Crysis Remastered patch promises better performance on modern hardware

Bottom line: The Crysis Remastered release was far from what long-time fans had expected, but it's getting closer with every new patch. And since we know that Crysis 2 Remastered is on the roster of upcoming releases, here's hoping that it may not suffer from the same amount of game-breaking issues.

Crysis Remastered launched in September after more than two months of delays and lots of promises that it would once again melt PCs (but only through the Epic Games launcher as a timed exclusive) and consoles thanks to high quality, demanding graphics features like an API-agnostic ray tracing and high resolution textures.

The game was supposed to wow long time fans with improved compatibility with modern hardware and a better technical presentation, but so far it's proven to be a somewhat disappointing release. And it's not the system requirements, which are generous enough to allow even aging gaming PCs to run it, provided you don't want to install in on your graphics card's VRAM and run it in 4K at the same time (DLSS is still MIA).

Gamers were surprised to find that Crysis Remastered, albeit a visually stunning upgrade over the original, suffers from many of the same limitations. For instance, the new release is severely limited by the fact that it tends to hammer one CPU core while making limited use of the others, which in turn leads to frustratingly low GPU usage in the case of high-end and mid-range graphics cards.

However, a new patch released this week raises hope that Crysis Remastered will gradually turn into all we're hoping it could be – a game where foliage physics work, lighting glitches are absent, memory leaks are improbable, and random frame rate drops are a rare occurrence. Here's a list of the changes:

• General performance improvements for high spec systems.
• Improvements made to the performance of AMD based systems where ray tracing is set to Very high.
• Improvements made to the Optimal settings option in graphics settings. The selections should now be more in line with your pc's capabilities.
• Fixed some lighting that was missing in-game when the shadow quality setting was set to "Very high" or "Can it run Crysis".
• Improvements made to raytracing when set to "very high".
• Improvements made to look of the water in different instances for RTX GPUs (glare looks more natural, removed glowing artifacts/grain effect).
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a decrease of ~10fps when using Borderless over windowed or fullscreen.
• Fixed an issue that caused the framerate to drop when crawling through the body of a dead enemy.
• Fixed a memory leak that could occur at the beginning of Recovery - Village.
• Fixed an issue where launching the game with HDR enabled could cause artifacts to appear during cutscenes.
• Fixed an issue that caused a light source to appear directly beneath the player after firing a weapon.
• Fixed an issue that caused Ceph scouts to not blow up after death which impacted the framerate.
• Fixed the pathing/AI for several Ceph Scouts on Exodus -Sphere.
• Fixed an issue that caused speed mode to drain more energy than intended while in classic nanosuit mode.
• Fixed a bug where the "toggle/change weapons" text would overlap the "Short range weapon" toggle in some languages.
• Fixed the tool tip for painting a target for an airstrike on Onslaught - Tank (no longer an @ string)
• Fixed a crash that could occur on Rescue - Relic.
• Fixed some flickering shadows on Assault - Harbor when on "Very high" or "CIRC?" settings.
• Fixed an issue where the mini map/large map rendered much smaller than intended
• Fixed the "Replace me" object next to the GPS jammer on Contact - Island.
• Fixed a bug that caused the characters arms to appear to stay unmounted machine guns
• Fixed an issue there the boat spotlight did not cast any visible illumination.
• Fixed an issue where the light noticeable changed when moving through the room on Assault - Harbor.
• Improvements made to the vegetation on "Very High" settings.
• Fixed an issue that caused the water to flicker depending on the camera angle on Assault - Harbor.
• Fixed an issue that caused the game to freeze when applying the optimal settings.
• Fixed an issue that caused the player to be unable to shoot when moving while prone.
• Fixed a visual issue with the boat not rocking while on the water on Rescue - Relic.
• Fixed an issue that could result in a crash when loading into a level.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the game to crash after changing the graphic settings and then reloading into the mission on Reckoning - Fleet.
• Red dot sight is now working as intended and no longer missing the dot when ADSing.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when trying to change the vehicle control key bindings.
• Fixed several crashes that could occur when loading or exiting the game.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when loading to another level from the main menu.
• Updated the textures of some terrain to no longer show as "Replace me".
• Fixed the vegetation physics.
• Fixed several strings in the controls that overlap with other UI elements in several languages.
• Fixed the unnatural splashes that come from throwing items into the water.
• Fixed a crash that could occur on Assault- Harbor which was caused by a memory leak.
• Fixed the flickering violet light on the VTOL engine on Sphere - Exodus and Rescue - Relic.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when dying from a mine on Village - Recovery.
• Fixed a misplaced decal that would appear on the computer on Reckoning - Fleet.
• The back button in the mission selection now works as intended.
• Removed the rocks from the air on Onslaught - Tank.
• Fixed a stretched texture that would appear on the ground on Onslaught - Tank.
• Fixed the background music for the Scene on Recovery level 2.
• Added the missing volumetric lighting from the cutscene with the General on Awakening - Mine.
• Fixed some black artifacts that would appear on the door in one of the KPA's trailers depending on the camera angle, on Awakening - Mine).
• Fixed an issue where the high capacity ammo would not restore after changing to an easier difficulty.
• Fixed an issue that caused guns to sound different depending on the firing mode.
• The first turtle is now visible on low graphic settings on Contact - Island.
• Fixed an issue that caused the ground textures to noticeably change in front of the player.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when loading into Recovery - village after completing Reckoning - Fleet.
• Fixed the "Replace me " sphere that were visible in the mountains on Assault - Harbor.
• Fixed the asset for the cabinet in the boss room on Awakening - Mine.
• Fixed some noticeable changes that occurred with the lighting depending on the camera angle on Reckoning - Fleet.
• Fixed the image on the display that would change depending on the camera angle on Reckoning - Fleet.
• Removed the Open/Close PDA binding option as it is not used for single player (previously used in the original for multiplayer only).
• Improvements made to Nomad's shadow to be more in line with the Original Crysis on Core - Core.
• Fixed some untextured debris that appeared in the cutscene on Contact.
• Bullets now leave the correct markings when shot at objects such as cars (bullet holes and scorch marks).
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from changing some controls in the menu.
• Fixed an issue that caused frame spikes to occur when entering certain areas.
• Improved the LOD of the house on Recovery - Village.
• Fixed some particle effects that were visible on the turrets during the final boss fight.
• Fixed the low-resolution detail that appear on a signpost on Reckoning - Fleet.
• Fixed an issue that caused the hair of the Korean soldiers to change colour depending on the camera angle.
• Fixed an issue that resulted in artifacts appearing during the final explosion on Reckoning - Fleet.
• Fixed a bug that caused the fire source to be visible under the floor on Core.
• Improved the visuals of the fire on Core to be more in line with the original.
• Fixed an issue that caused the lamps inside the Korean trailers to not glow.
• Fixed an issue that resulted in not being attacked by the Alien if you slowly moved to the cover of smoke on Core - Core.
• Fixed an issue to cause the bloom effect on lighting to be too intense.
• Fixed an issue that caused rock to appear in the air on Paradise lost - Ice.
• Fixed an issue that resulted in a significant LOD change when looking at the tank tracks from a close distance.
• Fixed a bug that caused the ceiling lamps to disappear once shot on Recovery - Village.
• Fixed a flickering shadow artifact that would appear on a truck at the beginning of Paradise lost - Ice.
• Fixed an issue where the Scar pickup model would disappear if stepped on, om Relic - Rescue.
• Improved the texture detail of the incendiary ammo.
• Fixed an issue that cause flare smoke to disappear depending on the camera angle.
• Fixed an issue that caused shadows to blink while using the binoculars depending on your point of view
• Fixed the missing dust VFX on Awakening - Mines.
• Fixed a crash that could occur if your windows user name was in Persian.
• Fixed the noticeable borders of fog from appearing indoors on Exodus - Sphere.
• Improvements made to the visuals of wheels on trucks. Broken wheels no longer have a black texture.

At this point, it's hard to recommend Crysis Remastered at the full price of $30, especially when there are plenty of graphics mods out there to experiment with on the original. Manual saves are still absent on the new release, which can be a deal-breaker for some.

The good news is that Epic Games is holding a Black Friday sale that could bring the price down to an acceptable level, so make sure to wishlist the game on the store.

Despite a flawed release, we know that Crytek is also working on a remaster of Crysis 2 complete with insanely expensive Denuvo DRM, although the company has yet to make an official announcement. Leaked documents also suggest the existence of "Crysis Next," an upcoming free-to-play battle royale with up to 100 players per game. We can only hope that Crytek will improve its quality control by the time it decides to make these two games official.