Published by: EA Games
Developed by: Crytek
Release Date: March 22, 2011
Available on: PC, PS3, XBOX 360
INTRO: If you’ve owned a PC, you’ve likely heard of Crysis. It’s a super-neat FPS where you…well, the story wasn’t important. What you would hear among PC people is “yeah, it’s a good PC, but can it run Crysis?” . This is a game that was about esthetics and power, and won a lot of awards. That isn’t to say that the game itself was lousy, but the real thing was how nice it looked. And now, we’ve got the long-awaited sequel that has finally landed for home consoles as well as the tried and true PC version. I opted for a console edition because I don’t have a good enough PC to truly run Crysis (I use a Mac), and just to see how things hold up on the aging hardware we use today.
The official description is as follows: “The world has been ravaged by a series of climatic disasters and society is on the verge of total breakdown. Now the aliens have returned, with a full invasion force bent on nothing less than the total annihilation of mankind, starting by trying to rip the heart out of Earth’s most iconic city. In New York, terrifying alien invaders stalk the streets and a nightmare plague strikes down the city’s myriad inhabitants with brutal epidemic speed. The city’s systems are in chaos, its streets and skyline are smashed and in flaming ruin. This is New York City like you’ve never seen it before. Neither paramilitary law enforcement nor the might of the US military machine can stand against the invaders, and all who choose not to flee are dead men walking. Just to survive in this maelstrom of death will require technology beyond anything any modern soldier has ever seen. One man will inherit that means to survive. One supersoldier, wielding the combat enhancement technology of the future with Nanosuit 2, will make the last stand to save humanity from destruction in the urban jungle that is New York City.”
GAMEPLAY:
This game is all about your suit, the suit that lets you ‘be the weapon’. This gimmick is what runs the show, and it works fairly well. The game begins slowly and eases you into the actions, showing you how to run and gun and use simple things like cloaking, the ability to briefly hide yourself from a foe. Your nanosuit is your best friend and gives you a lot of fun abilities. You can run faster, jump higher and take a lot of damage. The suit of course has an energy bar that drains when you use special abilities.
As I mentioned, the game eases you in slowly and easily, for the first hour or so it’ll feel like you’re just playing the same old type of FPS you’re used to. But as you gain more abilities, you’ll find environments get whole lot bigger. None of this ‘you have to walk down this path’ business here, this is a really open game. You don’t have a lot of limitations- you’ve got a great toy and the world is yours to play with. You see where enemies are patrolling, and you have a lot of options on how to take them down.
How do you like your FPS games? Do you like running through like a beast, punching hot holes of lead in anything that moves? What if you dig the patience game, waiting for enemies to step into your crosshairs before ending their lives silently? Do you prefer to be Fisher-esque and quietly sneak in the shadows, disposing of foes before they know what hit them? How about leaping from the trees and pouncing on foes like a wild animal?
This is the beauty of Crysis- you can do whatever you like. If you dig flanking foes or running through hidden tunnels, you can do that. Want to cause a distraction to divert attention? Toss a box into a crowd and watch foes look for the source. Hell, you can even grab a vehicle and mow them all over. Yes, these are all things I’ve done, and it’s fun stuff. It took me awhile to get into things, but once this game got rolling it became really fun. The awesome thing here is that you can customize your suit on the fly, upgrading what you like and extending your abilities as the game goes on. And on top of this, you can see your own legs when you look down! Think about it, that never happens!
This single player mode runs about 10-12 hours long and is a real treat. The enemies can be really stupid sometimes and run into walls and such, but for the most part provide an appropriate challenge. This game is real about how you want to approach your tactical situations. The game provides a real sense of immersion and the story is certainly enjoyable enough to keep you going. Now with that being said, the game does seem to drag a bit and feel slightly padded near the middle, and with the whole ‘do what you want’ thing comes a lack of direction from time to time. This is all to say that some missions feel like busy work.
My only real tip to you is to remember that your visor HUD is your friend- this is the key. If you’re getting your ass kicked, look through your visor, find out about the environment, study the enemy and find weakpoints. It might seem gimmicky but it is truly invaluable. A quick talk about multiplayer: I’m not a big multiplayer guy, but there are a few modes to be played with here. Killstreaks and perks are present to keep things flowing. You can still use your invisibility and your armor boosts, and can create custom classes as you progress, leveling up along the way. I experienced a fair amount of lag too, but I imagine that this was unique to me.
Gameplay: 8.5/10
GRAPHICS:
As expected, this game looks beautiful and has some incredible water effects. Explosions are wow-worthy, textures are amazing, weapon detail is high and the framerate is almost perfect. I don’t have any complaints – if you want to show off your new HDTV, fire up Crysis 2.
Graphics: 10/10
AUDIO:
The weapons sound fantastic (you can hear new magazines sliding into your guns), ambient noise is realistic and the voice acting is top-notch. The soundtrack is pretty impressive too, sporting a mix between electronica and orchestral. When you hear the K-Volt submachine gone, you’ll know how awesome this game sounds.
Audio: 8.5/10
FINAL VERDICT:
This is certainly a well made game in just about every way. The single player campaign is engaging, innovative and a lot of fun. This is an atmospheric labor of love that really pushes things to their limit.
Final Score: 8.5/10