Crysis Wars: the noastalgic can still play the game after gamespy shut down

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Hey folks,

As many gamers already know, the decision to shut down GameSpy brought more than 50 multiplayer games to a premature death, notwithstanding that many were still popular and widely played online.

Gamespy provided matchmaking, leader-board, profile id, and players stats services for numerous games, such as several episodes of Battlefield and FIFA, and 3 out of 4 episodes of the Crysis franchise.

Even if considered by many as "dead", Crysis Wars (the multiplayer side of Crysis Warhead), was still played by a few scattered die-hard communities, mostly European and east European, which kept the game alive, and were able to run gaming sessions with 40 and more players (in the same game) all week long. Unfortunately, GameSpy's demise gave this game a final blow.

Fortunately, a few talented developers (people who have been coding and releasing mods for Crysis and Crysis Wars through the years) decided to take the matter in their own hands, and came up with an alternative solution to GameSpy: CryServ Network (CSN), which replacing GameSpy services for Crysis Wars in all its intents and purposes, allows players to still connect to servers and enjoy the game. While CSN system is still going through a beta phase, having weekly updates and improvements, it is already online and operative.

For those who didn't know the game or never cared much for it, this news isn't much of a big deal. However, all the nostalgic, and the several aficionados who spent years perfecting speed-strafing, circle-jump, and aim, have now once again an opportunity to engage other players in tactical and fierce 'Power Struggle' battles in popular and large battlefields, such as Mesa or Tarmac, or fight fast-paced and hectic TIA games - team instant action - in smaller maps like Steel Mill and Poolday.

Before Crysis Wars lost popularity, (2008 - 2011/12) ESL (Electronic Sport League) regularly supported and hosted various pro-tournaments with prizes. Now, in an attempt to revive the game, the remaining communities joined forces, and together organized a new ESL sponsored, and community-funded Crysis Wars tournament with prizes, and powered by CSN.

I posted this thread in an attempt to reach out some of the nostalgic out there who miss the thrill this game is still capable of giving. Or maybe, to spark some new prospect gamers' curiosity toward a game that according to many who loved it, died too soon and was among the best multiplayer of all times.

For those who don't know, or don't remember what a Crysis Wars battle looks like, I attached a few clips to refresh the memory. The first one is the official Crytek trailer that shows a power struggle game, and the other a gun-only-oriented team instant action battle. The last two so-called "frag movies" from skilled and experienced players belonging to the French clan -FSG-.

Although the game is older, and maybe not in par with today's higher graphics standards, let's not forget that the first Crysis games maxed out are still titles that look gorgeous, can be still taxing for PC with muscles, and were developed as pure game for PC, with no console in mind (yet).

More information about CryServ and the communities can be found here.

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<iframe src="http://widgets.ign.com/video/embed/content.html?url=http://www.ign.com/videos/2008/10/06/crysis-wars-pc-games-trailer-massive-battle" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="" height="315" width='560' frameborder='0'></iframe>

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P.S. I hope that I didn't break any forum rules with this thread. I simply tried to promote some gaming communities attempt to revive a game that might be still worth a chance to play before it will be buried for good.

 

great game that i havnt played for years.

not the only crysis game thats been affected over the years. crysis 2 was the same where it was removed from steam along with both dlc's due to politics between companys.
last time i tried to play the map packs they were dead. after talking to crytek they informed me in not so many words, tough, you will have to buy the full game again with the dlc's included. luckily i had made a backup of the game and just copied both maps back into their original folder and they worked.

now youve brought it to the forums attention we might get a brand new generation of players for crysis wars.

 

Very nice to see the community working to find a solution.

However I'm still surprised some other company didn't come through and buy Gamespy and make it a "pay to play" kind of service, which I'm sure many fans of the games it supported would pay a small nominal fee to keep their games running.

 

I really hope so. Power struggle mode was a most fun, and for once different, way to play multiplayer, which is what appealed to me and many other in the first place. As well, player movement and control, its fast pace, and suit modes still make CW very fun to play it.

Yes, we have been at it for months and we're finally there. After players install CSN they can now join, and play like before.

GameSpy shutting down was a big blow to the gaming community. I guess no one bought it out because it was still supporting games that even if popular, came out even 10 years ago - and I think no one saw it as a revenue for prospect profit.

But many gaming communities affected found workarounds similar to what we've been doing, and are now back in game (pun intended )

 

Nice News , Let's play Crysis Wars once again , I love Crysis Wars <3

 

Crysis Wars has tons of replay value in it. I have put countless hours into the Mesa map alone, which has helped me find the best routes, shortcuts, hiding spots, etc. I have no complaints about Crysis Wars, other than the GameSpy shutdown (whoever shut it down does not like video games, apparently!)

 

I couldn't have said that better! +1rep

 

I still cry into my beer daily after the GameSpy shutdown. :cry:

Even though many games got workarounds, the shutdown decimated already-fragile player bases like no other.

 

This is something that was cried about 10-12 years ago when games started ditching direct IP and LAN gameplay in favor of servers, as it was inevitable that these kinds of things would happen. I mean Starcraft 2 was a big shocker when it ditched LAN play. Heck, even the original Starcraft would allow you to use the same disk on up to 3 other computers so they could play multiplayer LAN with you without needing to buy the game. I'm all for server side connections, making it easy to join with others, but come on, maintain the option to play on LAN.

 

Wooowww, so cool, thanks for the news, Crysis wars is so fun, awesome!

 

Yes, to be honest, I haven't played many multiplayer games, aside from a very few titles like Crysis Wars and Quake 2 (back then). But once I realized how they provided the service, I always wondered what would happen if the system they used for profile id and matchmaking would fail, shut down, or discontinue.

Once PunkBuster stopped supporting the game I knew that it was the beginning of the end. And that's why today we need to rely on devs' talent to let players still enjoy those games that used GameSpy as master server.

Don't get me wrong, we're still talking about a game after all - nothing vital or critical. Yet, the fact that one system goes down and thousands of people are left stranded, and cannot "use" something they paid for sounds a bit unfair.

Who said that games should have an expiration date? Maybe marketing trends that make obsolescence a "law." Multiplayer side of games has granted many titles longevity. If you pay for something you'd expect to be still there when you need it, for example, the bike in one's garage. If you decide to go for a ride one year after you bought it, although you might need to lube the chain and inflate tires, you know the bike's there, and don't get an error message: "Your bicycle is not available anymore, it was disconnected from the road"

 

just loaded the game but havnt time now to download patch and the server client so will try again tomorrow.

hope you get lots of members to join.
me wont be joining in the compo though as my reaction time sucks now a days and this sure was a fast paced game.

 

Aha! thank you! I would rep you again if the system allowed me to

And you are right, the game is quite fast-paced and the avatar has unmatched mobility and speed if compared to other games. Reaction time, as you mentioned, does make a difference. However, considering that this is a game of individual performance, experience and dedication improve one's skills for sure.

No worries about slow reaction times and skills though regarding the tournament. Teams are mixed up (skilled and less skilled), and the main reason for the ESL tournament is too bring back the game to players' attention. After GameSpy shut down, many people simply considered Crysis Wars dead. We just want to let know to all those who still would have loved to play the game that they still can now and we thought that the tournament was a good way to re-launch it.

Everyone is welcome to join. No participation fees or any cost are needed. Some CW fun and winning team wins almost 100 bucks and will help promoting the game It's a win-win scenario.