum-Dum-Dum-Dum-Dum-Dum, Da-Da-Darrr! Credit: Crytek.
In that sense, adventurous players reaching those perimeter boundaries are often met with an impassable rock face or a perilous precipice in order to permanently prevent further progress, which invariably pushes them back towards the game’s core content.
Stretching authenticity and invention to the very edges of a game should perhaps be applauded, and the German coding boffins at Crytek have graced PC fans with a little black-eyed boundary flare courtesy of sci-fi FPS epic Crysis .
Specifically, those gamers looking to take a well-earned break from building a healthy body count in Crysis might be tempted to enjoy a cooling – but potentially deadly – dip in the crystal waters surrounding the tropical island where the game takes place.
With ocean water not exactly the most convincing location to find an impassable rock face, Crytek has instead added perhaps the one impassable feature that most gamers are likely to respond to should they swim out far enough to meet it: Sharks.
Indeed, that relaxing, sun-soaked paddle suddenly becomes a frantic bout of terrified splashing as gnashing jaws threaten to clamp through skin and bone… and the alien horrors onshore are a welcome return.
Great invention, extra authenticity, creative detail, and a seemingly throwaway added element that only magnifies the gaming experience – click below to check out the boundary deterrent for yourself.
Well done Crytek, now, if only you’d bring Crysis to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 so console lovers can be eaten by the killers of the deep too.
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